im thinkin about putting in a crane cam in my 3.1. but i'll be honest i never changed a cam shaft before in my life should i have a profesional do it or try to atempt it by myself. oh yea and i wanna put in new lifters and rocker arms too.

 

What kind of work have you done on your car or others in the past? It can be very rewarding if it turns out and saves $$$ but a real PITA if it doesn't work.

 

PITA?

 

oh yeah, now i remember what question i had... What Cams fit into our 3.1? i want a crucial exhaust lift so i get that loud *** old camaro sound to my car, saying to all that they shouldnt even mess with me. can you list the Camshafts that we can put into our motors? if so, thanx a bunch

 

do a search on different web pages or even on this board.. ive listed a few different cams for the 2.8/3.1/3.4 in the past (in a table that included lift/duraion/price)..

-edit- i did a search and found the thread..
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...&highlight=cam


-mike (loomdog)

 

pain in the ***.

Well get whatever cam you think would be best. you should do a search on these boards as there are tons of info availble on the cams.

As far as installing, if you wait, and get use to doing more things yourself on your car such as tune-ups and minor repairs you can build your mechanical skills up till you feel comfortable with changing the cam yourself.

Otherwise I would say have it installed professionally which is going to hurt the wallet.

 

IF it runs good now, swap in new timing chain and rebuild the distributor & add new hi po coil, along with fresh distributor electronic internals.
Next fix the exhaust (if not done yet) for a small investment, too (about $200 I'll bet can be done)
Drive it. Realize you've saved about $1500 and you're ride is full of pep again. Drive the current engne into the ground and go find a 3.4 to swap in.

Latest Ebay score to door for a 71K mile 3.4 is $910!
LOWEST PRICE IS $210 for complete 3.4 engine
Average is $500
I've paid $800 & $900 for my 2.
Do the quick good stuff to your good engine now, enjoy the savings, drive it till it dies, upgrade drive train or buy newer car.

New cam right now is throwing money down the drain. Alot of $$$$ & a very big drain to fill up.

You can do alot of GOOD to your car for alot less than $$$ for cam & such.
Especially someone elses labor, too.

 

well i have done tune ups before and i even replaced the exhaust on my car before with the help of my dad. evrything i do to my car my dad helps me with but he has never changed a cam before either. so i think i might just do a few performance upgrades like exhaust and CAI.then drive it like that for a while then put a new cam in

 

I spoke to a GM sales rep at a NHRA Vintage Drag race recently in Famosa, CA

He confirmed what I did is really Correct
Once these little 60* engines age/go/break, throw them away & replace them.
WHEN NEW ON MARKET, sure parts were made.
When were the 60* engine introduced?
Dark Fuel Crisis (BS!!) days & dark emission pre? stuff of 1979 for 1980 model year.
OF COURSE THEY MADE PERFORMANCE PARTS FOR THEM, then.
The 60* cars were dogs!

The 3.4 is the pinnacle of the 60* design, all the good stuff in one package.
The 3.4 mill LONG BLOCK is the best of the GM approved designed best!
Go get the GM Performance Parts Book to read why
ANY GM DEALER
MeASLY $6!

PS The days of swapping cams & such on the dinosaurs of V-8s is gone unless you own that specific car.
New cars of the 80's & 90's ya tend to just replace whole engine as the power upgrade solution, unless that specific car is "special" AND VALUABLE!

IF ya do otherwise, it costs tons of money & personal labor & longevity of downtime.
Others may/will dispute, but until ya start that cam swap project with an engine in car, ya don't know the bottom line & ya dreaming!
I priced out my "Engine rebuild" compared to complete engine swap.
Guess what was cheaper & quicker & MORE POWERFUL!
Low milage used running engine long blocks that swap "like gloves" (details ya know!)!

PSS Have you added the cost of cam swap, add in the head spring package that needs to be done, too!
And ya don't do that project ot wimpy 2.8/3.1 heads.
Read the GM Perf Book to find out why.

 

You guys wanna know what's cool? I can get any of like 4 3.4's pulled for me, at the local boneyard for $375.

Tempting... but... meh, I dunno. I'm picking up a 3.1 + t5 in 3 weeks for $200.

 

PASS THE PHONE NUMBER FOR OTHERS TO TRY TO SCORE THOSE MILLS!
Grab the matched engine & tranny then sell the 3.1 then grab & swap in the 3.4!
Simple
Power and spare change for the parts for the swap. PS same amount of "parts money ya using" to swap the 3.1 in your hood, I'll bet.

In the Immortal Words of Tim Allen
"MORE POWER!"

 

I might. I still haven't decided... the 3.4 swap is powerful, but it seems to... done by everyone. I mean, say I whip up a turbo 3.1 (anyone know that yeah, they do exist?) it'll bolt right to a 3.4, if I decide to go that route.

Course, I could just get them for $375, clean them, and sell them for $600 apiece, + shipping

 

You know why I keep suggesting that 3.4 swap.

It's a great inexpensive simple solution to life daily problems.
Oh, sorry, that's copy for an infomercial!

I'd rather see anyone spend their effort on a better solution that's easily available to so many. That's one reason why I offer so many ideas for your own 2.8->3.4 swap boogie! Because ANYONE HERE CAN ACCOMPLISH this swap with simple battle plans, spare time & common tools.
DON'T expect this swap to occur in one weekend, tho!

PS grab those 3.4 blocks while ya can, They are starting to hit the yards, now, but, in what current shape?
The better the 3.4 engine (lower milage) now, more smiles, quicker back onto the road... for a longer time, until the 3.4 mill needs rebuild or for you to sell the F Body car...

 

i think i would like to do that 3.4 swap one day but for now i think i'll just run my 3.1 untill i have the time and money.

 

THAT'S THE BEST SOLUTION
Drive your engine into the ground then do the swap.
BEST PART
What ever ya fix in the in between that moment (when ya decide to swap), will simply swap over to the 3.4 mill.
It's a wonderful have your cake & eat it too situation.
For the swap ya only need a complete engine gasket set, new timing chain/water pump/balancer snout sleeve. That's it
Anything else ya get is because of age/wear/hop ups.
Really, it's a very simple YET DETAILED swap.
No lies.