Darth Fiero
3800 Series II Turbo
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2003
A friend of mine approached me and asked me to do him this swap since he knows I do them for Fieros and other vehicles. I kinda questioned his motives about wanting to swap this engine into his 88 Park Ave but he lives in a not-so-great neighboorhood and doesn't want a nice shiney new car because he won't be able to keep it long. Anyway, he found the complete 3800SC/4T65-EHD out of a wreaked 1997 Bonneville SSEi and had me go pick it up.
Transferring from H-body to H-body seems to be easy enough but there are a few small differences between 1988 and 1997, besides the wiring and computer.
I have already started this swap and gotten the old powertrain out (3800 vin C / 440-T4) and got the 97 powertrain bolted to the cradle. As far as mounting, the major difference is the right-rear transmission mount that comes on the 440-T4 will NOT bolt up to the 4T65-E. However, the H-body 4T65-E does come with a mount in that location but it is a dog-bone. What I did was take some measurements and cut off part of the dog bone bracket and welded a plate onto it at the proper angle so I could re-use the 88 Pk Ave's factory hydraulic mount in that location. The front right engine mount was easy enough it was part of the A/C bracket on the 3800 vin C. This bracket will bolt up to the L67 but you will have to do some cutting and grinding so it will fit properly. There were two main problem areas: The deck height of the Series II engine is shorter than the Series I which means there is not as much flat area above the 3-main bolt holes for the front A/C mount. Also, the H-body L67's SC idler pulley bracket occupies some space by where the old A/C bracket wants to sit so you will have to grind a little there. Best thing I can tell you to do is get a silver permanent marker and do some mock-up mounting and cut/grind a little at a time until it sits flat. It just so happens this car just had the A/C redone not to long ago so I didn't want to change out the compressor so I could use a different bracket. Its on and works fine no problem.
The other two trans mounts bolt right up, you can use either the 440-T4 or the 4T65-E mounts from the Bonneville. I used the front left trans mount from the bonne because it had that mini-shock absorber on it to help limit the movement of the engine. The rear left mounts are virtually identical.
Appearantly there is no difference between 88 and 97 steering racks pertaining to how the P/S pump lines hook to them because the 97 P/S pump and lines from the Bonneville bolt right up perfectly.
As far as exhaust, anyone who is familiar with these cars knows you have a lot of room to work with so it looks like I will have no problem building the 3" mandrel bent system my friend requested.
Heater hoses will need to be replaced but again I have some room to work with so no worries. The cooling systems are very similar so the hoses from the 97 should work fine.
Tomorrow I start on wiring the 97 PCM into the car. This should be fun!
Transferring from H-body to H-body seems to be easy enough but there are a few small differences between 1988 and 1997, besides the wiring and computer.
I have already started this swap and gotten the old powertrain out (3800 vin C / 440-T4) and got the 97 powertrain bolted to the cradle. As far as mounting, the major difference is the right-rear transmission mount that comes on the 440-T4 will NOT bolt up to the 4T65-E. However, the H-body 4T65-E does come with a mount in that location but it is a dog-bone. What I did was take some measurements and cut off part of the dog bone bracket and welded a plate onto it at the proper angle so I could re-use the 88 Pk Ave's factory hydraulic mount in that location. The front right engine mount was easy enough it was part of the A/C bracket on the 3800 vin C. This bracket will bolt up to the L67 but you will have to do some cutting and grinding so it will fit properly. There were two main problem areas: The deck height of the Series II engine is shorter than the Series I which means there is not as much flat area above the 3-main bolt holes for the front A/C mount. Also, the H-body L67's SC idler pulley bracket occupies some space by where the old A/C bracket wants to sit so you will have to grind a little there. Best thing I can tell you to do is get a silver permanent marker and do some mock-up mounting and cut/grind a little at a time until it sits flat. It just so happens this car just had the A/C redone not to long ago so I didn't want to change out the compressor so I could use a different bracket. Its on and works fine no problem.
The other two trans mounts bolt right up, you can use either the 440-T4 or the 4T65-E mounts from the Bonneville. I used the front left trans mount from the bonne because it had that mini-shock absorber on it to help limit the movement of the engine. The rear left mounts are virtually identical.
Appearantly there is no difference between 88 and 97 steering racks pertaining to how the P/S pump lines hook to them because the 97 P/S pump and lines from the Bonneville bolt right up perfectly.
As far as exhaust, anyone who is familiar with these cars knows you have a lot of room to work with so it looks like I will have no problem building the 3" mandrel bent system my friend requested.
Heater hoses will need to be replaced but again I have some room to work with so no worries. The cooling systems are very similar so the hoses from the 97 should work fine.
Tomorrow I start on wiring the 97 PCM into the car. This should be fun!
and should make a nice sleeper! Keep us posted..
