Hi, been reading your threads for a while now and decided to join tonight, i'm 15 and am about to purchase the above car for around $800, needs a starter but thats a small thing in my opinion. I am wondering what you all think of me rebuilding this engine with race spec parts, more as a learning experiance than anything. I have around $7,600 to play with that i've earned so i can get some good stuff. And the only engine i would wamt to swap would be a 3.4 because i don't want to deal with computer changes. Now i already plan on adding a K&N cold air intake and possibly some better headers and exhaust system, what else can i do to improve this wimpy engine? Thanks in advance all

 

And if i have to take the intale manifold off for the gasket fix, i'm going to end up replacing the manifold with a bigger one, any suggestions as to what might fit? I have acces to a machine shop and i have relatives that have experiance with all kinds of crazy projects, but unfortunately todays cars are far more complex than the omes of the good old days

 

3.4 swap port the heads and intake delta 260 grind cam, get a set of pacesetter 2.8 headers and ypipe then buy a good catback this will get u around 200rwhp and 240rwftlbs

u will need to have a custom chip burned for the ecm though
stock 3.4 will put down around 140rwhp and 185rwftlbs threw a 5 speed about 15 hp less with an automatic

 

See i really don't want to put a 3.4 in, i just don't think the car is worth that, and i know absolutely nothing about chips so i would have to find somone to have do that. Also it is unfortunately an automatic, and i really don't wan't to have the headache of putting in a 5 speed. I just don't think the car is worth putting this kind o money into ya know? I can't really afford a 4th gen i don't think and i don't like the body style at all

 

Wha turbo did you use for your '89 3.1 anyway? I've been looking like crazy for one and have had a load of trouble finding anything. Most of what i've found was grand am/grand prix turbo stuff

 

If i were to get a 3.4, what could it come out of and what year could the engine be? I've been thinking about this more and this sounds like it might be fun to do really. I have a friend with an '05 ford SVT hot hatch and i want to be able to compete with that thing on a track at least, and i know he paid like $9000 for that thing, so honestly now that i have weighed my options i wouldn't mind doing this, building half the car the way i want it really makes the car mine. All i care about is performance, for all i care this thing could be 7 different colors as long as it held together when i needed it to haha

 

its all custom handbuilt turbo setup, if u can weld u can get a turbo on ur car for about 800$'s that dosent include swaping the engine though,so if u wanted to swap ibn a 3.4 there would be that additional cost.

if u look in the v6 section there is my turbo thread , pilsburys turbo thread, and fasteddis turbo thread.

if look at mine or fast eddis turbo thread they are pretty step by step and include links and price lists to all the parts.

as far as burning a choip there are a few member sin the v6 section that im sure would be willing to help u out with that part.

fasteddi has a 3.1 with just ported heads and a delta 260 cam, with a very cheap turbo system he has run very low 13's 13.03 iirc, he recently just redid his setup and the car should now run low 12's, so if the motor in the car is in good condition u can use it as is.

i would also contact fasteddi if u seriously want to go turbo, as he just removed his original turbo system and may be willing to sell it, but u would have to ask him

 

Yeah, all my relatives can weld pretty well. I'm not sure if i will or not, i've seen his videos of his times and its pretty impressive. Is there a reason why i shouldn't get the delta 272 cam or is the 260 just better all around? I would rather build my own system really, but thank you for the info

 

the 272 is more of a upper rpm cam, the 260 is more mid range to upper rpm. so the 260 is a better all around grind for the street.

the 272 will make more max power but without other supporting mods like taller gears and tq converter it would be slower on the street

if u can want to weld up a kit urself just look at mine and fast ddis thread we have the links to the right turbos wastegates and all that

 

Thats what i thought. And thank you, i'm going to look into this more. I didn't realize that you had to tell insurance people about EVERY LITTLE modification you do. Thats not going to set well with my mother i'm afraid. She wants me to learn this stuff though

 

the only thing u have to tell ur insurance company is that its a 91 v6 rs camaro u have to in no way inform them of any engine mods. if they insist u do its time for a new insurance company

 

Really? I didn't know that. Cool . Ever owned a 3rd gen firebird v6? I'm wondering how reliable they are as well

 

never a firebird v6, im not really a firebird fan but the 2 i have owned were 305 cars.

its the same thing as a camaro v6 and they are pretty dam reliably if u take care of them, on the v6 engine there are a few things that commonly break now that the cars are older, but they arent expsensive or hard to repair.

top 3 thinks i can think of

#1 heater control valve breaks ( free to bypass 20bucks or so to fix)
#2 heater hose fitting on the front of the intake (7$ fix)
#3 fuel injectors go bad ( 50-125$ depending on the route u take i.e get new injectors or junkyard injectors)

 

I think i would add this too, correct?:intake manifold gasket, maybe around $28? If the injecters go bad i would want to put bigger ones in....is this a bad idea? My idea is anything that goes bad don't just replace with OEM, replace with upgraded parts

 

intake gaskets usually arent a problem on the rwd 2.8/3.1/3.4 engines but if they do go they are cheap to replace 20-30 bucks, alot of guys switch to the new style ford injectors . they have a much nicer spray pattern and u get more mpg and a lil more power from them.

southbay fuel injection who is a sponsor here sells them

 

So if i had a fiero, gotcha. I'll look into those! I'm trying for maximum mpg while still having power

 

In the aftermarket parts section i can't seem to find any aftermarket intake manifolds that give better flow....any suggestions?

 

there are no aftermarket intake manifolds for the fuel injected 2.8/3.1/3.4 motors
if u mean the cold air intakes the best one is the inatke off the tpi cars with the dual air filters

 

Ok, that explains why i couldn't find any. No i was just gonna throw a simple K&N cone on with the chromed pipe from advanced auto, or use 3'' PVC pipe or whatever size the inside diameter is. My cousin says that it was originally a 350, then the first owner blew that engine and put in a 3.1. He called it a "high output", have you ever heard of anything like that? I tried to search but couldn't find anything at all about it

 

Any idea of a part # for those? I'm not very savvy about finding parts for these ars as i'm inexperianced and don't know what will fit what

 

we carry the bosch gen ll's. They have a 4 spray pattern.
The part number is 0280155941.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us

 

Thank you very much!!!!