initial timing on new engine install

so this is kind of a generic question... I have a dead 3.8 1997 and I am in the planning and purcasing phase of either doing a stock 3.8 engine swap or going all out and swapping out the tranny and enginge so I can make it into a stroker 383 project..

anyways my questions comes about the initial timing setup as I have never done an install on an engine to a car since they added all of the electronics ( i.e. sensors to PCM etc.,).. From what I have seen and read about there is a few sensors on the block that read where the crank/cam is postion at and ultimately pass that info to the PCM and then ignition timing. But, when I am doing a new engine install do these sensors do all of this automatically or is there a process that I need to do to get everything initiated properly? and if so is there a great deal of costs invoked with buying the tools that are necessary to do this as of course that is really what my decison is stuck on

thanks for your time


p.s. wasn’t sure if this is the right room to put this so if it needs to be moved my aplogizes..

I don't believe the 3.8 has had a distributor since the late 80s. So there shouldn't be any spark timing, its all computer controlled. Even if you are doing a shortblock and reusing the heads you shouldn't need to set the cam timing either since thats all in the block. You should be able to just bolt it up and have it go. This really isn't advanced tech and really should be in the v6 engine section.