Thread: 3800SC Cavalier

z06 driver needs driver mod. Nice car though. I believe headers can be made to fit but you have to clearance where the dp goes.

If you feel like dealing with the hassle then headers. If not a Plog is worlds better than the factory manifold.

Awesome engine, not so awesome car, but awesome sleeper. Have you had a chance to take it out to dragstrip?

I'd swap to obd2 just to make everything easier on the car.

The firewall near the downpipe area needs to be re-worked, cut up and re-sealed. I don't know if you'll be fighting clearances with the getrag as well but if you can get the headers to fit it would be ideal and in the end cheaper. I don't know if the harness will be so easy on that particular body style, may want to look into that before you drop a lot of coin on harness'.

If it helps, you can see some of the firewall cutting/reworking we did in this build - http://www.grandprixforums.net/proje...ild-27674.html

That's one heck of a car...very cool

is that your subaru?

Damn.. I really like that cavi. Haven't seen many in that condition.

Spark plugs, NGK are a good choice for a daily driver because you dont need to change it as often as autolite copper core 103 -104. The NGK TR55 are one heat range colder good for 3.4 pulley plus cold air induction and a colder T-stat 180. Any thing more then those look at getting NGK TR6, the TR55 setup plus a 3.25” supercharger pulley, 1.80:1 or 1.90:1 rocker arms or very mild cam, exhaust headers, cat-back exhaust system, and reprogrammed PCM. Gap at .55 - .57

Well Ill take your word for It, I'v got TR55 Iv never used 103's or 104's. I typed that up using zzp, wbody store, and 3800 performance.

Ring ring schools in session. I only knew about half that haha.

I've heard that you want the wb pretty close to the motor.

Originally Posted by fry626

That's an awesome little car you have there.

If I could chime in about mods... headers are a must! If you could, post more pictures of the engine bay, specifically the front and rear manifolds and their clearance. That'll give us a better idea on what your options are.
As for a cam, hands down a cam is better than an intercooler. If I had a 5spd 3800 (getrag 282?) I would go with the biggest cam I could for the engine. Driveability isn't going to suffer at all because even the "big" cams for stock heads 3800s are still relatively small. I'd pick up something like an Intense stage 3.

Don't even bother with a GenV swap unless you're really going to try and string out every last bit of power.

The is3 cam requires ported heads.

I had the vs with the genV and it was awesome, power all the time but stock like drivability. Cams can be done in the car and the vs doesn't require anything else but it's good to replace the valve springs with it. I've also run the xp cam and I loved that one too.

zeitronix is a very high end brand and will blow an AEM out of the water. Logging with an AEM is garbage. As far as sensor location, if you want to get super technical with it follow this http://www.wbo2.com/lsu/lsuinstal.pdf that is every ounce of WB sensor location info you could ever need, if not just put it back where it was. Being that your existing exhaust setup accommodates stock manifolds well, I would not try to reinvent the wheel with it. A powerlog in the front and a ported stocker in the rear could be the answer for fighting KR. If you want to make more power a cam is the way to go IMO. Especially with a 5 speed, the extra powerband alone would be worth it. I have a Comp "xtreme energy" 76-802-9 in my car, I rev it to 6200 on l92 springs every day for the last 16k miles and it rocks. If you can do LIM gaskets and a timing chain you can change the cam in the car. Maybe its just because I do this stuff at work every day but ive never understood why everyone is so afraid of changing a cam in the car.