Engine choice dilema

[RalleySS]

Hi ya'll,
I'm taking next Tuesday of work and heading to Port Angeles to have a look at a G.N. It is only a roller,but the price is right on!! I'm stuck between returning a 3.8 into her or putting some more beef in.lol
Opinions???

[bikefreak600]

turbo lsx !

[Fras]

Ls conversion all the way!

[brownz]

Turbo LSX. you still give the g.n what it is known for but also getting LS

[GNon18s]

I love LS engines....I love GN's. ..with that said, I hate GN's with LS engines. When I was a little kid I remember seeing a GN with a "tune-port-injection" L98 motor swap because that was the "new vette motor" at the time. Hahaha. Buick Grand Nationals are unique and have turbo 6's. Once you take the Grand National motor out to put in an LS-whatever, then you just have a buick regal with the same motor everybody else on this forum has. (my GN, with the stock turbo, made 130ft lbs more torque than my LS6 corvette on the same dyno)

[hifi875]

Ls and a t56!!

[LS1-IROC]

As much as I hate 6 cylinder engines, I would stay with it. Put anything else in there and it's just a regal.

[rfrankb4]

As much as I hate 6 cylinder engines, I would stay with it. Put anything else in there and it's just a regal.

qft.


If it is a GN it would be worth it to me to stick with what is going to give it the most value since that is still a good option.

I love the LS motors and have one in my chevelle but imo a regal with a black paint job is a much better base for a turbo LS

[carguykeith]

I agree, if it's a real GN leave the 6 in it no need to go through all the work to convert to LS. There are plenty of proven recipes out there, you can make lots of power and mantain reliability easy.

I started my project over 5 years ago when LS was still to much of an unknown so I went big, but you could build my car with a 500hp LS and T56 for not much more than clean mostly stock GN will run you. Difference is you could sell the GN a hell of a lot easier than my frankenstien project, so that's something to think about...

[Zee]

I love LS engines....I love GN's. ..with that said, I hate GN's with LS engines. When I was a little kid I remember seeing a GN with a "tune-port-injection" L98 motor swap because that was the "new vette motor" at the time. Hahaha. Buick Grand Nationals are unique and have turbo 6's. Once you take the Grand National motor out to put in an LS-whatever, then you just have a buick regal with the same motor everybody else on this forum has. (my GN, with the stock turbo, made 130ft lbs more torque than my LS6 corvette on the same dyno)

I agree 100%. Go with the 3.8. TA performance makes a aluminum blocks, heads etc for it. http://www.taperformance.com/

[Vicinity]

Would you rather have people come up to you and say "that's a fine Regal you have there" or "that's a fine Grand National you have there". Because that is basically what it amounts to. Build it like you want it, but IMO, you can sell a real GN for more and pickup a base Regal for cheap and already have mod money to go.

[RalleySS]

I will be sticking a 3.8 in the car. As many of you stated, without the original motor it's just a Regal.
Thanks gents.

[RalleySS]

My mother was right. Never trust a stranger. Went to P.A. this morning to check out the G.N. First off the guy was 2 hours late, then when he finally showed up he opened up his garage and produced the most RUSTED out P.O.S. to ever be called a Buick!!!
Needless to say I was not amused but being in a strange town and not knowing this man I decided to keep my mouth shut and politely say that I was not interested.
Waste of time and gas/ferry money but...had to have a look. I'll keep looking though.........

[RalleySS]

Picking up a Buick GS tomorrow. Done with trying to save a buck!! Hope to have it in shows by December. Then all my freinds will want to drive with me....yaaaaaaa

[RalleySS]

So THIS guy is almost as bad. He says the car is in great shape,but I saw many issues with it. I'm not wasting $8K. on a car that needs tires,headliner,trunk carpets and a new battery.
Hope to get my hands on my freinds RS/SS next month. He is a straight up guy so I will have no worries. I'll keep you guys informed of what happens.

[naynay]

do you have any idea what it is you want to build??!!

[analyte]

You seem very impatient when it comes to buying. That's the wrong mindset to have when looking at cars for sale since you need to remain impartial and unemotional.

I say take a step back for a bit. If you decide to look at it, check the friends car regardless since nothing kills a friendship like a deal gone wrong.

Kerry

[vintageracer]

Engine choice is completely dependent on your transmission choice.

If you want to "row the boat" and shift gears for yourself you can forget about using a 3.8 Turbo Buick engine. A stick with a turbo 3.8 does not work!

If you want an automatic transmission the 3.8 turbo is an acceptable choice!

It's all the transmission choice!!!

[Ash]

Could meet in between with a Series II L36 3800 V6 from a F-body and boost it (Series III are Drive by wire, which probably isn't as much an issue these days). Fair amount of aftermarket support for the engine (pistons, rods, cams, top end, etc). Turbo Plumbing would have to be custom. All the FWD info is applicable given the same basic engine, save for the different RWD intake manifold. ODBII, HP Tuners software (big plus), stout design, 4L60E (paddle-shift?!), and takes to boost quite well. Also have the Holden commodore specific manifold as an option. Using the descendant of the original 3.8 is kind of a point in and of itself, and decent LC2's aren't exactly growing on tree's aye. Could even go with the L67 Supercharged if you'd like, or do what a few have done and go the twin-charged route, and there is even a forged 4.2 stoker kit if you want to get real spendy. These engines are pretty plentiful and cheap. All that being said, you aren't gonna approach the bang for the buck of an LS...but what does? For a commuter car base engine, Internet examples of the numbers they make and abuse they take are impressive. Just throwing out something different. If you really want to flip peoples wigs, A Nissan 3.5 VQ35DE/4.0VQ40DE or Honda J series V6 would do the trick.

Here is a L67 swap in a G-body to show how much room you have for turbo plumbing.



Research
---------------------
Fullthrottlev6.com
3800pro.com

[RalleySS]

@ NayNay....you are correct. I really don't know what car to buy. I'm going to sit back and take some time doing more research on the different cars I'm into, then proceed. But when you want something,( a nice ride), sooooo bad, sometimes it's hard to do.