When I was a kid a local gear head who was a master engine builder had a Monza with a 400 SBC and a 4 speed. It was the first car I ever saw get 4 gears of rubber. Power to weight was awesome.
There's much more to the Buick V6 story, it came to be from the alloy Buick v8 from the early 60s. That engine's tools was sold to Great Britian to make the Rover 3500 v8.
That engine is one of the best engines that GM has ever had. The turbo cars are great of course, but the 3800 were absolutely bullet proof and pretty torquey, especially the supercharged ones.
First car I ever did a buck 20 in was my mothers 1996 bonneville ssei with the supercharged v6. Such a great motor for the time when most cars could barely crawl to 60 mph. Having a big car like that do 0 to 60 in 7 seconds was a big deal back then when she got it, and I knew it lol.
My wife had a 1979 Skyhawk and it was a great little car when we first got married. The 3.8 would even chirp the tires in second gear with the automatic. The interior upholstery was a little better than the Chevy Monza and it was comfortable to drive. Latter in it's life I built a plywood box to fit in the hatch that extended out a couple of feet complete with a hinged tailgate to turn it into a ute to haul oversized cargo. It also had the coldest A/C of any car I ever owned which was great on those sunny, hot days because all that glass would heat the car up fast.
A person my dad worked with had a 80 buick v6 skyhawk with a no start no fuel issue. The car was in shops for 6 months but no one could figure it out. The fuel pumped worked. The owner was ready to scrap it when I asked to try to fix it. They said sure. I was a 14 year old kid who wanted to be a mechanic. i did all the basic checks spark timing compression fuel but no luck. Upon reading the starting circuit electrical schematic we found the oil pressure sending unit was included. Nobody had ever heard of that. I jumpered across the sending unit & it fired right up. The Oil Pressure sending unit (for Idiot light) failed. This caused an electric solenoid on the carburetor Not to Open thus shutting off the fuel. Oh GM is Brilliant! The oil pressure sending unit was a $3 part & it caused so much pain. The owner was unbelievably happy
In reality, it was a great idea. If the engine stalled or shut off in an accident, the fuel pump would shut off so it didn't flood the engine or start a fire. When I built my '31 Plymouth street rod, I incorporated the same idea as a safety feature. Works great!
I worked at Buick dealerships from the late 70's into the late 90's. I worked on a lot of those Skyhawks among other things. The Buick V6 was a great little engine! Now days, you don't see ANY Skyhawks!
Hey Steve, love your channel! I got my hands on a 1976 odd fire 4 speed Skyhawk with the full glass fixed moon roof option back in 1990 and I loved it! It handled like a Firebird and got great gas mileage. Those little engines ran forever. I sold it to a guy in 2000 and the last time I saw it, it had 458,000 miles on the clock and was still going. Keep up the good work my friend.
@David Souter I’ve never seen one of those and I thought I’ve seen it all especially when I was younger. Going to junkyards as a kid here in San Diego. I have seen the Monza.
Had a 76 myself just out of highschool. No moon roof. Light blue with white interior. It was a great bracket car 🤣. It ran exactly 17:35 hot, cold, dead on every time! Took out many 9 second cars because I could dead on the dial in 🙀! Traded it for a 79 Camaro.
I owned a 1977 Buick Skyhawk. It had the V-6 and reminded me of a smaller version of a Chevrolet Camaro. I miss that car. Problems that I had with it: The gearshift knob came off in my hand one day, you had to pull up on the rubberized front end to change a headlight and the door grabs broke off. I later had a 1989 Buick Century that had the same engine but didn’t run nearly as good.
My mother got a new 1978 model of this car and I learned to drive in it, it was actually a very nice driver. Torquey engine, nicely laid out and comfortable interior, decent handling too. Oh, and wicked one-legged burnouts! 😂 That same engine stayed in production, in various iterations, for 40 years and powered the majority of GM’s bigger FWD cars through the 80’ & 90’s.
Steve is nothing less than a senior professor who teaches teachers for automotive history and journalism. He deserves the equivalent of when the Brits "knight" someone. Thank you Steve for your knowledge and passion for all things automotive.
Helli I Don't Care...THANK YOU for..."caring"!!! I really enjoy poking around junkyards to see what's there. It's better than Disney Land, right? THANKS again, Steve Magnante
When I was a poor college student, I owned a 1978 Pontiac Formula Sunbird hatchback. It had the stripe package just like the Formula Firebird, and it had the 3.8 Buick with a 5 speed manual. It was a fuel miser! Loved the utility of a hatchback.
Thanks for featuring the H body! I still have my '79 Monza I bought when I was 15 in 1990, it's a dead ringer for your promo model, but in 29 Blue. The 350 was ONLY available in the 1975 California Monza, and was a 305 in all other markets and years. The 199 you refer to was actually a 198, and this small V6 family was renamed the "Dauntless" by Kaiser/Jeep from the earlier "Fireball" as it was known by as a Buick. The 198 became a 196 (3.2) "C" engine code and is almost identical in appearance, but the production numbers were very low (my Monza has one). This engine family is derived from the all-aluminum Buick 215 that came out in 1961, and was sold to Rover as well as being very popular in race cars for being the highest power-to-weight ratio engine of that time. Mickey Thompson was into them back then and some pretty crazy crossplane manifolds were made for the Olds version of that engine.
I had a 78’ Pontiac Grand Prix (g-body) with the Buick v-6, the little motor was troublesome and didn’t last too long. I ended up replacing the v-6 with a 455 that I pulled out of a Bonneville.
Man I remember seeing those all over the place back then! Specially the Monza! I kinda like the way they looked! Great history and video tutorial Steve!👌😎👍
Those cars were pretty popular in their day, but I haven’t seen one on the road for years in any condition. I think the last one I saw at all was two-three years ago in a yard half covered by a tarp in Southern AZ. The 3.8 Buick was a great motor. I had a couple of company cars powered by the. 3.8/3800. With fuel injection they made good power. With a supercharger they made great power.
@@FrankBullitt390 I think it was the Chevy 283. I had a '76, so it was still the oddfire and my distributor cap was actually for an 8 cylinder with two tabs flattened.
@@seed_drill7135 Could be but wrong era, 283 was one of the most reliable engines ever made but (we had one in a 67 beaumont) large gap in time between 283 and 3.8
My dad had a 1967 V-6 CJ-6 which is a rare model of Jeep. It was a Jeep with a 101 inch wheel base. My dad added an over drive to the transmission and it really was an animal where we live in the mountains of Colorado.
Those 13" 4 lug wheels on Vegas, etc, are very hard to come by. If Buick would've put their turbo 3.8 in those little Skyhawks, they would've been great performers.
Wow, that's a really interesting story. I grew up in Toledo and my mom had a '76 Skyhawk, burgundy with white interior and a moonroof. I remember that car well. Later I ended up going to grad school up in Flint at GMI (General Motors Institute). I worked in the machine tool industry in and around Detroit and was probably in that plant you mentioned at some time or another. Of course, they're sadly all bulldozed now.
My older sister had a white 1976 Skyhawk 4 speed. It broke the crankshaft and had to get a new engine. Quite certain I learned to drive stick in that car at 15 years old
My first car was a 1986 Buick Skyhawk. It was so slow we called it the Skypigeon. But with the history I now see where my steering wheel and the front fascia originated from. Thanks for the lesson Steve!
Another high quality video! When I was younger I worked on a lot of these cars man makes me fell old lol good friend of mine had a Monza with a 6.0 LS motor what a ride it was we upgraded the front brakes with S10 spindles and rotors that was a problem with these cars with a v8 Vega brakes lol
I had a 1978 Monza Coupe with that engine mated to a four speed. I bought it used in 1981. I absolutely loved that car: my wife, two kids, and a large dog drove cross country from Georgia to California in 1982, by way of Illinois. The Monza was cut in half and a new rear clip put on as a result of a rear end accident in California, which almost totaled the car, but the car soldiered on for another couple of years. I traded it in during 1983.
back in 1978 my sister and her husband had a 64 Buick Skylark station wagon with a V6. they purchased it from the original owner. the quintessential little old lady that didn't drive it very much and always kept it garage and meticulously maintained. I was only twelve but I seem to remember that V6 sounding like a V8. it was a beautiful car.
Man oh man Steve, you should have a test at the end of every video because I know that I learn all kinds of stuff every, single time I watch. You are truly the absolute Professor Emeritus of all things vehicular. Thank you for doing your part to keeping the knowledge and the love alive.
Great video. Love those cars. I'd buy another if you could still go to the yard and find the parts. Especially the front brakes. I had quite a few of the Monza's and 1 each of the others. My 79 Spyder came with a 3.2(196) 4spd and clothe seats. My 75 Monza TC came with a 4.3(262) V8. The Olds had odd fire that I rebuilt and you could interchange parts with the 225 v6. Never had the Monza Mirage though . Great looking car. Dobi Monza of Brea California used to sell headers and suspension upgrades and few other things. Headers were LIL SALTY! Sorry about long post. Memories!
My old neighbour was an older Irishman, Jack. His wife had a notchback Monza with a small V8. Man, that thing was wild. He let me take it for a spin years ago. Hard to hold it on the road when you got into it..😎👀😎
I love all your videos. There are so many crazy stories behind so many cars. The suspension being tested here and used in later Camaros was interesting, and the story of the Buick-Jeep-Buick V6 was bananas. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for sharing this. I remember these being new as I was a teenager. They were quite cool looking when they came out. One of my college buds bought one new in 1980 and it was a tale of two extremes - extremely cramped but extremely cool looking. Not particularly fuel efficient nor fast. But considering the garbage that was coming out of Japan at this time (rust away products even on showroom floors), these weren't so bad. Thank you for taking the time to showcase this piece of GM history even it if is rather unremarkable.
Overseas, these cars were trendsetters. US cars in the 70s were panned by foreigners, not the Monzas and Skyhawks. My Uncle and Auntie in New Zealand had a His and Hers H car set. Imported from Oregon. The three doors are exceptionally clean aerodynamically, ask Keith Turk about his Maxton cement pounding 215 engined item. Uncle Mervyn had a 3.8 liter Skyhawk, Auntie Isobel had a 5.7 liter Monza. 5 speed Porsche gate manual was an option on the 3.8 liter, and despite the H-u-g-e reduction in torque, the little Buick V6 was really good on give and take Kiwi roads. The auto only V8 Monza was seriously de-fanged, I think down to 145 hp, a very poor performer compared to our 207 hp 4.9 liter and 216 hp 5.8 liter Clevelands and 135 to 169 hp Holden 253s and 308s.
Pretty dang easy to RE-FANG a small block Chevy . Standard formula , stage 1 : carb tuning , distributor curve & advance , cold air air cleaner ducting , low restriction (oiled gauze) air filter. Stage 2 : headers , intake , 1.6:1 rockers . Stage 3 : cam replacement and head porting . (no need to replace heads , 305s can't use 2.02 intakes due to bore interference , and already have 58cc chambers , one of the smallest ever used on SBC ~ in fact , 305 HO heads are often used to increase compression on street 350s !) The quadrajet (750 cfm !) is MORE carb than you'll ever need on a 305 - it only needs TUNING , not replacement !
Got me 5 commodores. All have 3.8 ltr v6 engines in them. ones chipped. they are awesome engines. Got an HZ one tonner with a 253 stroked out to 307 cu inch. But I love my good raw v6 engines. Got a couple of hot 202s as well. Go the mighty 6.From New Zealand.
I seen this Skyhawk in your video that came out yesterday. I was hoping you would do a video on it. My cousin had the Olds Starfire. You may not believe it but it would all ass.
I had a '76 Buick Skyhawk. It was sporty, with the V6, 5spd, and sunroof. It got rear-ended, and totalled. As much as I wanted to keep the running gear, it just wasn't feasible at that time in my life.
I liked these cars, I like the convert they built on the sun bird, would be cool to bolt up something fun with bits and pieces ... I am truly glad that rattle snakes are very unusual in Mass. That engine in my parents olds was a long term runner, when we thought 100k was a long run, we ran 300k on our family olds....
I was in my '76 Sunbird in 2002. The people in the truck behind me said "you don't see those much anymore" right before they were plowed into by the car behind them, triggering a 4 car pileup, which totally my Sunbird. (Though someone else bought it and kept it on the road for another several years).
Funny. I saw that car in the background of yesterdays video and was hoping you would put it in another video. and voila, there it is. Thanks and I promise to only use this new superpower for good.
I owned 2 of these hatch backs. Both were Monza’s the first was a 75 2+2 hatchback with the 4.3L Chevy v8 with a 4 speed manual. A very fun car to drive. But ate camshafts, clutches, brakes and starter interlock relays like candy. Then I had a 78 Chevy Monza Spyder with the 305 v8 and automatic transmission. Not near as much fun to drive, but a much better and a ton more reliable and had a lot better brakes. It also had the redesigned driveline tunnel and a different rear track bar and Dual outlet exhaust outlet muffler. I ran the wheels off both those cars. I loved the looks and styling of both of them. But I liked the looks of one feel of the 75 interior and bumper styling more than the 1978.
I knew about the 305 and 350 in the Monza Spyder. I had heard to do spark plug change they had to jack up the engine to get to the rear 2 plugs. Those V8's with a manual would have really been the ticket at the time. (I believe they only came in automatic though). My best friend had the V6 with manual in a Spyder and it was pretty darn quick. 😀
Very interesting story. My first car was a 1973 Vega hatchback, a gift from my dad, back in 1981 - when I was a high school. Life went on, went to college, grad school for a doctorate, and bought Porsches, and other European cars. Last year a got myself a 1972 Vega hatchback (V8 stroker), and this year an ultra rare "Monza S", which according to urban legend, were re-badged Vega bodies, with mostly Chevy Iron Duke engines. Mine, however, has a very rare factory option: a 231 Buick V6. The car is completely stock, and has factory A/C, and emission control system intact. After 44 years, the Monza S/"factory V6 Vega" still drives pretty well!
Yes, the Monza S was the entry level model meant to deploy the "bait and switch" trick. These carried the lowest possible window sticker prices and served to attract showroom visits via newspaper ads touting the Monza S' low, low cost. Then when you entered the dealership, a sales professional talked you into a more expensive model. But YES, your Monza S with the V6 option is one rare bird. THANKS for keeping it alive and also for writing. -Steve Magnante
I had the Sunbird with the iron duke 4 cylinder. It was reliable but it was harsh. In the winter months it would high idle until it sounded like it would blow up. I had driven many Japanese 4 cylinders of that era and was amazed at the smoothness of them compared to the iron duke.
My parents bought a 1982 Buick Regal 4 door sedan that had a 4.1 liter V-6 with a 4 barrel quadrajet. Sometimes when I drove it, I would flip the air cleaner lid over so I could hear the “moan” whenever I nailed the accelerator. In the late 1980’s when I was in the Military, I had a 1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that had a 3.8 liter Buick V-6.
Break my heart I had a 1976 Oldsmobile Starfire GT. I took the stock V6 out and put a 1964 Buick 225 V6 that came out of a Grand National car that raced at Daytona in the 60s. Car was being restored and it must have been watched because it was putting Prime and stolen that night haven't seen it in 37 years. Engine balanced and blueprinted flattop Pistons windage tray Offenhauser Aluminum Intake Manifold Hedman headers gone.
You missed again Steve, no offense meant because as a Gear Head from the Sixties I LOVE your show. Chevrolet Monza V8 was smaller than the original V8 265 CID, Monza V8's were 262 CID Boat Anchor.......
The 3.8 has lived a very long life. I drove one to work today in my 2004 Grand Prix. It was enlarged to 3.9 a year or two later and used in Impalas and G8's as well as others. GM has finally gone DOHC 4V on everything except the V8's, but they got a lot of miles out of the 3.8.
In the late 80’s I was installing a non emission Holley 4 barrel on a new Buick v6 in my Pontiac Grand Prix. I needed an even fire vacuum advance distributor which was a one year only in ‘80 since they went to electronic advance in ‘81. The junkyard could’ve pulled it from one of these cars.
Those are a great engines and they can produce over 300 horsepower without much trouble , a little head work and address the oiling system. Basic hotrod stuff, for the street. No turbos or power adders needed to get there. again great little engine
That 231 would live on all the way until 1987 unchanged in it's basic design, with the same 2 bbl Rochester carb and smog pump. I had a 1985 Regal with that motor. It was pretty indestructible if maintained properly - sold the car in 1997 with 131,000 miles..... the engine still ran great but the car was rotted out from 12 hard Cleveland winters.
Yeah I worked on a ton of them back in the day, especially in G cars. I found it funny that the 3.8 2bbl would make enough power to snap motor mounts, but it did!
I remember in the 80s messing around with and learning from the '69 Jeep CJ5 (Kaiser) with the 225 V6 that my dad bought new. Several years later, I bought a '74 CJ5 with the AMC (Nash) 258 straight 6, which I later found out was actually a swapped in 232 from God knows what. The exhaust note was surprisingly similar.
If i seen that car runnin down the road today. I would have had NO CLUE what it was. But my mom had a monza spider a long time ago. She still talks about that thing. Lol
thanks for your videos, very interesting and well prepared. I dropped a 231 Buick v6 into my 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 wagon. I made the car about 1000 lb lighter and converted to manual steering and electric fans and no A/C so not many accessory belts. Does the job pretty well and better fuel economy than the 455 it originally had. I pulled the v6 out of a 1984 Impala base model which I think was the uncommon base engine in that car. This v6 was put in the 1976 Buick full size Lesabre as the base engine.
I drove my 79 Skyhawk to work today. Great video!
saw this one sitting next to the Coronet in another video ... glad to see it here
When I was a kid a local gear head who was a master engine builder had a Monza with a 400 SBC and a 4 speed. It was the first car I ever saw get 4 gears of rubber. Power to weight was awesome.
For '75 the California Chevy Monzas had to have the SBC 350" V8 for emissions reasons... but detuned to only 125 HP...
There's much more to the Buick V6 story, it came to be from the alloy Buick v8 from the early 60s. That engine's tools was sold to Great Britian to make the Rover 3500 v8.
That engine is one of the best engines that GM has ever had. The turbo cars are great of course, but the 3800 were absolutely bullet proof and pretty torquey, especially the supercharged ones.
First car I ever did a buck 20 in was my mothers 1996 bonneville ssei with the supercharged v6. Such a great motor for the time when most cars could barely crawl to 60 mph. Having a big car like that do 0 to 60 in 7 seconds was a big deal back then when she got it, and I knew it lol.
My wife had a 1979 Skyhawk and it was a great little car when we first got married. The 3.8 would even chirp the tires in second gear with the automatic. The interior upholstery was a little better than the Chevy Monza and it was comfortable to drive. Latter in it's life I built a plywood box to fit in the hatch that extended out a couple of feet complete with a hinged tailgate to turn it into a ute to haul oversized cargo. It also had the coldest A/C of any car I ever owned which was great on those sunny, hot days because all that glass would heat the car up fast.
Enraptured by his reading of the V-6 history as if he were reading a children's book to me during story time when I was 5. He is the best!
A person my dad worked with had a 80 buick v6 skyhawk with a no start no fuel issue. The car was in shops for 6 months but no one could figure it out. The fuel pumped worked. The owner was ready to scrap it when I asked to try to fix it. They said sure. I was a 14 year old kid who wanted to be a mechanic. i did all the basic checks spark timing compression fuel but no luck. Upon reading the starting circuit electrical schematic we found the oil pressure sending unit was included. Nobody had ever heard of that. I jumpered across the sending unit & it fired right up. The Oil Pressure sending unit (for Idiot light) failed. This caused an electric solenoid on the carburetor Not to Open thus shutting off the fuel. Oh GM is Brilliant! The oil pressure sending unit was a $3 part & it caused so much pain. The owner was unbelievably happy
Had to be something stupid.it always is your sharp. those mechanic's might feel small
In reality, it was a great idea. If the engine stalled or shut off in an accident, the fuel pump would shut off so it didn't flood the engine or start a fire. When I built my '31 Plymouth street rod, I incorporated the same idea as a safety feature. Works great!
I worked at Buick dealerships from the late 70's into the late 90's. I worked on a lot of those Skyhawks among other things. The Buick V6 was a great little engine! Now days, you don't see ANY Skyhawks!
Those things were everywhere back then, but I think about 9 were still on the road on 1990.
The racers bought all them and later scrapped.
I've always liked the Monza and it's offshoots. Drag racing certainly helped make them cool as well as IMSA.
Great history of the V6!!
Hey Steve, love your channel! I got my hands on a 1976 odd fire 4 speed Skyhawk with the full glass fixed moon roof option back in 1990 and I loved it! It handled like a Firebird and got great gas mileage. Those little engines ran forever. I sold it to a guy in 2000 and the last time I saw it, it had 458,000 miles on the clock and was still going. Keep up the good work my friend.
@David Souter I’ve never seen one of those and I thought I’ve seen it all especially when I was younger. Going to junkyards as a kid here in San Diego. I have seen the Monza.
@@Daniel-fd3wp never seen one either, also from San Diego lol
GM is no stranger to making some decent v6 engines
Had a 76 myself just out of highschool. No moon roof. Light blue with white interior. It was a great bracket car 🤣. It ran exactly 17:35 hot, cold, dead on every time! Took out many 9 second cars because I could dead on the dial in 🙀! Traded it for a 79 Camaro.
Splayed crankshaft, who else would think of that!
I owned a 1977 Buick Skyhawk. It had the V-6 and reminded me of a smaller version of a Chevrolet Camaro. I miss that car. Problems that I had with it: The gearshift knob came off in my hand one day, you had to pull up on the rubberized front end to change a headlight and the door grabs broke off. I later had a 1989 Buick Century that had the same engine but didn’t run nearly as good.
My mother got a new 1978 model of this car and I learned to drive in it, it was actually a very nice driver. Torquey engine, nicely laid out and comfortable interior, decent handling too. Oh, and wicked one-legged burnouts! 😂
That same engine stayed in production, in various iterations, for 40 years and powered the majority of GM’s bigger FWD cars through the 80’ & 90’s.
Steve is nothing less than a senior professor who teaches teachers for automotive history and journalism. He deserves the equivalent of when the Brits "knight" someone. Thank you Steve for your knowledge and passion for all things automotive.
Helli I Don't Care...THANK YOU for..."caring"!!! I really enjoy poking around junkyards to see what's there. It's better than Disney Land, right? THANKS again, Steve Magnante
Keep them coming, Sir Mags.
When I was a poor college student, I owned a 1978 Pontiac Formula Sunbird hatchback. It had the stripe package just like the Formula Firebird, and it had the 3.8 Buick with a 5 speed manual. It was a fuel miser! Loved the utility of a hatchback.
My sister had a brand new 1980 Skyhawk, with the 4 spd. The seats were great as I recall, and for the day, it was pretty quick.
I had an 80 Monza. What a beast. Miss you buddy. Get well soon.
Thanks Steve, great video. I saw that car in the background yesterday and here it is today! Any chance of doing that 63 wagon behind it?
Thanks for featuring the H body! I still have my '79 Monza I bought when I was 15 in 1990, it's a dead ringer for your promo model, but in 29 Blue. The 350 was ONLY available in the 1975 California Monza, and was a 305 in all other markets and years. The 199 you refer to was actually a 198, and this small V6 family was renamed the "Dauntless" by Kaiser/Jeep from the earlier "Fireball" as it was known by as a Buick. The 198 became a 196 (3.2) "C" engine code and is almost identical in appearance, but the production numbers were very low (my Monza has one). This engine family is derived from the all-aluminum Buick 215 that came out in 1961, and was sold to Rover as well as being very popular in race cars for being the highest power-to-weight ratio engine of that time. Mickey Thompson was into them back then and some pretty crazy crossplane manifolds were made for the Olds version of that engine.
Cool memories for me! I rebuilt a wrecked Monza for a guy back in 1981.
That wasn't in Western New York was it?
My red spider was rumored to have been stolen wrecked recovered and rebuilt in 1981
I had a 78’ Pontiac Grand Prix (g-body) with the Buick v-6, the little motor was troublesome and didn’t last too long.
I ended up replacing the v-6 with a 455 that I pulled out of a Bonneville.
Would be nice to have a minty what a great looking little car
When they switched from the odd fire to the even fire they had some problems with premature wear for the first couple of years.
I had a 75 and it handled awesome, it had front and rear sway bars and Perelli tires , great first car
Quiet you are going against group think. Lol.
Man I remember seeing those all over the place back then! Specially the Monza! I kinda like the way they looked! Great history and video tutorial Steve!👌😎👍
Those Monzas that came with V8s had frame issues...the weight of the V8s pushed the rails apart.
So much good info in ten minutes. Most capable prof in this lecture hall.
Fascinating history Steve. Really appreciate the work you put into these videos.
This was one of my favorite engines. I rebuilt two of them in my younger years.
Those cars were pretty popular in their day, but I haven’t seen one on the road for years in any condition. I think the last one I saw at all was two-three years ago in a yard half covered by a tarp in Southern AZ. The 3.8 Buick was a great motor. I had a couple of company cars powered by the. 3.8/3800. With fuel injection they made good power. With a supercharger they made great power.
Wasn't the 3.8 chevy just a 305 with 2 cylinders cut off?
@@FrankBullitt390 I think it was the Chevy 283. I had a '76, so it was still the oddfire and my distributor cap was actually for an 8 cylinder with two tabs flattened.
@@seed_drill7135 Could be but wrong era, 283 was one of the most reliable engines ever made but (we had one in a 67 beaumont) large gap in time between 283 and 3.8
I had a 77 Skyhawk with the V6 and four speed, it wasn't the fastest car around but it was fun.
Thank you, Steve. I had a 1977 Chevy Monza hatchback with the four-cylinder four speed and NO ac. Loved that little care.
My dad had a 1967 V-6 CJ-6 which is a rare model of Jeep. It was a Jeep with a 101 inch wheel base. My dad added an over drive to the transmission and it really was an animal where we live in the mountains of Colorado.
Those 13" 4 lug wheels on Vegas, etc, are very hard to come by. If Buick would've put their turbo 3.8 in those little Skyhawks, they would've been great performers.
Wow, that's a really interesting story. I grew up in Toledo and my mom had a '76 Skyhawk, burgundy with white interior and a moonroof. I remember that car well. Later I ended up going to grad school up in Flint at GMI (General Motors Institute). I worked in the machine tool industry in and around Detroit and was probably in that plant you mentioned at some time or another. Of course, they're sadly all bulldozed now.
I owned a beautiful silver on red '78 Skyhawk in the middle 1980's - it was the best $800 car I've ever owned.
My older sister had a white 1976 Skyhawk 4 speed. It broke the crankshaft and had to get a new engine. Quite certain I learned to drive stick in that car at 15 years old
Lol . That intro . Cracks me up. Love you Steve. Peace brother ☮️
My first car was a 1986 Buick Skyhawk. It was so slow we called it the Skypigeon. But with the history I now see where my steering wheel and the front fascia originated from. Thanks for the lesson Steve!
Another high quality video! When I was younger I worked on a lot of these cars man makes me fell old lol good friend of mine had a Monza with a 6.0 LS motor what a ride it was we upgraded the front brakes with S10 spindles and rotors that was a problem with these cars with a v8 Vega brakes lol
I had a 1978 Monza Coupe with that engine mated to a four speed. I bought it used in 1981. I absolutely loved that car: my wife, two kids, and a large dog drove cross country from Georgia to California in 1982, by way of Illinois. The Monza was cut in half and a new rear clip put on as a result of a rear end accident in California, which almost totaled the car, but the car soldiered on for another couple of years. I traded it in during 1983.
One of my favorite You Tube channels. Really takes me back in time!
back in 1978 my sister and her husband had a 64 Buick Skylark station wagon with a V6. they purchased it from the original owner. the quintessential little old lady that didn't drive it very much and always kept it garage and meticulously maintained. I was only twelve but I seem to remember that V6 sounding like a V8. it was a beautiful car.
Man oh man Steve, you should have a test at the end of every video because I know that I learn all kinds of stuff every, single time I watch.
You are truly the absolute Professor Emeritus of all things vehicular. Thank you for doing your part to keeping the knowledge and the love alive.
Great video. Love those cars. I'd buy another if you could still go to the yard and find the parts. Especially the front brakes.
I had quite a few of the Monza's and 1 each of the others. My 79 Spyder came with a 3.2(196) 4spd and clothe seats. My 75 Monza TC came with a 4.3(262) V8. The Olds had odd fire that I rebuilt and you could interchange parts with the 225 v6.
Never had the Monza Mirage though . Great looking car.
Dobi Monza of Brea California used to sell headers and suspension upgrades and few other things. Headers were LIL SALTY!
Sorry about long post. Memories!
Thanks for clearing the field towards education Mags!! 💪🔧
I had a 76 Skyhawk! 231 V6! Loved that car for some reason...
Man Steve a whole lot of information on that little car good job
We're all pulling for you Steve. Hope to see you soon
Awesome history lecture!
My old neighbour was an older Irishman, Jack. His wife had a notchback Monza with a small V8. Man, that thing was wild. He let me take it for a spin years ago. Hard to hold it on the road when you got into it..😎👀😎
Diggin the new intro Brother Man.🫵🏼
The angle of the fan blades daaaang
When you pulled out the model you got my hopes up, raced a 78 Monza back in the late 80's and would love to have a model or Matchbox.
I remember seeing those little Buicks.
Great video Steve Mags!
Thank you Steve. Keep up the good work.
Hey Reed!!!! Kegger at Doc Bill's Friday night!!!
I love all your videos. There are so many crazy stories behind so many cars. The suspension being tested here and used in later Camaros was interesting, and the story of the Buick-Jeep-Buick V6 was bananas. Keep up the great work!
I had a Pontiac Sunbird. Loved it.
I miss Steve he is such a great guy and the most knowledgeable
again great video, always learn something in your videos....that promo is AWESOME
Thanks for sharing this. I remember these being new as I was a teenager. They were quite cool looking when they came out. One of my college buds bought one new in 1980 and it was a tale of two extremes - extremely cramped but extremely cool looking. Not particularly fuel efficient nor fast. But considering the garbage that was coming out of Japan at this time (rust away products even on showroom floors), these weren't so bad. Thank you for taking the time to showcase this piece of GM history even it if is rather unremarkable.
I had a 1976. Great car, sporty, still think about that car! @1987
Overseas, these cars were trendsetters. US cars in the 70s were panned by foreigners, not the Monzas and Skyhawks. My Uncle and Auntie in New Zealand had a His and Hers H car set. Imported from Oregon. The three doors are exceptionally clean aerodynamically, ask Keith Turk about his Maxton cement pounding 215 engined item. Uncle Mervyn had a 3.8 liter Skyhawk, Auntie Isobel had a 5.7 liter Monza. 5 speed Porsche gate manual was an option on the 3.8 liter, and despite the H-u-g-e reduction in torque, the little Buick V6 was really good on give and take Kiwi roads.
The auto only V8 Monza was seriously de-fanged, I think down to 145 hp, a very poor performer compared to our 207 hp 4.9 liter and 216 hp 5.8 liter Clevelands and 135 to 169 hp Holden 253s and 308s.
Panned by foreigners? We have a family friend from Kuwait and he says they loved American cars there. The pronounce Buick as Bweek.
Pretty dang easy to RE-FANG a small block Chevy .
Standard formula , stage 1 : carb tuning , distributor curve & advance , cold air air cleaner ducting , low restriction (oiled gauze) air filter.
Stage 2 : headers , intake , 1.6:1 rockers .
Stage 3 : cam replacement and head porting . (no need to replace heads , 305s can't use 2.02 intakes due to bore interference , and already have 58cc chambers , one of the smallest ever used on SBC ~ in fact , 305 HO heads are often used to increase compression on street 350s !)
The quadrajet (750 cfm !) is MORE carb than you'll ever need on a 305 - it only needs TUNING , not replacement !
Got me 5 commodores. All have 3.8 ltr v6 engines in them. ones chipped. they are awesome engines. Got an HZ one tonner with a 253 stroked out to 307 cu inch. But I love my good raw v6 engines. Got a couple of hot 202s as well. Go the mighty 6.From New Zealand.
I forgot all about all of these except the Monza. (Didn't even know these Starfires existed.)
Miss you buddy. Hope you’re getting better.
I seen this Skyhawk in your video that came out yesterday. I was hoping you would do a video on it. My cousin had the Olds Starfire. You may not believe it but it would all ass.
Shared a link to this with 23 people.
Excellent history lesson !
I had a '76 Buick Skyhawk. It was sporty, with the V6, 5spd, and sunroof. It got rear-ended, and totalled. As much as I wanted to keep the running gear, it just wasn't feasible at that time in my life.
I liked these cars, I like the convert they built on the sun bird, would be cool to bolt up something fun with bits and pieces ...
I am truly glad that rattle snakes are very unusual in Mass. That engine in my parents olds was a long term runner, when we thought 100k was a long run, we ran 300k on our family olds....
I was in my '76 Sunbird in 2002. The people in the truck behind me said "you don't see those much anymore" right before they were plowed into by the car behind them, triggering a 4 car pileup, which totally my Sunbird. (Though someone else bought it and kept it on the road for another several years).
Funny. I saw that car in the background of yesterdays video and was hoping you would put it in another video. and voila, there it is. Thanks and I promise to only use this new superpower for good.
Me too, great minds run in the same gutter.😁
Auto wrecking? Nah, that place is a museum! They have 1 or 2 of everything holy cow.
Maaaan! That brings back memories brother! My buddy had a brown one with tan vinyl interior back in the early 90s. We used to cruise in that baby..
I owned 2 of these hatch backs. Both were Monza’s the first was a 75 2+2 hatchback with the 4.3L Chevy v8 with a 4 speed manual. A very fun car to drive. But ate camshafts, clutches, brakes and starter interlock relays like candy. Then I had a 78 Chevy Monza Spyder with the 305 v8 and automatic transmission. Not near as much fun to drive, but a much better and a ton more reliable and had a lot better brakes. It also had the redesigned driveline tunnel and a different rear track bar and Dual outlet exhaust outlet muffler. I ran the wheels off both those cars. I loved the looks and styling of both of them. But I liked the looks of one feel of the 75 interior and bumper styling more than the 1978.
Awesome job Steve about the information 😊
I knew about the 305 and 350 in the Monza Spyder. I had heard to do spark plug change they had to jack up the engine to get to the rear 2 plugs. Those V8's with a manual would have really been the ticket at the time. (I believe they only came in automatic though). My best friend had the V6 with manual in a Spyder and it was pretty darn quick. 😀
That is a very rare specimen !
I had a ‘71 Jeep CJ5 with the factory Buick 225 V6.
Very interesting story. My first car was a 1973 Vega hatchback, a gift from my dad, back in 1981 - when I was a high school. Life went on, went to college, grad school for a doctorate, and bought Porsches, and other European cars. Last year a got myself a 1972 Vega hatchback (V8 stroker), and this year an ultra rare "Monza S", which according to urban legend, were re-badged Vega bodies, with mostly Chevy Iron Duke engines. Mine, however, has a very rare factory option: a 231 Buick V6. The car is completely stock, and has factory A/C, and emission control system intact. After 44 years, the Monza S/"factory V6 Vega" still drives pretty well!
Yes, the Monza S was the entry level model meant to deploy the "bait and switch" trick. These carried the lowest possible window sticker prices and served to attract showroom visits via newspaper ads touting the Monza S' low, low cost. Then when you entered the dealership, a sales professional talked you into a more expensive model. But YES, your Monza S with the V6 option is one rare bird. THANKS for keeping it alive and also for writing. -Steve Magnante
My girlfriend had a 80 Monza with 2.5L iron duke motor. It had a fold down rear seat, drive in movie special love machine 👍
Great to revisit these cars. Didn't Monza offer the 400 sbc, thought it was available but who knows if one was built.
I had the Sunbird with the iron duke 4 cylinder. It was reliable but it was harsh. In the winter months it would high idle until it sounded like it would blow up. I had driven many Japanese 4 cylinders of that era and was amazed at the smoothness of them compared to the iron duke.
I heard snapping connecting rods in winter on cold start was common. Seen one.
Awwww. I’ve got a few Monza promo models given to me by my dad when I was a lad. Hadn’t seen the green version before. Pretty cool
Thanks Steve 👍
Wow what a crazy story!
I remember some V6 Buick Skylarks (essentially Novas) from about then too.
My parents bought a 1982 Buick Regal 4 door sedan that had a 4.1 liter V-6 with a 4 barrel quadrajet. Sometimes when I drove it, I would flip the air cleaner lid over so I could hear the “moan” whenever I nailed the accelerator. In the late 1980’s when I was in the Military, I had a 1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that had a 3.8 liter Buick V-6.
Break my heart I had a 1976 Oldsmobile Starfire GT. I took the stock V6 out and put a 1964 Buick 225 V6 that came out of a Grand National car that raced at Daytona in the 60s. Car was being restored and it must have been watched because it was putting Prime and stolen that night haven't seen it in 37 years. Engine balanced and blueprinted flattop Pistons windage tray Offenhauser Aluminum Intake Manifold Hedman headers gone.
Cool cars. You don't see them anymore.
I remember the Monza. Never knew Buick had a hatchback.
You missed again Steve, no offense meant because as a Gear Head from the Sixties I LOVE your show.
Chevrolet Monza V8 was smaller than the original V8 265 CID, Monza V8's were 262 CID Boat Anchor.......
The 3.8 has lived a very long life. I drove one to work today in my 2004 Grand Prix. It was enlarged to 3.9 a year or two later and used in Impalas and G8's as well as others. GM has finally gone DOHC 4V on everything except the V8's, but they got a lot of miles out of the 3.8.
Thanks for the video.👍
In the late 80’s I was installing a non emission Holley 4 barrel on a new Buick v6 in my Pontiac Grand Prix. I needed an even fire vacuum advance distributor which was a one year only in ‘80 since they went to electronic advance in ‘81. The junkyard could’ve pulled it from one of these cars.
Always a fascinating insight, great work really enjoy the content 👏🏼
Those are a great engines and they can produce over 300 horsepower without much trouble , a little head work and address the oiling system. Basic hotrod stuff, for the street. No turbos or power adders needed to get there. again great little engine
That 231 would live on all the way until 1987 unchanged in it's basic design, with the same 2 bbl Rochester carb and smog pump. I had a 1985 Regal with that motor. It was pretty indestructible if maintained properly - sold the car in 1997 with 131,000 miles..... the engine still ran great but the car was rotted out from 12 hard Cleveland winters.
Yeah I worked on a ton of them back in the day, especially in G cars. I found it funny that the 3.8 2bbl would make enough power to snap motor mounts, but it did!
haven't seen one of these eons. Great video Steve
I remember in the 80s messing around with and learning from the '69 Jeep CJ5 (Kaiser) with the 225 V6 that my dad bought new. Several years later, I bought a '74 CJ5 with the AMC (Nash) 258 straight 6, which I later found out was actually a swapped in 232 from God knows what. The exhaust note was surprisingly similar.
If i seen that car runnin down the road today. I would have had NO CLUE what it was. But my mom had a monza spider a long time ago. She still talks about that thing. Lol
thanks for your videos, very interesting and well prepared. I dropped a 231 Buick v6 into my 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 wagon. I made the car about 1000 lb lighter and converted to manual steering and electric fans and no A/C so not many accessory belts. Does the job pretty well and better fuel economy than the 455 it originally had. I pulled the v6 out of a 1984 Impala base model which I think was the uncommon base engine in that car. This v6 was put in the 1976 Buick full size Lesabre as the base engine.
The 69 Wagoneer used a Buick 350 V8 as well aka 350 Dauntless.