Cheesy411 Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 Hey guys my grandfather is giving his buick regal its a 1994 with a 3.8 engine i have a 1994 cutlass supreme with a 3100 engine would i need to swap tranny's? and also would I be gaining anything????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quaddriver Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 Hey guys my grandfather is giving his buick regal its a 1994 with a 3.8 engine i have a 1994 cutlass supreme with a 3100 engine would i need to swap tranny's? and also would I be gaining anything????? u gain lots of hp and lots of torque and gain a motor that is flawless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 lots more HP, no, 160 vs 170 and flawless, no way. I enjoy not having a spare tire for a crank pulley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 well, it's a good low maintenance motor, the series 1 3800. Thats all I'll give it. Gotta love the plastic manifold of the later years. What Chimp designed that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quaddriver Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 lots more HP, no, 160 vs 170 and flawless, no way. I enjoy not having a spare tire for a crank pulley assuming this motor is in the same car and behind the same tranny...the 3800 makes 170hp at a point where the 3.1 is at about 130-140, the 3800 has 40 more ft of torque, and the 3800 is considered bulletproof. they just dont break, they are smoother, get better mileage. You will have to look hard to find someone that does not like the 3800 (not to mentioned the SAE named it the best motor of all times - in front of the venerable SBC) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 lots more HP, no, 160 vs 170 and flawless, no way. I enjoy not having a spare tire for a crank pulley assuming this motor is in the same car and behind the same tranny...the 3800 makes 170hp at a point where the 3.1 is at about 130-140, the 3800 has 40 more ft of torque, and the 3800 is considered bulletproof. they just dont break, they are smoother, get better mileage. You will have to look hard to find someone that does not like the 3800 (not to mentioned the SAE named it the best motor of all times - in front of the venerable SBC) Yeah, you compared it to a 3.1L, but the guy that started the post has a 3100 in his car, so the HP difference is only 10, they torque, yes, the 3800 has a lot more. Oh, anld get better gas mileage........my 3.1L gets 33+ on the highway at 70+MPH. Oh, and I could care less what the SAE called it. I dont like the 3800 at all, but I do like the gen I a little more than the gen II piece of over-used crap GM puts in every car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaPaPooh Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 oh boy here we go again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quaddriver Posted December 23, 2003 Report Share Posted December 23, 2003 Yeah, you compared it to a 3.1L, but the guy that started the post has a 3100 in his car, so the HP difference is only 10, they torque, yes, the 3800 has a lot more. Oh, anld get better gas mileage........my 3.1L gets 33+ on the highway at 70+MPH. Oh, and I could care less what the SAE called it. I dont like the 3800 at all, but I do like the gen I a little more than the gen II piece of over-used crap GM puts in every car. No I didnt, I just used displacement, it would be more correct to say gen 2 or gen3, suffice to say, the 160hp peak of a gen3 comes at a much higher rpm than the 3800, as I said, same weight car, same gear ratio, the 3800 will cream the 3100, it wont even be close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 my 3.1 went a 170 mil. lifters i beat the chap out of the motor i swap it for a 3.4 new almost done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesy411 Posted December 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 Im not talking about a 3800 Im talking 3.8, My friends 1997 GP has a 3800 and it looks and runs nothing like my grandfathers 3.8 I have a gen 3 , 3100 didnt they make a supercharger For the 3.8's I thought they had a super charger in some buicks hell i could be wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luminator94 Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 Piece of crap Series II 3800? You should be banned for that kind of talk. I'll put my 3,600lb Bonneville up against any 3.1L or 3100 in any W-body any day! How could you say that the 3800 is a POS? Enjoy your lifter knock, cuz I don't have any at all. Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runt Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 Ohhhh shit. I think a fight is gonna brew. Oh, and I personally love the 3.8 and 3800. Smooth motors that I don't think can die. I also love my 3100. Sometimes, I think the 3100 has better low low end torque. Then again, I might be wrong. And a small side note, my mom ran her bonneville for 10,000 mi. between oil changes, and NO problem besides dirty oil and it being considerbly low. Thank god I got in her car the one day to notice that! Still have the car to this day. And the 3800 runs grrrrrrrrrreat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted December 24, 2003 Report Share Posted December 24, 2003 Yeah, cuz my 3.1L has so much lifter noise.........whatever I hate the Series II 3800, iron heads, spare tire crank pulley and plastic intake. I'll take a 60* V6 any day, regardless of how much HP it has Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luminator94 Posted December 26, 2003 Report Share Posted December 26, 2003 True that. I guess. You have preferences, and I have mine...so we'll leave it at. BUT....atleast I can get to my plugs w/o tearing my hands up or unhooking dog bones. I'm done being a prick now. Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badtgp Posted December 26, 2003 Report Share Posted December 26, 2003 Being an owner of numerous w-bod's, and numerous 3800's, I'd have to say the 3800 would be a GREAT swap!! The 3800 is known to go many miles trouble-free, which is more than I can say for the 2.8 and 3.1's I have owned. Personaly, it seems the 2.8/3.1 engines have a life expectancy of between 175-250k. Most seem to hover around 180-200k. Now, most of the 3800's I've seen in older cars seem to go way beyond that. For instance, my 93 Bonnie SSE had 245k on it when I sold it over a year ago. It ran like a top, didn't use oil, and the only major repair I ever had to do on that car, or any of the previous owners, was the Alternator. That's it. My old 90 GP SE 3.1 dies at 175k, after being babied and properly maintained it's whole life. It does depend on the way the engines are treated, but from being an owner of both, and from all the reading I have done on them, the general thought is that the 3800 is a superior engine. Btw, like I said, this is my personal opinion and experience. It in no way reflects the opinion, or bashing thereof, anyone else on this or any other board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thabulldog Posted December 26, 2003 Report Share Posted December 26, 2003 Well I have a feeling, so I'm just gunna say it now, in b4 da l0ck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srsheely220 Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 10k isnt really that much for not changing oil. In my 92 grand prix w/ 3.1 i went 1.5 years without changing the oil in that thing. It saw my older brother beat the living crap outa it and then i beat the living crap outa it and it would not die. it had like 170,000 when we sold it for 200 bux because the body looked so bad it was horrible the sad thing is we sold it over a year ago and still see the thing around town then i get my new grand prix and baby it and the engine blows. Oh and the 3100vs3.8 my buddy had a bonnie with the old 3.8 and i would beat it pretty good but i would say that engine in my car would have been quicker than the 3100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve LS Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 Cheezy411 - That 93 or whatever year you said would be a 3800. Its the LN7 , tuned port 3800. Great engine, I have a 91 LN7 ,its at 249,000 and still strong as when I bought it. No problems with the "sparetirepulley" :shock: alrighty then. . Never looked over the engine frame much but cant you just unbolt that and the engine harness at firewall, steering column ,anything else thats necessary. Then bolt the Regal frame in. I know it can be done on an H body but like I said never looked the Regal over for that. Dont know much about the Chevy engines but I have stuck with the Buick engine because thats where I wound up. I'm pretty sure I dont HATE the Chevy engine. Im with Robby though. I believe GM should take the 3800 back to Buick where it belongs and then let the former great body designers that were there build another great personal luxury sports coupe. Like they did before Chevy and Pontiac got their pantys all in a bunch. Must really have sucked getting their ass's stomped by a B U I C K ! V6 NO LESS ! The 3.8 Buick is the only reason Bonneville survived and whats all the buzz for the GP GT guys. I liked it better myself when there was the 60* for the GP's. When Chevy used there own V6 engine. I though the 3400 DOHC was a great idea and should have been expanded/improved on. Unfortunantly they must not have been good enough to compete for ultimate road able power and now the Buick engine is in everything. Yea - I dont like it at all. 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 it cracks me up to see people here talkin shit about another W-body motor. jeez, talk shit about the 301 Pontiac, or the Iron Duke the Mazda Rotary or......something i'm not familiar with the Buick 90' V6 but i have yet to see any reason to talk shit about a motor that regularly gets over 250,000 miles. i have 213,xxx+ miles on my 3.1 MPFI V6. i've never replaced a head gasket or opened it up at all. i freakin' love it. i've owned it since 111,xxx miles (04/00) and it runs just as good as ever. about the only thing i've done with those 99,xxx miles is deliver pizza and take long interstate trips. and lots of stoplight races of course. my next car will probably have the 3800, maybe even the s/c 3800. if i can't afford a 2nd GEN W-body Regal then i'm going to try for a mid '90's Bonneville SSEI. what seems silly is that this forum seems so divided when it comes to which engine you have in the car. all the engines are respectable in their own way. well ok maybe not the 2.5 in the early Luminas.... joshua Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWeb80 Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 all i have to say is my dads coworker has a buick w/ the series 1 3800....not sure the year.....the car looks like crap, but the engine starts and runs like the day he got it....oh, and it has 350K on it....thats my imput. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quaddriver Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 it cracks me up to see people here talkin shit about another W-body motor. jeez, talk shit about the 301 Pontiac, or the Iron Duke the Mazda Rotary or......something i'm not familiar with the Buick 90' V6 but i have yet to see any reason to talk shit about a motor that regularly gets over 250,000 miles. i have 213,xxx+ miles on my 3.1 MPFI V6. i've never replaced a head gasket or opened it up at all. i freakin' love it. i've owned it since 111,xxx miles (04/00) and it runs just as good as ever. about the only thing i've done with those 99,xxx miles is deliver pizza and take long interstate trips. and lots of stoplight races of course. my next car will probably have the 3800, maybe even the s/c 3800. if i can't afford a 2nd GEN W-body Regal then i'm going to try for a mid '90's Bonneville SSEI. what seems silly is that this forum seems so divided when it comes to which engine you have in the car. all the engines are respectable in their own way. well ok maybe not the 2.5 in the early Luminas.... joshua If I had to rank W-bodys by motor, by far the best and most reliable are those with 3800's. by far the most powerful are those with 3800 supers. If I could not have either of those, gimme a 3.1 in either gen, if I could not have that, then I guess Id want an iron duck. (yes, duck I says) lastly, would be a 3.4dohc...if I have to have one of those Id rather have a tempo with the 2.3hsc - at least it would run ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaPaPooh Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 it cracks me up to see people here talkin shit about another W-body motor. jeez, talk shit about the 301 Pontiac, or the Iron Duke the Mazda Rotary or......something i'm not familiar with the Buick 90' V6 but i have yet to see any reason to talk shit about a motor that regularly gets over 250,000 miles. i have 213,xxx+ miles on my 3.1 MPFI V6. i've never replaced a head gasket or opened it up at all. i freakin' love it. i've owned it since 111,xxx miles (04/00) and it runs just as good as ever. about the only thing i've done with those 99,xxx miles is deliver pizza and take long interstate trips. and lots of stoplight races of course. my next car will probably have the 3800, maybe even the s/c 3800. if i can't afford a 2nd GEN W-body Regal then i'm going to try for a mid '90's Bonneville SSEI. what seems silly is that this forum seems so divided when it comes to which engine you have in the car. all the engines are respectable in their own way. well ok maybe not the 2.5 in the early Luminas.... joshua very very well put malibu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihela816 Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 Hey don't bash the 2.5 so much. I happen to own one and... oh wait they do suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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