Allan R

What's involved with supercharging a series 2 3800? Is the supercharger a direct bolt on or is there additional electronics that need to be changed? I'm curious because I've seen 3800 supercharged Buicks at the boneyard and the thought crossed my mind to put one on my 98. My car is a 1995. There are a couple of Buicks I'm looking at with superchargers. Notably a 1995, 1998, 1999 and a 2000. Is the setup all the same?

Yes, my engine runs fine, I just wanted to know if there's any advantage other than the HP boost that a supercharger will give me. I await your knowledgable hints, suggestions and tips.

joe_padavano

Different computer, different injectors, different wire harness, different front cover and accessory drive. I've always thought the 3800 SC would be great swap material, but you need to swap it as a package. The one thing to watch out for is that the 3800 SC uses the FWD configuration of the 3800 block. This means that it has the narrow FWD bellhousing bolt pattern and the FWD front cover. You can use the 4L60E from an S-10 or F-body, which has this bolt pattern.

projectheaven

That's interesting to know.I have a 96 buick riviera thats supercharged and a 1996 chevy impala ss with the 4l60e tranny.

Good info!!!

joe_padavano

Careful. The 4L60 transmissions bolted the the SBC use the normal Chevy bolt pattern. The 4L60 bolted to the V6 motors (except the Chevy 4.3) use the narrow FWD bellhousing bolt pattern. The two do not interchange.

Olds64

I would think to do a swap of this magnitude you would almost want to take the entire setup as Joe mentioned. I know for a fact that the supercharged 3800 used a different ECM, barometric pressure sensor, and manifold air pressure sensor.

Allan R

Thanks Joe.
Been busy the last couple of weeks so didn't get back to you. Guess it's just not worth the work when the 3800 I've got is still putting out good power and has great compression and gas mileage. Not bad for a high miler. It was just a thought. Appreciate your helpful advice.