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Hi Everyone, my name is Joe, I'm from Atlanta, GA. My background for the last 42 years is in drag racing. I have been a member of the NHRA for 36 years and have had so much fun competing and meeting people all over the country. I hope to expand my performance enthusiast list to my fellow Bonneville owners and specialists as well. I purchased my Bonneville 7 years ago and have driven it as a daily driver, Flat out, I love this car. Surprising as it is, I haven't touched this car performance wise. I have replaced many things performing general maintenance, and taken very good care of this car which now has 200 k on the odometer. little things have started up, oil leaks, coolant leaks and one large thing, being the transmission. I'm hoping I did the right thing, purchasing a reconditioned trans. from GM. I have done this in the past because they implement all engineering updates And provide a 3 year warranty, parts and labor. This has worked better for me vs. a rebuild shop that maybe won't know or implement the engineering upgrades, most shops offer only a 12 month, 12 K warranty. Anyhow, because of my love for this car, I decided to put my money toward fixing my car, doing the work myself instead of going out and spending money on another car that will most likely need the same things I am doing to my Bonneville right now. I have removed the engine and trans. separated them and got the engine on the stand. I had to make a decision whether to completely rebuild or just re - seal, It was running so perfect that I could not talk myself into a complete rebuild, so I purchased a Felpro gasket set and used everything but the head gaskets. It does not use any oil between oil changes, The used oil comes out golden, I never put a spark plug in this thing and they came out looking perfect.
Please understand that with this 3800, I need experienced advice from people that are the experts. I came to this realization when I started to attempt to clean the supercharger to re - install. I have never worked on superchargers. There was no way i was putting this carbon crusted nasty part back on without proper examination and cleaning, so I carefully disassembled it and did not like what I saw. The spiral rotors are coated and half of it was gone, even if they would have been in good shape, I would not have something this far apart and not replace bearings and seals.
From this place forward I want to make the right moves, go back if you all insist. I did put a new roller timing chain and gears in along with a new tensioner, water pump also. Now that the supercharger needs rebuild, I see no good reason to not start safely throwing some performance enhancements at the unit along with other parts of the engine. I don't want to start breaking other parts of the car. I would like to stay away from computer programming, but will if I must. This is where my new club comes in, I want to remind everyone that advises me, that this is my daily driver, meaning that if we throw 60 to 100 hp at this thing, I need it to be reliable.
Thank you very much for accepting me in your club, and I am looking forward to taking a not expected problem and turning it into some positive fun. I have read in magazine articles that these supercharged 3800 engines can be stepped up 50 + HP very reasonably. I need to know from some experts. Thanks again - Joe -
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