I am gettin sick of the weak old days of my 1994 3.4L V6. Recently I have been reading posts on here and the 3.8L seems to be by far the better of the two as far horespower goes...that is, free of mods. I would rather just drop a 350 V8 into my car, but cannot afford all the extra parts invovled. My question is that how many more parts and accessories would I need to replace my 3.4L with a 3.8L? I dont want to invest too much time and money and was wondering if it would be an easy swap to make. Whoever has any information regarding this topic, please respond...it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!
--Matt

 

Personally I think it woudl be waaaaaaay easier to do an lt1 swap then a 3.8L, swap, maybe even cheaper...

We have had lots of arguments on this on the other board... Even after owning my 3.8L, and my previous 3.4L I still woudl not swap a 3.8L in to the 3.4L even if the 3.4L crapped out. I woudl go 3.4L again or LT1.

 

MustangEater,

Why would you stick with the 3.4L rather than swap to the 3.8L? The 3.8L has 40 more hp than the 3.4L and judging by your times with the "stock" 3.8L, they are VERY impressive. When I saw your times with the stock 3.8L it made me want to swap immidately! 14.582@94.88 are very nice numbers for a V6! I understand that you are a very good manual driver, holding the record for the NA 3.4L's. So, I ask you, what would I have to do to replace the 3.4L with the 3.8L? If that isnt a good idea, how much time, money, and effort would it take to drop the LT1 350 in there? That would be even better! If replacing the 3.4 with the 5.7 is just as cheap and easy as it would be to replace it with a 3.8, I would like to know some information. Please write back!

 

Its a gain but, overall not worth all the hassle to still be just a v6. This isn't like a 2.8L-3.4L swap...

Jsut about everything that needs to be swapped from a 3.4L-Lt1 needs to be swapped from a 3.4L-3.8L....

LSd woudl be nice to have in a lt1, but it can be dirvien without it and put in later...

Actually with an lt1 swap, you can keep your 3.4L AC system, you can't on a 3.8L got to get a new setup.


Also... you are going by my times... Not a good thing to go by... I am only one person look at waht the average 3.8L runs mid 15s, some low 16s, even with mods... My friend last night ran a 15.8, a new personal best, he has intake, exhasut, plugs, wires... in a 96 3.8L...

at the same track as me on the same night, hell we lined up with each other a few runs...

Even if you did put a 3.8L, in for lets say $500 cheaper(won't be that big of a difference, but for this example) now put $500 into your v6, still getting smoked by a stock LT1.

 

MustangEater,

Your right, the V6 is too weak to replace with antoher V6. If they are near the same price I might as well go with the LT1 V8! I have always wanted a 350 anyways, but from hearing everyone talk it sounds like too much work! I have been lookin on ebay for a cheaper motor..something that is used and still runs good. I am only in college and really dont make enough money to spend all out on a new engine. What MAJOR components would I have to change in order to install the V8? Could you give me like a mini list or something? And..do you know anywhere where I could find a decently priced LT1? Hope to hear from you soon!

 

ebay...
www.tacreationsusa.com
speed automotive, but not sure how to find them they changed there name a few times...

also I forgot the website but there is a website, you type a part you want, and it will find it in all the nearest junkyards local to you.

also look at the top fo the v6 section, huge thread on different v6-v8 swaps.

 

ok i've been looking all over and you all say the same that its not worth doing but all i have to spend is 600 to buy the camaro with the blown 3.4 and i already have a donor car with the 3.8 engine and tranny so i ask again what are the things that i would need to do to make this happen as painless as possible..