Is there any way to increase the power from these ol' engines. The one I have is an 88 3800 in my Park Avenue, it needs a bit more go. I have already freed up the exhaust stream alot and picked up a little there. Is there any other mods I can do?

you could buy a K&N intake filter, a chip to flash your computer.
other than intake, exhaist and computer components most upgrades to a 3.8 involve heavy engine work!

I am not adverse to doing major engine overhaul's I can't seem to find and FWD performance parts other than for the brand new ones, I also don't know how much power a TH440 can put up with.

How would you feel about dropping in an engine & tranny from a newer Park Avenue Ultra (supercharged 3800)? It's the same block, just maybe a bit taller engine because of the supercharger. And maybe you could re-use your existing tranny, perhaps with a performance rebuild (although I would leave it alone for now). You'd also have to swap the computer, but at the end you'd have a killer car...

That is a good idea, if it is really the same block I should be able to bolt the supercharger onto an 1988 block then if I get the supercharger off e-bay or something. Do these supercharged engines have forged internals??? Or is it just the pistons? I need to find a book on these FWD 3800 engines but I haven't been able to yet.

I wouldn't try to use your existing block- I would bring along the heads, pistons, intake manifold, cam, etc., otherwise it may be a very messy swap- these components were designed to work together. I would just transplant the whole engine.

However I think the motor mounts, etc., will all be the same.

-Bob Cunningham

The engine in your 88 is a Gen 1 engine, and the supercharged 3800 is a Gen2, and although they look alike, there are many changes . If you do go the supercharged route, you should( as the other post states) go with the whole set up.

I see, I will now keep my eye on the local storage and salvage yard for a buick supercharged that comes in, I wonder how much re-wiring I would need to do, I think I would prefer to drop in the whole drivetrain transaxle and all. I believe the newer ones are completely electronically controlled no?

I was looking around the internet, and I don't know if you have heard of this place, but Thrasher Performance has about the most comprehensive parts lists I have found for the 3800. The URL is www.thrashercharged.com (http://www.thrashercharged.com)

You might want to check out SLP Engineering. I think they carry upgrades for the 3800

Got some more sites to add to your list
www.3800performance.com (http://www.3800performance.com)
www.intense-racing.com (http://www.intense-racing.com)
www.pfyc.com (http://www.pfyc.com)
www.zzperformance.com (http://www.zzperformance.com)
www.winterhalterperformance.com (http://www.winterhalterperformance.com)
www.wbodystore.com (http://www.wbodystore.com)
www.dynotechperformance.com (http://www.dynotechperformance.com)

www.regalgs.org (http://www.regalgs.org) for info on the parts they sell from people that installed them or at least know someone that bought a part from one of the stores mentioned above, another site for modding would be www.clubgp.com (http://www.clubgp.com) 's forum. I really don't think any of the stuff they sell would really work with your 88 motor, but if you transplant a newer 3800 Series II N/A or supercharged the options are endless. You also cannot put the supercharger on the N/A motor, due to parts of the engine not being beefed up to handle the added boost.

this has been very helpful, i plan on finding a 99 or so GTP drive train to transplant into my 1988 buick riviera. I currently have the series 1 engine, basicly the same thing as the GN engine minus the turbo and cam. in addition to it being FWD. If anyone has any links to beef up my current engine, and/or any links to sites that sell full GTP drive trains let me know.

-jeff-

Bit of an old topic but incase anyone is interested:

www.SeriesOnePerformance.com (http://www.SeriesOnePerformance.com)

;)

thanks, that was pretty helpful accually