FireInMe17

I'm soon getting another car to drive around this winter so I can keep the Camaro off the icy Pennsylvania roads.

While is just sitting around....I'm seriously thinking about doing a nice rebuild/build up on it. I mean everything short of a hybrid, I did have plans to build a hybrid, but that was only if I got another engine, and the one I was going to get didn't fall through, so those plans are scrapped.

What I'm thinking about is taking the whole engine down right to the block and doing the whole cleaning, inspecting parts of it, and then completely reworking its up from the ground up. But as with everything else I do with my car, I like to consult my friends at TGO first, and get the help that I need to do a build.

I want:

-New Hypereutectic pistons (New connecting rods, other rotating assembly parts?)
-New cam (Which one to get? I want a mild to moderate cam, if at all possible up the CR a bit)
-New timing (Advance to about 12* or 14* BTDC?)
-Ported/Polished heads(Yes, the old iron heads...)
Once I get there what work am I going to need to do to the heads/pushrods and the rest of it?
-New fuel injectors slightly above the stock ilb/hr rate(New fuel pump needed?)
-New Bosch+4 Platinum/Iridium Fusion spark plugs or E3, don't know yet...Thinking about MSD
-Port/Polish the intake and try to lessen that awesome 135* turn that hurts our engines so much
-Bigger throttle body(What will be compatible with the TV cable set up though?)

Once I get that far, the transmission is next. I have an automatic right now, so I will probably get it rebuilt with a shift kit and Corvette/oversized Servo.

After the transmission, how hard would it be to track down or get an all aluminum driveshaft like those found on the 1LE cars? Or something easier to turn...

Once I get past the driveshaft, I want to make my 3.23 gears posi.

New tires will also come into play somewhere(I hate my Sumitomos....)

I will also probably get a whole new exhaust to go with it, and I wish that there was some heads that actually fit past the oil filter on our cars without getting a smaller filter or bending the headers too much, but if you guys know of someway to do it, I'm game for it.

I want to know what all you think about this, and any advice all you could give me in doing this. I'm really excited to do it and I really hope that I can. I've been doing a lot of looking on Summit, and the parts are getting harder and harder to pass up.

Obviously, theres a lot here that I do not know, and a lot that I will learn in the process of doing all this. The mods/improvements that I listed above are all that I want to do, and as far as I know, is what sounds good to me, but might not to the rest of you, thats why I want your advice in this, so I can plan it out and order the right parts and build up a good V6 for street use, daily driver duties, yet still have more power when I want it to put some of the rice burners back in their place....behind me.

Also, how much power is to be gained here from all of this? I would really be happy with getting just 20 more horses out of old Cammy. Any improvements in throttle response or power and peppiness will go a long long way with me.


Heres the setup I have right now:

-3.1L V6 Stock. No A/C
Only mod: K&N Air Filter
-700-R4 Stock
-Stock exhaust
-Stock intake minus K&N
-Stock fuel system
-Stock drivetrain(3.23 open)

So as you can see, were dealing with a stock car ready to be awoken with a few good new parts and improvements.

Right now, the 3.1L has a pretty good power curve if you just want to lul around everywhere, its supposed to be a good mid-range engine, and thats what it is, but I want to make more power in the good power band, and hopefully widen it a bit, and open it up to more power near 4500RPM and reach 5000RPM while making usable power, yet I don't want to have to reach those engine speeds to drive it around all day long. I still want to keep the engine in and around 2000-3000RPM under normal driving conditions.

I'm really excited, so let me hear what you guys have to say, I'll start posting some of the parts that I want to get, and hope that they are the right ones for what I want.

Thanks in advance for the help!

micktroup2

Why not pick up a 3.4 engine from a junker and start there? You should be able to pull one for $200-300 and you will instantly have a bigger engine to start with. That is my plan this winter. I am thinking about gasket matching the heads (I already have an intake done AND POLISHED), having a machine shop clean up the combustion chambers and then having the heads extrude honed. I think that will be the ticket, because the extrude honing process should tidy up the entire length of the intake and exhaust ports. That and the rebuild should step this engine up a notch or 3!
I know everyone says that the iron heads are crap, but a hybrid isn't practical and I have the smog police to deal with- it is easier to swap my 3.1 accessories and intake onto the 3.4 block and pretend it is stock than deal with the BAR and smog issues!!

FireInMe17

Its a T-Code engine, thats what it is on the VIN, thats what its gonna be under the hood.

But I do understand what you mean, I could pick up a 3400 for $175 not too far away, but I don't want to go that route.

jensen73110

iTrader: (4)

Just throwing some things out there. Do as you will.

Those plugs are crap. I think I lost power swapping to +4s. Go with the $2 AC Delcos.
Exhaust. None of our engines can breathe without it.
Aluminum driveshaft can be found here, ebay, Hawks and a few junk yards.

I also agree with the 3.4L. There's your 20 hp.

FireInMe17

Yeah but a 3.4L wouldn't be fun to gain 20hp. It seems that those of us that want to go faster and further with our V6 cars live by "Any idiot can make a V8 fast, but it takes a smart idiot to make a V6 fast."

Well a bigger V6 is just as bad for me in this case, even though I have thought about boring my 3.1 to a 3.4 and using the rest of the 3.1L stuff and doing the same thing to it with 3.4L heads and internals of course, but still to me thats not gonna be as much fun as seeing what a 3.1L V6 can do without a hybrid build or super/turbocharging it.

If anything, this will be a big experiment for all of us to see just what gains you can get out of doing the mentioned mods to a 3.1L with the stock parts ported and polished and so forth. I think that will be more fun.

Also: UPDATE, found a T5 out of a 92 Formula freshly rebuilt with 1,000 miles on it for $100 bucks I might pick up and turn this into a standard car.

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

we already have seen what a 3.1 can do they have been built and turbo charged, pick up a 3.4 block to build off of (and by 3.4 i mean the rwd one from a 4th gen car)

its worth getting, coming from someone who has one...but im sure like most people that come on this board your going to ignore our advice(the ones who have done all this) and do what you want

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

not referring to a 3400...

FireInMe17

I'm not ignoring what you guys are saying, you guys are ignoring what I posted... and 3400 3.4L same difference...I don't want to deal with getting ANOTHER new computer and switching to OBDII and getting a new harness and all the rewiring mess and then working with distributor-less ignition and the whole mess that comes with switching from a 3.1L to a 3.4L. That means new k-member or modded one and new engine mounts and the whole shabang, at least going the 3.1 route I can avoid all that.

I'm open to ideas and concerns like these but I just want to stick with the block that I have.

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

lol wow see you are ignoring me becuase a 3400 is a fwd block... the 3.4 is the rwd block, not the same diffrence. the 3400 swaps and 3500 swaps are way diffrent than swaping to the 3.4 that me and jensen are refering to

to switch to a 3.4 block all you have to do is switch blocks between the 3.1 and 3.4 everything bolts back on to it the same way ill provide you with the links in a min for the swap. the motor in my car is a 3.4 with a distributor, i used the 3.4 intake but it is not required or recommended. you will use all your parts from the 3.1 in your car and bolt them to the 3.4 block, and drive away

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

https://www.thirdgen.org/swapboogie

heres one, yes i know it says 2.8 to 3.4 but its the same process

the 2.8, 3.1, and 3.4 are the SAME block, everything mounts up the same way as stock, no one would even know that you had a 3.4 block in your car but you

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

and another

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/3...-3-4-swap.html

also search my threads to find more info

FireInMe17

Your killing me Pillsbry....

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

just trying to educate you a little man, read those threads

you dont have to change ANYTHING but the block to run a 3.4 block, you keep all your orginal parts, computer, wiring, trans etc

its an easy 20hp and 40tq just changing the block

FireInMe17

Well the trouble is going to be finding a block...theres next to no 3.4 blocks around here. I still want to build it from the ground up if I do go that route now...

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

search around a little, they are still pretty common and cheap

you will have to reuse things off your old motor but you can build the internal side up as much as you want. you will need the following off your 3.1

Intake Plenum
Throttle body
fuel rail(but you have to use 3.4 injectors)
all the brackets off the front of the motor
alternator
ac
the timing cover
Distributor
PS pump
etc...

but the internal side is up to you, its just a better starting point if you want to build up a v6 motor and not have to swap ecms and wiring

i bored my 3.4 out a little and literally upgraded EVERYTHING on the inside as well as ported and polished everything

FireInMe17

Well thats what I want to do, I want to get new pistons and stuff like that for it and not deal with old ones since I'm going to be rebuilding the engine anyway. I want to make the internals move faster and easier and make it more lightweight if at all possible. I want to increase air flow to each of the cylinders by porting and polishing EVERYTHING. I want to get a 4.3L throttle body maybe if it would work with the 3.1L plenum and TV cable, throttle cable setup to further increase the air intake to the engine. I want to get new injectors anyway, so I want to get good ones, and ones that are just a bit above what the ratings for whatever block I decide to use. I want to get headers, but I know that they cause problems with the oil filter, and I already had a really really bad experience with a shorter oil filter on my engine and don't want to have to do that again. I want to get a cam so I can up the CR in the cylinders and give it a meaner sound. I want to get a whole new cat-back exhaust to replace the original exhaust that is still on the car. I want to increase my power, increase my torque, increase peppiness, increase throttle response, increase driveability, and increase usable RPM powerband, yet still make a lot of that usable power in the lower half of the powerband so I don't have to revv it so high just to get moving. I want to get an aluminum driveshaft to make it easier for the engine to spin and get going faster. I want to get posi, I want to rebuild my transmission to better handle the power, and shift smoother when I want a smooth shift, and harder when I want a hard shift when I'm up and going.

Ok I'm done rambling...I want a lot with this build, but I know that if I do it right and get the right help that I can do it and have a kick *** Camaro.

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

pretty sure there isnt another throttle body out there than can be used

headers wont cause a problem, at least mine never did and ive used long and short filters

you dont want to go any higher than a 19lb injector as it will cause driveability issues unless you learn how to tune an ecm, the best thing to do is stick with a stock 3.4 size but use a set of the bosch III injectors

driveshaft isnt worth the money unless you get it really cheap

you can build a nice daily driver out of a v6 and have some power...i hate to say it...but unless you turbo it itll never be a v8 so just keep that in mind. ive had a lot of v6 cars and i like them and you can do a lot with them. there are plenty of guys on here with 3.4 motors and lots of reading on how to do it

FireInMe17

Well whats the rate on a 3.4L block for injectors? And I know if I go too high I'll be doing tuning, I don't want to do that.

I don't want it to be a V8, I want it to be as close to original as possible, but I'm going to go against that a bit and use something that will be remarkably close to original now as long as I can track down a block.

Are you sure about the throttle body? I guess it won't be much of an improvement if I don't do some serious work in the plenums since the 135* turn pretty much kills any hope at serious performance out of a normally aspirated engine.

I hope I could find a driveshaft thats lighter nearby, theres a few scrap yards that sell pretty cheap around here, but I've never come across a 3.4 block anywhere.

And now thats worrying me haha

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

im sure someone will correct me as im not possitive the exact numbers

3.1s are 15lbs
3.4s are 17-18lbs

i ran 19s for 1000 miles before the turbo project with no problems

look for a driveshaft from a 4th gen z28 they cam stock and will fit

if you dont tell anyone its a 3.4 no one will ever know lol

Project 3.4 Camaro

A 3.4 rwd block is a pretty easy swap(I and several others have done it) I am 20, have no other car atm, never went to school or got taught by anyone, and pulled it off with the only help being extra pairs of hands(ppl that know nothing about cars) They can be found, but you will have to look, I snagged one for $200 from a 94 that hit a telephone pole, it was complete all the way from accessories to the torque converter.

"New Hypereutectic pistons (New connecting rods, other rotating assembly parts?)
-New cam (Which one to get? I want a mild to moderate cam, if at all possible up the CR a bit)
-New timing (Advance to about 12* or 14* BTDC?)
-Ported/Polished heads(Yes, the old iron heads...)
Once I get there what work am I going to need to do to the heads/pushrods and the rest of it?
-New fuel injectors slightly above the stock ilb/hr rate(New fuel pump needed?)
-New Bosch+4 Platinum/Iridium Fusion spark plugs or E3, don't know yet...Thinking about MSD
-Port/Polish the intake and try to lessen that awesome 135* turn that hurts our engines so much
-Bigger throttle body(What will be compatible with the TV cable set up though?)

Once I get that far, the transmission is next. I have an automatic right now, so I will probably get it rebuilt with a shift kit and Corvette/oversized Servo.
"
If you ever want to run boost, get forged pistons, connecting rods are factory forged, unless you plan to wind past 7k rpms on a regular basis keep them, just put new main bearings in it, remachine the crank, new con rod bearings, put some arp studs/bolts in them, new pistons and new rings and you're set.
While you have the trans out, get it built to allow and be strong enough for 4th gear at WOT(if its torn down for a full rebuild), also put bigger boost valves in the front pump or it won't hold enough pressure over 5500 rpms, throw a 10 vane rotor in it as well.
As for the bosch plugs, its pretty unanimous around here that AC delco is the way to go, they seem to work best for our engines and are cheap to boot.

Last but not least....read my thread:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/5...ost-power.html

Project 3.4 Camaro

I thought 3.4s had 19#s in them, idk though, somewhere in that area, 3400s use #22s I think, and as for them recognizing 3.4, most likely they wouldn't...depends on which swap version you opt for, and a v6 3rd gen enthusiast could...well some anyways, its in the little details,lol. Chances are, even if they thought it was a 3.4 you could lie to them and convince them otherwise....like for example I have a serp setup on what I could claim to be an "85 2.8" I could just say I snagged the belt setup from a 3.4,lol. Serpentines just look so much cooler to me for some reason....

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

So you want more power, but you don't want to tune it......?

Good luck with that.....

Just FYI, you can't safely bore a 2.8 or 3.1 block to the size required for the 3.4.

There is a vast difference between "3.4" and "3400", as you've already been told, and is what we use to identify which versions of which engine are being discussed.

I've never understood the thought process of "I want the most I can get, but with these restrictions....." :facepalm:

Just leave you engine alone then.

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

ha ha and i thought i was testy tonight, i get what you mean though but unfortunately not everyone can computer tune

i wish i understood it better but it makes my brain hurt

Project 3.4 Camaro

Yeah, I meant to mention that about boring these blocks out, they don't have enough meat on them to safely bore them out .3 litres, and GM themselves actually differentiated the engines that way, hence the intake manifolds on fwd cars saying milliliters and rwd being litres.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Aye, thats why I plan to get an MS when I start tuning,lol...

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

my 3.4 is bored .30

ill save you the post six_shooter he would only use the ms3 (man ive read to many posts on here)

it would be nice if some of the smarter guys on here would charge an arm or a leg to tune the factory computers...if that had been easier to get done i wouldve went that route. the one company i contacted basically said they couldnt do it

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

Guys, tuning the OEM ECM is EASY.

I would actually say easier than MS, yes I have the MS software, it's a bit difficult to follow.

I actually use a GM ECM in my 1973 Datsun 240Z, because I prefer it to MS.

I don't know how anyone can expect their "built up engine" to run correctly without a proper tune to run it.

You can actually pull some power out of tuning the stock engine, since the stock tunes are pretty conservative, and tuned safe.

The DIY PROM forum here on TGO is a great source of tuning information. Most of it won't make sense until you actually start tuning.

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

You forgot the part about, only IF the OEM ECM doesn't do enough, such as if I wanted true SFI, which I really don't care about.

The only way I tune anybody else's vehicles is if I can sit my *** in that car, and not only see how the car runs, but see, feel and taste what is happening.

Project 3.4 Camaro

.30 over though is a measurement of cylinder bore, boring a 3.4 .30 over doesn't make it a 3.7 litre, it makes it a 3404 o.O

JuggaloRon

hey been readin the thread and really want to know how the rebuild goes. i've been reading the 660 bible they scanned into here and love it. i want to redo my block too and have been following everthing pilsbury and streetlethal/dave have been posting on here to turbo my engine eventually. financial problems at the moment. single income for multi family house.... anyways... rebuild, boost and tune is my only advice. good luck and have fun.

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

haha well its late, you cant expect a perfect qoute and i agree with you there which is why its so hard for anyone to help someone out without being in the car.

the forum on here is great, and ive read a lot of stuff on there...but you either get it or you dont and i struggle with it by just reading what to do. if i was going to learn it you would have to sit down with me and literally walk me through it in person

i wonder how much power you could pull out of a stock ecm on one of these motors?

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

haha i know it doesnt

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

Like I said it won't make sense until you actually try it for real. I read the DIY PROM forum for about 3 or 4 years before I actually started tuning, didn't make one lick of sense, then almost as if a light turned on, when I started tuning for the first time, it started making complete sense. I'm still learning, there's always something more to learn, but what you have read will just fall into place, once you adjust something like the VE table, and then see the result in how the car changes in the way it runs.

I recommend getting an EPROM emulator, since it saves years of tuning time, and you can also see the results of the changes immediately.

Project 3.4 Camaro

See I've tried reading up on tuning but it was all well over my head so I didn't want to attempt it...but main reason I want the MS system isn't necessarily ease of tuning so much as how integrated it is...ie. not having to use tools and ****, being able to just get in it and tune it whenever and wherever, the tuning itself might not be easier but just more...user friendly I guess.

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

its a little late for a stock ecm on my camaro now

ooooooo well, i do agree with a newer version of the ms though, not having a few of the features is a bummer. ill probably upgrade that down the road and i think ill be ok with it

FireInMe17

I feel like my thread got hijacked haha

Project 3.4 Camaro

Only after we all answered everything,lol, and pils you have an MS right?

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

haha it happens sometimes, everyone on here gets off on a tangent from time to time....any other questions?

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

The only thing I need to do if I want to change anything in the tune in my Datsun is plug in the USB cable to my laptop.

That's the beauty of EPROM Emulators. They provide real time tuning AND, can be left in place all the time. Eventually I plan to program an EPROM to leave in the car, but I don't need to, the Ostrich 2.0 in there works just fine as it is.

There's no such thing as "too late for the OEM ECM". It can do more than the MS, and IMO is way more tunable.

Just compare $59, which yes is a modified code, but started as a stock code ($58), it has 16x32 VE table, MS has a maximum of 16x16, so you get less resolution.

The spark tables among other things have also been expanded.

Don't think that just because it's a stock part, it's not up to the task, because there are many stock parts that are, the ECM being one of them.

Project 3.4 Camaro

I've always been under the impression that our stock v6 ECMs are very limited in tuneability hence that one thread thats always linked for ECM swap....

FireInMe17

Yes, actually, I still have a plethora of questions and have a lot to respond to posted about what I want to do....

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

That may be, but an ECM swap is pretty easy, staying with GM ECM. Just a simple re-pin and then you can use more defined code. Really it's not that hard.

You can swap to a 122165 ECM, and use $6E code, that would retain MAF, or go to the 1227730 ('90+ should already be this ECM), and use quite a few different codes that are available, depending on what your configuration is.

N/A, there are a few V6 codes that you could stick with, or go to $8D, which is what I would use, since it's VERY supported in the third gen tuning community and has been adapted to V6s in the past. "Adapted" is really the wrong word, since it takes a simple changing of the cyl select to use it on a V6, which is as simple as typing "6" into the proper place in the tuning software.

If you are going boosted I would go to $59, that I mentioned earlier.

You need to break it down to small bits of information, start with understanding the hardware, and realize that there are some ECMs that can use many different codes, such as the aforementioned 1227730, since it was used in many different applications.

Then just look at what some of the numbers mean in the code, downloading Tuner Pro, and the proper bins, and XDFs will help understand the numbers, even before you start to tune, just to see the VE and spark tables, which is where most of the tuning will be done anyway.

FireInMe17

Ok I'm done, you guys can have this thread, forget it, I'm gonna do what I want and make the engine that I want and not try to please anyone on here. Go ahead and have fun with your tangents.

I come to this forum to get help, and every time I do, I either get no help at all, or get something completely different than what I wanted, and OUTLINED in my first post.

Or I get called stupid and yelled at endlessly. Thanks for all the help.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Dude we gave you answers.....And I'm guessing you haven't, but you should read my thread that I linked...it has pretty much everything you need to know when it comes to making a v6 3rd gen faster.....not really sure what more any of us can do to help when we already answered the questions you asked....

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

Nice rant...

Have you stopped to think maybe, just maybe, what you think you want is not what you actually want.

Many of us have already been there, done that.

I saw lots of help in this thread to get you what you want, you just think you're better than those of us that have done it, and know what needs to be done.

Have fun, let us know how it goes.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Alright I did forget three things I meant to mention, as far as posi goes, find a used differential with posi already in it, its cheaper, and you can get disc brakes while you're at it, as for the throttle body, I think I have heard of some ford or dodge tb being used or something, but don't recall what, GM wise, I don't think any others will bolt right up and work right away.
cam wise a delta cams 260 grind would be good, or even a stock 3.4 cam
as for the headers(not heads) pacesetter ones will clear the oil filter, its a royal PITA to get it in and out with the headers on, but it is doable..
And if you still have questions....read my thread...srsly, just ask someone whos read it, its gobs of helpful info...

FireInMe17

No you didn't. I posted specific questions about what to do, and I posted AFTER I had already decided what I wanted to do with the engine. Just in case you forgot, this is what I asked, I even bulleted most of it out, yet no one picked it up....

-New Hypereutectic pistons (New connecting rods, other rotating assembly parts?)
-New cam (Which one to get? I want a mild to moderate cam, if at all possible up the CR a bit)
-New timing (Advance to about 12* or 14* BTDC?)
-Ported/Polished heads(Yes, the old iron heads...)
Once I get there what work am I going to need to do to the heads/pushrods and the rest of it?
-New fuel injectors slightly above the stock ilb/hr rate(New fuel pump needed?)
-New Bosch+4 Platinum/Iridium Fusion spark plugs or E3, don't know yet...Thinking about MSD
-Port/Polish the intake and try to lessen that awesome 135* turn that hurts our engines so much
-Bigger throttle body(What will be compatible with the TV cable set up though?)

I already knew exactly what I wanted before I posted anything. I know what I want. You all think you know what I want when you don't even know me.

I don't care what you guys have done, and where you've been with it. I haven't been there yet. And I want to learn how to rebuild an engine first off and make THIS ONE work and just give it *a little* extra to make it better than what it was pre-rebuild. ANY gains at all is nice for me, I notice every little thing about how it runs, and if I feel that its running good one day, I can tell how it does the next compared to the previous. So ANY even as small as it might be, gain would be absolutely perfect for me.

I know what I want. I just DO NOT know what parts to get to get me there exactly. Thats what I wanted help with, THATS IT!!!

I've never tore an engine apart so obviously I don't know anything about it that you guys might just assume that I do, but I do not. All the more reason to get a car in the hopes of working on it, and then finding an oh so wonderful forum dedicated just for my car to help me do it. And then get misunderstood over and over and over again. I'm getting tired of it.

I was going to start posting parts that I THOUGHT would give me what I wanted, but with no advanced knowledge of how an engine works, I wanted to double check to make sure I got what I described in my *first post* would give me. And to make sure that I did it right. NOTHING MORE!!!

bl85c

iTrader: (2)

An OEM ecm is the cheaper easier way to tune. Guess what I've invested in swapping to a '165 ecm, an eeprom, a chip burner and an aldl cable? $150. If you put together your own aldl cable you'd only spend $110. And since you already have a '730 ecm you only need the burner and cable, that's just $75. The reason experienced tuners don't want to mess with the stock '870/'302 ecm is because there's not enough known about them, and they're really just crappy slow ecms. If you haven't taken a look at my swap thread, please do. I'm dying for more people to get some use out of the horsepower estimate and other fun stuff I've worked on, like the power adder version of 6E I'm finishing up. Six Shooter is completely right, learning to tune is 80% experimentation and 20% research. The more you play with it the more sense it makes. Someone asked me about programing a chip for them recently but I haven't heard back from him. I'd be happy to oblige still.

Oh, and the post '85 th700's all have 10 vane pumps. You can still upgrade to a 13 vane pump. A reprogram kit from transgo works wonders on any slushbox trans. Definately worth the money.

Project 3.4 Camaro

If you just want a mild reliable build, doing what you listed should pretty well get you that, just take note of some of the stuff we said, get yourself a haynes or chilton manual, read on the forums a LOT, and start tearing it down, only once you tear it down will things start to click well, also I strongly suggest you have a DD car if this is your only car and you need it.
parts wise, summitracing, advance auto, autozone, craigslist and ebay...the latter for used parts, the first 3 for new parts.
And the way you posted, implied you wanted advice on a winter project, not information on how to rebuild an engine and where to get parts, just saying when you ask the wrong question you get the wrong answers....

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

*sigh*

Really? You're going to use that argument to support what you've already said, and we've already answered?

If you already knew what you wanted before you posted, why bother posting at all?

You didn't really come here for help, you came here to well, I'm not sure, but it smells a lot like trolling.

We answered your questions, you just didn't like the answers.

You can go a head and spend money foolishly, like you want, or listen to us and have it run it's best.

I figured you'd really listen since no you profess to have no knowledge of how an engine works, so if that really is the case, then that should by all rights mean that you really should listen to those of us that do know how an engine works, or better yet, how to make it work better.

It's up to you.