Richard Nixon wrote: I would just like to add that we have successfully made 23 replies, and not one mentions anything about an LS1. Today, I am proud of us. Faith in GRM has been restored.
Thank you for keeping us all inline. I was beginning to wonder who would be the first to say it!
i was thinking it, but then i thought you would have just started with a trans am.
gearheadmb wrote: You know, there are a lot of superchargers for 3800s from bonnevilles and rivieras out there. I'm just saying.
Came here to say this and I'm just quoting.
The superchargers intake end faces the firewall when installed. Not that custom jobs haven't been done and are cool, I'm just not the right guy for the job.
Gearheadotaku wrote:Richard Nixon wrote: I would just like to add that we have successfully made 23 replies, and not one mentions anything about an LS1. Today, I am proud of us. Faith in GRM has been restored.Thank you for keeping us all inline. I was beginning to wonder who would be the first to say it!
If we're staying inline, then this should have been suggested:
Hey, they put 'em in Camaros and Firebirds...
I'd have to use the OHC Sprint 6 in that case, because Pontiac 
Talked to the machine shop Friday, should have the engine back Monday or Tuesday.
Bearings are toast and rings aren't so hot either. oddly it burned no oil so...
Block and heads cleaned, crank turned, bearings fitted, bad rod resized, new cam bearings. Cylinders honed and new rings.
Meanwhile I received a box of goodies -n- gaskets from Rock auto. Assembled front cover with new oil pump, new seal in rear cover. (cleaned all this stuff and the oil pan earlier.) Put in a new pinion seal that has been leaking for a bit and fabbed a new ground strap to replace an old rotten one. Cleaned the rack and subframe as they were filthy too. Front brake hard lines looked quite bad, so replaced them. My brother pulled a set out of a junkyard in Atlanta and shipped them up to me. No rust, no fuss! Damn things look brand new despite being 14 years old. I've really got to get out of this road salt state.
So much for my trip to Vegas 
Gearheadotaku wrote: Don't know what kind of oil the PO used. I've only had the car a short time. car ran fine, used no oil and (I assume) had good compression. This is a repair, not a rebuild. RWD 3800's are different (I think) than FWD. Hoping just to clean and put in new bearings.
The main difference between the FWD & RWD 3800's is the intake manifold. As previously pointed out, there are great deals to be had in junkyard 3800's. I picked up an L26 (04+ 3800 from a Grand Prix) with 9 miles on it for $500 here in Iowa, where typically used engine prices & selection suck.
The 96-up 3800s are the same except for the intakes and accessory drive stuff, so plenty of long blocks out there in big GM FWD cars. Of course since yours is rebuilt now, you know how good the engine is, no guessing on condition of junkyard engines.
so a series 3 engine may have worked? (beats head against wall)
Oh well. Should have it back tomorrow. At least my car will still be "Numbers Matching"
Enjoy following this thread, I'm a fan of the 3800, another example of a crappy design GM stuck with so long they finally turned it into a great motor.
I just rented a prev-Gen Impala with that engine, holy cripes did that thing scoot. And averaged 23 mpg in my mostly-urban thrashing.
Edit: Apparently that car had the High Value replacement for the 3800. Oh, well. It was still an awesome engine.
Well got the motor back on Wednesday night (the 14th) and got to work. Have family in town so progress was a bit slow, but it's finally in! Though I haven't fired it yet....
Here's the cleaned up short block:
The assembled engine (sort of underwhelming as it looks just like it did when it came out.):
Dropped the body back down:
Then finished all the wiring, exhaust, drive shaft, etc. etc. As we all know its a good idea to label all your parts and hardware. I took the time to clean some greasy stuff for a more pleasant reassembly.
Wait a second. Why am I looking at the inspection plate when the motor and trans have already been installed?
Berkley.
Lost and hour getting the plate in, would have taken about 1 minute if I had done it at the proper time. At least it wasn't the clutch! The steering linkage decided to be difficult and sucked up a bunch more time. Added fluids to only to discover a water leak. Had to pull the alternator bracket back off. I did put fresh o-rings on when I assembled it. Added some sealer to them and put it back together. Letting it dry for the night then I'll start it.
At least your plate there is easy to put in. On the miata I always forget that plate and putting it on requires removal of the flywheel from the crank.
In reply to Gearheadotaku: You should have painted the valve covers and intake manifold.
Mr_Clutch42 wrote: In reply to Gearheadotaku: You should have painted the valve covers and intake manifold.
I like to leave aluminum bare. In this application painting those parts strikes me as too ricey.
Started it up yesterday and it seems to be running fine. Already put 100 or so miles on it. Success?! 
At least now you have a fresh engine instead of an iffy junk yard bomb. Did you do any valve refreshing ?
If you really want to test it come visit the Compound again
I forgot the inspection cover when I put a new clutch in the wife's '93 Impreza.
Right there with you. 
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