Has anyone ever swapped a series 3 3800 into their car? I found one with pretty low miles with the transmission for a really good price. I am wondering what it will take to put it in my car. I know that the throttle bodies are different, so I may just swap upper intakes. Will the motor mounts be an issue? or the cradle? Anything else I need to watch out for?

 

It's very different - the swap is possible, but not cheaply. Will it fit? Yes. But the throttle bottle is electronic - you'd need the PCM, the harness and some other things I can't remember. (Possibly axles or fuel lines but don't hold me on those). I've also heard some say the L26 won't bolt up to our transmission so if you get the tranny with it, it may take some tweaks to work.

 

what's the point? just as much hp as the Series II, they just changed a manifold to cast iron instead of plastic...

I'd just look for a Series II if you need it, much more modability.

Altough the swap wouldn't likely be too hard because you can use the Series II throttle body, you'd just need the pcm, I believe all the wiring is about the same, it's probably not worth the time, effort and money

 

I have been looking for a series 2, but everything I have found that is reasonably priced had a TON of miles on it. For a series 2 with the miles that this series 3 has, I'd be looking at spending upwards of $700 or $800. I am getting this engine AND transmission with only 60,000 miles for $600. I hate the fact there is no way to get decent power out of the 3400. Useless except as a boat anchor.

 

It's not that bad of a swap, pretty basic kind of like a series 2 swap, you do just need a throttle body adapter.

 

just keep in mind then its $600 plus the mods and if you want 'decent power' look to spend at least $1000+ on top of the engine for topswap or turbo etc

 

Only Series III that would be worth the swap is the L32 Supercharged one. The L26 has the same power rating as the L36 and actually the same fuel mileage rating as well.

 

although the engines are similar I can imagine that modding would be more difficult on the l26 supercharged due to less market

 

There's still somewhat of an aftermarket. I know guys over on GPONA who have modded their L32s pretty heavily. Most of the active guys over there have the 04+ GP as opposed to the 97-03 or 88-96 (no RWD ones though, ironically the G8 is eligible for COTM over there but a RWD GP is not).

 

A Series 3 engine N/A is exactly the same as a Series 2 N/A from a mechanic stance with exception of the drive-by-wire throttle body and cast aluminum UIM. From what I've read, the internals are more durable (forged vs cast is what I've read).

To swap it into a Series 3 into a Series 2 car, you will have to look at that following:
- Either switch the aluminum UIM for a nylon Series 2 UIM and Series 2 throttle body (direct swap, the LIM is the same between the engines). OR adapt and L67 throttle body to the cast aluminum UIM.
- You may also have to swap some sensors over and fuel rail/injectors from the Series 2 engine to the Series 3.

I'm on a Bonneville forum a bunch and a lot of those guys have pioneered this swap. It's no big deal from all the reading I've done. Require NO PCM changes unless you are modding the engine.

Now to swap it into a 3400 powered car, it's much the same process you would need to do to swap a L36 into it. You need wiring harness, PCM and some other pieces and parts. Personally, if I was to switch a 3400 to a 3800, I'd go Series 3, it's newer, hopefully easier to get a low miles one and has a rep for being equal with only a couple improvements.