I have a 1991 camaro 3.1L. I just bought a 3.4L out of a 1993 camaro for $100. A good starting point I think. Planning on boring this engine, .30 over, having the heads reworked, etc. Then rebuilding the rearend to a 3.73 posi. Getting a new 700r4 with shift kit from Monster trans. Completely re-doing the entire suspension. This should be a good fun couple of years

 

Yes in deed they will...

 

When all is said and done I'm hoping to run mid 12's

 

You're turbo-ing it, right?

 

That would be cool

 

yeah I'm going to turbo it but I have to rebuild the engine, trans, and rear first.

 

heres a pic of it

 

Nice. Im subscribed.

 

thanks........ I'm sure I'll need your help along the way

 

One more sub here, Love seeing the influx of turbo 6s! Mine will be done probably 2 weeks after i get my taxes, so beginning of next month hopefully

Its a stock, well maintained and excellent condition 2.8 that I converted to a Megasquirt1, and have the turbo, manifolds, intercooler, and just waiting on taxes to pick up the rest.

I plan on getting a 3.4, and doing a 3500 hybrid swap with one big turbo, but thats a long ways off so I'm going to be running a small mercedes diesel t3 turbo for now. Its off a 3L so the displacement matches, and its a diesel turbo. Its my DD so i'm doing a reliable setup for now, im more of a corner carver anyway. But i do like the highways sometimes

I'll tell you what though, even if its rough, that first start is going to be amazing. It was when I finished up my MS1 install, it ran so much better on a base tune then it ever did with the stock ecm, lmao. But it ran good with the stock ecm so that was a good gain.

 

yeah i've heard a lot of good about the Megasquirt systems but seeing as mines a 91 I have the 7730 which I heard is a fine ecm to use

 

Yea you have more options with that ecm. I had the 302, not much support so i just went with the megasquirt.

 

So i need to buy a rebuild kit for the engine so since I have the 3.1 but am using everything off of the 3.1 do i get the rebuilld for the 3.1 or the 3.4? Also where can I get a kit that will allow me to use synthetic oil?

 

I know we've messaged about it before and your choosing to stay with the 7730 which I think is a great thing. Its just as good as a megasquirt for the average gear head and its so easy to play with. There is many good codes and I know you will love it and find its very user friendly along with Tunerpro which is such a great software program to use.

If your boring out the 3.4L block then you are essentially building a full 3.4L minus the intakes, fuel system, and ignition system.

The only difference between the 3.1L and 3.4L lower end is the bore of the cylinders and the cam has provisions for the CPS. Else then that it is essentially the same.

Get some .030 pistons for the 3.4L bore. Some moly rings to match it, head gaskets for a 3.1 or 3.4L.. doesn't make a difference as the heads are the same anyways, get some new cam bearings and freeze plugs in the 3.4L block and your gaskets and such. Get some head bolts or studs for a 2.8L 3.1L or 3.4L iron block. Get a new timing gear set also. You can probly piece a kit together cheeper then you can get a kit for that is a whole set of things. Summit carries about everything you would need. Pistons are about 138 bucks shipped, moly rings are about 70 bucks, cam bearings are about 20 bucks...exc.

Just make sure you look over the pistons and everything else to make sure its NOT for a FWD car. The pistons will NOT have a compression distance of 1.467 as that number is for aluminum headed engines.

Also there was some provisions on the 3.4L camshaft to run DIS. So if you plan to reuse the dizzy system use a cam from a 2.8L or 3.1L only.

 

ok sounds good now i've read that bringing in your heads to get ported and polished they can mess them up..... so what do I have them do to them then?

 

Well I have to dig out some post and I have alot of pics and project89 has a ton more and thats who helped me. I have to head off to work but I will dig some up. Its not too hard to do just takes some time. Dave may chime in on here and share some.

Google "Ported heads V6 Thirdgen" and you may find some threads in the meantime to give you some ideas.

 

The camshaft has nothing to do with DIS. The 3.4 cam has a notch, tooth or half ring for the SFI system. The DIS system is triggered from the crank trigger only.

Also you can use a cam for the 2.8, 3.1 or 3.4 interchangeably, they are all the same physical fitment, and all have the same gears for the dizzy/oil pump drive.

 

well i plan on getting a 260 grind cam..... however i'm not sure what valves, rockers and pushrods to get

 

Rockers and pushrods will depend on which cam you go with. Ideally, if you get the correct cam, you wont need to get a bigger ratio rocker. Are you going to go with a full roller or roller tip rocker? You will want to get a pushrod length checker (summit, about $20) and measure what length you need once the cam and rockers are installed. You dont want to just buy a pushrod that should be the right length.

 

isnt there things that need to be converted to get roller rockers?

 

Roller tip, no. Full roller, i believe you have to change out the studs......... dont recall at the moment. its been a while since i looked into it on a 60 degree.

 

One piece of advice here ;

If you plan on working on the ports of your heads yourself , best to get a junk head and practice a bit before taking the power tools to the heads your going to use . Learning where the dreaded "Oops , I took TOO much off" monster lives will involve far less $$$ and tears this way ....

 

no i don't trust myself to do a job like that so I'll be taking it to teh Carquest by my house to get everything bored and ported.

 

do it urself ur much much much less likley to screw it up then they are

 

Gosh the cost to pay a machine shot to port and polish those heads good has to be expensive i would think. I spent like 40-50 hrs on my heads and intakes. That cast iron is a PITA. Im sure they have better tools but its still gotta take at least 10-20 hrs to do it well.


BTW its hard to opps a iron head too much as it takes forever to take off material. If you had aluminum heads i would say you better practice first at your steady hand.

 

not to mention its carquest , its going to be liek any store with a machineshop they do stock rebuilds , they wont have the first clue about porting those heads.

first thing the 17yo kid working there is going to do is grind the vane out i guarantee it , then then there going to clean up the bowls and completly destroy the short side radius

 

thanks for the heads up

 

is polishing the heads literally just as easy and sanding them smooth or is there more involved?

 

there is more to it. Here is some pics from my thread although some of the pics are gone you can still read though it.

mine from a few years back when i was learning https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/6...oud-heads.html

 

ok well im working out a deal to buy already ported heads its just the polishing i'd have to do myself

 

You will only really want to polish the exhaust runners and ports. Also the chambers but if u go that far you will want to knock the cast off and the deshroud the valves.

 

I'm new to dealing with heads and stuff..... what do you mean by deshroud?

 

well just picked up a 3.73 posi for the rearend........ installing it as soon as the weather breaks and picking up some ported heads this weekend.

 

Well next weekend the weather is supposed to be better so i may try to install the 3.73 then. Also picking the heads up this saturday morning. Also may try to start tearing down the 3.4 next weekend as well

 

Here is a decent link to deshrouding.

http://www.diyporting.com/Shrouding.html

 

Thanks man I'll give it a look but i don't think the heads really need any work

 

Yea i just figured it would help ya learn a tad bit about deshrouding and what a shroud is on a head.

 

yeah I appreciate it I'm looking for as much advice and information as I can get..... so every little bit helps

 

Aren't fiero valve covers taller than the camaro and firebird ones?

 

bought the cam today..... I went to comp cams and got the 260

 

fiero valve covers are a tad taller then ours. You can fit 1.6 rockers easily under them.

 

Looks like its coming along pretty well. Im waiting to get started on installing my turbo setup until I get this 12v noise issue squared away. Alternator noise...

Im thinking about getting a set of the fiero valve covers, they look better IMO. Then again I might just powdercoat mine cause I have the stuff to do it lol.

 

3100 or 3400 valve covers look even better. But im happy to see everyones build coming along well, i hope mine goes the same way.

 

I'll go with the 1.6 rockers but what size pushrods do I go with then? And can I go with roller lifters?

 

I wouldnt think you need different pushrods with 1.6:1 rockers since you can adjust them as needed. Ill be honest ive never went into that territory so hopefully someone else chimes in and can give you some definite answers.

 

Ive got a small port 3100 top end in the shed but ill probably go for the 3500/3.4 swap when I finally get to the hybrid stage.

 

Yea a 3500 top or full 3500 is better yet. I just figured if I caould make my iron 3.1l fast the the 3400 top eng and fresh guts should get me to the 12.00 index I want.

 

Yea, i think im probably going to go with the 3.4 as the base cause itll go right in and Id be more focused on getting the 3500 top end on. Though if the price is right id grab a whole 3500

 

got the fiero valve covers in today and they look like they're in great shape just have to give them a new paint job

 

could i use roller rockers and roller lifters?