I made 248whp NA, it was easy as pie. The secret is the cam, the only one I would ever touch for an NA build is the Abbott Racing Heads NA cam I have, least "off the shelf" grind wise (it's actually a custom cut everytime Comp makes one, specs are thanks to ARH). Here's how I would do it.

Stock bottom end, don't touch it.
Felpro gasket kit
105 valve springs at MINIMUM, I run 130's and a double roller chain just for peace of mind. But you can get away with 105's.
ZZP CNC ported heads, they know a lot about head porting actually, and being done CNC keeps everything consistent. Pretty affordable too.
Smooth out the upper and lower intake runners with an 80 grit sanding roll on a die grinder, don't polish.
For the auto, it'll handle the power, just a few upgrades like a converter and shift kit should be fine. Stick, that's the boundary of stock trans power wise. Mine had no complaint, but anymore and she'll jump overboard. Gonna need a clutch upgrade though, I'm happy with my spec stage 3
To get it down the track, gonna need 4.10 gears and posi
And above all, the tune, especially with an auto car. Can't beat a reputable dyno tuner, but make sure he/she is familiar with the v6. HPT is expensive, and hard to learn. But if you can get a handle on it, it'll be worth every penny longterm wise.

 

^ Thanks for sharing. Now why do you say only the Abbott Racing Heads NA cam? Is my assumption correct that this cam, and probably all other will decrease gas mileage? This is going to sound funny for a Camaro fan, but I like to try to find all the performance upgrades that will not hurt gas mileage (assuming no lead foot).

Like you implied, reportedly, the 3800 already has good low end, where all of its torque resides, need more top end as they fall short before the curve @~ 2500 stock.

Also check out Tim King's fastest 3800, in the 8's, 810 WHP, Twin Turbos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Wp1MbNp-8

 

That was sweet!

 

less weight= faster as well

 

I had considering an underdrive pulley set up for my 3.8 but have not seen a lot of folks making pulleys for this motor. Who should I be looking for to acomplish this.

 

have you tried zzperformance? they make a pulley for the water pump

 

Thanks, I'll give them a try.

 

Your ok with Stock Connecting rod and main bolts? Just to be clear you are talking about a fresh stock bottom end not one with 100,000 miles on it? Stock oil pump also?

 

My car made 232 with an Abbott Cam recently and stock heads with completely stock 106k mile bottom end. Engine runs fine, torque converter pissed itself, and the rear end is whining like a little *****