Here's a cool article about the history of Buick's 3800 V6 since being brought back into service

[trinacriabob]

It talks about its awakening in 1975 (M.Y., anyway) from its slumber (temporary departure) back in 1962.  It's a good read and talks about key milestones, including the 1995 intake manifold which usually lasted about 60,000 miles (according to the article) and how the engine could go the long haul if the intake manifold was changed to the after-market reconfigured one to eliminate coolant seepage into places it shouldn't have been going.  (Lots of Series II 3800s around and lots of ~'98 Intrigues/Regals/Grand Prixs cruising effortlessly on the freeway, which tells me they probably have the newer manifolds.)

Article written in April 2008 about the respected 3800 V6 engine which would be with us about one more year

[balthazar]

51 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

from its slumber (temporary departure) back in 1962.

Buick sold the V6 tooling to Jeep in '67, bought it back in '74.

[trinacriabob]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Buick sold the V6 tooling to Jeep in '67, bought it back in '74.

I knew there was a swap with Jeep.  I didn't know the year it went over.  So, for 5 years, the engine appeared to have been a shelved blueprint and production item.

Never did figure out why they didn't get to "even firing" right away since they had to put electronic ignition, a catalytic converter, and all that behind the engine.

[balthazar]

No; Jeep used it. It may have sat a couple years before Buick bought it back.

[Robert Hall]

Kaiser bought the license to build it in '65, Jeep used it in the CJ-5 and 6 from '66-71, the 'Dauntless' V6.  The Wagoneer was offered w/ a Buick 350 V8 briefly around the same time also.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

Right; licensed vs buying the tooling outright.

[riviera74]

Buick 231 was STILL the best GM non-V8 ever.  Better than even the 3.6 DOHC found in Cadillac XT cars today.

[Robert Hall]

The Buick V6 is on Ward's 10 Best Engines of the 20th Century list, along w/ the SBC.

Edited July 8, 2020 by Robert Hall

[riviera74]

11 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

The Buick V6 is on Ward's 10 Best Engines of the 20th Century list, along w/ the SBC.

What is/was the SBC?

[Robert Hall]

7 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

What is/was the SBC?

Small block Chevy.   That should be a very familiar abbreviation around here...