Another Newbie Thread
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Another Newbie Thread so ive been directed to this site countless times from Google searches so thank you all, ive found very useful info here.
now i am in need of some direct assistance/opinions. i just bought an 02 firebird base model. figured i could use it as a daily since my other daily was a drag built 78 firebird. one week went by and the motor in the 02 had to be torn apart. it's a small V6 3800 series 2 motor. it packs a punch but not as much as my 78 with greatly dissapoints me lol.
I'm in a car club involving muscle cars and there's 3 mustangs with v6s that think they know how to build their horsepower. i'd like to show them up with my v6 and it's power
now here's the issue, while the V6 is in pieces, i have the option to build it up and make it powerful. along side this, i can scrap the whole challenge of showing up mustangs and build an LS1 instead.
what do?
now i am in need of some direct assistance/opinions. i just bought an 02 firebird base model. figured i could use it as a daily since my other daily was a drag built 78 firebird. one week went by and the motor in the 02 had to be torn apart. it's a small V6 3800 series 2 motor. it packs a punch but not as much as my 78 with greatly dissapoints me lol.
I'm in a car club involving muscle cars and there's 3 mustangs with v6s that think they know how to build their horsepower. i'd like to show them up with my v6 and it's power
now here's the issue, while the V6 is in pieces, i have the option to build it up and make it powerful. along side this, i can scrap the whole challenge of showing up mustangs and build an LS1 instead.
what do?
as someone who did the swap I say go LS. It depends on the goal of the car though, Warshrike did a build on the 3.8 and made some great power out of the motor. Ultimately though it depends on what you want out of the car.
Me I wanted the v8 sound and some torque to go along with it. I was never gonna get the sound I wanted of the 3.8 so I started from scratch.
Me I wanted the v8 sound and some torque to go along with it. I was never gonna get the sound I wanted of the 3.8 so I started from scratch.
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 5,798
Likes: 16
From: St.Charles MO
Neither is building the V6 to make stock LS1-like power.
Warshrike did an awesome full V6 build and made 250rwhp,
(https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-f...rebird-23.html)
a bone stock LS1 will make 300+rwhp all day. Bolt ons and you will be at 350+rwhp and running mid to low 12s in the 1/4 mile.
Its your car and its up to you, but with an LS1 those V6 mustangs wouldn't even be worth talking about.
Easiest thing to do IMO would be to sell it and just buy a V8 fbody, as swapping one is not as easy as you would think.
Warshrike did an awesome full V6 build and made 250rwhp,
(https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-f...rebird-23.html)
a bone stock LS1 will make 300+rwhp all day. Bolt ons and you will be at 350+rwhp and running mid to low 12s in the 1/4 mile.
Its your car and its up to you, but with an LS1 those V6 mustangs wouldn't even be worth talking about.
Easiest thing to do IMO would be to sell it and just buy a V8 fbody, as swapping one is not as easy as you would think.
Agreed the v6 performance market is pretty niche when it comes to the stuff really required to make the power so expect to pay a bit of a premium to get there.
Disagree with the swap being difficult though. A straight ls swap is a weekend job for the experienced. I've swapped 3.8's out in a day after doing it a few times. Now having the tools to accomplish the task might make it seem difficult. It's just too easy to plop that motor out the bottom.and set another one in it's place
Disagree with the swap being difficult though. A straight ls swap is a weekend job for the experienced. I've swapped 3.8's out in a day after doing it a few times. Now having the tools to accomplish the task might make it seem difficult. It's just too easy to plop that motor out the bottom.and set another one in it's place
Agreed the v6 performance market is pretty niche when it comes to the stuff really required to make the power so expect to pay a bit of a premium to get there.
Disagree with the swap being difficult though. A straight ls swap is a weekend job for the experienced. I've swapped 3.8's out in a day after doing it a few times. Now having the tools to accomplish the task might make it seem difficult. It's just too easy to plop that motor out the bottom.and set another one in it's place
Disagree with the swap being difficult though. A straight ls swap is a weekend job for the experienced. I've swapped 3.8's out in a day after doing it a few times. Now having the tools to accomplish the task might make it seem difficult. It's just too easy to plop that motor out the bottom.and set another one in it's place
That said, for a first timer you want to take your time with the swap but it's not hard.
^ you made it way harder than intended. I left the brake lines on and just zip tied the calipers to the chassis. left the power steering connected since I dropped the suspension with it. 6 bolts on the k member 4 bolts for the tranny, and 4 per side for the for the shock tower bolts one bolt in the slip joint for the steering shaft. disconnect the ecm and the three connectors on the inside of the car, disconnect the ground strap to chassis, the battery terminals and the lead from engine bay fuse box (take the power and negative wires with the engine as it drops) and the master cylinder vacuum line, and the small vacuum lines for the AC,, disconnect the radiator AC lines and heater lines and your good.
I was really shocked how quickly it could be done my first time around.
I was really shocked how quickly it could be done my first time around.
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
i'm no stranger to motor swapping but with this body style, yea. the designers at GM mustve been smoking banana peels to come up with an engine bay firewall to extend over the engine like this. anyway, how possible is it to supercharge the v6? you know, grab a supercharger from a GrandNational. i really hope i dont have to cut the firewall. and if supercharging is possible, then i'll have my decision
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo procharger I think sold a kit specifically for the 3.8. Full bolt on kit not body mods required that I remember. Never met anyone that did it though. I was actually gonna suggest it as an alternative still not not cheap though It used to retail for about 2600 I think.
Motor was recessed on the 4th gen to keep the weight off the nose of the car I think still a PITA to work on though
Motor was recessed on the 4th gen to keep the weight off the nose of the car I think still a PITA to work on though
i'm no stranger to motor swapping but with this body style, yea. the designers at GM mustve been smoking banana peels to come up with an engine bay firewall to extend over the engine like this. anyway, how possible is it to supercharge the v6? you know, grab a supercharger from a GrandNational. i really hope i dont have to cut the firewall. and if supercharging is possible, then i'll have my decision
procharger I think sold a kit specifically for the 3.8. Full bolt on kit not body mods required that I remember. Never met anyone that did it though. I was actually gonna suggest it as an alternative still not not cheap though It used to retail for about 2600 I think.
Motor was recessed on the 4th gen to keep the weight off the nose of the car I think still a PITA to work on though
Motor was recessed on the 4th gen to keep the weight off the nose of the car I think still a PITA to work on though
the grandprix's are a front wheel drive setup so it would set backwards on a rwd 3.8. It can work but honestly more work than its worth and requires an adapter plate.
powerdyne was the name of the company making the kit, not sure if they are available still though since nothing popped in the google.
powerdyne was the name of the company making the kit, not sure if they are available still though since nothing popped in the google.
the grandprix's are a front wheel drive setup so it would set backwards on a rwd 3.8. It can work but honestly more work than its worth and requires an adapter plate.
powerdyne was the name of the company making the kit, not sure if they are available still though since nothing popped in the google.
powerdyne was the name of the company making the kit, not sure if they are available still though since nothing popped in the google.
I'd discard either idea and go with an LSx swap of some sort. That's not as expensive as you might think. There are deals to be had on 5.3's pulled from trucks etc.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 68
Likes: 1
From: Basehor, KS
I was going to put an l67 in my 02 but in the end it was creeping up on the price of an LS swap and I found a LS1 cheap but you don't have to go LS1 you can buy a 5.3 relatively cheap. I have a swap thread it shows a fair amount of photos.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-f...t5-ls-t56.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-f...t5-ls-t56.html
Staging Lane
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 68
Likes: 1
From: Basehor, KS
^ you made it way harder than intended. I left the brake lines on and just zip tied the calipers to the chassis. left the power steering connected since I dropped the suspension with it. 6 bolts on the k member 4 bolts for the tranny, and 4 per side for the for the shock tower bolts one bolt in the slip joint for the steering shaft. disconnect the ecm and the three connectors on the inside of the car, disconnect the ground strap to chassis, the battery terminals and the lead from engine bay fuse box (take the power and negative wires with the engine as it drops) and the master cylinder vacuum line, and the small vacuum lines for the AC,, disconnect the radiator AC lines and heater lines and your good.
I was really shocked how quickly it could be done my first time around.
I was really shocked how quickly it could be done my first time around.
^ you made it way harder than intended. I left the brake lines on and just zip tied the calipers to the chassis. left the power steering connected since I dropped the suspension with it. 6 bolts on the k member 4 bolts for the tranny, and 4 per side for the for the shock tower bolts one bolt in the slip joint for the steering shaft. disconnect the ecm and the three connectors on the inside of the car, disconnect the ground strap to chassis, the battery terminals and the lead from engine bay fuse box (take the power and negative wires with the engine as it drops) and the master cylinder vacuum line, and the small vacuum lines for the AC,, disconnect the radiator AC lines and heater lines and your good.
I was really shocked how quickly it could be done my first time around.
I was really shocked how quickly it could be done my first time around.