So, coming home friday night, my clutch went out in my car. Its an 88 with a 2003 3.8na and a getrag. The clutch is a spec stage 3. I'm looking for opinions from you guys. Since I'm gonna have the motor/trans out, should I put a 3800sc in it? My 3.8 now is a fairly low mileage motor that runs great and truthfully has enough power. But.... you can never really have enough power though, can you? lol. If I do swap, what would the difference be between the na and the sc? I was also considering maybe a nice cam and some valvetrain upgrades for my na. Lastly, what clutch should I go with? Should I go back with the stage 3 or maybe a 3+ even a stage 2 or would a different brand altogether? Thanks everybody for you help.
Daniel
[This message has been edited by Spoilt_87fiero (edited 01-25-2015).]
The difference between the stock NA and the stock SC is about 30 hp. As for the clutch, are you sure it isn't the hydraulics instead of the clutch plate or pressure plate? It'd be a real bummer to drop everything out, either for the clutch or engine upgrade, get it all back together only to find that you need a slave or master cylinder.
Lol, kinda both I guess. More or less looking for opinions. My throwout bearing has been making a noise for some time now and I think it finally bite the dust. The trans still pulls fine but it is make a horrible noise with the clutch held in and tranny in gear. Since I'm going to have to drop the cradle, I was looking for ideas and opinions. I've read practically every thread on here related to it. Its just nice to hear it fresh I guess. Main concern, if I do swap, what would be the difference physically such as the wiring and mounts? I have a phonedawgz harness so I don't think there would be much difference in that area. I need no emission stuff. Or just sticking a nice cam and rockers in my current engine. I guess i'm just really looking for opinions for you guys and drawing on everybody's experience, that's all.
Another option for you is to just do a top swap on your current motor. That means throw a 3.8SC top end on your current setup. The bottom end of the stock supercharged motor is built way stronger than the N/A but so long as you don't try and go crazy with the mods it could give you the extra power you want. It is something to at least look into. Parts may end up costing around the same as the supercharged motor. I may even have some extra parts in the garage, even though I just started this 3800 thing back in October I have accumulated lots of extra parts already.
I hope to be buying an L67 or L32 in the next couple months. All I want is the block and I would be selling the "top swap" in case you might be interested.
Of course you could always do what all the cool kids are doing and just turbo charge your 3800... BWAHAHA
I have a stock 3500 swap with the same power (200 hp) and honestly it's kind of a scary car to drive. Everything else stock, the motor can way overpower the chassis and brakes.
It's fun and all having globs of power but it just depends what you're planning on doing with it.
Sorry for the absence guys. Just been busy with work and life. I haven't had time to get around to pulling to tranny. Got her up on jackstands and I'm gonna see if i can swing the rear of the cradle down and pull the trans out the side. Here is to hoping lol. Really don't have any kind of definite plan with the car. It is a beautiful car, just brainstorming i guess.
