I currently own a '78 Buick Skyhawk with a blown 84 3.8 under the hood. I want to put in a fuel injected engine with not a WHOLE LOT of extra work. My question is will the 85-86 FWD 3.8s work for this, or am I going to have to go with a custom F/I setup. If the FWD works, would I am going to get it up and running right first then put a centrifugal supercharger on it for the lighter weight and easier maintenance. I am looking a real world daily drivability with some respectable power.
I'm not sure about fit or not but I would suggest looking into a factory supercharged 3800. If you put a supercharger on a motor not designed for it, you may be asking for trouble later on, ie weaker parts that break. You can find those setups for sale, probably even with the wiring harness and ecm. If it would fit then you would have almost everything you need, only thing I can think of(depending on what it comes with) would be the fuel system stuff, ie pump and wiring, and high psi hoses. Good luck
I have thought of this, but do to the fact that the computers on these new engines are involved in so much more I find it to be cost prohibitive. I am not looking at using huge amounts of boost, maybe 6-8 lbs max. I am looking for a daily driver that can run, not a racer that will work on the street if I have to. Need to get it working right first, and what ever engine I put in it will be rebuilt with the parts to take the boost. So all I really need to know is what FWD engines will bolt into a RWD car, or will the heads, intake, timing covers, coil pack and F/I system from a FWD engine bolt onto a RWD block? I currently have a 4.1 block that I am can use to put the parts onto if I need to. So that isn't an issue. Any help would be appreciated.
John