Where is the engine number on a supercharged V6? (Now sorted 😀😀)

[rodneybeauchamp]

Hi all, 

Well after a long waiting time I was able to collect my 1997 Buick Riviera. Very very happy with the 50 odd mile journey home.
 

No doubt to comply with our Australian requirements I will need to show to our authorities the engine number.

 

After searching the owners manual, this forum and other literature I cannot find where it is located.

 

Can any member assist with this?

 

Thanks in advance

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀

Edited October 10, 2023 by rodneybeauchamp
Title charged (see edit history)

[NTX5467]

There used to be a fwd Regal GS forum.  When I found it in the 1990s, I was impressed with the youth of the posters and interesting way they had of fixing things (like the digital display in the auto a/c control panels).  Of course, those Regal GS cars had supercharged 3800s in them.  That might be a fruitful place to look?

 

IF the SC3800s are similar to other GM engines, they might have the engine ID stamping, plus a block casting number on the side of the block, possibly with a date code there too.  On the stamping codes, many have the last part of the VIN nearby.  The stamp code identifies the specs and application the engine was machined for, with the VIN stamping identifying the specific vehicle the engine was factory-installed into.  I have not verified if the same things actually exist for the V-6s, but I suspect they might.

 

Looking in non-Riviera-specific websites, other than the one listed, might yield better results.  Only ONE GM engine plant built the later 3800s, which was in Flint, MI and on the sight of the larger Buick assembly operations there.

 

Great looking Riviera!

NTX5467

[Seafoam65]

There are normally two places to look for a partial VIN on your 3.8 supercharged block.....Look on the side of the block above the starter, and look on the front of the block below the water pump.  On my 2000 Grand Prix GTP it was above the starter.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[NTX5467]

My apologies for mentioning the www.RegalGS.org website.  Since I looked at it a good while back, it has now become a Facebook group page rather than the full-blown forum-based website it used to be.  Where the owners were obviously "30-somethings" with smaller families living in the suburbs, not much different that depicted in the Buick Regal GS "Supercharged Family" television spots.  Many of these owners, by observation, needed to fix their own stuff rather than go do to the dealership and get it done for them.  Hence the knowledge they shared on how to do things, knowledge from the "school of hard knocks" rather than a "manual".  Many drag raced their daily-driver cars, too, which led to their knowledge of the Buick 3800 V-6's "guts".

 

But what my Google search also turned up was the presence of many Buick 3800-specific website on how to increase the power of their engines for racing purposes.  Some which had been around since the later 1990s when the Buick 3800SC evolved into being.

 

In the process of their racing activities, there might be certain blocks which are better than others, so that's where the "engine ID" and "block ID" come into play.  Where to look at the block to find such information.  The same information you might need in Oz for the paperwork.  In the USA, the same information can be used to track stolen vehicles and parts thereof.

 

Perhaps the searches I found (knowing about them from times past) eluded your searches as they are not "Riviera-specific" and usually do not appear in normal Buick websites?

 

Take care,

NTX5467

[rodneybeauchamp]

7 hours ago, NTX5467 said:

 

Perhaps the searches I found (knowing about them from times past) eluded your searches as they are not "Riviera-specific" and usually do not appear in normal Buick websites?

 

Take care,

NTX5467

Hi NTX5467,

I do need to do some more searching. My knowledge of the 3800 in anything but a Riviera (or a Holden Commodore over here) is scant. I occasionally use the ‘95 - ‘99 Buick Riviera Facebook group and some others but find their format can be sketchy. Not a huge fb fan at all 👎

 

This forum is much nicer, well organised and much easier to search and navigate. Which probably has a lot to do with the people who are active here.

 

Will certainly post the results and start up a page in Me and My Buick.

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀
 

Appreciate your help.

[NTX5467]

Thanks for the reply and comments.  Up here in the States, the Buick 3800 was used in Buick Rivieras and Park Avenues, plus all of the mid-size fwd platforms, plus several years in Camaros and Firebirds.  Toward the later 1990s, there were even kits to put on a factory-style supercharger on normal 3800s, too.  Plus the special models with it (Regal GS and the several Pontiac Grand Prix high-perf cars).  It was in the various performance 3800 websites that I saw much about the electronics related of the engines.  As good as the 3800 SC is, it exists in the shadow of the Turbo GN cars.

 

Again, your car looks great with the tasteful wire wheels and gold-stripe (Vogue?) tires.

 

Take care,

NTX5467

[rodneybeauchamp]

Hi all,

At the front of the engine found a raised machined boss above the starter motor. Removing the surface rust revealed a series of stamped numbers which is good enough for me.

 

Hard to spot it but taking a photo with the phone really helped. A bit of white chalk and easy peasy to read.

 

What is exciting is the engine number matches the last nine digits of the VIN on the body!

 

Many thanks

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

Edited September 29, 2023 by rodneybeauchamp
Extra detail (see edit history)