Guys i think i got the Grandaddy of exhaust plans about to happen to me. one of my best friends is a master at working metal and he is willing to fix me up with 6 total exhaust header/pipe system what were going to do is instead of just putting headers on my 3.1L were going to 3 individual pipes on both sides of the engine and put the exhaust tipes (its all stainless steel) right infront of the back tires. our only problem is knowing what size pipe will be most effiecent. My friend is not a mechanic but he can make this for me. so if anybody has any idea on a good size pipe, putting ground clearance into consideration shoot me a wire.

 

I wouldnt custom make headers for a V6 unless it was
Chevy's almighty 4.3L V6, I also wouldnt advise tearing up
your car for a minor performance gain like the project you
described..

If you got time and money, and a good garage, pull that
V6 and the transmission out of the car, and install something
that is worthwhile in the long run, Dont waste time and effort
into something that wont perform no matter what you have
invested in it..

Just my 2 cents

Good luck

 

man, that's gonna sound like butt.

 

I dont think "butt" would exactly describe it

 

good thought phoenix, but the reason that "they" made exhaust come into one pipe (or two), wasn't purely to save space. Single pipes like that, might look cool, but it wouldn't be great for flow. Dragsters use it for simplicity, and weight savings. Plus it sounds cool on 700+CID, with blowers, and 2000+HP...

Try fabbing up something that would take advantage of scavenging, and anti-reversion. That would sound and perform much nicer.

 

Dont encourage him too much..

He wont have much of a car left, Tell your buddy if he wants
to weld and bend pipes, I hear Ornamental Iron is in demand at
garage sales and flea markets

 

Uh huh. You will own the slowest car around if you do this.

 

Top fuel dragsters have headers like this because they flow the BEST. They have the lowest amount of resistance, and have the shortest tuned length (top fuel cars are PERFECTLY tuned to their powerband). It would shift his powerband up a LOT. Probably too much to be useful, but would theoretically flow the best for his motor.

In practice however on a 3.1 camaro, it will sound like crap, look like crap, be hard as hell to do, not worth the effort, shift the powerband too far up and be plain ridiculous.

Hell, installing regular headers on a 3.1 is ridiculous.

 

just fyi, top fuel dragsters are making 8000+hp....bringing their primaries to a common collector would hurt scavenging in a motor of that magnitude. their primaries are like 2 3/4" in diameter. there is a little more science in it than just what sounds the coolest.

 

Hmm.. Well i am grateful for you guys are putting your 2 cents in and im thankfull for guys who know what their talking about. i think i will get the 4.3L if it is the same degree as my 3.1L (so it wont be a big pain to convert). If you guys have any more words of advice plz send it. Thx

 

The 3.1 is a 60 degree V6. The 4.3L is a 90 degree V6 (pretty much a small block V8 with 2 cylinders chopped off). It would be about as much work to do a V8 swap.

 

Yeah man, if you're really looking to swap that engine, grab a 5.7L and call it a day

 

the 4.3 is a boat anchor, just like the 3.8/3800.

Believe it or not, but you could make that 3.1 pretty fast with a 3400SFI top end and a few PSI of boost... there are a few people scratching at the 11.99 mark with bone stock 3400's with 6-8PSI.

Of course, sticking in a 350 would yeild more N/A power for less work...

It's hard to say, i have both and i'm pretty sure my little V6 cavalier would give my T/A a run for it's money

as for the headers, don't go 6 tubes...you'll kill the power band, a gen2 V6 falls on it's face after 4500 RPM anyways... make a set of equal length long tubes, about 30" or so out of 1.5" stainless, bring the pipe diameter down to 2", then Y it to 2.5" single, high flow cat and then a muffler of your choice.

I've got about $200 in materials invested in a set of V6 headers... pretty easy to make if you've done it a few times

 

I resent that remark!!

Me and Buddy took a 1987 S-10 Blazer, 2 door ..
Modded the hell out of it, and lemme tell ya, its was cute!!

Its the "3/4 of a 350" like apeiron said, It was
a magazine article that inspired us to build
up the 4.3L V6. I believe HOTROD magazine covered
Chevy's 4.3L build up .. They squeezed alil over
300HP outta a 4.3L with mods the same as any
SBC 350.

It was the same HOTROD issue that Nick Fusco
guy with that 1989 Formula L98 was running 10's
on a stock short block with spray.. Which I thought
was a great article at the time !!!

Any way, If your looking to be different, And want
to represent a V6, Id say the 4.3L is a good canidate.
But, like I said and the other guys said above .. the
best investment would to go with a Small Block 350
and build from there, because you still have
the fabrication to deal with because of the
different mounting locations ..

I dont think it would be to hard to convert from
a 60-degree engine set-up to a traditional 90-degree motor..

But it all depends on skill, time and most important
the availibility of a suitable working enviroment

My only other thought was the TT/A's 3.8L turbo

 

also a 90* v6. but HELL YES! that would be a kick *** swap. i looked into it once, i budgeted it out and ended up with a little over 10K to get the engine in a car i allready had, but i was also going to put a T56 behind it (bellhousing adapter does exist) and do some other things as well. it could be done for less... it ended up being FAR cheaper just to buy a TTA in decent shape and build it up a bit. though i never realy got to it...

 

ok. thanks for the info guys just one more thing. What would consist in changing a 60 degree engine to a 90 degree enigine. thanks guys

 

everything for a v8, without two cylinders.

 

Just 300 HP ?

the 4.3 is a decent engine for trucks because it makes alot of torque but still, the 60 degree V6 is a true original V6 design, they'll make more power and have a way better RPM range than any 90 degree V6. Hence why GM is pushing the 60 degree V6's into all it's cars now (3100/3400/3500/3900) and i'm pretty sure they completely dropped the 3.8 from production.

With a simple regrind on my cam and a little more port work i could get 300 HP at the crank out of my 3.4.


I still agree, a V8 swap is the most bang for the buck. In a heavy car like a 3rd gen you need all the TQ and HP you can get.

Just find an old 4 bolt main truck 350, slap in a decent cam, vortec heads, headers, single plane intake and a 600-650 carb. Quick and easy 350+ HP

 

Well, Its obviously not going to be a enjoyable picnic
if you are a novice mechanic .. It would be a very taxing
job for some one who doesnt know quite what to do.

Im not sayin it cant be done, but you have to take
some things into consideration ..

Youll need a fully furnished SBC 350+ or better, and a suitable
transmission to help power the car, Depending on the route you
go (Carb or F.I.) ... It could be a very simple engine swap, OR a
6-month marathon just trying to install wiring harness' for a
TPI/LT/LS motor into a your V6 bird ...

I bet there are a ton of guys in the Engine Swap forum
that have completed a project of this magnitude..
I bet they know all the up's & down's of doing this project,
along with the material you will need to do it !!

Alot guys just say "screw it" and they go purchase
a L98 IROC or T/A .. most of the work is done and you
dont have to make up any lost ground by dicking around
with that 3.1L V6.

The main thing to consider IS ...

By the time you successfully converted your
V6 car into a V8 F-body .. you could have already
bought a LB9/L98 IROC or T/A for under 4K

Again tho, youll miss all the fun and enjoyment of
doing the engine swap

Im not tryin to shoot down every one of your ideas,
But I was once like you .. Untill these guys on the forum
straighten'd me out real quik !!