Engines 3800 Best For Bop Bell Housing

Looking at options for motor upgrade currently have 225 by 3 speed 71 cj5?

 

What are your criteria?

Any RWD 3800 Buick V6 is basically the same as the original 225. Not really an upgrade.

 

There is no upgrade.. That's the best engine ever made.

 

This. Just be aware that Front-wheel drive 3800 Buicks are a whole different beast, you can't just grab one and bolt your existing transmission up to it.

 

More horsepower and better bottom end (rods)

 

and more EFI options if one were inclined, due to even fire..

FWD ones are great engines as well but gm metric pattern.

 

Seems like you already have your answer. If you want one of the 231s you can pick the one that has more horsepower and stronger rods.

Regarding EFI, I don't know if there were any 231s with multiport. Lots of ways to have TBI. The even-fire engines make the tach signal easier and likely are required for spark control.

There were book about these engines published long ago that you can probably find used.
Buick V6 Engine Books

 

I know where new 3800 front wheel drive motor high school demo but didn't know if bolt up to my t14

 

GM 4.3

 

It does not - GM metric pattern as mentioned above.

IMO the T-14 is just adequate for the 225, and not up to a more powerful engine.

The V8 Buicks 300, 340, 350 are a great swap in the Jeepster with the TH400. Not with the T-14 though, again IMO.

 

Guess sometime down road look for 4 speed maybe t18?

 

The Jeep T-18 is the easiest of the truck 4-speeds, if you can find one from a pre-1980 donor. If you want to stay with a 3-speed, the Borg-Warner T-15 would work but requires an adapter. It is strong enough for many V8s.

 

Does it matter ford , dodge or jeep

 

You asking about the T-18?

With most Jeep T-18s, you won't have to adapt the output to the transfer case. Ford is the easiest to find and works with the adapters offered by the aftermarket. There was no Dodge T-18 AFAIK, or if there was, it's an oddball.

This has been covered over and over and over and over in previous posts. Plenty of material for your homework if you search. Start with the Novak pages - read everything there, starting with their page on the T-18. Novak Conversions Home

 

Thanks will do more reading have read novak
And installed there dana 18 rebuild

 

A Buick 350 is a nice "bolt in" upgrade. The motor bolts in, but you'll need to use and 72+ grill/radiator and modify/replace the front crossframe to deal with the length. It's a great torquey motor. I like mine:


This one currently has the T-14 behind it but a Ford T18 is on the bench waiting for me rebuilt it and install the adapter kit. The adapter kit is behind the transmission:

 

Looks nice fits better than I thought..

 

Dimensionaly it's the same as the 225 with two more cylinders added to the front.

 

It's also a bit taller and wider with a 10.187" deck height vs a 9.531" for a 225. No related clearance issues on that front though, just with the length.