Street Rod Project

[gnbrian]

I have a street rod project in the planning a 1935 Cevvy(Old Buicks are hard to find). I originally wanted to install a 3.8 turbo drive train, but was wondering about a supercharged engine instead. I really have not studied the situation very carefully, are there problems with this( intake plenum at the rear of the engine, etc? ) Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[Kansas T]

I have seen several front drive engines, not supercharged 3.8's, converted to work in street rods. in most cases, the air cleaner was either behind the fire wall under the cowl panel, or there was a 180 degree bent pipe adapter for the air cleaner to mate with the throttle body.

 

[KendallF]

Originally posted by gnbrian
I have a street rod project in the planning a 1935 Cevvy(Old Buicks are hard to find). I originally wanted to install a 3.8 turbo drive train, but was wondering about a supercharged engine instead. I really have not studied the situation very carefully, are there problems with this( intake plenum at the rear of the engine, etc? ) Any comments would be appreciated.

I think this would be a GREAT motor for a street rod! My wife's 97 GS is one of the smoothest running motors you've ever seen...instant, seamless power. You'd make more power than the typical, generic SBC, and you'd have something different.

The major problem I see is getting a transmission for it. As far as I know, nothing bolts up without modification. It may be the same as the Northstar, where you can use a 700R4 from a Chevy 2.8 V6 with the bellhousing slightly modified; I don't know. Otherwise, you could buy a RWD 3800 from a late model Camaro and swap heads and rotating assemblies from the S/C motor (S/C rods, pistons, and heads are all different than the N/A versions).

Good luck if you decide to try it!