There isn't a whole lot other then making sure that the 3800 sounds good. You shouldn't hear any knocking of any kind from one. Normal issues though would be to check out the LIM gasket, and there was a recall on the valve cover gaskets. On occasion the UIM will warp due to the EGR being routed to it. I can't really think of anything besides that.

My main concern wouldn't be the 3800, but the tranny. Our 4T65E's are known for going bad. Make sure it can shift into every gear. It's fairly common for a 4T65E to lose 4th gear.

I'm sure that there's a couple of things that I've missed, but those are the biggy's.

 

I sure know about the tranny issue's the same with mine

 

Oh yeah. I understand what GM was doing when they built our tranny's, but I wish they would have been just a little bit better

 

They just made a six speed for the wbodys