Things have been pretty quiet on the 3.1L Firebird front lately, what with an impending move, rebuilding the 350 in the T/A, and desperately searching for traction in the Formula. However, I finally got around to refilling the bottle and playing with the nitrous some more.

For anyone that didn't see my last post, I have a 150,000+ mile, bone stock 91 Firebird. There are no modifications on the car whatsoever. Any parts that have been eliminated or changed were done so to make the car drivable. Just to clarify the airbox has been slightly modified, there's a K&N filter, no cat, and WS6 sway bars with a wonderbar in front. Also its rolling on 16" GTA wheels.

Anyway, I installed my universal EFI wet nitrous setup that I acquired for my Formula, onto the 3.1. Initial jetting was 75hp. At 75HP the 3.1 reacted REALLY well, probably mid-high 15's at best. This time around with a full bottle I hit the button once witht he 75hp jetting and decided it was a waste of time.

A trip to the store and a few minutes later the car was jetted to 100hp. At 100hp the car easily burns the tires, and makes for a really spirited street car. Exhaust sound changes from V6 to something mutated similar to a V8 but not quite. 3 hits at 100hp and I went to pick up my roomate and another friend.

While the car was stopped we upped the jetting to 125hp. Keep in mind NOS doesn't recommend jetting for more than 50% of the cars stock hp. For those without a calculator that would be a 70hp shot. With 450lbs of dead weight (2 adult passengers), the gtech showed high 14's. The impression made on the passengers is clear, the car launches about as hard as a built first gen AWD DSM. At that point we started hunting for someone who thought they were driving a fast car.

After about a half hour of hunting we came across an absolutely gorgeous 20-something female in a mint condition 92-93 Mustang GT. 5.0, 5spd, 5spoke pony wheels, beautiful car. She took one look at the Firebird with its paint falling off, two tone primer gray T/A hood, bright red T/A hatch/wing and began laughing as she chirped the tires and sped away.

The bird with the nitrous off did its best to stay by her or at least keep up for about 3 blocks before we found some open road and a stop light. She took her position and started creeping forward, reving her motor. We cracked open the bottle and prepared for the drop. The light turns green, she dumps the clutch, I punch the button and that was all she wrote. Firebird jumps across the intersection like its shot out of a gun. Mustang burns tires for a second and starts accellerating. She's banging gears, tearing **** up, but the birds at least 5 car lengths ahead of her. I backed off the gas at about 90mph, she was about 6 blocks behind.

We played with it about 3 more times after that and it was still going strong when the alternator gave out. The 3.1 runs better now than it ever has, no signs of any knocking or missing. All this with 87 octane pump gas, stock timing, and bosch platinum plugs... oh, and 7mm parts store wires.

Sorry for the length, and the narative, but NOS is the only way to fly with a 3.1L. I'd put this car up against any stock L98 on the forum, and I'm more than a little cocky with most fox body stangs now.

 

Awesome! We'll have to set up a run!

 

I'm gonna have to run it at the track and see what it pulls. On the street there isn't much I'm worried about. The biggest problem now is I don't know which car will be fighting all the grudge matches. I think the 6cyl has a better launch and handles the power better... The formula is setup with most of the normal bolt ons, BFG drag radials, all the hotchkiss pieces, etc. To be honest I prefer driving the 6cyl most of the time since it attracts a lot less attention and is the home to the stereo.

I wonder if I take both cars to the track if I can get a group rate discount.

 

So it took a 125 shot to get the 3.1 into high 14's!?

 

:yourock:

ok all kidding aside....... i'd have loved to have seen the look on her face

 

and it would smoke your V8 as well...

Nice worthless post.

Great to hear that the V6 can both handle and take that much with grace.

 

Haha i think not troll. Esp running high 14's! please......

BTW i wasnt flaming on him in anyway so your stupid worthless comment was not needed.

 

Its cool to hear that a v6 made it to the high 14's, but it is sort of misleading to say that it is all stock. Last time I checked nitrous didnt come stock on my thirdgen. But aside, that's pretty cool, I would like to hear that little six-hole engine scream with the nitro.

V6sucker, you have to be the lowest most pathetic person on these boards to come into a thread that way. You infantile behavior and high school attitude shine through in every post you make. What exactly makes you think that is good enough to beat br()berts car? Have you ever rode in his car? You are a chode.

 

Exactly, i think it's cool he beat the stang too. And yeah nitrous isnt stock.

I never claimed to have a super fast car at all. Tell you the truth i could'nt (or is it could? ) care less what my car runs. Main reason i did the swap was because my car had a pos cracked 2.8 in it. Now the car runs like its brand new.
Hey its not like i claimed i was making some super engine that makes 100 hp per cyl!

Back to the subject. I thought i heard something about a 60* exploding if you used over 75 shot?<~ that was the reason for my original post in this thread.

 

That's cool.
NOS ZEX and edelbrock say different limets for stock engines.
Some say don't go over 50% the orginal power (for a 3.1 that would be a 70 shot), others say don't add more then 20hp per cylinder, NOS I think said that (120 shot for a 3.1). I head some Import guys saying not to go over 50hp more per L ( honda guys I guess ) That would be a 150hp shot for a 3.1L
There are wild variations in who thinks whats safe.
I use to keep track of who said what but now I don't care any more.

 

The engine is stock, I've never so much as removed the intake manifold and the valve covers have never been off. The nitrous didn't come on the car from the factory, but its an extremely easy install. Also, this is on a car that has been well abused. When I got it the tranny was blown, the exhaust was gone, the interior was trashed, and all the tires were completely shot, not to mention wiring and injector problems. If this one can hit high 14's burning the tires for 30ft, I'm fairly certain that with some aftermarket suspension pieces, good tires, and a fresh motor, it would probably be quite a bit faster.

a 2.5 second improvement in 1/4 mile times with a ton of dead weight in the car for $600 sure as hell beats spending a weekend wrenching to make the car 1 second faster.

 

This is true...Glad you like it. Sounds like fun. I will have nitrous on my next motor.

 

My buddy was just readin this over my shoulder and has a Mustang and says he'd race you for $. Not anywhere near Detroit are you?

 

And what would that weekend involve?

 

How many sets of plugs have you gone through so far?

 

change your plugs as soon as possible. PLATINUM IS DETRIMENTAL TO NITROUS MOTORS . the nitrous makes the plugs hot enought to burn the platinum off and it will pit into your pistons and cylinder walls. get regular ac delco plugs is you want you motor to last. trust me on this one, i learned this in school and i have seen it done in person.

 

What kinda system was it? Sniper? Fogger? I'd like to know, because I'm looking into getting nitrous myself.

 

I can't think of anythign I could do to this car short of nitrous that would make it perform anywhere close to where its at now... A cam and some rockers might drop a second off my stock times, but that would be much more work than installing the nitrous.

Racing for money doesn't especially interest me. The point of the exercise was to test the reaction of the nitrous on the car, and to pit it against a worthy adversary. In this case in all fairness that Mustang should have been a low 15 second to mid 14 second car. It was a fair fight.

I'm still on the first set of plugs that are over a year old. I'm not concerned about damaging the plugs or the motor because I have a 305 and a complete TPI setup ready to go in the car as soon as the 3.1 spins a rod bearing. Discussions have already been had about upgrading the coil, plug wires, and upgrading to NGK V-powers, as well as switching from 10W-40 to 50W racing oil. If I were in a position where I wanted this thing to make maximum power and I wanted it to last forever I would definitely do the upgrades, however this is my cheap minimalist car.

The kit I'm running is a home brew setup using mostly NOS parts. The solenoids came out of a Super Power Shot kit, the fogger came off the shelf at work, the bottle came used from a universal dry kit, etc etc etc. Now Holley sells the same basic rig as a Universal EFI wet fogger system. Pics and details of my complete setup are detailed in a previous thread I posted on this board.

For convenience and repeatablity I'd install a purge kit, a bottle warmer, and a remote bottle opener. As well as an MSD window switch, a fuel pressure safety switch, and a WOT switch. In the interests of saving time I cut a lot of corners. I understand the ramifications of a loss of fuel pressure, and really I don't care if I melt the pistons, I've been trying to sell this drivetrain for about 3 years without a single interested party. I'd rather throw a 3.1 with a giant window in the block in the dumpster than one that still runs and drives perfect. While I'm on the subject, if anyone wants a well used but still completely servicable 3.1L engine, tranny, harness, injectors, etc drop me a line... I feel a 150hp shot coming on.