hey fellas, first post here!!!

ok here's the deal, my aunt just gave me her car, a 1990 pontiac firebird, ttops. she said it has a 3.8L V6, i didnt know they made a 3.8 first of all, second of all, i know absolutly dick about this car, i'm a honda guy actually, but i love the rumble of domestic so i decided to switch. any help here would be greatly appreciated, also, if u had any specs on the 3.8 that would help alot

 

First of all, welcome to the boards, and welcome to the fun of owning an f-body.

Second, your firebird has a 3.1 v6. Your first course of action should be a full tune-up, just to a search for "major tune-up", posted by TomP. After that, well you can get some upgrade ideas by reading people's sigs and doing searches.

 

How many miles does it have? Tom's the tuneup MASTER, so I'd follow his list pretty well.. The 3.1 V6 is a nice motor..I like it anyways.. 140 HP, 180-185 ft lbs of torque. (depending on which source you look at and what year).. If you're just looking for real general engine info too, like what I gave you, look under Tech Data on the main page.. Have fun with the car..modify it if ya like..just PLEASE take care of it. Random info: If you're looking for headers, talk to CHC...he's around the board and has made plenty of posts about the headers ...no company manufactures them but he does..you'll be on a waiting list if you're ready to purchase, but I wouldn't bother him until you are...I'd get peeved if I were him. Also, there is no turbo kit for our cars....gotta get custom stuff.. Annnnddddd....there isn't a specific nitrous kit either but I hear we can use a Foxbody Mustang 5.0 kit without problems. That's just to give you some idea of what you can do if you're looking for big performance. Now that I've talked your ear off.... :P

 

And also, the only 3.8 V6 that was ever put in 3rd generation F-Bodies was in the 1989 TTA (Turbo Trans Am)....I think we all wished we owned one of those...Turbo Intercooled 3.8 V6....if I remember right, this sucker outruns ALL the ThirdGen 350's!

 

ok, well it has between 70K and 80K miles on it, i'm definatly looking to mod the hell out of this car, it's got t-tops so i'm getting some sub frame connectors, i want a straight pipe exhaust also, no muffler. is this advised? ok thanx.

 

No, our v6's need some back pressure. Sounds of it you even need a cat on these cars. In my siggy, I have some of the first and most commen mods done to these cars.

CAI, Cat back muffler system, upgraded ignition, and that MAJOR tune up would/should be first things on your list.

And more then likely you have a 3.1l unless a engine swap has been done, or she was confused and was told she had a 2.8l

Welcome to f-body's, and this board. Attempt to use the search button as much as you can. But questions are always welcome.

:lala:

 

ok, it says that a 2.8 was never made for a 1990, does our car have the posi traction? i hope so, i dont want to be a one wheeler peeler. what does it mean to say that the engine is a 60*. i wish i knew about domestics. what kind of CAI?

 

well, if the rear end is stock in your car you will be equipped with a one wheel wonder on the back. I bleieve the gear is a 3.07 or so also, not to sure, but you can do a check here on the website. I believe there's a littel place that has technical data. a 60* is a 60 degree v6. That means that there is a 60 degrees of seperation between the two banks of cylinders, a 90* v8 or v6 would have a 90* split between the two bank, so they'd be a right angle, we'd be an acute one. As far as the backpressure, i'm not sure. I've read articles that talked about built 2.8L's in fieros that were done by GM for racing purposes, and they did not carry mufflers on the car, but according to GM the cars were way to loud for any street use. So, do what you want, and try some different things outif u have straight pipes, then think it's pullingless, put on a flowmaster or dynomax (flows are louder). Most of the CAI's you'll find are home built units, although there is one forslae from GM i believe that fits the 1990+ year firebirds. A couple peole on the boards have it, it gives a very factorylook to the entire thing, but, costs an arm and a leg. best bet, go to Home Depot, and buy some PVC tubing, then put a K&N on the end of it. You're biggest gains are going to be made internally, change the camshafts up, change the timing chain to a double roller, deck the heads to boost compression, have a 3 angle valve job done while ur at it. Port, polish, and gasket match the intake, talk to camaro hunter c about having some headers made for your car, along with an aftermarket Y-pipe which can be done at any muffler shop. Throw all that one and together, and you'll have a very scooting v6 firebird. best of luck, and welcoem to the boards.

 

several questions:

1. What is the Y-Pipe for? (pictures will be a great help, i just like to see what things look like)

2. deck the heads? is that english? lol

3. where can i get a cam shaft?

4. PVC piping melts under light heat, what would be the point of having it under our high heat hood? wouldnt it be better to do aluminum, or steel? mandrel bent of course

5. where can i find a posi trac rearend?

6. how much will all of this **** cost???

 

1. The Y-Pipe is a part of your exhaust. Someones gonna correct me but I think it's to connect the exhaust manifold to the catalytic converter.

2. Port up the heads he means, get some more power from those stock things! Port and MILDLY polish intake side, port and polish the f*ck outta the exhaust side.

3. Summitracing.com - pick yourself up a free catalogue (its gonna have all V8 stuff - but you can call them and they do have all the V6 equivalents)

4. PVC piping will not melt underneath the hood - trust us =)
And if youre still hesitant, you can make the cold air intake outta flexible dryer ducting - this stuff is universally 4" wide! So it will pull as much air as it can get.

5. Once again Summitracing will have this. And I believe the V6's had 2.73s to answer someone who made a guess. (?)

6. Quite a bit =D but before you do ANYTHING and i mean ANYTHING do that friggen tune-up everyone mentioned. You will not see the right gains from aftermarket/mod work when the car is in a poor state of tune! Not to assume the worst, but I'm willing to bet your aunt did the very basic maintainance at the most...

 

well she did say that she knows nothing about the car, but... her husband, scott, said that a new ECU was put in not to long ago. how much will a tune up cost and what all is included??

 

If your car is an auto its a 3.42 rear end and
if its a stick its a 3.23. All v6s where non posi.

On a side note I was playing with some numbers today and found out that the 2.8L made more HP
per cubic inch than the 350s. But the torque
closly resembled the two engines displacements.

 

Not to sound stuck up, but I'm pretty sure the figures are the reverse...the autos got 3.23's and the sticks got 3.42.. I hope to *** my auto isn't a 3.42..because if it is..I'm extremely disappointed in its performance! And I WISH I had POSI...I don't even think the Z's got POSI except as an option. And the PVC will DEFINITELY not melt...that stuff's strong as crap, and have you seen how thick it is? Whewee. Also, the intake stuff doesn't get much heat because it sits above the fan...stays quite cool actually. ECU...Electronic Command Unit, something of that nature I think.... I'm pretty sure it's a major part of the car's computer system. Someone must have ROYALLY f---ed something up for them to need to replace the ECU........

 

Assuming the ECu is the ECM, trust me, they can just go on you. When I had my 87 Grand Am, I went out to start it one morning. Went back in the house, and when I came out it had stalled out. It was fine the night before. Could restart it, but couldn't keep it running. So that afternoon my father and I are trying to fix it. At one point he notices that when I turn the key to run, the gas is just POURING in. The car is just flooding itself. A few tests conclude bad ECM. Replace it, change the oil, problem solved.

 

My '88 Camaro 2.8 has a 3.42 rear, stock. Non posi, of course. That shall be changed eventually, when I think I'm spinning too badly without it

 

which tire exactly is it that spins? left rear or right rear?

 

right rear spins.

 

what comes stock in the 3.1L 1990 f-bird?

 

If you're talking about rear ends, auto should have a 3.23 non-posi...sticks are 3.42 non-posi.

 

My bad I had the figures fliped floped. I was
thinking the auto was a 3.42 because my 89
is a 3.42.

 

Hey Adidas....I recently emailed JetChips to find out if my chip will work on a 1990 and 1991 V6 Automatic car as well. If so, I'll make you a decent deal on my Stage 2 Chip if you want it. Kinda low on cash recently and am in the process of trying to buy a convertible anyways, so I really don't need it anymore. It did work very well on my car though. Retails still at $209.95 (what I paid for it) I believe, but they sell in Summit, IIRC for $149.00


To anyone else interested, PM me with offers. I'm still waiting on Jet to mail me back. The part numbers from 90-91 for the chips all had the same ending, just a 0,1,or 2 for the year were different, and considering they're all the same electronics and engine, then I'd assume the chip would be the same.