What I am looking for in an engine swap is an SC 3800 motor as they are reported to have all the goodies, steel crank,
sintered steel rods, hypoeutectic pistons. Maybe other stuff I am not aware of. My plans are to drop an SC motor into
an '85 Fiero and run the SC until I can get a turbocharger put together. Then replace the SC with the turbo. I plan
to use the stock 4 speed manual trans that came with the car.

Is there a particular year or model of a factory supercharged 3800 engine I should be looking for? Might as well get the
best options while I am looking as I would like to keep the build costs down.

As another thought, are roller cams or roller rockers worth the investment or is there a better place to spend money on
this conversion?

Thanks for the help.

Randy

Anything Series II and Series III which should be 1999 to 2007

Be aware that anything beyond 2005 will be drive by wire and doesn't use a throttle cable, so you will have to convert the throttle body to the earlier style.

A better choice would be the Series III with the Northstar throttle body and an LQ4 MAF.

Slightly more money (although most of our swaps use that combo on the Series II and Series III) and you get to have a throttle cable.

quote Originally posted by rehoward: Is there a particular year or model of a factory supercharged 3800 engine I should be looking for?

One with the least mileage. Example, 2000 GTP 65k miles vs 2008 GTP 168k miles. If you're going to rebuild from the pan up then it may not matter too much except for the upgraded parts, SC, TB, etc.

Spoon

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"Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut

quote Originally posted by rehoward: What I am looking for in an engine swap is an SC 3800 motor as they are reported to have all the goodies, steel crank, sintered steel rods, hypoeutectic pistons. Maybe other stuff I am not aware of. My plans are to drop an SC motor into an '85 Fiero and run the SC until I can get a turbocharger put together. Then replace the SC with the turbo. I plan to use the stock 4 speed manual trans that came with the car. Is there a particular year or model of a factory supercharged 3800 engine I should be looking for? Might as well get the best options while I am looking as I would like to keep the build costs down. As another thought, are roller cams or roller rockers worth the investment or is there a better place to spend money on this conversion? Thanks for the help. Randy

No 3800 SC engine ever came with a steel crank - they all received cast iron cranks.

3800 Series 1 and 2 Supercharged engines had cast connecting rods. 3800 Series 3 engines (I think) had powdered metal connecting rods.

3800 Series 1 engines have very little performance aftermarket support. Their design is based on the old 3.8L V6 which has a 1" taller deck height (making the engine taller and wider) than the Series 2 and 3 3800's.

3800 Series 2 and 3 engines are essentially the same concerning hard parts except for the aforementioned connecting rods. The only reason the 3800 Series 3 SC engine made 20 more HP than the Series 2 as due to the improved Gen5 blower.

If you are planning on doing a turbo build, you can use any Series 2 or 3 Supercharged engine. The stock internals will endure 7-13 psi of boost reliably, perhaps higher boost levels if you are running E85 or race gas. The biggest issue with these engines is the stock pistons; more precisely the placement of the top compression ring land (too close to the top of the piston - which exposes it to more heat) and a very tight factory ring gap (which was done for emissions). You need to be careful with stock pistons and ring gap specs if you plan on running a lot of boost with a turbo.

3800 Series 2 SC was used from 1996-2005.

3800 Series 3 SC was used from 2004-07.

Best car to get a 3800 Series 2 or 3 engine from is a W-body (Regal, Grand Prix, Impala/Monte Carlo) because these engines received supercharger belt drive pulley brackets that work in a Fiero swap. C/H/G body 3800 SC engine supercharger belt drive pulley brackets will hit the Fiero firewall. Also, the W-body wiring harnesses are the easiest to modify to work in a Fiero. C/H/G body harnesses have an extra firewall bulkhead connector to deal with, which you don't need in a Fiero.

Check out my website for more info about my Turbo 3800 builds, and feel free to email or PM me if you have any questions (as I don't have time to visit this forum very often).

-Ryan
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More is more. Less is not enough.

Custom GM OBD1 & OBD2 Tuning | Engine Conversions & more | www.gmtuners.com

[This message has been edited by Darth Fiero (edited 10-25-2023).]