Hopefully this hasn't been discussed to death as I have searched both this forum and the internet at large without any difinative answers...

I'm looking into a 3800 swap for my Fiero. NA Series II engines are pretty easy to find here, but that just won't do for the power I want. I have several buddies who are into 80s Turbo Regals and have lots of Gand National parts laying around. The question I have is...

Will the 80s 3.8 heads and intake bolt up to a 3800 Series II ? Will anything interchange at all?

If not, does anyone make a BOP->60^ V6 adapter plate?

Thanks,
Chad

One way you coulde find out is to get a head gasket for th old 3.8 and one for the 3800 lay them on top of each other see if all the bolt hole and water passeges line up

not sure BUT i DONOT THINK ALOTOF STUFF SWAPS
FROM A 3.8 TO A 3800-1 -2 0R 3

THEY REDID THE MOTOR TOTALLY

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Question wonder and be wierd
are you kind?

There's very little, if anything, in common between the two engines. They're almost completely different.

Not to mention they are from RWD cars with the Chevy bolt pattern.

There really is not advantage to using anything 3.8L pre-Series 1 unless its got the GNX turbo setup. OTher than that, its a waste of time and money IMO.

quote Originally posted by Chad87FB: Hopefully this hasn't been discussed to death as I have searched both this forum and the internet at large without any difinative answers... I'm looking into a 3800 swap for my Fiero. NA Series II engines are pretty easy to find here, but that just won't do for the power I want. I have several buddies who are into 80s Turbo Regals and have lots of Gand National parts laying around. The question I have is... Will the 80s 3.8 heads and intake bolt up to a 3800 Series II ? Will anything interchange at all? If not, does anyone make a BOP->60^ V6 adapter plate? Thanks, Chad

One of the Archie knock-off kits I saw was drilled for the BOP pattern. Some of the bellhousing and dowel pin holes are common between Chev and BOP patterns, so if you have a plate with either one, you can lay out and drill the other.

I know for sure that the heads won't go on the S2 from the 3.8 because the order of the cam lobes E-I-I-E etc changed going to the Series 2.

I also don't see the point to using the old 3.8 parts versus at least Series I SC parts with the turbo setup adapted.

Try this link. Good info on the pre 3800 FWD 3.8's. I was thinking of a carb'd 3.8 using T/A Performance aluminium heads.
Best Regards,
Mark

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...030819-2-033399.html

Thanks for the info, guys, and MarkS... thanks for the LINK! That is PERFECT info and exactly what I needed. I talked to one of my Turbo Regal buddies and he actually knows where there are a couple of LeSabre T-Types with the FWD 3.8 engine in them. He's going to call and see if one of them in an '87 wich would have the roller cam'd Series 1 engine in it. Granted these are not turbo engines, but everything from a turbo regal will bolt on and it has the 60^ V6 bellhousing pattern.

AP2K, the RWD 3.8 turbo Buick engine uses the BOP (Buick, Olds, Pontiac) bolt pattern (not Chevy). An 86-87 turbo buick can lay down well over 300hp to the wheels with very minor modifications (less than $1000). It's enough to put the heavy G-body deep into the 12s. Now stuff that into a Fiero which weighs 1000# less... you see where I'm headed.

The rationale for this is that with my connections, parts will be cheap and easy to find and there are a lot of people who know these things inside and out.. SC'd 3800s are not that common here, shipping from the 48 states would be a killer and no one here is familiar with them (no local support).

Thanks again for the info,
Chad

The 3.8L is totally different being a SBC less two cylinders. It has the SBC bolt pattern that will require V8 Archies adapter plate to mate up. It' uses different mounts and just about everything else. The 3800SC swap has been done in Fieros numerous times and the swap steps have been outlined many times on this forum. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, you might want to consider the 3800SC or 3800 turbo for an easier to do and less expensive swap. To my knowledge no one has successfully transplanted the 3.8L Regal/GN turbo engine in a Fiero and I see no advantages to using this engine. .

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87GT 3.4 Turbo- 0-60 5.2 seconds
2006 3800SC Series III swap in progress
Engine Controls, PCM goodies,
re-programming & odd electronics stuff
" I'M ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

Dennis there where 3 different 3.8 GM had they had a Chevy rwd, Buick rwd & a buick Fwd the new Buick 3800 is bassed on the old Buick 3.8 but the old Buick 3.8 and the new 3800 dont have any parts that interchange

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: The 3.8L is totally different being a SBC less two cylinders. It has the SBC bolt pattern that will require V8 Archies adapter plate to mate up. It' uses different mounts and just about everything else. The 3800SC swap has been done in Fieros numerous times and the swap steps have been outlined many times on this forum. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, you might want to consider the 3800SC or 3800 turbo for an easier to do and less expensive swap. To my knowledge no one has successfully transplanted the 3.8L Regal/GN turbo engine in a Fiero and I see no advantages to using this engine. .

Like I said above, the RWD 3.8 BUICK motor uses the BOP bolt pattern. It is not a 350 missing 2 cylinders. It's derived from the 215 Buick V6 developed back in the 60s. You're thinking of the 3.8 CHEVY motor that eventually became the 4.3. 2 totally different engines.

From what I gather readng the posts in the link above, the mid-80s FWD Buick/Pontiac 3.8 uses the 60^ V6 bellhousing bolt pattern and will accept the RWD top half. Like I said, these parts are much more plentiful here in Hawaii than the 3800SC. It will be much easier for me to find the top half off of a turbo Regal than a complete 3800SC. I already have a line on an '87 FWD Series 1 3.8. These engines are so easy to get 300whp out of it's almost disgusting. Tuning for them is cheap and readilly avialble.

If no one reinvented the wheel, we'd all be driving around in 2.8 V6 cars with 150hp.

Chad,
Please keep us updated as you go. What I thought I'd do was to get a bone yard VIN 3 3.8, put it on a stand and start digging in; cheap investment and a ball of fun. I think its probably wise to keep the FWD front cover with the accessory drives from the FWD. Means you would need to use the waste spark distributorless ignition. I would think the turbo T/A's had this but unsure if the turbo GN / T types used that? My goal might be a Holley carb 'd deep breather with a velocity stack poking out of the deck yuk yuk!
Regards,
Mark

quote Originally posted by MarkS: Chad, Please keep us updated as you go. What I thought I'd do was to get a bone yard VIN 3 3.8, put it on a stand and start digging in; cheap investment and a ball of fun. I think its probably wise to keep the FWD front cover with the accessory drives from the FWD. Means you would need to use the waste spark distributorless ignition. I would think the turbo T/A's had this but unsure if the turbo GN / T types used that? My goal might be a Holley carb 'd deep breather with a velocity stack poking out of the deck yuk yuk! Regards, Mark

Will do. This is a long-term project as I have a new business to get off the ground as well. Priorities and all that. Fortunatly the new business is an automotive machine shop so I can build whatever engine I come accross fairly cheaply

Turbo Regals use distributorless "waste spark" coil pack ignitions as well. The RWD and FWD 3.8s (pre Series II) are VERY similar. The '89 Turbo Trans Am used a RWD block and FWD heads, so the interchange has been done at the factory.

Chad87FB hay good luck with your new shop hope it go's well i had a shop for 15 years but was in a small town had alot of fun hop you have as good a time as i did

[This message has been edited by engine man (edited 08-08-2007).]