new guy in tr

[impalamike3800]

hey guys whats up im mike and i drive a 2000 impala and new to tr. just curious if there are any others that are w-bodies out there or anyone else runnin a good ol 231 ci block (that's a 3800 series II motor L36, L67, or L32) in tr. my sig contains my current and soon to be current mods to my car. no i am not supercharged, and dont plan on any forced induction, but i am always open to ideas for better hp, and i am willing to help with any questions on your block... (ive worked on 3800's for 5 years strong now series I and II i know best. series III havent gotten my hands onto.) hope to find others out there and maybe we can see who is faster ha ha.

[BLUE2KSS]

welcome


as far as the 3.8 motors, my sisters car has one in a buick regal. 116k and not a hiccup or hint of oil usage.

they are like cockroaches...

i dont know how many people on here have them, but welcome nonetheless and hope you enjoy it

[AbortRetryFail]

Heeeeya mike! I have no idea wtf i was doing in the GM forum but welcome to the show!

[Notladstyle]

L36 here, never had any probs except the alternator died due to overuse of ricer effects...

[impalamike3800]

any mods under the hood? i see you have the double chick hood scoop lol.

[Frankie]

Welcome to the forum. Now, not to bring down a new user, but looks like you've got some domestic rice. That list of mods is like something I'd expect to see in the Honda forum. Those Flowmaster 40's can't sound good on that car. I'd imagine they kill the whole comfort of the, "Luxury," ride the Imapala tries to offer.

The 3800 Series II is a bad ass motor though. I had 160k on the one in my '96 Camaro and it didn't even think about eating oil. They're great motors if you leave 'em alone.

[impalamike3800]

Welcome to the forum. Now, not to bring down a new user, but looks like you've got some domestic rice. That list of mods is like something I'd expect to see in the Honda forum. Those Flowmaster 40's can't sound good on that car. I'd imagine they kill the whole comfort of the, "Luxury," ride the Imapala tries to offer.

now i will agree yes, the fenderwell intake is something id expect from a honda, and the flowmasters actually do make it sound like an 8 (mostly because its a SB minus cylinders 7 and 8) and when driving you only really hear the exhaust untill about 3300 RPM's then you hear the motor. but you will just have to hear for yourself lol. btw, im not in for the "luxury" side of this car, GM did a nice enough job with that. im not all about 20" rims on this car or a big stereo... i just want it to make it have superior performance and good reliability, and maybe hit consistant 13's lol.

[Country Boy]

Welcome to our forum. It nice to start seeing new faces 'round these parts! Dont mind Frank. Hes old school so dont mind him ;) :D I have a friend that has a V6 Camaro who cammed it and dressed it up and its nice.

[Frankie]

Welcome to our forum. It nice to start seeing new faces 'round these parts! Dont mind Frank. Hes old school so dont mind him ;) :D I have a friend that has a V6 Camaro who cammed it and dressed it up and its nice.

:lol: He's right. Don't mind me. I really am old school, but to offer some background...

I had a 3800 with open exhaust and I hated the way it sounded. I lasted a week before I had it all buttoned back up. I'm just saying, if I had an Imapala, I'd keep it nice and quiet. That's why my Caddy has all new stock exhaust on it. You seriously think the thing stalled out when it's idling. It's that smooth and quiet. I couldn't dream of sticking a Flowmaster on something with big, plush seats.

Now the cammed up 350 in the Camaro? That fucker would run open headers ALL day if it were legal. The Harley? That gets wide open pipes. My wife's T/A, I don't know what's going on with that. The muffler says GM on it, but that thing sounds a little mean. You LT1 guys'll know, do those things sound a little beefy from the factory or does she have an exhaust leak?

[Tackleberry]

drop an LT1 in it and then repost this topic :lol:

actually, those 3800's are bad ass motors for reliabilty...its the rest of the GM that will fall apart tho :lol:

id leave it alone...GM actually did something right with this motor...dont mess with it IMO

[impalamike3800]

hey frankie its all good im actually old school myself (my 1st car was an '87 buick lesabre that i made RWD with a 350 and a 4bbl on top) if i could i would rip out the 6 and drop in an LS1 but it would cost too much to do lol. yeah i agree about runnin with open headers sounds as bad as a mustang lol. i honestly think that the only thing wrong with the w-body line up(grand prix monte carlo impala ect) is that they are FWD. other than that though, its an awsome single cam, pushrod car. and when you hear and see it there is nothing rice about it lol. and i agree as well with everyone so far that yes it is a reliable engine, but like i said im just pushin the envelope to see what i can do to make most performance without losing reliability. i mean the cam i am going to be installing will not even set off DTC codes lol.

[allh0pelost]

hey mike, u forgot to mention your impala has an auto tranny :)

i had to throw that out there heh.

[impalamike3800]

thank you verry much justin i did almost forget that as well as my redline being 6k lol.

[BucWildBob]

if anyone cares the 3800 is nothing like the 350 with cut off cylinders, the 4.3 is but not the 3800 .. and the 3800 and the 3.8 of old are a lot diff too. the 3.8/3800 are such good motors becasue they are purpose built v6's instead of like the 4.3 where they chopped it and put it back together. the 3.8/3800 is balanced and also at a diffrent angle 90 deg instead of 60 (or is tha backwards) so basicly im saying its a completly diff motor.

[impalamike3800]

if anyone cares the 3800 is nothing like the 350 with cut off cylinders, the 4.3 is but not the 3800 .. and the 3800 and the 3.8 of old are a lot diff too. the 3.8/3800 are such good motors becasue they are purpose built v6's instead of like the 4.3 where they chopped it and put it back together. the 3.8/3800 is balanced and also at a diffrent angle 90 deg instead of 60 (or is tha backwards) so basicly im saying its a completly diff motor.

my mistake buck thanks for the correction, and yes you are correct about the series I and II. hell even the cubic inches are a little different (series I were 229 and series II are 231). so thank you for the correction.

FYI:it is sdrawkcab:lol:

[Frankie]

and when you hear and see it there is nothing rice about it lol.

I'm sorry man, I know what those 3800 Series II motors sound like opened up and they're quite ricey above 2000 RPM or so. I'm sure the auto and low gearing of the Impala keep the R's low on that thing, but in my Camaro, that thing sounded like shit.

[impalamike3800]

lol its all good

[impalamike3800]

My wife's T/A, I don't know what's going on with that. The muffler says GM on it, but that thing sounds a little mean. You LT1 guys'll know, do those things sound a little beefy from the factory or does she have an exhaust leak?

i have a buddy that has an LT1 T/A and its got the stock mufflers on it, and yes they do sound beefy from factory.

[Lincoln]

This is my L67. I have a few finishing touches before it is ready to go into my car.
http://www.tamparacing.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Picture6.jpg

[impalamike3800]

verry nice block man! now i notice the block off plate... are you going to turbo it or just came that way? and if you want help with it just ask!

[Lincoln]

I am going T-66 and liquid to air intercooler

[threeG]

I just picked up an Impala SS with the 3.8 supercharger, I was impressed with the power. I am just starting to dig into what is available performance wise for these cars.

[martz0r]

welcome to TR... our family has a 00 grand prix GT w/ the n/a 3.8... to me it feels like that things pushin more than just 200 tiny horses... but thats probably due to the 240 lbs of torque.. anyways this 2000 car has 126,000 miles on it.. yeah i know. my dad used to have a 94 GMC Safari (same as astro) work van... had 277k on the original 4.3 engine... talk about reliable engines... GM will always be #1 in my book

[martz0r]

also, if you leave the 3.8 sitting for too long at idle (whether it be at a light or in a parking lot or what) with the AC on it gets up to around 220 + degrees... which obviously is not normal lol... we just flushed the radiator, and i think it's still doing it... looks like it may be time for a new radiator all together... the radiator has seen better days. what do you think?

[BLUE2KSS]

also, if you leave the 3.8 sitting for too long at idle (whether it be at a light or in a parking lot or what) with the AC on it gets up to around 220 + degrees... which obviously is not normal lol... we just flushed the radiator, and i think it's still doing it... looks like it may be time for a new radiator all together... the radiator has seen better days. what do you think?


Have you changed the thermostat yet?

[impalamike3800]

i agree with blue2kss. change the thermostat they are cheap ( you'll spend about $10 for it and about $2.50 for the gasket and new o-ring at most) and easy to install ( you would need a 180*)

[impalamike3800]

I am going T-66 and liquid to air intercooler
i cant wait to see that thing run!

[impalamike3800]

I just picked up an Impala SS with the 3.8 supercharger, I was impressed with the power. I am just starting to dig into what is available performance wise for these cars.

thats awsome man here is every site you will ever need to find parts for that motor

http://www.intense-racing.com/
http://www.zzperformance.com/
http://www.pfyc.com/
http://www.3800performance.com/

the last 2 are good for suspension parts (i.e. lateral arms and sway bars), and i would only goto zzp and intense for my engine parts (zzp i think has the better tech forum, and intense is for some serious hard-core drag parts)

we sould go up against each other some time to test see who has the quickest impala. ;)

[Willis]

my girlfriend has a 2000 impala with the 3800 in it. It runs great but lately its been getting hot. I checked the coolent and there was brown/red crap starting to build up around the neck of the radiator cap. So im goona flush the coolent system. I was wondering how easy is it to change the t-stat? thanks

[threeG]

we sould go up against each other some time to test see who has the quickest impala.

Sounds good, I'm not going to go to crazy on this car since I use it for work.