Forced induction

After months of hemming and hawing and looking at WS6's that had too many miles and not enough TLC for too much money, I finally decided to go for broke and am ordering a supercharger kit for my '98 3.8L FB.

I've done a few turbo/super installs on 1.6 and 1.8 Honda engines, so this should go SOMEWHAT smoothly...but we'll see.

I've seen dyno numbers from super'd 3800's that nominally reach 300 HP, more if the engine internals have been beefed up and the boost is turned up to about 12 PSI (SOP seems to be about 8 PSI for the L37).

If it works out well, I'll have a mustang stomping beast that can run with the stock 5.7 boys, if not... 1998 V6 Firebird, parting out 3k obo :loser:

If anyone's attempted (or suceeded) in this already, any hints or pitfalls you could provide would be much appreciated :cool:

EDIT: sidenote- I think I have a fairly stable platform to attempt this, the engine only has 47k miles on it and hasn't been run hard...I have a huge concern about the auto tranny being able to withstand it, but if I remember correctly the V8's had the same auto tranny with 320ish hp.

I'd reccomend upgrading some of the transmission components (especially the torque converter), as the previous owner of my bird thrashed it and left me with the repair bill one month after I purchased it. I don't trust automatics, but if you don't do a crapload of hard launches or hammering the throttle all the time, it should be okay. If you are going to Supercharge the 3.8, I'd say look around for the Project Virus and Pathogen V6's. They're pumping out some power with a centrifugal blower, and intercooled to boot. If you want to run the engine reliably around the 9+ range to 15, you'll want to mill the engine up to the L67 specs to a certain degree.

I have plans on ordering a GTP 3800 Supercharged crate from GMPP (along with a performance tranny), then switching it from the blower to a custom fabricated turbo setup as the stock blower exceeds its efficiency somewhere around 19 psi, plus the bragging rights of building your own turbo V6 and suprising some unwitting Detroit Muscle, priceless. Why am I more willing to get a new engine and start clean? I have 106k miles on this engine, and I'd rather be able to run some bench tests on the engine before it gets to sit in its rightful place...

While I've done quite a few upgrading to imports, they were all manuals, thus I don't know much about how automatic's even really work (I know it's hydraulic based...that's about it). I've seen shift kits or shift 'packs' that lower quarter mile times a bit and shorten the overlap between gears, so that's probably on my plate as well. The biggest thing I know about autos is that when they go- they GO- and it costs a pretty penny to replace.

That's an interesting idea you have about swapping in a complete GTP engine. I originally considered just acquiring a GTP supercharger and fitting it on, but I decided against it after I drove a stock GTP and realized it didn't really have much more power than an N/A 'bird.

i'd cancel the order and spend it wisely on an engine swap. you can used big blocks for 900 bucks, rebuild them and build them up and you'll way out perform a sc 3800.. around here ppl are really race crazy. i can pick up a big block for 400 bucks easy. thats what i would do cause honestly 300 whp is optimistic. yet if you do make 300whp you'll be way faster then any stock f-body i can tell you that much.. take the best of the best. 2002 SLP firehawk. they are barley make 300whp. i know cause my cousin has one with slp loud mouth,headers and y pipe and he barly out ran my near stock 99 Cobra. 13.1 in the quarter with a not so good 60ft. i ran 13.3 with a not so good 60ft with just a catback and pulley. point being your v6 car is lighter than a 5.7 so with the same rwhp you should be faster, but 300whp is very optimistic. i personally think you'd be much happier with at least a 350.

If you do anything FI on the v6, go turbo.

You'll want a tranny cooler, torque converter and some luck ;)

You'll want a way to tune it, HPTuners is probably your best bet or find a v6 shop. Its all about the tune.

If I were you, I'd buy a 6.0 iron block, build it with forged internals, with a lower compression ratio and then after its in your car, save up for the turbo/blower and go that route..but that's just me.

Good luck on your project though.

take the best of the best. 2002 SLP firehawk. they are barley make 300whp. i know cause my cousin has one with slp loud mouth,headers and y pipe and he barly out ran my near stock 99 Cobra. 13.1 in the quarter with a not so good 60ft. i ran 13.3 with a not so good 60ft with just a catback and pulley.

Your cousin sucks as a driver or spun off the line. when you're trapping 107+mph(what he should be running with his mods), .2 seconds is a good sized game....not "barely". :grinyes: