Guess Who?

[SilentWing]

Yup, it's me... I have returned. So much has happened since I've been away. The most interesting being that I almost died (literally) after getting C Diff (if you don't know what it is, don't be surprised... but it's some seriously scary stuff). Six months out of work, four hospital stays, and a relapse later and I'm doing good. Can never have broad spectrum antibiotics again, and can't have any antibiotics ever again without serious chances of a relapse... but I'm alive with no real deficits besides mental scars and a nasty scar on my elbow/arm from where I fell into the rocks in front of the house. Anyway... that's a very long and strange story.

My daily driver is now a 2000 Dodge Dakota Sport with the 4.7l v8. 4x4 with the towing package... I really love my truck... and the fact that my true favorite can now be a garage queen. Which brings me to my main point for this post. After being so sick Luke and I have decided life is too freggin short not to have fun. So this summer we're going through with the 3800 supercharged engine/trans swap in my Ciera. Today we went to Pick n Pull and got the supercharger, pcm, wiring harness, some of the exhaust manifolds, lower intake, supercharger belt tensioner... and various other odds and ends. That'll be a project thread for a later date since we still have to create the master list of parts and plan this all out. We're going with a 'new' long block and transmission, because I don't have space for a donor car and I want it fresh. We're just starting the mass pileup of parts so this'll be interesting. I lost a whole summer so I'm looking to get some serious work done this year.

Which brings me to my next point... since we'll be doing the swap this summer I'll no longer have a need for my current engine/trans (for those who don't remember it's a 3100 with a 3400 top swap). I'm putting feelers out now in case anyone would be interested in buying the combo. Haven't thought about pricing or anything, but it still runs like a beast and has always been religiously maintained.

That's all for now... I'll be checking in from time to time now that I'm back in action.

[Keiths1976]

Just A thought how much for the engine no rush on the price just curious and where are you guys located .

[Keiths1976]

Oh wow I'm so sorry I know what that is I am . I have had my share of scare stuff cancer chemo surgeries big hugs to you silent wing :-(. I hope all is ok with u and prey for u .

[Tyson]

Glad your health is back, that's scary about your recent medical issues. Welcome back.

[SilentWing]

Thanks guys

Keith, I'm really not sure on the price as of yet. I'll have to talk with Luke a bit. I'm in the western suburbs near Chicago. If you're interested we'll talk more especially as time comes closer. Prayers are definitely appreciated always and I'm glad you're ok too. In the end I like to think I've come out stronger. Plus the support of my coworkers was pretty amazing.

[SexySilhouette]

Glad you are still with us.

Can't wait to see what you do with the Toronado.

[Century7667]

This will be fun! Welcome back!

Ken T.

[lemons bob]

Sorry to hear about all the health problems, but luckily you made it through and you are better now.

[Drop Top Olds]

Nice to see you back on the forum

[SilentWing]

Hey guys,Its luke here. we just wanted to say thanks for the good wishes. As far as the toro goes it Might get paint this summer/fall depending on how long the cutlass project takes but as for right now, Does anybody know if the 3300 a body cradle is similar to the 3100 cradle? i know that a 3800 will sit in a 3300 cradle easy but i don't know about the 3100 cradle. there's a fairly clean 3300 a body with a decent cradle in my local u pull it and i would want to grab that one if i need it since there's no other 3300 abodys close and it would be the cheaper option. thanks. Also there's a 3.0 V6 ciera and said 3300 ciera in the yard that i'll be going to this Wednesday so if there's anything that i can get to fairly easily name it and i'll see if it's there. only asking part price plus actual shipping.

[Zaloryan]

It's my understanding that the cradle is essentially the same for the 1989-1996 A-Body cars. Extra sets of slots for the transmission mounts were included in the cradle for the 4 cylinder models that had a slightly longer assembly. Considering how the chassis components (struts/sway bars/control arms) didn't change up front I really think it'd be hard to believe that the cradle would have been changed for the 3100 cars when the 3300 was dropped. Your best bet would be to take some cradle measurements of the transmission mount holes to the engine mount section and see if there's any significant variance between the 3300 cradle & your 3100 Ciera cradle.

[SilentWing]

Sweet, Thanks for the reply!

[Ray_McAvoy]

Welcome back!

I can confirm that the engine cradles in the 3100 cars will easily accept a 3800. At least it did in the case of the L27 3800 I swapped into Mom's 94 wagon that originally had a 3100. For the lower engine mount, I used a mounting yoke / bracket off a 3300 A-body. It bolted right up to the 3800 block and allowed the mount to line up with existing holes in the cradle. I also used the oil filter adapter off the 3300 A-body since the one on the 3800 (out of a LeSabre) would've had oil filter interference issues with the A-body engine mount yoke.

[lemons bob]

Something else to think about, is what brakes are on the ciera? If it is JA1 you might want to change over to the JA2 setup including hubs and all. It will require new wheels, but you can get off the shelf half shafts with the 3800 trans. If not you'll either have to use your existing trans, or build your own half shafts by taking 2 sets apart to get the ends you want.

If upgrading you might want to look at upgrading the fronts to the later u-van so you have improved breaking to match the improved power.

[Century7667]

Something else to think about, is what brakes are on the ciera? If it is JA1 you might want to change over to the JA2 setup including hubs and all. It will require new wheels, but you can get off the shelf half shafts with the 3800 trans. If not you'll either have to use your existing trans, or build your own half shafts by taking 2 sets apart to get the ends you want.

If upgrading you might want to look at upgrading the fronts to the later u-van so you have improved breaking to match the improved power.

I'm not sure, but I don't think "JA1" or "JA2" was available on the '94 and newer a-body cars. I believe they were superseded by JM4 Brakes. They got the larger brakes, wheels, hubs with the Kelsey-Hayes anti-lock system.

Ken T.