Can anyone know of a good v6 preformance guide?

[RCAddict84]

He guys.
I'm slowly fixing up my old commodore and I'm on a quest for knowledge.

So far I've done the usual, holden CAI, pacemaker extractors, and I've got a corvette servo on order. And I've allso been fixing a few things. Speedo ODO gear, dash lights, coolant, brake fluid, CAS, crank seal, rocker cover gaskets, boot shocks, thermostat gasket and p/s low pressure hose.

Basically I've done most of what I know, I worked for 5 years as a mechanic at various ford dealerships, so I have experiance in servicing and fitting Acessories, but as far as the technical side of preformance my knowledge is lacking.... I've been reading a few book over the years "how to build a ford v8 on a budget" Holley carby tuning and modifying" and "nitrous systems" but I'm trying to find something more specific to the Buick 3800.

I was lucky enough to pick up a Vortech v1 supercharger but I'm trying to work out if it's worth fitting it or selling it and my car to get a better car

 

[MattK]

Hmmm

He guys.
I'm slowly fixing up my old commodore and I'm on a quest for knowledge.

So far I've done the usual, holden CAI, pacemaker extractors, and I've got a corvette servo on order. And I've allso been fixing a few things. Speedo ODO gear, dash lights, coolant, brake fluid, CAS, crank seal, rocker cover gaskets, boot shocks, thermostat gasket and p/s low pressure hose.

Basically I've done most of what I know, I worked for 5 years as a mechanic at various ford dealerships, so I have experiance in servicing and fitting Acessories, but as far as the technical side of preformance my knowledge is lacking.... I've been reading a few book over the years "how to build a ford v8 on a budget" Holley carby tuning and modifying" and "nitrous systems" but I'm trying to find something more specific to the Buick 3800.

I was lucky enough to pick up a Vortech v1 supercharger but I'm trying to work out if it's worth fitting it or selling it and my car to get a better car

Buy a Supercharged V6 : Youl save money ...
Just like any other engine .. CAM - Pistons - Head Porting - Valves - + A Dyno Tune ....
If you can do it yourself , you will save money .

Budget power = Supercharged V6 stocky ... After that it gets $$

 

[RCAddict84]

Cheerz for the reply,

But I'm trying to seak more detailed information.

Here is my findings so far, please don't quote me, these are rough guides based on posts I've been reading on various forums, but please feel free to correct anything

Sure I could go nuts like u were saying with cam, pistons, head porting, valves and a tune but that's like over $10k worth of work... And I don't feel I'm into my car that much.

I've been reading into porting the heads and have found there are very little gains to be made and I'm looking at over $3k for some race heads that would do bugger all with out supporting mods. I've got a bit of experiance with porting and reshaping transfer ports on 2 stroke engines so I'm confident I could do some minor work around the valve seats but I'm trying to work out is it worth the cost of buying all the bits to do the job... Ie. Cylinder heads, carbide bit, valve remover tool, and a head gasket set.... And then no doubt I'd want brass valve guides, re cut the seats and re grind the valves

And by the sounds a cam is in the same boat, some people say I'm better off looking at highratio rockers first and a double row timing chain?? But even then it's a good $800 or so

Pistons.... I can say I would even know where to start, but I dare say by the time the bottom end is rebuild it would be someware around the $4k mark.


And my next delema, say I was to fit a l67 in there no doubt that would cost a good 3k supplied and fitted even if I did the work my self....

So it's close.... I'm looking at about another $2k for all the bits to mount my vortech supercharger... And from what I can see it's going to be my cheapest option to get some decent power.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just under the impression the Buick 3800 is an expensive engine to get power from??

 

[VR38]

Cheerz for the reply,

Sure I could go nuts like u were saying with cam, pistons, head porting, valves and a tune but that's like over $10k worth of work... And I don't feel I'm into my car that much.

Why bother doing anything at all then?

I've been reading into porting the heads and have found there are very little gains to be made and I'm looking at over $3k for some race heads that would do bugger all with out supporting mods. I've got a bit of experiance with porting and reshaping transfer ports on 2 stroke engines so I'm confident I could do some minor work around the valve seats but I'm trying to work out is it worth the cost of buying all the bits to do the job... Ie. Cylinder heads, carbide bit, valve remover tool, and a head gasket set.... And then no doubt I'd want brass valve guides, re cut the seats and re grind the valves

$3000 worth of raced heads?
Is it a street car or a race car?
You mean bronze valve guides?
All alloy heads should have them fitted standard, maybe go later model if being able to say "yeah it's got bronze valve guides" really does it for you.
IMO cast iron is the better material anyway.

And by the sounds a cam is in the same boat, some people say I'm better off looking at highratio rockers first and a double row timing chain?? But even then it's a good $800 or so

Any engine is the same and responds the same to any mod wether it be fraud, holden or Ferrari.

Pistons.... I can say I would even know where to start, but I dare say by the time the bottom end is rebuild it would be someware around the $4k mark.


And my next delema, say I was to fit a l67 in there no doubt that would cost a good 3k supplied and fitted even if I did the work my self....

So it's close.... I'm looking at about another $2k for all the bits to mount my vortech supercharger... And from what I can see it's going to be my cheapest option to get some decent power.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just under the impression the Buick 3800 is an expensive engine to get power from??

And so on and so on.
Set yourself a budget.
There are some great threads on bolt on performance Memcal, CIA extractors hi ratio rockers but if you want more power to get to 60km/hr then you will need a supercharger, a stroker or a bigger motor and a bigger wallet.

 

[IBLOWN]

Its easy: Build the motor and turbo it. Its the only mod worth doing.

 

[RCAddict84]

Cheers guys, as u can see I really have no clue to these engines.... Sure I can fix them but modifying is a whole new story.

so far, short from talking to an engine builder, I have no idea what to expect from what with the Buick.

It's difficult, say if I was building a Cleveland, Windsor or a Chevy v8. there is a crazy amount of information and step by step guides to build 400, 500 and 600hp pluss engines.
U can literally workout how much money it's going to cost to hit "x" amount of HP and how durable it will be.

Does anyone have an idea of the power figures these 3800 engines are getting? N/a, forced induction
I can't Seem to find much at all, Most of the build threads I'm finding are big buck cars with what seems endless budgets.

Ideally I have tight budget of around 4k, but the lower the better. I think anymore than that and I would prefer A newer car over modifying the VR. But the catch is... Out of that 4k I need to use $1700 in parts just to mount the Vortech V1 supercharger I allready have....and the only things it has fitted is, pacemaker extractors, CIA, and trans cooler...its not very exciting lol

I did have a thought of mounting the blower and keeping everything stock, then that way I've got enough coin for a few hidden expenses, tune and a spare engine?

 

[RCAddict84]

Just curious too... What does it take to get a v6 VR to pull a 14 sec pass?

 

[VR38]

It's difficult, say if I was building a Cleveland, Windsor or a Chevy v8. there is a crazy amount of information and step by step guides to build 400, 500 and 600hp pluss engines.
U can literally workout how much money it's going to cost to hit "x" amount of HP and how durable it will be.

I don't see the V6 any different from any other motor, they all respond to the same kit, head work, cam, stroker etc etc etc, think of it as a chev V8 minus two cylinders.

As for books, what to do, parts etc etc this engine has been done to death in the USA.

 

[VR38]

Just curious too... What does it take to get a v6 VR to pull a 14 sec pass?

I got My unopened (bolt ons and a tune) VR V6 down to 15.7 with the standard diff ratio.
I'm sure with a cam or hi ratio rockers, diff ratio and a few other mods would see it into the sub 15 times no problem, all day every day.

 

[RCAddict84]

Cheerz,
That is, I'm trying to get an idea of what's possible on what budget....ive got a fair idea of what preformance modifications are possible but I don't have much of an idea on what to expect from them and what type of aftermaresupport is there for this engine?


But yeah, if anyone knows of any preformance guides specify it for these engine please share...I just want to learn more..

And what does it take to get a VR to hit a 14sec flat quarter mile?
From my research the only way it can be done it with forced induction?