I have absolutely no idea where to start I'm new to these cars and don't know to much about them. I was debating oon wether or not mod my 3.1 or swap it with a LS1. I was wondering price and procedure and which route would be the best. MOD or SWAP?

 

It all depends on what you want. the 3.1 has 145HP stock with 180 ft lbs, an LS1 has more than 300 of both.
modding the 3.1 will be cheap, easy to do, and when your done you'll have a quick V6, but it wont be a V8, without a turbo. swapping an LS1 will be very expensive, time consuming, and not a project for someone who's never swapped an engine. But when your done you'll have a drag worthy car.

 

as he said depends on what you want and how much your willing to pay for it, if you want quick cheap power(even though its not real cheap) go LS1

if you want to be diffrent and spend some good coin, you can build a killer v6 thats diffrent from most things in your area

id say swaping an ls1 and building a turbo v6 are probably on the same difficulty level

 

I disagree, not that hard to mod a 60/6 when you compare swapping in a v8 that was never made for these cars, you have to change springs, transmission, mounts, ECMs, all kinds of things, its a big project and not for the feint hearted.

That being said, it depends on what the power goals are, an ls1 with headers, cam, porting, true dual exhaust and a good intake, and some other boltons will probably put down 400 hp and tq with relative ease, you're 3.1 won't hit that without a turbo, you might get mid-upper 200s, just slightly above 300 if you were to build the hell out of it N/A. But if you were to say, swap in a 3.4, throw some dished(more) pistons in it to lower CR and bolt on a 3500 top end, you could get 400 hp N/A with that kind of a setup.

It all comes down to what you want, personally, I have a decent chunk of cash into my 2.8 and am swapping for a 3.4 because I found out after I built/rebuilt the damn thing that it had a crack(I didn't pull the block and it was in an easy spot to miss.) After the block swap I will probably have at least 250 hp and 280 tq, with headers, cam, catback, K&N TPI intake and porting. For now, I'm building off of what I have, its easier, and cheaper.

Long term I'm going to build myself a 600+ hp ls3 twin turbo beast that will destroy just about anything on the road. But for now, it's well above my means, so I'm working with what I have.

If you do all the work yourself, an ls1 swap will cost probably at least 1.5 grand if you find a cheap engine and transmission.
To build your 3.1, for under a grand you can get it to be faster than any stock 3rd gen was...cept that turbocharged bird

 

thank you guys im feeling the vibe to go ahead and mod the 3.1. But what mods can i do to get 300hp out of it! that would be crazy. and would it be easier to just swap to a 3.4 then mod that. Also wouldn't putting on turbo on my 3.1 with 104,xxx miles on it possibly blow it up?

 

For a 3.1 to get 300 n/a you would need to build a hybrid, with a good sized cam.
And yes, a 3.4 block swap would be easier, though once again, it will take a fairly large cam to hit 300 n/a with it, or at least for hp, 300 tq should be easy with a 3.4 as they have 200 tq stock.
Turbos don't blow engines up, bad tunes do. If you build it right it won't hurt it at all.

 

Ever hear 'Good; Fast; Cheap; pick two!'? It is an old hot rod saying but it is never more true than in this case. I have a 3.1 that has a little work done to it, but it is not quick by any means, although it handles like it is on rails. Just slow rails...
An LSX engine would be ideal, since they are only SLIGHTLY heavier (about 30 lbs I have been told) than the iron V6, so handling shouldn't suffer.

However, you will need a donor car to make it happen, realistically. You will need: the engine, the trans(grab the aluminum driveshaft while you are at it), a posi rear WITH discs, the ECM and wiring harness, a new gauge cluster, the sending unit(and probably the tank), headers and the O2 sensors. Did I miss anything?
Lot of work, but not un-doable, and should make for a real sleeper. As they say, it is easier to make a 3rd gen fast than a 4th gen pretty! You should get better gas milage too, by the way!

 

Alright guys I appreciate the advice very much. You've helped me to reach my decision. I now have a basic idea of the route im going to take

 

You missed springs, v8 cars have higher spring rates for the added weight, though an lsx might get away without. But should also be noted the full engine is needed also, ie. accessories and such, a new exhaust also.

 

You could do what PurpleTA is doing and swapping a complete 3500 V6 into his Camaro. From what he has done its not that hard.

 

im getting the 3.4 vibe. my buddy made the comment of a 3.8 or 4.3 swap but it seems a little hard to do.especially the 4.3. which one should i shoot for?

 

A 4.3 is basically a small block Chevy with 2 cylinders lopped off. If you wanted to go that route, just swap an LT1 or LSX in. From what Purple82TA has done so far, a 3500 will slide right in there with minimal trouble. With those engines, 300HP is not too far away, especially with a turbo. The 3.8 is a 90* V6 which is different than the 60* for obvious reasons. If you want drop in and plug and play, the 3.4 from the mid 90's F-bodies will work for you. Throw on some 3400 or 3500 heads and intake with a good cam, and you got an easy 245 HP or so. If you dont want to go through the hassle of changing pistons for the 3400/3500 top end swap, then just get a 3.4, swap over your old intake and exhaust manifolds, remove the oil pump gear drive and put in your distributor, and dont forget to put that fan switch in the back of the passenger side head. There is a plug you have to knock out to install it. But other than that, the 3.4 directly replaces the 2.8/3.1 engines.

 

no fan switch for the 3.1s