Reatta 3800 engines "virtually blueprinted"?

[Guest spyhunter2k]

The information below was posted on another site. Can anyone confirm the information below regarding engine parts and such?

<span style="font-style: italic">“Okay...time for yet another secret from the hinterlands of Michigan...

All of you GM haters have NO idea what you're talking about when it comes to the little Reatta. Of course how could you, the public hasn't been informed about this little tidbit about the Reatta, and I share it with you now. There is a reason that many of Buick and GM's top executives have one or MORE Reattas stashed away in warehouses and garages all over. They were the closest thing to a custom built GM that was EVER available for sale. Details below.

Reattas were "hand-built" according to public information at the time. But what does that really mean?

In sales literature/owner's manual, it intimated that special care on the assembly line was taken in its manufacture. It went a LOT further than that.

Special engine blocks, pistons, rods, brakes, and other parts were HAND selected and finished by GM engineers for special delivery to the final assembly plant. A special fleet of trucks was used to bring these parts which were virtually "blueprinted" for accuracy in weight, dimension, and quality of materials.

Their tolerances and specifications were held tighter than any GM vehicle ever delivered, due to the high amount of hand finishing at all stages of assembly.

The final assembly process also involved hundreds of fine adjustments and parts checks/rejections/replacements that cars before and since have never received.

THEN, the cars were shipped to a special delivery center where the best ones were picked off by executives and special buyers, and all of them were given yet further quality control and finishing.

The Reatta is known as GM's special "jewel" to execs in the know, who have saved their own copies for the ages.

Now I'm not saying its the BEST car GM's ever built (as far as performance, handling, looks, etc.) but it is without a doubt the HIGHEST QUALITY car that GM (or any other manufacturer other than extreme luxury models) has ever built.”</span>

[handmedownreatta]

it seems to me if gm made special engines just for the reatta,they would have been rated for more hp.

[padgett]

Couldn't advertise as such. Then they would have to go through their own emissions cycle. Part of the reason for the Reatta's weight was so that it could piggyback (be in the same weight class) the Riviera's certification.

Would not be the first time GM had used "creative" ratings, in 1969 the Z-28 was rated at 290 hp, the SS-350 at 295. The L-88 'vette was 430 hp, the tripower 435.

1970 Pontiac. 400 in Bonneville 360 hp, in GTO 350, in Firebird 335. Interesting part was that the automatics in all got a milder cam than ones with the manual trans. Didn't change the rating. ('bird was supposed to have a throttle stop to limit the secondaries opening. Have never seen one.).

Back in the day, if you wanted a really fast GM car you did not look at the HP ratings, you looked for the ones that were not available with air conditioning. (Had to put up a 25% deposit to order one such in south Florida).

[Guest THEHKP7M13]

They have always been a special car to me.

[D-a-n-i-e-l]

Handcrafted should give any one a hint. GM is not "handcrafted". So if they put a modlle in prodution and took the time to assemble by hand, it had to be special.

[Guest Greg Ross]

Mine is balanced, but then it was built that way!

[Rawja]

I'm gonna call "Bravo Sierra" on the above assertion, sounds like nonsense. Surely they were assembled with a higher level of care than a standard GM vehicle, but not much more than that.

Also how exactly would "the best" of the produced models be picked out of the production by VIPs?

Typical internets speculative pontification....

[padgett]

"Also how exactly would "the best" of the produced models be picked out of the production by VIPs?"

You got it sdrawkcab. The foreman (or rarely woman) would be told that a "special" was coming down the line and extra care would be taken.

Pontiac build sheets would sometimes be maked "body in aisle" or "body sent to engineering" and then you knew it was something special (or maybe pulled out of the line because they ran out of an option or trim piece).

These really fell into two classes: ones intended for media or celebrity use and then there were the ones the line felt they had a personal stake in (sometimes known as "foreman's friends") often for someone at that the plant. These were the ones that got the really special treatment.

And then there were the ones that got a coke bottle in a welded compartment...

[Guest ekvh]

And then there were the ones that got a coke bottle in a welded compartment...

That sounds like a confession, Padgett.

[Barney Eaton]

This was the first time I have ever heard this story about the Reatta engines being special built.

With that said, I called a GM engine engineer that is a Reatta owner and probably knows as much about the 3800 as anyone.

His answer was all 3800 were made on the same line and are the same. He said that there might be some engine management differences for different weight cars and final drive ratios but the engines themselves are the same.

I also talke to him about my concerns with the temp gage here in the south in the summer. Mine will go 2-3 clicks past 12 o'clock (on the '90-'91 cluster) and that worried me.

He said the engines were duribility tested at 240 degrees F to run all day at that temp. So as long as there is coolant and no leaks, this is another testimonial to the strength of this engine.

[Guest CL_Reatta]

Were there ever any red line test for extended periods of time? would be interesting to see how the 3800 held up for that

[Guest spyhunter2k]

Thanks Barney. It sounded a bit far-fetched, but worth checking into.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Think someone got a Porsche "Family Car" mixed up with a Reatta. Porsche was know for doing what was described.

[charlie1]

xyz

Edited August 1, 2009 by CHAS1
xyz (see edit history)

[padgett]

There was a "Stock Engine Test" that would have been run on the 3800 to determine the max power & torque and the fuel consumption rates at various rpms but I have never seen one for a 3800. These usually includes hours at varying speeds but doubt that it was at redline. Fuel cut off was at 6000 though a "C" 3800 really does not make any power past 5k.

Only thing the literature says is that each engine is inspected and fine-tuned when it arrived at the craft center but since they all use the same computer program I would not know what that means.