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Has anyone ever considered a GM 3.8L swap?


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Just tossing it out there. I know there are the guys that have done the other swaps like the 4.3L swaps and I've seen guys do a, dare I say it, ford 302 v8 swap, which is understandable with all of the performance parts for it available and the front located distributor the fomoco 302 would seem like a great choice. I was thinking that the GM 3.8 has a ton of performance parts available, along with the absence of a distributor as well as being a similar size and weight of the VG30e, it would seem to be a viable candidate for this swap,

 

Any thoughts on this?

 

I would likely use a gm700r4 trans and do a solid axle swap at that point. I think its high time my pathfinder went under the knife....

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Stock the 3.8 is pretty gutless. You would definitely need to take advantage of the aftermarket. I have always wanted to see a Ford 300 straight six put in a pathy. Talk about low rpm torque.

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Stock the 3.8 is pretty gutless. You would definitely need to take advantage of the aftermarket. I have always wanted to see a Ford 300 straight six put in a pathy. Talk about low rpm torque.

I do agree, but, the 3.8’s in the 80’s-90’s were riddled with emissions equipment that killed power. Clean that crap up, boost it and go. 300 HP is achievable without any issue and the aftermarket has great support for them. More to chew on I guess.

 

 

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Having worked on a 300-6 in an F150 I think you'd have to do a lot of cutting to fit that plant in a Pathy. It is one long SOB.

 

The 3800 looks a lot easier to work with, provided you avoid the ones that catch fire. The supercharged version might be fun if you get lucky at the wreckers.

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Having worked on a 300-6 in an F150 I think you'd have to do a lot of cutting to fit that plant in a Pathy. It is one long SOB.

 

The 3800 looks a lot easier to work with, provided you avoid the ones that catch fire. The supercharged version might be fun if you get lucky at the wreckers.

Yes, the ones that caught fire were some of the Oldsmobile’s that had issues with the fuel injection system as I recall.

And a 300I6 would be a cool foot longer than the VG, it could be done, but, I’d have to shy away from all that body work.

That was my thought on the super charged version. I’ve seen the super chargers on eBay for a song and the 3.8’s are so common they’re extremely cheap. I’m thinking maybe a compound setup, turbo charger feeding a super charger. Supercharger for the low end grunt and turbo for the mid to high range power.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think its gonna be a GM 5.3 swap, not really sure yet and haven't put a solid plan together. There is so much support for the GM platforms its almost a no brainer, ALMOST.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had a S15 flatbed dually with the 3.8 and it had plenty of power but the weak link was the 700r4. That tranny is not designed for heavy loads. Went through 3 of them despite using a HD cooler. For the work required to swap, unless I got a donor vehicle for free I dont think the effort is worth the end result. 

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