I recently just bought another 3800 motor because my other one had a blown head gasket and i just seen sum 4.8l and 5.3l engines for sale they run from 450 to 1,000 and up but i wanna get my moneys worth from this 3800 should i put a cam in it or just leave it like it is until i wanna ls swap it ?

 

an lsx swap takes alot of work an knowledge can be done though,there was one hear a 5.3l,your better off to just keep a 3800 in it or move to Z28 car, an ls1 swap is even more work ,keep it the 3800 then save for z28 or an SS,these cars were realy not made for swaps ,if you want to do a good swap find an 92 on back 3rd gen an put BB in it ,the space is very limited in 4th gen cars,my 406 swap while it did not take very long ,working the quirks out has taken over a year ,then next year it will be the way i want it ,an they come at a cost too, save for an ls1 car ,then you can do so much to the ls1, then like throw ls3 an 1s6 parts at it an make it a monster too,thats next on my bucket list an ls1 car

 

Fix the 3800 because it is a great daily, I would not Cam it. The only reason to build a 3800 is because you love the 3800 but if you just want to go fast watch craigs list for an LS1 car with a blown motor. Swap your dirt cheap 5.3 into that car. The blown LS1 car will cost you between $700 and $1200.

To get all the parts you need to do a LSX swap you are going to end up buying a parts car anyway. There are just so many part you would need even buying them from a u pull it lot will get pricy. Skip the 4.8's and go to the 5.3. It is worth the extra $100-$200. You will get 40-60 more hp with the same mods. Course if you can find a deal on the 6.0 your golden.

 

Preciate yall 💯 dat make more sense to just save up for a LS1 car or a LS1 car with a blown motor i dont know why i didnt think about that. Ima just keep it a 3800 and just do things to the appearance cause i still love the car its a 1999

 

Preciate yall 💯 it make more sense to do it that way ima worry about the appearance

 

could go with a series 3 3.8 and pick up an extra 20hp

 

Ion know if thats worth it i could get that same hp or more from a cam

 

series 3 heads are different. if you already got a 3.8 series 2 then go with it stock. i dont think the price is different for the series 3 engine being its the newer style and there should be more around. i guessing it depends on where your at too, as it is with alot of things.

 

Yeah i was looking at some about the same price as the series 2

 

The problem with upgrading the cam in the 3800 is you will be making more HP on the higher RPMs but at a cost to the mid range. This means when you try to pass someone and your at 2500 RPMs the car will have less power until you hit 3500 PRMs. With most cams you have to give up something to get something but the v6 is already a little weak in the mid range you really don't want to give anymore up on a daily driver. To really take advantage of that higher RPM HP you really need gears and a torque converter to support it.

If you want to wake up your car a little look at some mid length tube headers and increased ratio rocker arms and a mail order tune. This will increase HP across the whole power band. Check out the FAQ there is a 3800 where to begin I believe.

As craby said the SIII motor is a nice upgrade while the numbers only show a mild increase there main goal in the redesign was to increase mid range torque. Your butt dyno will think your feeling more then a 10% gain.