So school me on the 3.8 v6 motor

Once again looking at a daily driver , it is an 1985 with a low miles 3.8 v6 2v.

I "assume" this is the engine that led/morphed into the Buick 3800?

If so it should be a decent engine, yes?

Also does it have a BOP bellhousing pattern?

The trans is so/so , so a swap would be in the near future if it turns out to be more then something minor to fix.

Is/are there things that really wake these motors up? Again keep in mind daily driver.

Thanks
 

Mommasprix

Daily Driver
Nov 25, 2010
25
0
0
Concord, NC
the stock oil systems in them SUCK, just ask my better half (very low oild pressure at idle) as he has been working on mine, and really can be bad while a high mileage motor. depending on the heads, the rockers are non adjustable, on the bright side there are a few things available for them in regards to hipo parts, edelbrock has a 4 barrel intake, and cam - hedman has headers available, and take a look at TA Performance as they have some stuff as well. (Can you tell I have been doing my homework) ; )
 

fastheavychevy

Amateur Racer
Nov 30, 2009
221
0
0
First of all is it the buick v6 with the dizzy in the front or is it the chevy 3.8 with the dizzy in the back. Ive had both engines. The buick v6 is bad for loosing oil pressure. The oil pump is mounted in the front right above the oil filter in an aluminum housing. Bad design oiling system because the housing wears out and the oil pump gear clearence gets wider and looses pressure. They sold at one time maybe they still do an upgraded housing that will fit longer oil pump gears for more pressure and they also made a spacer housing that you could use on your old housing to fit the high volume gears. You can also change the bypass spring very easy to do just take the screw cap off and change it to a stiffer spring. you can also use the longer ac delco oil filter for an added half qt. of oil, I dont know the number but I use to use it. If you do ever change the oil pump gears make sure you pack the housing with petroleum jelly or else it will not start to pump, its kind of how you would prime the oil pump. The rocker arms are on that motor are mounted on a shaft non adjustable and the rocker arms are kept inline on the shaft with plastic retainer clips. That engine isnt very strong. Just keep the oil changed and keep an eye on the oil pressure. If you live where its hot use 20/50 vr1 racing valvoline. Its a pretty easy to work on engine. Now the chevy 3.8 well they sell thats like a 305 with two less cylinders. Mine ran for 26 years the only things I did to it was replace the water pump and I cracked the flexplate so I pulled the engine out and replaced it and did the timming chain, oil pump, oil pan gasket, rod bearing cuz I had the pan off and I did the intake gasket and motor mount on the torque side. I only did it because I had the motor out and it had a slight knock, but it didnt go away because it was probably a main but it ran like that for years, because I always used vr1 valvoline 50 wt.Other than that just basic tune up stuff. Its a very good motor and also easy to work on.
 

80Grand_LeMans

Dragway Regular
Jun 4, 2008
1,249
0
0
Peabody MA
I had a chevy 3.8 in my lemans when I got it. Not sure how related they are but it was a good motor. Lots of oil leaks that I had to repair but nothing major (valve cover gasket, oil sending unit, etc). The problem with mine were the vacuum lines. I had so much fun re-routing and replacing and re-replacing lines left and right. By the end of it I decided to remove all the vac lines and made a custom block off plate for the egr. I should have replaced the 2bbl rochester and the car probably would have ran perfect but I pulled it out before I could. Has 120k on it and it was pretty good, smooth and had enough power to do some one tire fire brake stands, haha. Good luck with it.
 

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