Hello all. Obviously I'm new to the forum. I am putting together an old 49 Chevy truck for a daily driver.

In looking at options for a powertrain, I came across a low mileage 97 3.8/4L60E for a fairly cheap price. These in stock form seem to move the heavier Camaro pretty well and get good fuel economy so I think it will be ok for this application. Obviously I'm not looking for all out performance.

I've done a LT1 swap and reworked the stock harness and it came out good so not too worried about this part. The engine does have a harness but the PCM is missing. Are these computers the same on all automatic 3.8's or are they year specific? Are any years better to use than others? Is their a good source for reprogramming? I'm just looking at getting rid of vats and getting shift points right. Or if I use same gearing and tire height as stock can I get around vats another way?

Thanks in advance for any assistance. I've read a of post on here but things change so wanted to ask fresh.

 

97 is a good year to have because it is OBD2 its tuneable and it is not Drive by wire. I think you could get away with a 98 also. It will take a lot of tuning to get the PCM to work without all its sub systems. Anti lock brakes, security system, Body contorl modual, I am not sure if the 97 had a Body control modual. You should ask a moderator to move this to the 4th gen V6 section. It will get more traffic there. I would love to see whats all involved.

 

I'd contact pcmforless and have them eliminate what ever you need to eliminate. They'll also tune your shift points for you and gear tire ratio for your speedo.

 

OK the computer you can use for this is 96-98. You will want to have the GO/NOGO requirement from the BCM removed as well as the ABS and Traction Control. PCMforLess can make you a computer that has the software load you need for your truck.

You dont want to use a 99-02 3800. These engines are throttle by wire and will need special equipement on the petal as well, and with out precision fabrication you will be hard pressed to get full throttle response.

Massey