Here we go, I finally got 234,798 6/10 miles on my stock Firebird 3.1 v6 motor, handed down from my father that was bought brand new in 1991 with 1.2 miles on it!!! After over 400 laps over the past few months on our local road course, she finally spun a bearing, due to an oil pump failure. I had to finish the lap(last 1/8th mile and turn) to get to my truck and trailer. Scared to death of shattering a piston or warping the head by the SUPER loud piston piston slap I rode calmly back around the last curve pulled into the pits and onto the trailer. And boy am I glad I didn't continue to kill her out! the head was hit pretty hard by the piston but nothing came apart in the motor, and surprisingly there was no cylinder damage( scrape, cuts or rubs). A few chunks of metal and shavings from the bearings were in the oil pan and oil screen. So I sat back in my Rocking chair, Drank a beer or two. AND IT HIT ME!

After Months of suspension changes, tweaking, and not quite enough power and constantly switching between my 02 Camaro SS and my 91 FB base Vin T. I realized something. I REALLY ENJOY THE CENTER OF GRAVITY IN THE V6 CAR. Don't get me wrong, my LS1 baby(K&n, Flowmasters, and Dynotech) is so sweet entering a corner and very bitter on the exit, almost as if im driving a Vette! Raw power, but the front end seems to push the corner because of the V8 forward weight, almost as if it slides the front tires before breaking traction in the rear. A tough white knuckled ride, but fun! and put to mind, there has been no suspension modification to the SS as of yet. the main reason, it is my Daily driver. and I need it to last! As for the V6 car, yea, less power, better turns ikown!! but, the more "centered" center of gravity, due to the V6 sitting back in the engine bay, creates and tighter turn radius. and a even better feel for adjustments and changes. On entry, the suspension doesn't tend to roll, it seems to go where ever the front wheels point, even under mild to heavy braking. under tight cornering conditions, the car tends to deliver a small amount wheel hop then the tires stick like glue and plant perfect for a 100% throttle exit. Added Sub Frame connectors, torsion/ traction bar, shock tower brace, and hotchiks sway bars. NO MOE WHEEL HOP YO! she a bit tighter, but turning like a champ. LIFE ON THE TRACK IS GREAT! except, on the power side of things.

The plan:

After viewing Daves12sec Turbo build, I've become inspirated. to do something great with this little motor. Since the class im running in only requires the Stock Block. and is a time trail, consistency type class. Im forced to use the 3.1, and I have no problem with that at all! I love this motor! after all, the motor, tranny & rear end lasted over 234,000 miles! with only timing chain and gear replacements every 2 years, and regular tune ups every month, and track day. So my plans are to make this ting reach around 375hp, and that seems, very possible.

The build
3.1 v6

.030 bore

Crank- is there a forged?
Connecting rods - OEM replacement, Machine shop: Shave weight.
Pistons - Haven't decided .030
Cam- Crane or Comp?
Lifters- is roller Possible?
-3.4 roller lifters?
push rods- matched to cam and valves
valve springs, valves, and retainers
Heads- .010 shave/port&polish
intake manifold porting
Injectors- decisions, decisions
plentium boring
throttle body swap

self made 1 3/4" or 2" custom reverse mount headers(with EGR mount)
Battery relocation
Coil relocation
wipers cleaner delete



TWIN TURBO.


Pictures coming for the tear down to night or in the morning.
Along with continuous updates on the build!


HELP ME BUILD THIS MOTOR IF YOU CAN, if you know the best parts please don't leave me hanging! Thanks in advance for any replies!


oh yeah, and ILOVETHISFORUM!

 

Make sure the block wasn't damaged down by the oil pan rail before you do anything. Then:

1. Replacement STOCK crank kit. Stock crank is good to 7000 RPM and the block USUALLY fails before the crank.
2. Small journal SBC H-beam rods, 5.7" long, will need to have the crank journal ends cut down to the narrower crank journals.
3. If the cylinders aren't damaged, I would leave the bores alone and just clean them up with a hone.
4. Delta cam is WAY cheaper than either Crane or Comp...
5. Roller lifters are possible but require modding the block for the retaining bars.

Everything else:

Unless your racing class requires you to keep the stock top end, get rid of it and get a late model top end. If you're going to turbo and make your own headers anyways, you're going to need to tune the ECM, so you might as well increase the air flow through the ports. Poke around a bit and you will find that even if you port the stock iron boat anchor heads as much as they will allow, you still won't match the STOCK flow of late model heads.

Oh, and you lose a good deal of weight between the aluminum and stock boat anchor cast iron cylinder heads. Just make sure that if you do go the 3x00 turbo hybrid route, you use the METAL intake gaskets and not the plastic ones...

 

Roller lifters in a non gen3 block are not recommended due to oil flow changes needed for roller lifters that will cause oil starvation issues to the crank and cam in the earlier gen1 and 2 blocks. The oil system was changed a lot on the gen3 block to support roller lifters.

 

thanks for the replies, im having problems uploading pictures from my phone.

parts list
stock Crank
Small journal SBC H-beam rods, 5.7"(Machine to fit)
Machine shop: cylinder honing


I already purchase the crane cam, so can I still use the sbc h-beams?

everything's going to the machine shop here soon to be resurfaced honed, but before i do that im going to search the forms for the turbo hybrid see how that works.

 

I'm working up to it too. I must start a build thread. I must start a build!

 

As for a cam call up delta cams. They will save u some cash. Are u going to be doing the ecm tuning?

As for injectors, get 36lbs or so because u would rather have too much injector and just tune it, then have too small of injectors.

Im also working on my hybrid project. As for a hp goal I ran high 12s in the quarter mile with iron heads...300-350hp would have been my guess so if u go hybrid and turbo im sure u wont be disappointed. My new goal is 12 flat or high 11s come next spring with my hybrid and I dont think thats a over exaggerated expectation.

 

forgot all the fancy parts , call up delta get a cam , port the stock heads , install a set of comp valve springs locks and retianers , and have at it. there is 0 reason to buy sbc rods and have them machined

as far as the headers u want 1.5 inch primarys( bigger is not better with a turbo) , with 2.0-2.5 inch collectors depending on power goals , 2.0 inch will spool up faster but 2.5 inch will make more power on the top end

 

The build is underway, can some one help me. I got like a million pics amd none of them will upload?

 

The pics are probably too big. Use MSPaint to open the pics, hit Ctrl and W, and then put 50 in both of the top boxes to shrink the pics by half. Don't put anything in the bottom boxes or you will really screw up the pics...

Unless you're on your phone, in which case, I'm not sure how to shrink the pics...

 

Sorry guys this project is at a halt. The motor is done and bringing 230 flywheel horses. But I bought a 88 IROC-Z28 this pass month to use as a daily driver so I could garage pamper my 02 Camaro SS for a while. But things arent so great after the first week of driving the IROC-Z will not shift into 3rd gear in Drive or over drive. Ive searched the forums a million times with no result. Im going to the v8 guys tread to find some possible awnser. Will update the firebird build in the near future