Riviera stuff

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
08/04/2016 at 13:28 • Filed to: riviera, supercharger

In typical 3800 fashion my car has begun eating its own intake manifold. The plastic-fantastic plenum that dons the naturally-aspirated 3800s is known to get melted by the EGR system which allows coolant (which flows through the intake manifold for some godforsaken reason) to enter the engine and get combusted. My car has begun eating coolant, and as there is none in the oil and no oil in the coolant, thus ruling out the lower intake manifold gaskets, it must be the plenum. The usual fix would be to buy an aluminum Series III plenum and gaskets to the tune of $160, but for that same price I could buy a Series II L67 supercharged lower intake manifold and a Gen III Eaton M90 supercharger. And the gaskets. The only problem would be the requisite drilling of six holes into the L67 manifold using the L36 (NA) manifold as a guide since the NA engines have injectors in the manifold, and the L67 (SC) engine has them in the heads. For no good reason. Six holes drilled and polished, bolt everything together, wire the supercharger bypass open, and my car would run just how it did before. No change except it would no longer eat coolant. Down the line I could drop another $200 on larger injectors, a new fuel pump (Which I need anyways, as my pump is pretty damn marginal), a belt, colder spark plugs, and a 180 degree thermostat, then another $100 for a license to use my friend’s computer to tune my car and I would make a reliable 270 crank horsepower vs the 205 horsepower this engine makes stock. The tune would also allow me to fiddle with the line pressure settings of my transmission and instruct the worn clutch packs to engage harder, reducing wear and slippage.

All in I’m guessing $600 max to get this done. I’ve priced things out and got a $300 number but this shit always ends up twice as expensive as you’d expect. A 3800 aficionado I’m friends with will be supplying me with parts (injectors and fuel pump, supercharger, etc.) for stupid cheap, so I’m pretty certain I can squeeze in under that goal.

Engine porn for your time.

DISCUSSION (17)

TheHondaBro > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/04/2016 at 13:30

Dude... Just get a Camry.

WiscoProud > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/04/2016 at 13:35

Seems like a lot of effort for 270hp. What can you get with the supercharger? Roots superchargers always win in my book.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > WiscoProud
08/04/2016 at 13:41

Supercharger is good to about 360 at the wheels with adequate supporting mods.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > TheHondaBro
08/04/2016 at 13:41

What.

WiscoProud > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/04/2016 at 13:44

Not bad at all. That’s the route I'd go personally.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > WiscoProud
08/04/2016 at 13:51

270 is adequate for me. I just want a little more oomph when I’m driving around with a full load of people and luggage and trying to get on the highway (because road trip car) and the glorious noises that come with an M90 blower. Also I’m sick of saying “no” when people ask if it’s supercharged, since 90% of Rivieras were sold that way.

JGrabowMSt > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/04/2016 at 13:52

Jump on it. Just make sure you run super conservative boost levels on your motor considering the mileage.

Hell, while you’re at it, why not (over the course of a couple of years), build a new motor and have a built trans made? Blow the current motor, swap the blower onto the good one, and keep going!

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/04/2016 at 14:02

Do it. Do it now. You will love it. I guarantee it. And the civics and saturn ions with fart cans won’t know why you walk over their stupid faces from a standing start or a “10mph roll”.

That’s the greatest strength of the L67 - once you get any forward momentum, you just freight train through 1st and second. It is scary how fast 4000 lbs can rush from 10 to 60.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
08/04/2016 at 14:09

Seriously. I was so bummed when this car turned out to be NA I am dead-set on somehow adding boost because the sleeper factor on these things is ridiculous.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/04/2016 at 14:29

I can hear the supercharger whine from this picture.

crowmolly > JGrabowMSt
08/04/2016 at 15:09

Well, that and the 9.8 SCR vs the 8.5 of the L67

Flyboy is FAA certified insane > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/04/2016 at 16:03

Turbocharger? Doesn’t the exhaust go to a single right near the back of the block?

That’d be a pretty simple way of putting boost in there. Weld a turbo manifold together, buy a cheap intercooler and piping, and bam! You would have to use the aluminum manifold though.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Flyboy is FAA certified insane
08/04/2016 at 17:04

I’ve helped do that to a 2002 Bonneville SSE. Naturally aspirated 3800. There is a rear and front manifold and a crossover that dumps into a downpipe. Block off the downpipe, weld in a flange to the crossover, bolt a turbo to the crossover, some tight U-bends to get it up to the throttle body, put in the injectors and fuel pump from a supercharged car then tune the piss out of it. Last I knew it hadn’t blown up and was sprinting to 60 just as fast as the owner’s Bonneville GXP with its 275/300 Northstar. Plastic manifold and no intercooler.

Flyboy is FAA certified insane > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/04/2016 at 17:38

Yea...that...

I just realized the supercharged car wouldn’t have an intercooler anyway but that’d be an easy way for more power.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Flyboy is FAA certified insane
08/04/2016 at 18:05

For sure. Denser air gives you more squirrels but intercoolers are expensive.

Flyboy is FAA certified insane > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/04/2016 at 18:18

Are they? That’s unfortunate. I was hoping to get one for our 300zx Chumpcar, and my team treasurer (parts procurement) said they weren’t that bad.

Your boy, BJR > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/08/2016 at 15:20

Do it.