Hi guys,
Looks like a very cool forum. A lot of information available that i have been digging through. I ran into a 2002 V6 Base convertible last year with 32k orig miles on her. Picked her up real cheap and even though she was mint, i started bringer her back to the 20th century. I did all the basics to get some more performance, and am at a cross road on what to do next.

Intake
Cat Back exhaust
MSD ignition
Coils
Plugs
Ultima
Ground kit
3.73 and posi install
Hypertech tune to fix tire size etc

I am thinking about possibly a port/polish with possibly over sized cams etc.

Turbo is too much, i don't believe i will go that route.

Anyways, Whatever your recomendation is, if you could please referance where you would take your precious gem to do it in Southern California.

I am in the San Fernando Valley, thanks for any info!

I uploaded some before and afters.

 

If it was me...I would change all the fluids,plugs n wires,posi and a mail order tune and drive the p!ss out of it with the top down

 

Porting and polishing heads and a new cam will gain you some high RPM power but at a cost to you lower RPMs torque. Wthe 3800 I would not do that unless the cars main use is racing. The 3800s pull pretty decent at 2500 to 3500 RPMs AKA merging speed. You slow down the air flow speed and you will pull the guts out of that range.

You can add some mid length headers and some increase ratio rocker arms along with a tune to support it and you should 10-15% hp gain a crossed the entire RPM range. Honesty with budget rent a cars putting out 300+ hp these days what's the point.

If you have not done it yet you should think about a lower intakes gasket, these are prone to failure and they can take the engine with them when they going. There is also a plastic elbow under the intake you should do that tends to crack but that is just a coolant leak. I mention these because time is as much a factor as miles.

3800 is a bullet proof engine with 2 exception. The lower intake gasket and letting off the throttle quickly at high RPMS. The letting off the throttle can stretch the rod and spin the bearing. Some engines seem more prone to it. I guess that is just manufacturing variation.

 

does the series III engine correct this?