I am disassembling the original engine from my 1980 El Camino. It has about 146000 miles on it. Like most in this forum, I did not respect this engine much and as I get inside, I am able to see the folly of GM bean counters making performance related decisions, I know it was the era of bolt-on emissions, non-adjustable carburetors, overdrives and ridiculously high ratio rear ends. They solved the federal government edicts the cheapest way and simplest to accomplish. I am an Oldsmobile nut, and the very same philosophy existed for the 265, 307 and 350 engines, as the Buick V6. It was a terrible few years to buy any car, but GM lost its collective mind from1974 to 1981, and it cost them the world!
The Buick V6 was an easy fix. It shared many parts with the Buick V8's, and could be bolted to BOP transmissions. Buick bought back the rights to the V6 from American Motors who had been putting it in Jeep variants when Buick customers no longer bought the 4's and V6's in the race for horsepower, 1963 to 1972. The one consistent complaint for the V6 owners was a droaning sound, particularly at low speeds. This was dues to the odd firing order, which was a simple engineering solution to lopping off 2 cylinders. In 1977, Buick re engineered the engine for smoothness, and to get rid of the rumble. With it smoothed out it was smooth and quiet as a V8 car, but the redesign made V6s before that obsolete. There were very few interchangeable parts.
I owned a 1976 Olds Starfire new, which was essentially a Chevy Monza with an odd fire V6 and Muncie 4 speed. Years later I bought a used used 1977 Pontiac Sunbird with the odd-fire V6 and a 5 speed where 1st, 3rd and 5th were down, and 2nd and 4th were up. Both cars were pretty spunky stock, but I added a Kenne-Bell cam, and adjustable pushrods only to my Starfire and it was a very quick, especially as compared to stock V6 cars which went all the way up to 88's, Le Sabres, Catalinas and the like.
Once they solved the smoothness issues, they attacked the low horsepower, by putting on a turbo. It was my first Buick, a '78 Regal Turbo coupe ordered from the factory, Silver with Red Interior with SS Wheels. It came with rev liimter and only automatic which was a TH350 "specially calibrated". Mine had a 4 Barrel carb. A few years later, the famous all black Turbo Coupes came out and the FBI snapped up many of them. They were screamers as some of you know and benefitted from forced air intakes and fuel injection! It was about then that my crush on V6s ended, They needed computers to make them go and GM and Computers were not compatible for many more years, Unlike the V6's of old, the hop-up parts were simply ignored. You could tweak the performance some with re-programming or larger turbines. The senators with their auto engineering degrees were still designing cars for usl
So, in taking apart my '80 3.8, I see an incredibly solid and strong design. It has 4 mains. It is a very compact engine with much potential to those who like the sound of a six. (They can sound like A FERARRI). Performance parts are scarce even though the majority of G Body cars had it as a base engine. It is FAR superior to the 3.9 Chevy V6. The 3.8 sold in the "48 State" cars. Mine had almost no visible wear on the valve train, pushrods or lifters. The rods and main bearings were scored so it was probably due a rebuild before I yanked it out. I've decided to clean up the parts and rebuild it now rather than make it a boat anchor. It needed some TLC and these little beasties get nearly 30 MPG on the highway. Mine leaked oil from every seal and gasket, but care in rebuilding probably resolves that. It coiuld be a nice little transplant in an S-10 and is probably better than a 4.3. If I can find a torguey cam to finish it, it can be a hauler! My Starfire pulled a car trailer with a car on it from San Diego to Salem, OR and it handled the Grapevine and Siskiyous holding 50!
Unfortunately, there is little to no similarity between the 3.8s in the RWD cars and trucks, and the FWD GM Cookie cutter cars. I think those who had them loved them as they were smooth, quick and got great gas mileage. In its stock form I didn't like it in the Gbodys and slammed it every chance I got, but as I see it today, it has to rank up there with the SBC family!
I may be looking for advice if my son wants to build an S-10 with a much earlier carbureted Buick V6. Respect to all that stay with the V6 when LS swaps are so common!
The Buick V6 was an easy fix. It shared many parts with the Buick V8's, and could be bolted to BOP transmissions. Buick bought back the rights to the V6 from American Motors who had been putting it in Jeep variants when Buick customers no longer bought the 4's and V6's in the race for horsepower, 1963 to 1972. The one consistent complaint for the V6 owners was a droaning sound, particularly at low speeds. This was dues to the odd firing order, which was a simple engineering solution to lopping off 2 cylinders. In 1977, Buick re engineered the engine for smoothness, and to get rid of the rumble. With it smoothed out it was smooth and quiet as a V8 car, but the redesign made V6s before that obsolete. There were very few interchangeable parts.
I owned a 1976 Olds Starfire new, which was essentially a Chevy Monza with an odd fire V6 and Muncie 4 speed. Years later I bought a used used 1977 Pontiac Sunbird with the odd-fire V6 and a 5 speed where 1st, 3rd and 5th were down, and 2nd and 4th were up. Both cars were pretty spunky stock, but I added a Kenne-Bell cam, and adjustable pushrods only to my Starfire and it was a very quick, especially as compared to stock V6 cars which went all the way up to 88's, Le Sabres, Catalinas and the like.
Once they solved the smoothness issues, they attacked the low horsepower, by putting on a turbo. It was my first Buick, a '78 Regal Turbo coupe ordered from the factory, Silver with Red Interior with SS Wheels. It came with rev liimter and only automatic which was a TH350 "specially calibrated". Mine had a 4 Barrel carb. A few years later, the famous all black Turbo Coupes came out and the FBI snapped up many of them. They were screamers as some of you know and benefitted from forced air intakes and fuel injection! It was about then that my crush on V6s ended, They needed computers to make them go and GM and Computers were not compatible for many more years, Unlike the V6's of old, the hop-up parts were simply ignored. You could tweak the performance some with re-programming or larger turbines. The senators with their auto engineering degrees were still designing cars for usl
So, in taking apart my '80 3.8, I see an incredibly solid and strong design. It has 4 mains. It is a very compact engine with much potential to those who like the sound of a six. (They can sound like A FERARRI). Performance parts are scarce even though the majority of G Body cars had it as a base engine. It is FAR superior to the 3.9 Chevy V6. The 3.8 sold in the "48 State" cars. Mine had almost no visible wear on the valve train, pushrods or lifters. The rods and main bearings were scored so it was probably due a rebuild before I yanked it out. I've decided to clean up the parts and rebuild it now rather than make it a boat anchor. It needed some TLC and these little beasties get nearly 30 MPG on the highway. Mine leaked oil from every seal and gasket, but care in rebuilding probably resolves that. It coiuld be a nice little transplant in an S-10 and is probably better than a 4.3. If I can find a torguey cam to finish it, it can be a hauler! My Starfire pulled a car trailer with a car on it from San Diego to Salem, OR and it handled the Grapevine and Siskiyous holding 50!
Unfortunately, there is little to no similarity between the 3.8s in the RWD cars and trucks, and the FWD GM Cookie cutter cars. I think those who had them loved them as they were smooth, quick and got great gas mileage. In its stock form I didn't like it in the Gbodys and slammed it every chance I got, but as I see it today, it has to rank up there with the SBC family!
I may be looking for advice if my son wants to build an S-10 with a much earlier carbureted Buick V6. Respect to all that stay with the V6 when LS swaps are so common!
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