Thread: 2006 3800 NA short block? LaCrosse

My car is getting up there in miles, 182,000, and I am thinking about getting a used short block ready for it. Have heard that the L26 block from Buick LaCrosse and others are cheap sound blocks. Have also seen where people said they have weak rods, pistons and pins. Are these good blocks or are they not worth messing with? Just planning on using the 9.5 compression short block.

My thoughts are swap over everything I got, VS cam, 2" Phenolic intercooler, Gen 5 supercharger, North Star TB, 3" exhaust. Add in Speed Daddy headers and a set of new never used L67 heads I bought off of ebay.

Any thoughts?

Meh on the L26...find a L32...

I would say unless you are above ~350whp or shifting below ~6400rpms then it is a fairly good block. Other than that there have been a few failures above that range. At the same time, $300 for a L26 longblock is worth a gamble. Some argue it is the size of the rod bolts and the rpm's.

Here's a recent failure:

ClubGP Message Forum troubleshooting

L26 block 50k miles $300
L32 block 100k plus miles over $1200

I'm told you can get more power out of 9.4 Compression with Intercooler setup and m90 than you can get out of 8.5 compression block.

Car is daily driver so RPM's will be around 6k. HP At crank should be close to 350. Tranny was rebuilt with parts from tripleedge including 300m input shaft.