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Buick 3800 in a rear wheel drive???

D

daytripper

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Black Diamond,WA
I have a Buick 3800 in a front wheel drive park avenue(1988). My question is can this be adapted to a rear wheel drive tranny??
 
hm.... not remembering what.... but there was a difference.
If I remember....will post.
Glenn
 
I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work too great as its designed to mount transverse (due to front wheel drive) whereas a rear-wheel drive mounts longitudinally. I had some thoughts bout that concerning the Camaro and Bonneville from the mid-90's. The Bonneville had an optional super-charger to give it a 40 hp boost over the Camaro's version of that engine. It was the 3800 Series II I believe.
 
GM made a couple of trannies about that time frame, that were universal bolt pattern, big block/small block. Can´t remember the numbers off hand, seemed to be a downsized variation of the 700R4.
 
Metric 200 was the 3speed autotranny used behind the carbed 3.8 in the G bodies (Cutlass/Regal/Monte Carlo/Grand Prix) I think the 200r4 is the OD tranny used in the Regal Grand National and the GNX :scottm:

The only MPFI RWD version of the 3800 (Series I or Series II) that I am aware of was the F bodies (Camero/Firechicken) and again I am not sure of the tranny.

Either way I am not aware of any difference in mounting patterns on the bell housing so I would expect an EFI 3.8, 3800 Series I or II from a FWD application to bolt up against either tranny above.

Series I and Series II were available in Supercharged versions (Bonneville SSEi, Grand Prix GTP, Regal GS SC and Lesabres of various designs)

Travis
 
Putting one of these in a Cherokee has been done. There were magazine articles about it from back in '87 or so if I recall correctly. I even happened upon one in Colorado during a trip up Schofield pass once. I snapped pics and chatted with the owner. I was driving an '84 with the gutless 2.8, so this was of REAL interest to me. I upgraded to a '92 instead. Then I updated to a '98. That's what I'm driving today. Jeff
 
Just stumbled onto this old thread....

It's not an XJ, but I am putting a series II 3800SC into a RWD using an AW4/Klune/D300 combo. I've got a thread on it going on another board.

Still have a lot to finish. It's definitely not a bolt-in, but that means most all will apply to an XJ as well.

Thread is here

Couple shots:
118_1845.jpg

118_1859.jpg


--Dan
 
I know the 3800 uses a differnt belhouseing than standard BOP(buick, olds, pontiac). the early 3.8 blocks that came in the RWD cars, obviously work. now, im not positive, but i think you may also be able to put the 3800 heads and intake parts on an earlyer block. we were going through the same thing, we have a FWD 3.8 in an olds, looking to swap into a triumph spitfire. I believe, but not positive, that its the same bellhouseing at the 2.8V6 in the camaros and blazers. however, you if you go manual trans, you need to buy a special flywheel, as i dont believe the 3800 eveyr used a manual trans in FWD. and the 3.8 where balenaced diffent, one external,. ones internal, cant remeber which. im really working of memory here, and what we've thought looks like it will work. best bet may be to go to PnP or the like, ans do some comparisons. you 3800 should be the same as any 3.8 FWD BOP car.
 
hillbilly_jeeper said:
I believe, but not positive, that its the same bellhouseing at the 2.8V6 in the camaros and blazers. however, you if you go manual trans, you need to buy a special flywheel, as i dont believe the 3800 eveyr used a manual trans in FWD. and the 3.8 where balenaced diffent, one external,. ones internal, cant remeber which.
Click to expand...

The 3800 bell is the standard GM 60 deg V6 pattern, so yeah, same as 2.8, 3.1, 3.4. Not sure if there was a manual FWD or not, but the f-body used the series II 3800 as well so a flywheel will work from that. Note though, the L67 SC motor has a differently balanced flexplate, so the non-SC flywheel may need re-balancing if you're gonna use it on a SC motor.

Lots of good manual tranny bellhousing info here:
http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/showthread.php?t=4740

--Dan
 
houlster said:
The 3800 bell is the standard GM 60 deg V6 pattern, so yeah, same as 2.8, 3.1, 3.4. Not sure if there was a manual FWD or not, but the f-body used the series II 3800 as well so a flywheel will work from that. Note though, the L67 SC motor has a differently balanced flexplate, so the non-SC flywheel may need re-balancing if you're gonna use it on a SC motor.

Lots of good manual tranny bellhousing info here:
http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/showthread.php?t=4740

--Dan
Click to expand...

3800s to my knowledge never came with manual transmissions. That said, it can be done. Pontiac Fiero guys do it all the time, but it requires quite a bit of adaptation.
 
hklvette said:
3800s to my knowledge never came with manual transmissions.
Click to expand...
Didn't some camaro's have 3800's with 5spds.

edit: maybe it was a 3400
 
Last edited:
No - the starter mounting pad is on the wrong side.

For the engine to work in a RWD/4WD/AWD configuration (for GM, anyhow,) there needs to be a starter motor mounting pad on the rear side of the engine, as mounted (in FWD, the starter motor is usually on the front side of the engine, as mounted.)
 
hklvette said:
3800s to my knowledge never came with manual transmissions. That said, it can be done. Pontiac Fiero guys do it all the time, but it requires quite a bit of adaptation.
Click to expand...

You do realized that you replied to a 3 year old thread?
 
ia green96 said:
You do realized that you replied to a 3 year old thread?
Click to expand...

Nope, didn't occur to me to check before posting. That said, I will probably be putting a 3800SC in my '98 though some time in the future, so this thread is/was of interest.
 
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