I plan on swapping in a 3.8L turbo Buick engine in my Camaro. My question is: Would a 9 Bolt Borg-Warner rear end hold up against the torque of a 400 HP turbo Buick engine?

 

yes, the TTA came with the 9-bolt

 

Anyone else do this swap? How hard was getting the wiring all set up? How about total time for the swap?

 

never done it, but unless you have a factory harness for the t/a, its gonna be failry time intensive i would think to get it done correctly, and neatly.

As far as bolting stuff up, keep in mind the 3.8 block uses the 200-4r transmission, and will not bolt up to 700r4, nor will a non 200-4r converotr be compatiable.

Other points to note, if your getting the engine out of a donar buick, is that the manifolds on the buick motor will posisbly not clear the strut towers.

I do not remember if the reason this is a problem is due to the fact that original TTA's had newer style 3.8 turbo heads, or just a diff exhuast manifold setup was needed for clearence. Either way, something to keep in mind.

There is a Turbo Trans Am message board, i would deifnately try top make a stop in sometimes...

here's a site with some pics and info- http://www.turbota.com/

Also, here's the forum- http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/ definately check it out- lots of good people and information availiable to you.

Steve

 

the manifolds have nothing to do with clearance...it's the heads and it has to do with the AC stuff, not that strut towers

also a 700r4 WILL bolt up to a buick motor with an adapater plate TCI makes...I'm running a 700r4...

 

Yeah - ok, i thought it was with the strut towers, now i know!!

as for the trans, i forgot to mention that, i was a bit tired when writing that post!!

happy swapping!

 

Sorry to be a bit off topic, but is the engine between the TTA and the turbo Buicks similar. What are the differences?

 

heh, it's cool

 

Heads,pistons,crank,manfolds,crossover pipe,downpipe, intercooler(slightly more efficient), the vacumn block on the intake has a port for vacumn brakes...

That's what I can think of off the top of my head

 

Which engine would you say is better? TTA or Turbo Buick? I don't know if it matters, but when I think about a turbo Buick, I also think of a Grand National. To me they are about the same...

I am just curious.

 

the TTA heads supposedly flow better in stock form but there is more "meat" to the GN heads.

The TTA intercooler is a bit better(more cooling fins).

The TTA stock for stock will out accelerate,out handle and out brake a GN...but you can fit 5 people comfortably in a GN lol

 

Thanks for the info...

 

I put a LC2 from a Regal into a 87 GTA. It wasn't as easy as you might think with the GN heads. There is alot of interference with the crossover and down pipe. and down pipe to lower firewall So you MUST, MUST get custom turbo outlet/downpipe and I suggest modifying the right side header so it moves the crossover away from the down pipe. Because if you do not it will bang together and send a false detonation signal to the ECM. It sounds hard, bad, expensive but its no too difficult or costly that DP is probbably stocked by someplace, and the modifying is only a few inches.
You have to delete the A/C so the down pipe will clear and buy a used 1LE non-A/C airbox from IROCZDAVE a member at thirdgen.com he deals with those and other F-body parts and is very reputable.
Fuel pump MUST be changed and dont forget the hotwire kit.
To avoid a big headache make wiring easier, buy a harness from Caspers electronics.com for an 89 TTA and avoid trying to make a 17yr old harness work in a car that it wasnt made for. I bought my harness from GM but I was told it was like the last one and it cost me big $$. But its beautiful to have new wiring and connectors (the wiring that is giving me problems are the originals for the body due to age).
You can buy all the senders for the model of car you are putting the engine into and the gauges will work fine. I dont have the tach hooked up yet.
I am using the 700 Trans I bought my adapter from (its been 6 yrs now) TCI or B&M or maybe Trans-dapt. real nice solid anodized steel with all hardware included. There is an adapter for the OD lock up converter available from
B&M or a trans guy might be able to rewire it for you.
I Removed the F-body engine mounts and used the Buicks. I bolted the BARE v-6 block w/ trans adapter to the 700 trans in the car with the Buick's upper and lower mounts installed (hanging on the block). Laid it where it was supposed to be and scribed where I had to drill I think I was able to use a couple of exsisting holes.
I did not have the GN radiator so I had to run a oil cooler of my own.
For brakes I just drilled and tapped a fitting into the intake and ran a vacuum line to the booster> BUT that was before they made that cool vacuum mod over the throttle body thats available from Caspers and others too.
Also! I bought a new front cover with larger oil pump and gears. The cover is like having a built in spacer. But when you do that and put in the oil cooler adapter the steering knuckle will pierce the oil filter when you turn the wheel fully to the left because the filter juts out too far. So I am getting a remote oil filter set up now anyway, but I found that out the hard way.
Power steering unit hoses are easy to hook up you need the buick hoses and they fit F-body lines no problem.
I had to have someone do the ECM wiring job for me and the exhaust DP fabrication. I did all the other work and minor wiring so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Best wishes on your project GN F body.
turbobuicks.com is a good source
as well as turbobuick.com too

 

That's a lot of good info, thanks...