How much power can an na 3.8 hold?

[81cutlass]

Page 8-10 on this thread is the best explination of making NA 3.8 HP. http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/thread ... 734/page-8

Summary of it is that you need to make big compression to make big power. Making 300HP out of a 231 would be like making 455HP out of a 350 small block. 450HP out of a SBC is serious and so is 300HP out of a 231. You will throw a ton of money into a 3.8 to make power NA. Turbo is easy but thats just the way a buick head flows. Best Buick head is summilar to a mid range SBC head. NA 3.8 to the max is tough since its so small. Big HP per cube results in still not that much power.

SC 3800 RWD is possible. I built one for my 4th gen. $350 used 97GTP motor and $300 of accessiories, wiring ect, and $250 of parts to U the SC and you have a RWD L67. Its cheap you just have to do it yourself.

Pictures of it here if you are curious. http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a370/ ... 5QQtppZZ20

$ for$, my SC3800 blows my drawthrough turbo carbed 3.8 away. The drawthrough has ported heads, bigger cam, ported intake, worked over carb, 84-85GN headers, custom downpipe and pypes exhaust and 11 PSI nonintercooled on alky. The SC3800 is stock with a manifold back, tune, air intake, and pulley (10PSI).

If I learned anything on boosted 3.8's is that EFI is a godsend.

 

[beermonkey9417]

3.8 is nice, but the 4.3 is mo betta!

 

[SovereignDragon]

With all the reading I've been doing about supercharging a 3.8 to get some decent power it just seems like it's so much more work than it's worth. I think I'll just go with my performer intake, a performer cam, and a small 4 barrel for now to play with a little. It seems for what I could pay to get a good amount of power out of the 6 shooter I could just procharge an lt or ls engine. Plus big benefit of that would be being able to stick a t56 in the tunnel. I'm a big manual trans fan. I might still play around with this buick engine a bit though, just to see what I can make out of it.

 

[DRIVEN]

I like 81cutlass suggestion a lot. For long time I've thought that a 3800/T5 swap from a '95-'96 Fbody would make a great swap into a driver Gbody. They are incredibly reliable and get outstanding MPG. They actually make more HP than most Gbodys came with from the factory too. Plus, when you pop the hood you would get the attention that comes with an "oddball" swap. I'm sure someone, somewhere has done the swap but I haven't seen it yet. When you get bored you can start collecting parts for the Eaton upgrade. The resulting 250hp/300lb-ft would be no slouch.

 

[YGspider]

Yes ! A 3800 swap is something I was talking into consideration they can make good power and if you get a motor from a GS 1998-2003 regal with the supercharger thats a bonus. Some work would need to be done becuase of the FWD.

 

[SovereignDragon]

250 horse just isn't enough for me. Honda 4 bangers are coming off the showroom floor with more than that nowadays. I think I'll just play with the edelbrock stuff, maybe even do some port matching work and see what comes out of it. I'll just have to stay with a budget of under so much money. I'll save up and do the ls1 swap. It'll give more power from the start and with a t56 decent mileage out of it isn't really that difficult. I'll still post up results from the pants dyno once I start messing with the 3.8 though. I also like the idea of still having it around just incase I decide to sell it and put the ls in something else. Yeah right, like I'd ever sell my G Body. You can have my left nut first. These cars hold a special place, just like my honda motorcycles.

 

[DRIVEN]

If you plan on doing an LS swap (which is a sound idea IMO) I don't think it makes sense to spend a single penny modifying the 3.8 you have now. There is VERY little return on money spent. It might look better and maybe even sound better but you won't be rewarded with any mpg or power gains worth mentioning. For the money you'd invest in an intake, carb, exhaust, head porting, gaskets, fluids, etc. you'd be 2/3 of the way to an LS. Not to mention a ton of wasted time. A stock 3.8 is pretty good at it's intended purpose -- reliable economy. Once you deviate from stock you risk losing one if not both. I'm not just speculating here. I watched a buddy go through this on a Landcruiser project. In the end he sold all the 3.8 stuff for pennies on the dollar and just put a 350 in it. It cost probably less than half to do the 350 than he had invested in the 3.8s that never really worked out.
Sounds like you've already made up your mind though. So please keep us posted. If you have a build thread, can you drop a link in this thread so we can keep tabs? Good luck and have fun.

 

[maliburacinfreak]

Page 8-10 on this thread is the best explination of making NA 3.8 HP. http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/thread ... 734/page-8

Summary of it is that you need to make big compression to make big power. Making 300HP out of a 231 would be like making 455HP out of a 350 small block. 450HP out of a SBC is serious and so is 300HP out of a 231. You will throw a ton of money into a 3.8 to make power NA. Turbo is easy but thats just the way a buick head flows. Best Buick head is summilar to a mid range SBC head. NA 3.8 to the max is tough since its so small. Big HP per cube results in still not that much power.

SC 3800 RWD is possible. I built one for my 4th gen. $350 used 97GTP motor and $300 of accessiories, wiring ect, and $250 of parts to U the SC and you have a RWD L67. Its cheap you just have to do it yourself.

Pictures of it here if you are curious. http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a370/ ... 5QQtppZZ20

$ for$, my SC3800 blows my drawthrough turbo carbed 3.8 away. The drawthrough has ported heads, bigger cam, ported intake, worked over carb, 84-85GN headers, custom downpipe and pypes exhaust and 11 PSI nonintercooled on alky. The SC3800 is stock with a manifold back, tune, air intake, and pulley (10PSI).

If I learned anything on boosted 3.8's is that EFI is a godsend.

saved your photobucket link. been seriously considering doing this to my 80 monza. its has a NA 231 in it now with flat tops, performer intake and holley 600. its not fast by any means but moves along pretty good for a V6. keep in mind, the monza is LOTS lighter than a g-body! how tall is the SC motor, like from crank pulley to SC pulley? hoping it will fit under my hood. the wiring and fuel system are my biggest worries. but it will be cooler than throwing a 350 in it, like all my buddies are bugging me to do.

 

[81cutlass]

A SC3800 should fit into a monza. It is shorter than a carbed 3.8.

And as far as the 250HP thing and hondas making more, torque is what moves cars. A bone stock 3800 makes 250HP but makes 300ftlbs at near off idle. Honda isnt anywhere NEAR that.

Mine makes 300HP at 5250 RPM according to HP tuners trans delivered torque and 5250RPM is where HP and torque cross. Mine does have a pulley, exhaust, tune and filter but thats what all engine swapped 3800's will get. It maxes out at around 330ftlbs in hot air. Should run 350 when it cools off. And this is, as ive been told, wheel HP. 300wheel HP mostly stock is not bad. Not ls1 good, but not far off, and surely different.

Cam, ported heads, E85, injectors, headers, and 2.8" pulley and Im hoping for mid 12's daily (yes, even winter) driven. Try that with a SBC with a holley. Qjet maybe, but it wont be fun.

 

[81mali]

SC 3800 RWD is possible. I built one for my 4th gen. $350 used 97GTP motor and $300 of accessiories, wiring ect, and $250 of parts to U the SC and you have a RWD L67. Its cheap you just have to do it yourself.

Pictures of it here if you are curious. http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a370/ ... 5QQtppZZ20

$ for$, my SC3800 blows my drawthrough turbo carbed 3.8 away. The drawthrough has ported heads, bigger cam, ported intake, worked over carb, 84-85GN headers, custom downpipe and pypes exhaust and 11 PSI nonintercooled on alky. The SC3800 is stock with a manifold back, tune, air intake, and pulley (10PSI).

If I learned anything on boosted 3.8's is that EFI is a godsend.

Do you have more details on your swap? Im thinking of doing this to my 81 Malibu. It already has a 3.8 and I dont want to swap a V8(unless I cant make the SC 3.8 work). Tank you.