Opps its upside down. Stupid phones.

Rob i wasn't tired of the 12 as I only made 5 passes total in the 12's. I still cant believe how fast the 1.70 60ft time felt.



I just thought that its a good time for me to do the hybid build and take advantage of the better heads and intakes. I think this is a good learning experience for me. Hopefully it turns out ok when I get it done. I know im still a beginner but that feeling when I went that first 12 second pass...well it was so fun and enjoyable. Knowing that I did the work myself, granted many ppl on here helped me out more then I could have ever hoped. You, dave, joe, chris...exc.



I have alot of things to do and to be honest its overwhelming but im just trying to do bits at a time and seperate the things that need done.

 

could always do a full 3500 swap and go right into the 10's...

or 3900 and go deep 10's.

 

I know. I though about it but i think that's a tad over my head right now. Believe me I would like 10s. A few things that kept me from doing that is that I had a whole 2002 impala in my garage, and i don't wana cage my camaro.
But you car is definitely a inspiration for me to keep building these V6's

 

You'll need to get LS1 spring seats and use Gen 2 valve seals... but even then there is a good chance you'll break them.

This is where you'll have to get them checked at a shop. I've seen too many different posted specs on the net. They didn't coil bind on the .510 lift cam that we put in my buddies 3400 but it did break 2 springs.

 

well hearing all of the stuff ive heard. Im just going to move away from the ls6 springs. I thought i could save cash there for new springs and use it in other places, but i dont want bad springs or ones that can be questionable.

 

Block is bare and ready to be taken to the shop. Finally making some progress.

Hopefully the way I stored the engine block is ok. I left it oiled up, wrapped it with a garbage bag and lugged it into a storage freezer that I keep welding rods in, no its not a working freezer, its just a storage place to keep the mositure out. I need to store it for about 3 weeks till I take it to the shop.

Once I have all the parts and the block back im assembling it at my moms poll barn. Concrete, insulated, and very clean. I couldnt imagine assembling it in such a dusty enviroment such as my garage that has a stone floor..lol The bearning would be screwed...

 

Considering it was a slight blizzard today and I didnt work I worked on the heads some more.

I gasket matched them and worked the exhuast port more then anything as it wasent as bad as the gen 1 iron heads but it was close... I still want to clean them up more and polish the chambers/ exhaust ports like mirrors, just a little update.

 

Now you're going the route I started to go a few years back. I have most of the parts just haven't come up with enough time or money to continue with it. Looks good, though!

 

Did you get to the dis conversion yet? I haven't decided if I should just notch the balancer or not yet. This project won't be done for a bit ye as the cost of this is more then I can handle in a short amount of time... But I'm in no hurry as long as it's done right.

 

I wasn't planning to go dis. But, I might. I was way more stubborn back then and didn't want to ditch the distributor. Now I look at options more and think that dis is probably a better option.

 

Yea I feel DIS is better just because I dont want to hack up that 3400 intake because there is no way the dizzy is fitting on there as is. So I figure why not go DIS. It seems that it has less modifications to make it work and in the long run its just a better overall ignition system.

 

Tin based babbit(B100) or Al-3 based cam bearings? Thoughts?

Taking the block to the shop next weekend finally. Took awhile to save up some funds after christmas....

 

Finally Got the engine back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will have pics later on in the week. Im pretty excited that its finally back in the garage. Plan to assemble it possibly this weekend at least the short-block.

Also restarted making headers a little bit ago with the correct D port flanges and am reusing as much of the old pipe as possible so i will have even more welding to do. But here is the first header fit up. Need to still finish the welds on the rear tube then work my way forward tacking the next tubes in line to the flange.

One question as i had fought it before to get the collector sealed up is, what is the best method to weld up the tubes into the collector? Weld the tubes together first then weld it to the collector? There is constantly a gap between the tubes and I hate filling gaps unless I have to. Thanks!

Hopefully I will have either the damper knotched or the pulley this weekend also for the crank sensor. The more I learn about the way a Hall effect sensor works, the more easy it is to understand my DIS set up.

 

Once you cut the collector it should be short enough for you to put the welding tip down in there. Put the pimaries in, weld around the outside first then weld the inside along each primary. If you want it that long you can strap them together, weld the primaries (up to the collector wall) then slip them in just enough that once you weld around the outside your primary welds will match your outside welds so it seals.

 

What I did was made sure my collector would fit on all three pipes then cut all the primaries the same length at the same time. Looking down the pipes, they will form a 3 pointed star of empty space that you will need fill in with a weld. Run a bead on the end of the pipe where the pipes meet. I also welded on the outside of the pipes where they meet together in order to add more metal to weld the collector to. Then I welded the collector on. Hope this make sense.

 

before u weld that up, cut the middle primary tube shorter on the head side so it can lay flat nexto the rear primary . then the front primary tube will go ontop of those 2.

this will eliminate the downward angle u have now

 

Thanks guys. I understand it better now. Ill get to working on the car hopefully saturday again and hopefully get one header done. I really cant make up the drivers side till the engines in the car though.


Ill take some shots of the engine too. Dang thing looks too clean.. hopefully it can stay like that.

 

Here is the passenger header. Sealed up nicely this time thanks to the tips from you guys, I really appreciate it! Will be sure to add some pics of the block tomorrow or the next day. Assembling it this weekend fingers crossed.

Also Ill keep the drama low but there is always 2 sides to a story...nuff said.

 

Looks good. Are you going to route the drivers side like project89? I don't really see any other way.

 

u can do a mid lenght on the driver side and go under the motor with crossover and have it run parallell to the pass side header and merge at the turbo . downpipe then goes above the header and x over pipe and turns down at the firewall

but going up and over like i did is the most direct route and keeps the heat away from the oil pan, and also leaves the most room for a large downpipe , with turbos bigger is always better after the turbine side ( i.e downpipe)

 

Im going for the up and over set up on the drivers side header.


Attatched are some updated pics of the engine so far. Ended up being .030 over.

 

Very clean. Looks good.

 

Thanks. Got a tad bit more done today. Just need to go get a timing cover gasket before I can tighten down the oil pan and timing cover. Got a fresh bung welded on for the oil return. Much easier when the pan is off the engine....

Im the itch to get this puppy going now.

Did my best to measure up some pushrod lengths this afternoon. Came up with this:
Exhaust 6.290" with the victor gasket and .040 preload on the lifter.
Intake 5.945" with the same specs.

These are very close to numbers I have gotten off of another hybrid member. I've seen those numbers used on the push rods a few times though out others builds. I just wanted to get the checker and make sure that I was in the same ballpark give or take .005-.010"

Pic added of the engine earlier today before i started working on pushrod lengths.

 

that header is hanging really low , did u mock it up in the car at all yet?

 

Yea its going to fit up well. Its going to pop out almost where the air pump was join with the x over then go 45 into the turbo where my washer tank and char can was. U have seen pics before when I made my headers last fall... same headers. Just different collectors and flange. The measurements are all the same.

 

Also the engine is tilted there in the latest pic...

 

Im thinking I need to wack some of the timing cover off to make the lower intake sit properly but else then that im just awaiting some pushrods and heads from a member to toss this puppy all the way together and get it in the camaro. Im getting excited. Looks nice when the intake is turned arround and sits properly...lmao

 

Awesome, almost there and looking good!

 

The motor is in. Lots of fabbing to make things work. The throttle cable will be interesting...lol

 

I use a throttle cable from an Oldsmobile intrigue IIRC. It's long enough to loop around to the front of the TB.

 

Looking good Mark, expecting some big numbers from you this year...

 

Interesting build u got going here .. looks like u have plenty room in there with the v6 lol ...

91' firebird .. 305 TBI .030 over , balanced bottom end , speed pro hyper flattops , 10.6:1 CR , all ARP rod bolts and main studs , melling HV oil pump , trick flow super 23 175cc heads, Howards HR 214/218@.050 .488/.495 lift on 114 LSA , full roller 1.6 RR = .520/.528 lift , summit dual plane intake port matched , shorty headers into 2.5" Y w full 3" flow master system and 3" cutout in front of axle , msd billet dizzy, 620cfm TBI , custom CAI , tubular adjustabke LCA pan hard , umi torque arm wonder bar , BMR trans cross member , COMP engineering SFC's, disc rear w 4.10's, drilled an slotted rotors, EBL flash , VRFPR, WBO2,

 

You would be surprised how fast the space fills up. But its much more managable then say a V8 thirdgen.



Tried fitting up a little bit of pipe today to see how I will make the drivers side header and merge pipe. I have a good idea on what to do. And for the downpipe I will be doing a 45 out of the turbo then a 45 to straighten it out. Run it about 20 inches, then a 60 degree down and out of the engine bay with the 02 sensor about 2 1/2 feet total away from the turbo. I plan to run the exhaust the rest of the way back to the rear end following its stock routing for the most part.

The BOV will be close to where its at on one of the pics. The alky will be immediately after the last 90* bend before TB. Right at the edge but the piping will be so that the alky will not accidentally flow down to the IC. The IAT sensor will be about 2 inches from the TB or as close as I can get it.

The intercooler is looking good. I need to get 2 3inch-2 1/2 inch reducer couplings but else then that it is going well. Im going to start fabbing up the down pipe and the drivers side header in the next few free weekends.

The air cleaner i have is about 1/4 too long from fitting on the turbo. Ticked me off but I will make a way for either that one to fit or a different one.


One thing I do need is a radiator that has the inlet on the Passenger side. Those can be had off 2.8L and older V8s correct? That will make the routing so much easier for this 3100 intake t stat housing.

 

I know you can get it off the 2.8, my rad is that way, inlet onthe passenger side. Damn, if you said 3 to 2inch reducers Id have those for you, lol. 4 ply silicone, they were extras.

You know, looking at the other turbo setup builds on this site and im actually thinking about relocating the turbo flange on my setup. Throwing around a couple ideas in my head, ill post what I come up with when I start on all that in my thread.

 

yes a 2.8 radiator is the one u want or u can buy one of the chamapion aluminum 3 core radiators off ebay

 

nm the v8 ones are on the driver side .

 

Are the supports and the top cover of the radiator different on the 2.8 compared to my 3.1L?

 

I dont believe so.

 

I was wondering because I think i may have a lead on a 2.8L radiator in a local JY but I know for sure it does not have the top cover for it....hmm.

 

I dont think its too hard to fab one up. I got my silla 2core rad off ebay for like 150 shipped a couple years ago. All aluminum too, its nice, couldnt bring myself to replace the original with another with plastic tanks.

I also dont see any reason for GM to have a different top cover for the 2.8 and 3.1.

 

Yea thats a good point. Well if the stock one one is bashed up that im going to look at then I may have to get a new alum tank one and just use that.

I need to find out what spark plugs to use with these alum heads. I always used ac delco r42ts before with the iron heads and boost and loved them. No issues and they are low in cost.....

 

Use Delco R42LTS plugs with aluminum heads. I believe the 2.8 upper fan shroud is not as wide as the 3.1 shroud. Worst case scenario you can cut some of the centre out. Mars did the opposite when he swapped to a V8 rad from 2.8. He cut his upper shroud in half so he could make it a bit wider.

 

FWIW, NGK says:

camaro 3.1 = UR5 series
aluminum head 3.1(90 lumina) = TR4 series

difference between them is:

U = 11.2mm reach, T = 17.5mm reach
4 and 5 are the heat ranges, 4 is hotter.

so, stock, the iron head engines run a slightly cooler and shorter reach plug. i would factor that into what you end up with.

to look at gen3 stuff....

2000 monte carlo 3400 = TR55 series, which seems to be similar to the TR4(gen 2) except for they're gapped at .060 instead of .045 and are one step colder.

 

R42LTS is what I use. I'm pretty sure it's different from the R42TS plug but I couldn't tell you how.

R42LTS also happens to be the stock spark plug for the 89 TTA.

 

Ok thanks. Ill be getting the r42lts and give those a shot. Ill gap them to .030 and see where that takes me and widen it as needed once I start tuning it. Not sure if the DIS spark is as strong as the msd 6+ I had but I think thats a good gap for 8-10 psi all day and wont have a blow out issue.

Another question. How exactly did you fellas who have done this, mount the power steering pump? The lower bolt works just fine to the block but the upper mount bolt does not line up with the head bolt thread. Its about 1 inch off... thanks for idea and im sorry if its a dumb question as im sure there is a obvious answer but I just dont see it at the moment.

 

For the power steering pump, you just have to drill an extra hole where it mounts to the head. On my engine I don't even use the rear brace I just have the one bolt to the head and the other bolt to the water pump.

As for spark I've run 14 psi with stock DIS and a 0.028 gap. I know others have run up to 18 psi. The spark is pretty strong for stock coils. If you crank the engine with the plug wires disconnected from the coils the spark is strong enough to jump the 1+" gap between the posts. Obviously there's more pressure in the cylinder but still...

 

Ok thanks. Ill keep that in mind as i assemble the accessorys. I still need to get the alternator on..... or at least get that figured out correctly and see how it fits.

Can some one make sure I did something right... I think but its not a biggie to fix my mistake if its wrong.

When I assembled the engine and tossed on a new timing chain/gears, I lined up the timing dots on the gears so that they were facing each other(crank 12 o clock/cam 6 o clock). Is that ok?

 

sounds right to me.

 

What accessories are you running? If it's just alt, water pump, and power steering you can mount the alternator above the power steering pump with a simple bracket.

 

Yea its just water pump alt and power steering. Thanks for any help caffeine.


As you can see I got some piping done mainly just tacted up. Worked the down pipe. This will be the first time in 2 years that my car will have a muffler on it as im following the original piping out to the rear of the car with of course a cut out right after it leaves the engine bay for the track.

Still waiting on the push rods. So im delaying the hardest part. The reluctor wheel, the accesorys, the drivers header and merge pipe, and the throttle cable. Those may not really be hard but im still putting those off till the engine is sealed up.