I've been driving a Buick Regal 2-door since 1991. The 3.8 litre GM FWD
package has been excellent. I have driven the car in all sorts of crazy
weather and it has been a great pleasure. I've got 270,000 Km on the car
with not a single thing changed on the engine/transmission except alternator
and water pump. The Pump was at the insistance of the dealer on warranty
because they felt that it was making a little too much noise for their
comfort. That was 9 years ago. The alternator was killed by a poor wire that
was shorting it to ground. Other than that the GM engine/transmission has
been flawless. The fuel consumption is very good and I still burn no oil at
all.
Unfortunately I now need a 4-door and a body job is getting necessary, so
this summer I will have to buy again. I'm planning to move to another GM
unit with the Northstar engine in it.
Get the 3.8l GM unit and you'll like it.
Mark Hooper
-----Original Message-----
From: M D Nugent [mailto:carcentric@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 1:12 AM
To: triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: FWD, was blown head gasket (non LBC)
Okay, (except for Ford) what's a GOOD front wheel drive engine/trans?
I'm looking for something with a 2.5 to 3.8 liter engine and automatic
transmission - old enough and common enough to be fairly inexpensive
when in good used condition.
Because I'd be moving the whole FWD subframe to the back seat area of
my 1950 Morris Minor (creating a mid-engine RWD roadster), the FWD
drivetrain would need to be fairly narrow (track in the 51"-56" range).
What I'm proposing is basically what GM did when they used the Chevy
Citation FWD subframe (sans steering) in the rear of the Pontiac Fiero.
That's one of the drivetrains I'm considering, but I've heard they
have similar head gasket problems with the 2.8 liter V6.
M D "Doc" Nugent
Renton, WA
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