My friend's engine is about to go over the edge. Were thinking about rebuilding it (me and my friends who have a decent amount of automotive knowledge). The problem is we've never rebuilt an engine before and this would be our first time. Were not too worried about messing up the engine because its about to go anyways. Ive ripped an engine apart before and im familiar with the insides and all the parts. Is there some book that will teach me the ways of engine reubuilding? Also, were thinking of getting some power outta this v6, so what do you guys think about 10:1 compression, will he be able to run NOS on this setup or should we lower the compression. What kind of rods, and what about the crank? What about all the tools for this kind of job. We don't have alot of the misc tools, such as the micrometers and such. What do you guys think?

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Wellp, I'm no expert on this, but I do know you'll *need* alot of the misc tools.. That's really not a place to skimp out in a rebuild. As far as the crank I'm pretty sure you can stroke it to a 3.1 by just grabbing the new/used 3.1 crank/rods/pistons (someone correct me if I'm wrong here).. comp cams makes a good cam for the 2.8 mpfi... port the heads and intake.. usual stuff.

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'86 Camaro SC, black /w silver racing stripes
MSD coil, Accel 8mm wires, SplitFire plugs, Gabriel hijackers

 

You can use a 3.1 or 3.4 crank (same part) to increase the 2.8 to 3.1 displacement.

-Patrick

 

were gonna go ahead with the rebuild, i believe were just gonna order a stock kit from some place on the net and use that. Any tips you guys have to offer before we do this?

 

Whenever I rebuilt my 2.8 I got my kit from Northern Auto Parts. I purchased their master rebuild kit for $259.95 it was a complete kit. If you have any questions send me an e-mail and I can tell you what all the kit contained etc.

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"5 out of 4 people have a problem with fractions"

My Camaro: http://home.earthlink.net/~singleton052095

 

I rebuilt the 2.8 in my 89 last Feb.We bored the engine .030.It help boost the HP but not much.Buy a good cam for it and some other odds and ends and you will be happy with it.I remember seeing some books for a 60 degree engine build but I'm not sure where I seen them.
Come to think about it....I think Tom P was talking about those books.
Hey Tom....oh Tom...where are you????????
Where is he when we need him!

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http://www.camaroforum.com/ http://nethirdgen.org/ http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/tristatecamaro

[This message has been edited by Kevin S (edited January 09, 2001).]

 

Heh, TomP is stopping in now and then

There's a book "Rebuilding your GM V6 60-degree block" by Tom Currao. Look for it now, because it's out of print, and hard to find! I nabbed mine from http://www.barnesandnoble.com a few months ago.

You don't "really" need special tools. If you have a machine shop do everything -except- final assembly, you don't need any tools. This means the machine shop would do the usual prep work to the block, rods, & crankshaft. Next, they'd also measure/fit/select crankshaft bearings, pistons, and piston rings. Finally, you'd just put the block together.

Specialized tools will allow you to measure for yourself which piston goes into which bore, and which ring sizes you need, and which bearings you need.

The combination of tools you'll need for measuring "inside" diameters is a set of telescoping "snap" gauges, and a set of micrometers. To measure "outside" diameters, such as journal sizes or piston sizes, you'd just use the micrometers. I was recently told on the tech board that my dial calipers will also work for measuring outside surfaces, but I need to take more measurements to make sure of accuracy.

Besides that, you need a torque wrench.

For Xmas I got a Mitutoyo dial indicator, Precise AGD dial stand, and Precise dial calipers (metric & standard) from my girlfriend. All I need to do is hunt down some large calipers and snap gauges, and I'll be set with my rebuild tools.

10.1 compression will probably kill your computer. Stock compression for a 2.8 is 8.9:1. You can probably go up a few points with shaved heads, check with the machine shop on it.

Rebuild kits with forged pistons are available, but for $300 more. If nitrous use will be extensive, you might want to spring for the forged units. When I do my rebuild, I'll use cast pistons- mainly because my original equipment cast pistons have lasted so damn long, I have faith in 'em. Also, the most major cause of nitrous (NOS is a maker of nitrous oxide systems by the way) damage is when an engine runs low on fuel pressure- that's what burns pistons. If you make sure your pump can handle higher pressure, you probably won't melt through a piston.

Rods can probably be re-used, have them checked for cracks (magnafluxed). Crank should be able to be re-used, also. http://www.northernautoparts.com sells I think a 2.8 crank (rebuilt) for $40 if your crank is screwed up- and yes you need to mail them your old one for a $150 core charge.

Any rebuilding book should be able to help you with the V6; there's not much specific to the V6 (if any)!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

While we're on the subject of rebuilding engines, I am about to gather the stuff togetther to re build my engine (2.8). I checked out CompCams Website and Came across a cam for my engine PN 16-233-4 can anyone tell me if this is a good cam to go with?

BTW, someone had the idea that a FAQ on rebuilding the V6 would be a good idea, & I'd like to second the idea.... there's plenty of knowledgeable people on this board that must be SICk of repeating themselves every 3 or 4 days!!!

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Black 87 Camaro T-Top, V6, 5-speed, PW,PDL,PM,Tilt, Cruise, Air. Lots of little things I didn't realize were options
see my car at: http://www.geocities.com/iCamaro1987/camaro.html