I was wondering has anybody put a 3800 series 2 sc in a camaro yet is it possible? I know one guy selling a v6 5 speed rs motors shot but the body is mint he wants 600 for the car its been sitting almost 4 years now and my friend crashed her gran prix gtp with 17000 miles on it and said she will sell me the motor complete with all the wiring and whatever else I need for 600 bucks. Is it worth looking into? Can it be done without blowing a lot of cash? If anyone has done it links to there threads would be awesome

 

I'm sure the knowledgeable folks will chime in shortly but I am positive the 3800 engine is a 90 degree and would actually bolt up to a V8 F-Body transmission. In addition, the 3800 is FWD while the F-Body is RWD.

At the least you would need to swap the transmission for a V8 transmission. I am not sure what wiring changes would need to be done nor the amount of work to get the engine to mount properly.

You'd be better off looking for a 2.8-3.1 V6 out of another 82-92 F-Body or a 3.4 V6 out of the 93-94 F-Body. That would be a direct bolt in replacement.

 

I believe you would need a tranny out of a newer f body with the 3800 (98+), then you have to deal with the motor mount's, wiring, possible oil pan clearance issues, IIRC the starter is on the wrong side also and not sure if there's a way around it but the throttle body will be pointing towards the back of the car. This is something that will probably get costly quick and if you ended up needing things like custom motor mounts or something you would have to end up fabricating them yourself. I was thinking about doing this swap with my fiero but decided being it's just gonna be a toy and not a daily driver, I'm gonna end up beating crap out of it till the 2.8 gives up then swap a 3.4 in

 

You could always ****** the engine up being that's such a killer deal and sell it for more money.

 

You'd have to make your own headers, there's no solution for our cars with a FWD motor set up.

 

Why do so many people guess?

The FWD 3800 uses the same 60 degree V6 (FWD) bell housing bolt pattern.

You can bolt this to the RWD tranny, with a couple exceptions. The lower passenger side bolt hole is not threaded in the block and will require the use of a nut and bolt. There are other options, but this would be the easiest way.

The starter is mounted on the other side of the block, and would require the bellhousing to be cut open. Alternatively you could use a tranny from a 2.2 '96+ S-10, they use the FWD bolt pattern and starter location, with the correct bolt pattern. I believe you would also have to modifyor build a new crossemember though, and the shifter position will be too far foreward for the F-body, but something might be able to be changed here. I had only looked into using it for my S-15 Jimmy, not an F-body, so the specifics of swapping into an F-body, I'm not 100% sure on.

The Supercharger would likely need to be swapped, since I believe the S2 3800SC uses a TB that is cast with the supercharger, and the S1 uses a bolt on TB. Using an SC with the bolt on TB, would allow an adapter to be made that would allow relocating the TB.

There are a bunch of other issues to be dealt with, but these are some major ones to consider.

Personally I would swap a 3.4 or 3400 in there instead.

 

I doubt this will work, when i had my 91 bird with the 3.1 i spun a rod and my dad and i tried to get a 3.1 out of a buick century to work but the block didnt have the RWD motor mounts nessesary to mount it. i'm 99% sure the Gp's have a similar mount set up with the front motor mounts on top of the engine. i'll check @ work just to be 100% sure tho

 

The 3.1 from the Century is a FWD, and without custom mounts wouldn't work, bolt in.

That's what will need to be done in this case, not necessarily because it's a FWD engine, but because it's an engine that was not offered in a 3rd gen.

 

You're correct, I should have looked it up. I thought the 3800 was a 90 degree. Bad memory

 

Ok thank guys. More or less the reason this came up as an idea is I was looking into buying a 98 gtp cause I always wanted to build up the 3800 sc mainly cause I was cruising down the street one night and I had a buick century pull up and start revving at me I laughed but when the light went green let's just say I didn't think it was so funny anymore he embaressed the hell outta me in my camaro I flagged him down and talked to him and he told me the stuff he had done to the car was relatively cheap so ever since I wanted to take a crack at it and figured hey I can get a cheap body and a cheap 3800 sc but from the sound of it it would end up costing more in the long run as the gtp I found and really want is only at an asking price of 2500.... I think ill be getting the gtp... don't worry though both my camaros are staying I just need somethin more reliable and fuel efficient but still quick

 

The 3800 IS a 90*, but the FWD uses the "corporate small bolt pattern", that is used by the 60 degree V6 and a few other engines.