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Mods For Series I L27
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2020 10:13 pm
by wesrb
Just recently bought a 92 Buick Lesbare not knowing that there is not much of a modding scene for the Series I. I would still like to do some mods would like to stay NA. I have a budget of around 500. Trying to get another 20-30 hp out of it. Was thinking of doing a cam but cannot find one anywhere for the series 1 do the series 2 cams fit in series 1? Any input is appreciated. I am not going to swap it for the series II because I don't have enough free time to do so and this is my daily.
Re: Mods For Series I L27
Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2020 10:38 am
by J Wikoff
Talk to Crow Cams. They are out of Australia, where the mod market for the Series 1 was stronger. They have a different name for the engine, so you have to explain carefully.
Re: Mods For Series I L27
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 6:55 pm
by nos4blood70
20-30 horsepower will be nearly impossible with that budget much less being NA.
Start with a different platform.
Re: Mods For Series I L27
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 11:51 am
by 95naSTA
Depending on your ability and you-pull-it junkyard options, you could probably swap in a L36 and get a custom tune for $500. That would reliably push the car into the later half of the 90s at least. A Series 1 or 2 L67 wouldn't cost much more but the transmission wouldn't last. If you have to pay to have the work done, quadruple the price.
Re: Mods For Series I L27
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:02 pm
by RJolly87
Unfortunately, the above posts are just about it.
Custom cold air intake and high flow cat will free it up a bit for pretty cheap. Porting and polishing will put a bit of pep in its step as well. There were some rockers that would fit series 1, but only the 94-95 heads if memory serves (bolt sizing different).
The bottom end can't take much more.
Re: Mods For Series I L27
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:16 pm
by MattStrike
I would find an entire series 1 L67 donor from a park avenue or bonneville and swap everything over - it's stock, it's reliable, and it's way more power than $500 will get you on the N/A setup. You might have to verify the pins on the connector under the dash for the engine/pcm harness match, but it's mostly a drop in swap (complete engine/trans/harness/ecm), and you might be able to find a donor in the $400 range. That's what I did with our '93 SE way back in the day. Was done in a busy weekend.
Other options are to find a junkyard turbo if you have a MIG welder, upgrade the pcm to the 98+ 3800 one to make tuning easier. Again, a lot of work on you to pull it off, but if you're thrifty it could be done in the $500 or so budget. 5psi would give you a nice boost in power, but the trans is probably not going to be happy.