I think that the 3.4 was used on the next generation of GM front drive mid sized models.

You could get this Century with the 3800 V6. Buick had a "sportier" Century (did they call it the "T-Type"?) in which they shoehorned the wider 3800 under the hood. A great car to sell before a spark plug change was due.

Im preety sure it STARTED as the 231 buick (last dubbed as 3800) and then was downsizes for whatever fuel crisis that came along:o

Correct, the celebrity is the same chassis as your car. The later century had the 3.8 I believe but your generation would have the 60 degree as it is their fwd platform. My celebrity had the 2.8

Your car is supposedly the later version being a 1994

General Motors 60° V6 engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They made 3.1 with the gen1 with iron heads, then they made gen2 a 3.1 with aluminum heads, then they made the gen3 which they called the 3100 most of the time and it also has aluminum heads. If your car is a Gen3 3100 that's a pretty good 60* with heads that flow decent. A 3400 bottom end swap is a straight swap as far as I know. The 3500 can be done with some modifications, as can the 3900.

I was(am) big into pontiac fieros so guys swap anything with a FWD bellhousing pattern.

I have an 87 with an OBD2 3800 Supercharged Series 2 swapped into it.

An OBD2 Series 2 or 3 3800 supercharged or 3800NA will probably get considerably better fuel economy than your 3.1 and have 2x the HP. I was being facetious though, I didn't really think you were doing a swap, but you did talk about manual swapping it.

Which would be possible with some J-body, fiero, and or early W-body parts.

The Century came with both the 3800 and 3300 in the 1982-1993 time period. I'll scan stuff for you later today.

Really? Better fuel economy? I'll have to tuck that into the back of my head...

I want to swap at least one of my cars over to a manual. The attraction on the 300SD is that it is not original -- engine, transmission, and front seats from a different car -- whereas the Buick looks like it rolled off the showroom floor yesterday. However, it looks like I could get parts for swapping the Buick much more easily than those for swapping the 'Benz, and swapping the Buick would be something new, unlike swapping the 300SD, which has been done before. Do you have any thoughts on whether I'd run into any issues with the halfshafts during the swap? How about the flywheel? I've done plenty of reading on OM617 swaps, so that's where those questions come from... any thoughts on other potential issues?

^ They did make the T-type with the 3.8, wonder how many they made with the 90* aside from that. Every A-body I've worked on has had the 60* or iron duke.

Id think you were breaking new ground swapping the buick to manual, because basically "why" is the question. It would be a fun project, but in the end you still have a bowl of bland outmeal, and you've dumped it into a more interesting patterned bowl. You are going to run into plenty of custom issues than no one else has, and will have to figure it out on your own.

People have done the benz manual swap because why wouldn't you in comparison? You end up with a comfortable quality vehicle with character, that now has this added element. Call it adding avacado to you delicious taco salad. Lots of people have done it, and its a much appreciated upgrade where you can find plenty of info and support.

This is a coming from a guy who loves buicks, I had a 65 wildcat that I adored. While I appreciate the model you have for its qualities, from a bland standpoint, it might as well be a washing machine. Its a road appliance, not something that really creates an attachment. People who love those cars love them for reliably getting to the bingo parlor or down to the mall at 6am, not for swapping it to manual. You are gonna be on your own, and you willrun into issues you are going to have solve.

Having said that, the swap should be straightforward, but id want a welder at hand for custom brackets and quick solutions id need to make. The important part is walking in to the project eyes wide open that few are going to be able to help with info or advice. Once you are comfortable with that and the car being off the road for an undetermined amount of time, then dive right in and we will enjoy following the updates!

I think that you're asking for a nightmare, unless the manual transaxle that could be found in the X body of that era, which could rarely be found coupled to the 2.8 bolts up to the 3100.

That's what I'm afraid of. I'm reading through a detailed swap thread where someone swaps a Grand Prix, and it looks a little crazy at points -- though not as crazy as one might expect. I think that what would keep me from it in the end is that I don't have a welding ability or welder right now, although a local member has offered me use of his MIG before.

I got a free halfshaft from a 2001 Corolla today, (craigslist), so if I lose my mind and try this, I have something to practice with.

The other major hurdle would be that I like the column shifter and would like to try to keep it. I'm trying to find drawings for the Toyota HiAce right now, since they came with a column-shifted 5-speed.

A column shifter?!? Let me give you some advice: It would be easier, cheaper, and more enjoyable to find and drive a nice, clean '54 Chevy with the stovebolt 6 and three-on-the-tree than to engineer and construct what you are trying to do. Run away.

If you want a column shift manual trans, then x2 above, just find something that already has that.

I think an entire drivetrain swap would be more feasible than finding something to bolt in. Find yourself a FWD gm product that runs and has a 5 speed, and make yourself custom motor mounts. That or find a wrecked jetta TDI. :D

I wouldn't go manual, I would use the 4T65E, or 4T65E-HD that I used in my Fiero. The TCU is well cracked and easily tuneable and mechanical shift kits are super easy and cheap.

As for halfshafts, with any transmission swap you'd need new half shafts, manual or automatic. Put that Toyota shaft back on eBay, it would never work in a GM car.

GM half shafts are sort of like Legos, the center shafts vary in length, but the diameter and spline count is pretty standard. The outer that goes into the hub varys, but they all accept that standard center shaft diameter and splines, same goes for the inner that bolts to the trans.

So, when you do a Fiero swap usually what you do is you get driver and passenger side inner (tripots) for the transmission you will be using, a selection of center shafts in different lengths, and outers for the car the drivetrain is going in, as well as a set of new boots and bands. Then you just build the axles.

On my Fiero the passenger side axle is a Buick regal passenger side inner, buick regal drivers side shaft, and a Fiero outer. If I'm remembering that correctly, and then the drivers side is just a factory passenger side Fiero axle.

I agree with others that swapping a '94 Century is an enormous waste of your time, but mental masturbation speeds the day up. If you had too much time, too much money, and did some street racing a supercharged or turbocharged 3800 swapped century would certainly be unexpected by most.

As for bolting in and the like,
The GM FWD bellhousing is pretty much standard. The 3800s from FWD cars and the 60* motors like the 2.8, 3.1, 3400, 3900, etc all share a bellhousing and will bolt up to the transmission in his car. He could actually keep whatever automatic is in his car, and "bolt in" a gen3 3400 or something. The 3.8 found in Regals in the 80s is similar to the 3800, but it uses the RWD belljousing pattern that like a small block would have. So you can't put a Grand National motor in a FWD car, there would also be no reason to as the Series 2 and 3 Supercharged motors are better, and you can always take the blower off and add a turbo like many fiero people do.

Really what you should do is wax it and take it to local "survivor car" classes at car shows. Its not that old yet but at the local show last month they were letting like 88s into the survivor class. Its not an interesting car but it is a genuinely original car with low miles.

We are actually in the market for something like this beauty. SWMBO wants a family car WITH working A/C (imagine). Just need something decent to last 4 years, then buy a new car when I retire and have time to take trips. I think one of these is one of the least bad options, on the cheaper end of the scale. The ricer crowd doesn't care. Fords have weak transmissions. Chrysler has the 2.7 slugesix.

We are looking at GM W-bodies, strong preference to the 3800 Series II. I had one in a '96 Camaro (last new car I ever bought). All cast iron, pushrod goodness. Might look at a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix. Boy they got ugly...

I'll respond to the rest later -- no time to read it now -- but I realize that the Toyota shaft won't fit on the Buick :). It was free on craigslist -- how could I resist?