What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

[CFreed11]

Anyone know of a build bigger than Lance's from Abbott? I know there was Tim King's monster twin turbo 3.8, but I'm more looking for N/A builds. Lance's car put down 271/259 at the wheels, but looking at the build list on their site, I'm not sure much else could have been done besides bigger injectors and more tuning.

[ssms5411]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

Letzride has a big N/A setup.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

Lee Norton has a crazy N/A setup. He's gone 12.3x now with stock spec heads since he's in a stocker class. That car is just nasty

Harry Doolittle has run in the 11's N/A

Finding information on either of those cars is extremely tough.

[WarShrike]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

Mmmhmm, those stock eliminator guys are very closed lipped about their information. It is of course their money maker on the weekends :)

My car is done in quite the different manner than the others, but I wasn't really planning on going all out power-wise for this engine anyway. It's doing exactly what I wanted it to do though, so I'm happy.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

I know stocker guys are tight lipped...just think, if we could do what they do...BUT add to the fact that we do modify our heads and all the good stuff...we could have some damn fast cars rolling around...

[2.8 Bird]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

Who else has a bigger built 3800 in our board that is Hmmm:

1. Steve SSM5411
2. Mike Letzride
3. Warshrike


Three main guys who already posted.

[Docta]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

I'd look into grand prix and impala builds too. Some of those guys are insane.

[CFreed11]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

Maybe my post came off somewhat ignorant.. I'm obviously aware of The Angry Bird and Warshrike builds, I've probably posted in both build threads. I'm in the research and collecting parts stage of my build and am trying to find the full potential of a N/A 3800. I should probably get on other sites besides here and LS1tech.

At this point, I've decided to build the 3.8 in my 'bird to see what kind of numbers I can achieve with it. Even though I also still have the Trans Am, I feel like the v6 build is where I'll turn the most heads and get more satisfaction. There are just too many LSx builds out there and I'd rather not be "just another".

[pace2006]

If you're wanting an all-out NA build, look into a stroker kit from COME racing and ZZP's aluminum heads. Be sure to include some of the Australian builds in your search. A number of guys down under have some nasty builds with their 3800s. You might even find some interesting parts that could be adapted with some work. Just be prepared, a big NA build like that adds up in no time.

As for an example of a big build, Grimm on FTV6 had a ZZP stroker for a brief time back in the day. It didn't last, but is another example. You might also check around some sale threads on here and V6FB for Lance's old race cam. Last I recall it was for sale a while back.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

I advise against the strokers... I dont know of any that have held up

[WarShrike]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

^Too many that bought it and didn't have the know-how to get it working right. I think one guy spec'd his cam wrong and it munched the valves.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

I dunno, I heard of a number of cranks breaking... And at 3500$ a pop? Unless the prices have gone down?

Really a full out n/a build I feel goes back to my posts here and on ftv6 regarding stuff like windage trays and cranks scrapers... It is utilizing and exposing all the tricks the stockers use and coupling them with top end quality parts and making them mesh together

[WarShrike]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

Only ones I heard of that broke were the ones that were offset ground cranks like the one Grimm used on his car. That's probably 5 years or so ago...

[pace2006]

Really a full out n/a build I feel goes back to my posts here and on ftv6 regarding stuff like windage trays and cranks scrapers... It is utilizing and exposing all the tricks the stockers use and coupling them with top end quality parts and making them mesh together

Prepping the block and oil passages would definitely be the start of it. That along with the proper bypass at the filter adapter should be the basis of any build. You could also get really fancy and use a hammerhead trap-door style oil pan if you wanted.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: What's the biggest 3800 build out there?

Ya, oiling seems to be a common theme when maximizing horsepower and it is commonly overlooked.

You can look on the holden boards as well (already mentioned) I think their fastest NA car is only a 12.xx car though to.

Maybe look to some fiero boards? They swap these motors in quite a bit... How fast they are though could be decieving, they are lighter than us