DarknessHunter

iTrader: (10)

ok ive been looking around and i cant seem to find anyafter market ecm or stand alone or ven piggyback systems do they exist

ive been looking around at different parts and such but wanted some ppls input that have built up the 3800.

what are good starting mods anything i special tricks or super parts i should know about

when i get back from afghanistan im gonna start with a l26 block and build a whole new 3800 for my car so any performance help is much appreciated

oh and about 4k is my budget aftermuch my wife set it at that, i was surprised i got that high

ghardester

My previous Bird was a '01 V-6. Beautiful car but I traded in on the WS6 I have now. Here's what I did to my V-6: I have a local Hot Rod shop that does excellent exhaust work. They put a 3" cat back on through a performance muffler. The important thing to know is that there is a restriction in the pipe from the CAT to where a 'off the shelf' cat-back will bolt up. It is resticted down to about an inch and half. My shop cut that piece off and welded the 3 inch right up the the CAT, big difference in performance and sound. If you want performance, do not just buy a bolt on exhaust.

I then bought a Jet Performance series II PCM module. A chip to some. You unhook the harness to the PCM and the module plugs in there in between the PCM and the harness. What this does is adjust for the new amount of air flow. It also removes or changes some of the limiters. My car was an auto and after I installed the Jet I could floor it and the tach would go all the way to the yellow line before shifting. The stock setting has kind of a lame shift point, I don't remember what it was.

And I put on a SLP under filter air scoop. That only cost about $125 and is easy. It gathers air from in front of the radiator and forces it up through the filter.

That's just what I did. If you really want more power tho, think about trading up to a LS1. Save your mod money and just buy up. It's a world of difference.

And I want you to know that I really appreciate your service for our country. I am an old fart and I know what you are doing for me. Gnu.

DarknessHunter

iTrader: (10)

wife wont let me sell the car that was one of the conditions of me buying it on r&r

2002redhawk

turbo, a buddy of mine here in town turbo'd his v6 camaro. He got it dynod recently and has like 373 hp. I know he put a decent amount of money in it tho. Air intake/headers/exhaust/pcm/tune/cam ect. ect.

jaywalkersw

I dont know if there are any major differences between the S/C 3800's and the N/A, but if there isn't maybe you could find the supercharger and intake from a GXP or the like. I dont know if this is possible so anyone else who does know chime in. Just an idea. If you can you could probably get a good deal on the parts if you can find a wrecked donor/junkyard. Bet you cant wait to get home...I spent 15 months in Afghanistan myself in 07-08. Stay safe!

DarknessHunter

iTrader: (10)

i looked into the 3800 sc already the intake is on the opposite side of the engine so it would be in the firewall

2002redhawk

Also i know some people that do the 5.3ltr swap.

Flaring Afro

ive heard bad things about the trannys etc in the v6s. youre going to spend a lot more trying to get to ls1 performance than trading for one. use that as an argument.

DarknessHunter

iTrader: (10)

id love to get a v8 but my wife is as stubborn as i am so when she says no its hell changing her mind. the agreement was if i was to get a firebird it was to be a v6

JD_AMG

Can you explain why it has to be a V6? I'm guessing you and the wife have some misconceptions about the V8.
No offense to anyone but to me buying a V6 muscle car is like buying non-alcoholic beer. You pay the muscle car premium for insurance, you get similar (sometimes worse) gas mileage of the V8 cars, you get a really raspy V6 soundtrack, and none of the performance of the V8 models.

Flaring Afro

yeah if its a stick then its a fact that the v8 gets better gas mileage.

DarknessHunter

iTrader: (10)

no, no misconceptions about all that her thing is used to street race so she didnt want me having the power to be stupid again so when i said i wanted a bird she said fine as long as its a v6=less power i told her i wanted black t-top and the t/a look so she said fine if you can find a black t-top v6 ill let you spend the extra to get the t/a body for it so i compromised with her on it.

but i nvr promised it would stay v6 or that i wouldnt build the v6 up so now im either looking to build the 6 up or swap in the 8 i was honest and bought a 6 just used a loophole to get more power

FormulaZR

iTrader: (7)

My wife had a V6 before her Formula. Anyway, RKSport has a supercharger kit for the V6 and headers. We used that and had an exhaust shop build a Y-pipe to go between the V6 headers and a factory Z28 3" exhaust system. It was a pretty impressive car.

Just looked at the RKSport site, and I can't find that supercharger anymore. But if I remember correctly it was a modified LT1 supercharger kit, so maybe one exists somewhere out there.

2002redhawk

convince her to get you a 5.3 ltr. Its an easy swap. You can use the 5.3 block and bolt on ls1 intake and stuff. And you can get a used one for like 300 bucks with 70k miles. ! But As far as keeping a v6. If your realy wanting to make power. Your either looking at a bottom end rebuild so its able to handle power. Then looking at a turbo/fuel system. I'd really push the 5.3 v8 swap. Or if you can find a ls1 for cheap push for that.

FirebirdPhil

iTrader: (8)

Abbott Racing Heads will take about 2k from your build fund, but they are worth it. Also go with one of their cams ($300), get some headers (OBX on eBay are stainless steel for $300 or Pacesetter Ceramic Coated for around $350) RKSport has headers but their flanges leave something to be desired. Magnaflow cat ($90), and a catback ($200-900 depending on what you want). For intake look into a Whisper lid ($100ish), and a Cold Air kit ($100). That brings you to about $3,190 if you go with about a $300 catback and leaves some cash for a shift kit and Corvette servo ($100 for both if you look). That also leaves cash for a n2o kit. You'll be happy.

DarknessHunter

iTrader: (10)

thanks for the info nice to get help when new to things i just found someone i can get all the stuff k member radiator and all from for about 400 to put a ls1 in so maybe my lil car will get the v8 treatment

FirebirdPhil

iTrader: (8)

That would be the best route to go honestly. Give this a read for everything needed to swap a LS1 into a V6.

http://www.tacreationsusa.com/3_4_3_8_v6_to_ls1.htm

DarknessHunter

iTrader: (10)

yeah i have that site saved thats where i found all the info for what i needed to swap in the v8 now just need to engine trans