I have a 1971 22' boat powered by an old OMC 3.8 (buick 231) unknown year. The engine is junk. Water got in, did its thing, made a mess, and now I'm looking for a replacement. I'm a mechanic, but don't really wanna put the money into rebuilding the engine, with all the machine work it will require, and loads and loads of new parts. I figure my best bet is to grab a 3.8 out of a park ave, or le sabre (?), but all the ones I've come across are DIS. I don't wanna pick this up and have to go through a huge hassle of converting it to carb if it's going to require internal work (the cam will need to be changed for the dizzy, etc.).


I pretty much wanna do a direct swap, so I can just bolt up the marine parts I already have, and this way I know it will bolt up to the outdrive alright. I imagine this engine is from the early to mid80's. What GM cars came with the carbureted 3.8? What would be my best bet to look for in the scrap yards?





Thanks,


Jay

 

Before about 1980, GM cars were pretty much "pure" in that each division had it's own engines. In other words, if you need a Buick 3.8, look for a Buick. Next possibility is a similar Oldsmobile.


You should probably talk to somebody who knows the OMC adaptation, because sometimes these marine engines, while basically the same, had significant modifications.


I'm not sure when the 3.8 lost it's carb, but I know that some GM's still had them through the mid-eighties. However, I would think that if you got a throttle body FI, that wouldn't be too difficult, and might be more available (and reliable).