Being a manager for a junkyard i can state with some confidence that the L26 SERIES 3 3800 is a pretty reliable engine.On par with the older L36 as far as reliabilty and longevity goes..I have heard about these forged powdered steel rods having some issues. maybe i wouldn't trust them in performance applications but haven't witnessed it be much of an issue in my industry after ten plus years of these engines being in service, these L26 engines have a low market demand and prices for them are rock bottom low now days, which always indicates that they are reliable engines. In the salvage industry the higher priced the engine the more prone they are to failures.its supply and demand. I have a 2005 L27 engine on the shelf with 113k for 350 bucks. don't get much cheaper than that. Compare that to a failure prone engine that will sell for 1500+ like a Jeep 3.7L for Example. (rust belt prices quoted here) I do have a 1997 L36 and matching trans sitting in my home garage with 43k original miles,They are just collecting dust..picked them up as spares years ago for my wife's old Buick Lesabre. which had 230k on the original L36 drivetrain. Then we sold it to her brother who still drives it today..the spare drivetrain was not part of the sale

 

They are definitely not stronger when pushed. There have been multiple cases of people blowing then up in modded applications. IMO, if you want a stronger bottom end, the l67 and l32 both have a thicker wrist pin, and a better compression ratio for boost.

If you're going for an NA block, I definitely wouldn't exclude the L36 from your search, it's every bit as strong as the L26.


As for the mods, id be careful putting too much money into NA mods, even if the end goal is boost. For the price of ported heads alone, you could either buy an L67 to start off with, or you could top swap an L36. It won't give you turbo power, but you'll be light years ahead of a modded NA setup.

The 3800 just doesn't respond well to NA modding, and there is virtually no aftermarket to support it. If you're serious about adding boost- that should be your #1 priority since it will have the biggest gains.

 

What about the l36/m90 kit from zzp?

 

If you've got the whole engine out anyways, id just do a normal top swap. It's a bit more labor since you have to pull heads and the balancer, but it'll let you freshen up the head gaskets, won't require expensive fuel rails, and will let you run any size pulley you would want. Plus, it'll be far cheaper.

 

i would never suggest the ssm90 kit. its way overpriced and hard to further mod with that kit. either turbo the l36, top swap the l36, or do a complete engine swap with a l67.

agree with bumpin on the l26 not being the best choice for modding. plus the l67/l32 has better rings also if i am not mistaking to handle boost better.