Supercharger ?

[ChrisWhewell]

Hey yaa'll, quick question.... for my 90 can I just get a blower manifold and this baby here:  https://forums.aaca.org/forum/11-buick-reatta/  , and put them parts in my '90....?   Or, was that a huge hassle and not worth the effort ?    I hope you write back and tell me to forget about it, haha, too much going on already.   I seem to recall the little blower in the link above was a lesser and non-preferred one anyway, but maybe my memory isn't right since its been a while.

 

I moved out to Burnet Tex about 3 years ago, the Reatta is just sitting, I keep it on hand as a second car in case of failure in the other one.  What sucked was the plastic in my cabin, just seemed to be becoming so brittle.  Like on the door threshold, one day a barely applied a little force to it and it cracked.  Same with many interior parts moulded from that same grade of polymer the thresholds are, like seatbelt parts, glovebox door and a couple others I forget.  Maybe its an ABS, it just has the look of a styrene copolymer, lol.   Other than that, have been remodeling an old two-story cottage, the whole nine-yards.   Any repair or remodel you can imagine, I've done it and I would seek counselling over this habit (haha), except I have to finish up on the staircase renewal this week !   I'm thinking the best way for extra power in the LN3 is to use the funny gas, but I'd keep it waayyy conservative.  Even a little burst of power short time duration can be a good thing !   Or even a life saver....

 

 

[2seater]

The short answer is yes, the parts can be retrofitted to the LN3 shortblock, essentially any of the Series I items can be adapted. The link above just took me in a circle so I don't know if you are referring to the early or later blower for the Series I. I am putting one together right now on an '88 shortblock, using a 1995 donor engine for all the associated front engine drive brackets, power steering pump and reservoir as well as the blower and manifold itself. I haven't decided on which heads to use, the LN3 or the L67, but unless the LN3 heads have a couple holes drilled in them to line up with the internal pcv system, an external pcv needs to be fitted or use L27 or L67 heads. If the donor engine is complete and in salvageable shape, it may pay to swap the whole works in, your choice.

 

By the way, I wouldn't think Texas would be the friendliest state for preservation of interior parts. You need a northern tier car for that, not so much for underneath.🙄

[Josh B.]

It's my understanding that you can definitely slap an old Eaton (M62 I think?) on it (I have a 90 also), but that it also requires at least a reprogram of the ECM. I don't know if there's anything else that would need adjustment. I've thought about supercharging, but I'm unsure I wanna spend the time doing it. Plus I'm not sure how well the tranny would handle the power boost.

[2seater]

Maybe this will help explain the differences I found when I dissected the 1995 S/C engine. There are internal differences but they do not preclude installing the external parts. 1995 L67 junkyard engine exploration - Buick Reatta Discussion Forum - Reatta Owners Journal Forums

 

As for the transaxle holding up: It is true that the life can be shortened, but much of that is in the hands of the driver, or perhaps foot would be more apt. For some reason there is the perception that the trans will explode because it will be driven full tilt all the time. If you drive the stock engine pedal to the metal continuously, it won't live a long life either. I have been turbocharged in various forms since the turn of the century and about 45k miles so far. If discretion is used with the application of extra power, it can work successfully. A large trans cooler is a good idea in any case, but especially here. One small plus is the 1990 transaxle has all the improvements and updates that were found in previous model years. Mine just turned 146k miles.

 

One very good source of information regarding the upgrade, installations and programming is Ryan at GM Tuners aka Sinister Performance. 

This is a pic of his Fiero from 2007, a turbocharged Series II engine. The opponent is a Corvair with a 455 big block Buick up front. Both look like they came from the factory.

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

On 11/1/2021 at 9:17 AM, ChrisWhewell said:

Hey yaa'll, quick question.... for my 90 can I just get a blower manifold and this baby here:  https://forums.aaca.org/forum/11-buick-reatta/  , and put them parts in my '90....?   Or, was that a huge hassle and not worth the effort ?    I hope you write back and tell me to forget about it, haha, too much going on already.   I seem to recall the little blower in the link above was a lesser and non-preferred one anyway, but maybe my memory isn't right since its been a while.

 

I moved out to Burnet Tex about 3 years ago, the Reatta is just sitting, I keep it on hand as a second car in case of failure in the other one.  What sucked was the plastic in my cabin, just seemed to be becoming so brittle.  Like on the door threshold, one day a barely applied a little force to it and it cracked.  Same with many interior parts moulded from that same grade of polymer the thresholds are, like seatbelt parts, glovebox door and a couple others I forget.  Maybe its an ABS, it just has the look of a styrene copolymer, lol.   Other than that, have been remodeling an old two-story cottage, the whole nine-yards.   Any repair or remodel you can imagine, I've done it and I would seek counselling over this habit (haha), except I have to finish up on the staircase renewal this week !   I'm thinking the best way for extra power in the LN3 is to use the funny gas, but I'd keep it waayyy conservative.  Even a little burst of power short time duration can be a good thing !   Or even a life saver....

 

 

No. Not financially responsible.

It involves machining the crank to mount the harmonic balancer. That is the biggest reason.

Financially a series one (91-95) supercharged engine swap is best.

F14 did the top swap (add a m62) it is on the forum.

I did a engine swap it's also on here.

[Barney Eaton]

I have a neighbor with a Fiero that has a supercharged 3800.... he purchased it that way.   Pretty sure it is for sale. 

Back in the late '70's I had a 350 powered '66 Corvair Monza coupe.  It had the Crown kit installed by an engineering student at UT.    Fun car to drive but the shifter set-up was crude. 

[ChrisWhewell]

On 11/3/2021 at 8:57 PM, D-a-n-i-e-l said:

No. Not financially responsible.

It involves machining the crank to mount the harmonic balancer. That is the biggest reason.

Financially a series one (91-95) supercharged engine swap is best.

F14 did the top swap (add a m62) it is on the forum.

I did a engine swap it's also on here.

 

 

Thanks everyone for all the replies, very very helpful.   Since machining the crank would be involved, its a definite NO hahaha because if doing a crank, one might as well select a different block and other goodies !!   It was tempting though, if all that was necessary was intake manifold and throw that cheap Gen I sup'charger on.    I've seen a few now and then where the work has already been done, just have to be lucky and catch someone selling one already so equipped and at palatable cost.  Thanks again

 

 

 

[ChrisWhewell]

2 hours ago, Barney Eaton said:

I have a neighbor with a Fiero that has a supercharged 3800.... he purchased it that way.   Pretty sure it is for sale. 

Back in the late '70's I had a 350 powered '66 Corvair Monza coupe.  It had the Crown kit installed by an engineering student at UT.    Fun car to drive but the shifter set-up was crude. 

Hey Barney how you been doing ?  I was just out 3405 and almost stopped by except for a time crunch.   I've been doing a lot of remodeling, wood floors, staircase, put in a new panel, tile, etc.

Wow, a 350 in a Corvair sounds like the ticket, for the Le Mans race !!  What kind of quarter miles did those things run ?    I had a Lotus Europa "twin-cam special" model for a few years, only 98 Cu In. but twin overhead cams.  I like the balance of the mid-engine design, ya can actually "feel" it by the seat of the pants.   I'd reckon especially with something as heavy as a 350 for those little bodies it could do wonders towards lowering the center of gravity and having most of it in the mid of the vehicle.  I bet if ya go fast enough in like, a 650 HP fiberglass Corvair, ya'd need to put lead weights up under the front bonnet, hahahha.

 

 If you get a chance, please invite your neighbor to phone me, I may be interested in that fiero   756-7567 same area code as yaa'll.   One of my sons and I were just discussing a Fiero with a 3800 SC'd series II.   

 

I put four new good tires on the '99 Riviera, this is the third one of that generation Riv. I've owned and it only had 41 k mi. on it when I got her in '18 !!  What bites is that it was a Cali. car, and the PWR train control module is setup for ditzy valley girls.   The other Rivs of same vintage shifted waayyy differently.  But finding folks having smarts in this area is becoming more challenging ...  

 

 

 

[ChrisWhewell]

On 11/1/2021 at 1:56 PM, 2seater said:

Maybe this will help explain the differences I found when I dissected the 1995 S/C engine. There are internal differences but they do not preclude installing the external parts. 1995 L67 junkyard engine exploration - Buick Reatta Discussion Forum - Reatta Owners Journal Forums

 

As for the transaxle holding up: It is true that the life can be shortened, but much of that is in the hands of the driver, or perhaps foot would be more apt. For some reason there is the perception that the trans will explode because it will be driven full tilt all the time. If you drive the stock engine pedal to the metal continuously, it won't live a long life either. I have been turbocharged in various forms since the turn of the century and about 45k miles so far. If discretion is used with the application of extra power, it can work successfully. A large trans cooler is a good idea in any case, but especially here. One small plus is the 1990 transaxle has all the improvements and updates that were found in previous model years. Mine just turned 146k miles.

 

One very good source of information regarding the upgrade, installations and programming is Ryan at GM Tuners aka Sinister Performance. 

This is a pic of his Fiero from 2007, a turbocharged Series II engine. The opponent is a Corvair with a 455 big block Buick up front. Both look like they came from the factory.

 

Wow, thanks, I agree on all that.  I bought a son, I think it was an '88 olds cutlass with the ... I think 4.3L (?) dual-overhead cam, 4-valve per cyl. hemi design, that many folk hated but we loved !   The thing was that the motor was so powerful, that none of the transaxles available would be reliable, some political in-fighting btw Olds and Chevy at GM IIRC.  So at the last minute the olds folk retarded the camshaft events to a puny 210 HP or something like that when the motor was capable of like 300 ft lbs and could revvv like a muther.  IMO, one of the best engines ever built.    Well, we re-advanced the timing events from internet info, but not back to full factory orig. spec, instead somewhere in the middle.    I told the son, just don't punch it from a stop, instead, feather your way to WOT.  He drove that car for 3 years, it was a hell of a lot faster than stock.   So yeah, its all in the foot.  Impact forces are baaaad !

[Barney Eaton]

Chris....... the pick n pull in Belton has had several of the 3800 supercharged cars ....  you can look on their web site but it does not give details on a vehicle...example it will just say 1999 Regal,  if it would tell you it was a GS then you know it came with the supercharged engine. 

[2seater]

5 hours ago, ChrisWhewell said:

 

 

Thanks everyone for all the replies, very very helpful.   Since machining the crank would be involved, its a definite NO hahaha because if doing a crank, one might as well select a different block and other goodies !!   It was tempting though, if all that was necessary was intake manifold and throw that cheap Gen I sup'charger on.    I've seen a few now and then where the work has already been done, just have to be lucky and catch someone selling one already so equipped and at palatable cost.  Thanks again

 

 

 

I had heard and expected to have machining done to fit the S/C damper but I didn't have to? Originally I thought about leaving the S/C donor engine together for a different project and the S/C was going on an engine put together from various other leftover parts. With that in mind, I had purchased a flexplate and Dorman replacement damper for a S/C engine. It slipped on to the stock crank? I had the whole assembly balanced as the pistons I am using are from an Australian Holden model of the 3800 and the weights are a bit different. The balancing place didn't mention any machining on the snout for the balancer.

[ChrisWhewell]

1 hour ago, 2seater said:

I had heard and expected to have machining done to fit the S/C damper but I didn't have to? Originally I thought about leaving the S/C donor engine together for a different project and the S/C was going on an engine put together from various other leftover parts. With that in mind, I had purchased a flexplate and Dorman replacement damper for a S/C engine. It slipped on to the stock crank? I had the whole assembly balanced as the pistons I am using are from an Australian Holden model of the 3800 and the weights are a bit different. The balancing place didn't mention any machining on the snout for the balancer.

 

I know what to do now, to increase engine output about 65%.   Convert the LN3 to be a two-cycle engine, to get one power stroke per rev.    I guess just a cam swap and an ignition coils re-wiring.  Or maybe it has a "spark waste" system on it, I forget but if so, put that wasted spark to good use !!   Hahahaha, a two-cycle Reatta with a beautiful "scrubber" or converter or whatever so it puts out clean air, and voila, instant 38 MPG !!   Easy weekend project, but it would take me months.  Hahaha, 

[Ronnie]

5 minutes ago, ChrisWhewell said:

 

I know what to do now, to increase engine output about 65%.   Convert the LN3 to be a two-cycle engine, to get one power stroke per rev.    I guess just a cam swap and an ignition coils re-wiring.  Or maybe it has a "spark waste" system on it, I forget but if so, put that wasted spark to good use !!   Hahahaha, a two-cycle Reatta with a beautiful "scrubber" or converter or whatever so it puts out clean air, and voila, instant 38 MPG !!   Easy weekend project, but it would take me months.  Hahaha, 

 

[ChrisWhewell]

29 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

 

 

"However Captain, sensors also indicate that Suzuki sold a LOT of 2-cycle cars for a long time in the Orient, and those cars had MPG ratings in the high 50's."  2-cycles make great sense.  In an LN3, some cooling mods might be needed.  Certainly somebody on U-tube did a 2-cycle conversion of some 4 cyc. auto engine.... I'll check after dinner

 

 

wait wait, this just in !!!     

 

Edited November 5, 2021 by ChrisWhewell (see edit history)

[ChrisWhewell]

hunh.  ya learn something new almost every day, like today I learned that Evinrude was building Two-cycle V8's for several years but quit in '95.