The 3800 was on the Ward's 10 Best Engines of the 20th century list, made Ward's yearly 10 Best list multiple times, and is one of the most-produced engines in history. To date, over 25 million have been produced.
Buick Skylark - Wikipedia
1976 Buick Skylark
In 1967, GM sold the design to Kaiser-Jeep. The muscle car era had taken hold, and GM no longer felt the need to produce a V6, considered in North America an unusual engine configuration at the time. The energy crisis a decade later prompted the company to buy the design back from American Motors (AMC), who had by that point bought Kaiser-Jeep, and the descendants of the early 231 continue to be the most-common GM V6 as it developed into a very durable and reliable design.
1976 Buick Skylark \x26quot;Bernice\x26quot;
Though the pre-3800 RWD V6 uses the BOP bellhousing pattern that it inherited from its aluminum V8 ancestor, an oddity of both the FWD and RWD 3800 V6 is that although it is a 90° V6, it uses the GM 60° V6 bell housing. For use in the RWD applications, the bellhousings on both the manual and automatic transmissions are altered slightly.
1976 Buick Skylark picture,
The first engine in this family was introduced in 1961 for the 1962 model year Buick Special with Buick's 198 cu in (3.2 L) engine, the first V6 in an American car. Because it was derived from Buick's 215 cu in (3.5 L) aluminum V8, it has a 90° bank between cylinders and an odd-fire firing pattern that include the two 'phantom' cylinders from the V8 pattern.
1976 Buick Skylark
1976 Buick Skylark \x26quot;Bernice\x26quot;
Buick Division, concerned about the high manufacturing costs of their innovative aluminum 215 V8, sought to develop a cheaper, cast-iron engine based on the same tooling. They settled on an unusual 90° V6 layout that was essentially the architecture of the '215' less two cylinders. In initial form, it had a bore of 3.625 inches (92.08 mm) and stroke of 3.1875 inches (80.96 mm), for an overall displacement of 198 cu in (3.2 L). It weighed about 35 lb (15.9 kg) more than the aluminum engine, but was far cheaper to produce. Dubbed the Fireball V6, it became the standard engine in the 1962 Buick Special. In their test that year, Road & Track was impressed with Buick's "practical" new V6, saying it "sounds and performs exactly like the aluminum V8 in most respects."
1976 Buick Skylark
1976 Buick Skylark
Buick Skylark (1976)
The bore was increased to 3.75 in (95.3 mm), and stroke increased to 3.4 in (86.4 mm), increasing displacement to 225 cu in (3.7 L). Since the engine was similar to the popular small-block V8 — now with a cast-iron block and displacement of 300 cubic inches, the engine was made cheaply at the same factory with much of the same tooling. This engine was used in Buick's intermediate-sized Special and Skylark models from 1964 to 1967 and Oldsmobile's mid-sized F-85/Cutlass models for 1964 and 1965. Throughout this period, the 225 cubic-inch V6 featured a one-barrel carburetor and was rated at 155 horsepower-exactly the same rating as the base version of the 215 cubic-inch aluminum V8 used from 1961 to 1963.
Buick Skylark 1976
Buick Skylark, 1976
The V6 was dropped after the 1967 model year in favor of a conventional 250 cubic-inch inline-6 engine built by the Chevrolet division, and the tooling was sold to Kaiser-Jeep.
Buick Skylark 2-Door Coupe
1976 Buick Skylark
The Buick Skylark was produced
Pictures of 1976 Nova in
1976 Buick Skylark \x26quot;The A$$
Buick Skylark - Wikipedia
1976 Buick Skylark
In 1967, GM sold the design to Kaiser-Jeep. The muscle car era had taken hold, and GM no longer felt the need to produce a V6, considered in North America an unusual engine configuration at the time. The energy crisis a decade later prompted the company to buy the design back from American Motors (AMC), who had by that point bought Kaiser-Jeep, and the descendants of the early 231 continue to be the most-common GM V6 as it developed into a very durable and reliable design.
1976 Buick Skylark \x26quot;Bernice\x26quot;
Though the pre-3800 RWD V6 uses the BOP bellhousing pattern that it inherited from its aluminum V8 ancestor, an oddity of both the FWD and RWD 3800 V6 is that although it is a 90° V6, it uses the GM 60° V6 bell housing. For use in the RWD applications, the bellhousings on both the manual and automatic transmissions are altered slightly.
1976 Buick Skylark picture,
The first engine in this family was introduced in 1961 for the 1962 model year Buick Special with Buick's 198 cu in (3.2 L) engine, the first V6 in an American car. Because it was derived from Buick's 215 cu in (3.5 L) aluminum V8, it has a 90° bank between cylinders and an odd-fire firing pattern that include the two 'phantom' cylinders from the V8 pattern.
1976 Buick Skylark
1976 Buick Skylark \x26quot;Bernice\x26quot;
Buick Division, concerned about the high manufacturing costs of their innovative aluminum 215 V8, sought to develop a cheaper, cast-iron engine based on the same tooling. They settled on an unusual 90° V6 layout that was essentially the architecture of the '215' less two cylinders. In initial form, it had a bore of 3.625 inches (92.08 mm) and stroke of 3.1875 inches (80.96 mm), for an overall displacement of 198 cu in (3.2 L). It weighed about 35 lb (15.9 kg) more than the aluminum engine, but was far cheaper to produce. Dubbed the Fireball V6, it became the standard engine in the 1962 Buick Special. In their test that year, Road & Track was impressed with Buick's "practical" new V6, saying it "sounds and performs exactly like the aluminum V8 in most respects."
1976 Buick Skylark
1976 Buick Skylark
Buick Skylark (1976)
The bore was increased to 3.75 in (95.3 mm), and stroke increased to 3.4 in (86.4 mm), increasing displacement to 225 cu in (3.7 L). Since the engine was similar to the popular small-block V8 — now with a cast-iron block and displacement of 300 cubic inches, the engine was made cheaply at the same factory with much of the same tooling. This engine was used in Buick's intermediate-sized Special and Skylark models from 1964 to 1967 and Oldsmobile's mid-sized F-85/Cutlass models for 1964 and 1965. Throughout this period, the 225 cubic-inch V6 featured a one-barrel carburetor and was rated at 155 horsepower-exactly the same rating as the base version of the 215 cubic-inch aluminum V8 used from 1961 to 1963.
Buick Skylark 1976
Buick Skylark, 1976
The V6 was dropped after the 1967 model year in favor of a conventional 250 cubic-inch inline-6 engine built by the Chevrolet division, and the tooling was sold to Kaiser-Jeep.
Buick Skylark 2-Door Coupe
1976 Buick Skylark
The Buick Skylark was produced
Pictures of 1976 Nova in
1976 Buick Skylark \x26quot;The A$$
Great info! I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have.
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