ok my mechanic is shying away from the 350 transplant into my 84 3.8 regal.....he wants more miles outa the investment and wants all vaccum hoses and stuff like that too hook back up exactly where it goes...my question. what can i do too a rebuilt 3.8 to make it fast ? what can i expect too spend extra too make it a gnx motor? and what is a t-type regal? does anyone know if a 4.1 buick v6 would drop right in and link up too my tranny ? would that be a better motor? i am just researching my ass of and i would appreciate any input, i am sure everyone out there is more mechanically inclined than i am , i just know i love my regal and want it to have the best v6 i can afford....
The guys at www.turbobuick.com are a wealth of knowledge on V6's and turb V6 swaps. If you haven't tried there yet, you should! www.gnntype.org and www.turbobuicks.com are good resources as well if you are going to out a turbo in that car.
the turbo plumbing and wiring entirely different bird. You would have to have a gn or t type(t type is the same thing with out the darth vader styling) donor car to do the conversion. Bidg pain in the a$$. not worth the trouble. WAY worse than dumping a 455 or Buick 350 in. you can still hook up vaccum accessories with a vaccuum diagram. the tranny will need some beefing up before you do alot of thrashing. OR Get a four barrel intake and carburator, cam, lifters, and a good port job for a fresh 231(3.8). come to think of it , a Properly built, carburated, 3.8 would put up with a good amount of nitrous. If you look around you can find alot of normally asperated 231 goodies such as headers, intake cam, engine restraints(you'll need one with the v6 mount),ect.
The 4.1l V6 would be a direct swap. They came stock in Regals in the early 80's. You can also find them, oddly enough, in some early 80's Cadillac RWD Sedan DeVilles. Not positive on the Regals, but the Caddies also had the 200-4r overdrive tranny - that would help out in a big way too. Get some 3.42 or 3.73 gears to go with that overdrive. Gears will make a big difference in acceleration.
I APPRICIATE IT GUYS , I WILL EXPLORE THE V6 NON TURBO AVENUES RECOMMENDED. I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO BEING A CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE WEB SITE, AND WILL POST PHOTOS OF THE REPLACEMENT OF THE 3.8 OR TRANSPLANT OF THE 4.1 WHICH EVER WE DECIDE ON. THANKS AGAIN..
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The 200R4 O/D tranny is standard on any Gn OR ttype from 84/87. They also came with the 8.5" rear end with 3.42 gearing. Limited slip was an option. I know many guys who have done an engine swap to the potent 3.8L SFI turbo. But usually it involves getting a full doner car to access all of the parts. If you do not have the access to a doner car, it will make life aliving hell to do the swap. With all the wiring, ecm, brackets and such. The 4.1 is a direct boltup and uses pretty well all the same parts as the 3.8. In fact, Some of us GN guys have swapped over to the 4.1 block cause of some of the advantages they have. If I were you, I would consider swapping to a V8 cause it is quire more inexpensive then the GN motor, and parts are more readily available. just my 2 cents! :bglasses:
