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Are all 3800 heads created equally?

R

rodman918

New member
I am going to change the head gasket on my 2004 GTP comp G and want to get the heads done before I tear into it. I am going to go to my local pick-n-pull and get some heads but wanted to make sure that all 3800 heads are the same. Can I just pull any head from a Pontiac or Buick that has a 3800 engine and have them done? Does the car have to be supercharged? Are there certain years that are beter then others? Thanks in advance for your reply.
 


the heads are not the same. they are different between supercharged and NA and L67 and L26.


And why are you changing the headgaskets in the first place???????

These cars NEVER have head gasket issue and are never even a part of normal maintance.
 
Well thank you for your rapid reply but unfortunately for me my head gasket has gone out…… I wish that the NEVER that you said was the case on my vehicle. I am open to ideas if you can tell me what else it could be other than the head gasket. I changed the LIM even though that would not allow exhaust to get into the coolant but after the change the hydrocarbon coolant test shows that exhaust is getting into the coolant. If it isn’t the head gasket then it could be a cracked head (the reason that I want to have a redone set here when I tear into it). I guess you should change your NEVER to almost never. Do you know of anything else it could be?
Anyway…… can someone please answer my original question about which cars will work for me and which cars wont?
 
96-97 heads were prone to cracking between the cylinders. The casting number was then changed for 98-03 with a different head being produced 04+

96-03 the motor was labeled an L67, 04+ it was labeled an L32. Yes there is a difference between charged and not charged. Mainly it's the injector location. L67's have holes in the heads for the injector and L36 do not.
 


Ever so slightly.

But the casting is still the same?

1.83" intake valves (instead of 1.80" as on Series II) and 1.52" exhaust valves were introduced in 2003 engines, just before switching to Series III.
Click to expand...

As per wikipedia.
 
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