1964 Acadian Hybrid 3800 II FWD-RWD

[simmondj]

Hi I'm new to the forum,

I here because of my increasing interest in the 3800 series II and III. I have been surfing this site and I have noticed some really helpful information and just a generally great bunch of people willing to help each other out.

I own a 1964 Pontiac Acadian, the Canadian version of the Chevy II. Lots of guys drop small blocks in these little cars and they haul some serious A$$. But the small block thing has been done to death and I want something different. I want a daily, reliable driver, somewhat economical, but that will have a bit of get up and go when you put your foot into it.

I would love to drop an L36, L37 or even an L32 if I could get my hands on a low milage cheap one. I notice there are a few guys here who want to convert their front wheel Pontiacs into rear wheel drives. I want to take a FWD 3800 Series II and convert it to a rear wheel drive.

I would love to see some photos of the following:

1) A successful conversion of a front wheel drive motor supercharged motor into a rwd.

2) A picture of a 3800 Series II from the oil pan up - I am curious to know how I can fit the motor in the rather bizarre steerage linkage of the Pontiac Acadian.

3) The motor mounts on the 3800 Series II.

Thanks alot in advance.

I may cut and paste this in the RWD section if that is okay.

Cheers

[Trannyman95]

Should have read this post first I guess as I replied to you on my L67 cutlass thread. I used Oldsmobile engine mounts on my S2 3800 with 1in spacers between the mount and the block. Since your car never came with an olds engine and would probably have pontiac and older style chevy mount holes in the crossmember you would have to drill new holes or weld the lower mounts to the frame. If you dont want the firewall clearance problems that an superchargered 3800 engine will give you then you could always get a 95 and up camaro/firebird drivetrain and put a turbo on it. I started with one of those drivetrains to get everything to fit then I swapped in the supercharged engine. The turbo will hands down make more power than the supercharger and will also be a neat swap and be very reliable. If you have questions I will try and help you out if you decide to do the swap, it will be a long road though but well worth it in the end.

[B & R Racing]

You could install a steering rack and get rid of the steering linkage.

[simmondj]

Yeah I am also planning on swapping the front end. There is a rack and pinion conversion using a chevette front end. I also need to get at least disc brakes if I am gonna put anything in there that makes any power.

The 95 firebird 3800 sounds like a good idea just that they are few and far between out here.

Thanks for the valuable info.

J