So the 3800 FWD bolt pattern does not bolt directly to the 4L30e huh? Hmm - what bellhousing bolt pattern was on the 1st gen Troopers with the 2.8 V6? Was that a RWD pattern? I vaguely recall now - it's been a few years - that's why the 3.4L out of a F body was a popular swap (due to RWD) and not the FWD 60 deg V6's, right?
And the 3800 F bodies had a 4L60e with a removable bellhousing on them didn't they? Does our 4L30e have a removable or fixed bellhousing? So who makes an adapter to adapt between the GM FWD bolt pattern and the 4L30e? Cost?
The Northstars had a lot of head gasket issues and wouldn't they have the same bellhousing issue? Plus depending on the model year, most had the Siemans PCM and I don't know if anyone's reverse engineered that to program it.
The 3800 should fit better being smaller and it's durability is much better (once you address the intake issues on the L36). So just how weak is the 4L30e?