Ls turbo swap or build 3.8 ?

[Favian Cuevas]

Well i have a 1985 wh1 type originally I got it with the original 3.8 non Ic engine soon after I converted over to enter cool I picked everything up out of an 86 mine is the transmission I'm still running the 85 transmission well the tranny went out I have a blown head gasket as well and I'm at a crossroad of either doing a full build on the 3.8 or switching over to an LS Turbo application my goal is to pushing mid 600 horses I know I can chief that with the ls at very little cost but I don't know about the 3.8 ... if anyone can shine some light or they've been in this same situation any tips and advice will be great

 

[b4black]

Sell the car and get a Monte Carlo. Then put an LS in that.

 

[Charles Young]

Sell the car and get a Monte Carlo. Then put an LS in that.

This.


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[greeneyegi]

Its your car do with it as you please. Your going to get nothing but negative remarks on this sight about going ls. So asking that question here just causes pissing matches.
Ill be honest I wouldnt hesitate to go LS in that car.

 

[Favian Cuevas]

Its your car do with it as you please. Your going to get nothing but negative remarks on this sight about going ls. So asking that question here just causes pissing matches.
Ill be honest I wouldnt hesitate to go LS in that car.

Yea your right alot of people will be acting immature on here but but I might just stick with the 3.8 but I might have to send it out in full force build and try to achieve the power that I'm looking for

 

[Linewalker]

I'm in the crowd that a Buick should have a Buick engine. Having said that. It's your car. Do what you want to it. I don't have to like it. You do!

 

[t3intercooled]

Ive always had respect for engine swaps. Especially the ones that require major fabrication. Its interesting to see people's visions and skills come to life. It is true, many people are so ignorant and stuck in their ways that swapping engines becomes a major pissing match. Simple thing I live by, "Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one." So do what you want to do and do it the way you want it done. People want to hate on it, more power to them, its not their car, as long as you like it and are proud of it, that's all that matters.

As a side thought, ya want something different? For the people that say a Buick should have a Buick engine in it..cool...throw a Buick 455 in it. Hell throw on a supercharger and you will be over 1000hp as was done on this one!

As long as youre happy with it thats all that matters!

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[T- Type Tim]

thats bad ass.......me personally...... i still enjoy the v6 .
for what my car is : an occasional racer and street car its satisfying to keep the car powered as it was in my youth.


if i was a competitive racer for $...... ls turbo makes sense

 

[t3intercooled]

thats bad ass.......me personally...... i still enjoy the v6 .
for what my car is : an occasional racer and street car its satisfying to keep the car powered as it was in my youth.


if i was a competitive racer for $...... ls turbo makes sense

I'm with ya there, the V6 is my preference as well. I know that is insane! The thing that is more crazy is that the car that the engine was built for is his daily driver LOL



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[INEEDAGN]

My thoughts:

1: I think reliable hp in an ls and the associated swap costs more than people think it does. Buddy of mine bought a wrecked trans am and swapped the engine and 4L60e and had the harnesses sent off to make a simplified "hybrid harness". The car is awesome but he swears he has 10k in the swap by the time he got the mounts and gauges and driveshaft/crossmember, etc all sorted out. The engine is still stock.

2: many of the parts will cost the same regardless of which route you go. The fuel pump and lines and injectors don't know what engine they're feeding, 600hp worth of fuel costs the same either way. Same goes with the turbo. LS swap probably requires a different turbo but the price difference between two different new turbos is going to be a non factor. Transmission? Hope you don't plan to build a 600 horse 4L60E any cheaper than a 200-4R. If you swap to 4L60e/4L80e/400/etc you will have associated headaches with driveshaft length and crossmember and dipstick tube. The 400 option imo kills the streetability. Non lockup 3 speed means you are running 3k+ rpm on the highway getting 10-12 mpg. Might as well have a 60s car with a BBC. 4L80e ain't cheap either. And it'll need a computer to run it (probably will already have this with whatever system you run for the LS).

I haven't reaserched g body mounts and turbo headers for an LS. I'm sure they exist but it's all stuff that has to be paid for after you pay for the engine.


Ain't cheap no matter what you do. I won't even get into the pissing match of converting a wh1 to LS. To quote Tupac: "I ain't mad at cha. "

 

[salvageV6]

Sell it As Is.

Get a Monte Carlo.

Register over on a Monte website.

Ask if you should swap in a built Buick 3.8 or keep the 305 and turbo it.

Post your answers in the Lounge.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

I'll give you a Monte Carlo and a bone yard LS if you give me the TR and all it's parts.

 

[turbocamino1]

^ ^ ^ game changer,lol especially if the LS runs : o But...walk around any car show and every other car has an LS. imho, cars that get the most interest are usually unique,one of a kind. 600hp is fun but a short lived thrill. Think ahead a few years before you spend your hard earned doe.

 

[jckcolarusso]

The hard part is finding a machine shop that can build a 3.8 with out fucking it up

 

[toofastforyou]

Its your car do with it as you please. Your going to get nothing but negative remarks on this sight about going ls. So asking that question here just causes pissing matches.
Ill be honest I wouldnt hesitate to go LS in that car.

Exactly. If I were you, I'd ignore the negative comments and definitely go with the LS .

Claude.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

Exactly. If I were you, I'd ignore the negative comments and definitely go with the LS .

Claude.

Thanks Claude.

You see, even Claude wants you to give me your car!

The hard part is finding a machine shop that can build a 3.8 with out fucking it up

Not a problem for me to find one.

I don't know why I even look at these threads. It's kind of like a gory car accident. After I look, I then wish I didn't. My day is ruined once again.

Unsubscibed

 

[toofastforyou]

Thanks Claude.

You see, even Claude wants you to give me your car!

Joey, although I do love my turbo V6, if I had to build a new powerplant for my car, I definitely wouldn't hesitate and go with an LS…Why?…because when building a fast turbo V6 engine, parts are way harder to come by, usually cost a lot more because they are produced in smaller quantities and it always take "forever" to get your engine back…Ask me…my engine has been out of the car for two years now with no idea of when I'll have it back…Even Jack himself can't give me an answer. There won't be any racing for me this year because of that.
If I knew, I would've discarded the whole turbo V6 and gone to Steve Morris who he would've built me a killer turbocharged LS engine, easily capable of running into the 8's and it would've taken about 45 - 50 days to get it, not 2 f***in' years (and counting) like it is now!

Claude.

 

[Favian Cuevas]

Well my mind is set to stay with the buick 3.8 sorry if i pissed of people on here did not mean to do so ... the awsome thing is that i live like 15 min away from Nick out here in arizona so ama go sit down with him an have a game plan on building a well behave Street monster ...

 

[Favian Cuevas]

Joey, although I do love my turbo V6, if I had to build a new powerplant for my car, I definitely wouldn't hesitate and go with an LS…Why?…because when building a fast turbo V6 engine, parts are way harder to come by, usually cost a lot more because they are produced in smaller quantities and it always take "forever" to get your engine back…Ask me…my engine has been out of the car for two years now with no idea of when I'll have it back…Even Jack himself can't give me an answer. There won't be any racing for me this year because of that.
If I knew, I would've discarded the whole turbo V6 and gone to Steve Morris who he would've built me a killer turbocharged LS engine, easily capable of running into the 8's and it would've taken about 45 - 50 days to get it, not 2 f***in' years (and counting) like it is now!

Claude.

Wow sorry to hear that man hope you get it soon an thats were i was i even have a ls engine here with me thats why i was debating on what to do but ama sell it to a buddy for his nova so it worked out in the end ..

 

[toofastforyou]

Wow sorry to hear that man hope you get it soon an thats were i was i even have a ls engine here with me thats why i was debating on what to do but ama sell it to a buddy for his nova so it worked out in the end ..

Favian, don't worry, you're not pissing me off at all… I'm in the "same boat" as you but I'm beginning to regret rebuilding my V6 engine. It gets so frustrating having to wait and wait with promises that it'll be ready "soon"…yeah sure… I'm losing interest in the car because of that. Too bad because it's the one car I've owned in my whole life which I've had the most fun with, but I can't help but think that it's all over now. I keep saying to myself that when I get it back, I'll just be happy to drive it every now and then and don't have any plans to race it again in the forseable future...that's it… too bad though to have a mid 9 second car that'll just be "granny driven" around my town.
Luckily, I have another car to enjoy, go to car shows with it, but no racing that one though.
But "if I knew" …

Claude.

P.S: What pi**es me off is that I know that if I had have an LS engine built, I'd already be enjoying it right now…