I am insane.

[Captain Dirtymax]

that's right ladies and gentlemen, i'm insane. i'm building a 3.1L v6. hoping to get close to 300bhp N/A. it's gonna be fun, and a royal pain in the ass:laugh:

[BLK95-Z]

sounds like a cool project...good luck man.

Can you buy aftermarket cams, pistons, rods, etc for V6 cars? Im sure everything could be custom made but is there a market for V6 performance parts?

[Captain Dirtymax]

there is an aftermarket for the 3.1, it's not a very big one, but it's there. biggest performance gains are from swapping the factory cast iron lumps for 3100/3400/3.4 heads. factory heads stop flowing at 4500rpm. rods are 5.700" long (same as the 350), so there's some support there.

[Chris]

I was about to say swap the heads out. Pistons shouldnt be an issue and you can order different rods and just get the bearings the right size no?

Do the 3800 cams work in the 3.1?

What are you putting it into?

[CamaroGirl]

haha have fun with that!

[Blubird]

You actually make up your mind yet Mitch?

[Bowtie_Racer]

I had a friend with a 3.1 Beretta 5 speed and he put a different cam and msd coils along with different heads and rockers with some spray, he was running 13s and stomping hondas. It was pretty funny the Honda guys never expected it.

[joelster]

Waste of money but if it makes you happy then go for it.

[Wooshie]

Sounds amusing.

[GreenZ96]

sounds interesting

[joelster]

Sounds futile

[Captain Dirtymax]

I was about to say swap the heads out. Pistons shouldnt be an issue and you can order different rods and just get the bearings the right size no?

Do the 3800 cams work in the 3.1?

What are you putting it into?

the 3800 cam will not work in the 3.1. timing is different, as is the entire block. this is all going to be in my 3rd gen RS.

Blubird, yes this is what i'm sticking to.

joelster, i don't see how getting close to stock LT1 hp numbers is a waste of money, especially when the car will be almost 400lbs lighter than a 350 TPI Iroc. should probably mention that this isn't a drag car, i auto-x race. having a lighter weight means a car that will change direction much quicker.

[tomsws6]

the 3800 cam will not work in the 3.1. timing is different, as is the entire block. this is all going to be in my 3rd gen RS.

Blubird, yes this is what i'm sticking to.

joelster, i don't see how getting close to stock LT1 hp numbers is a waste of money, especially when the car will be almost 400lbs lighter than a 350 TPI Iroc. should probably mention that this isn't a drag car, i auto-x race. having a lighter weight means a car that will change direction much quicker.


Just a thought. I know your goin with a 3.1 but......have you thought about a TTA motor? I know its a little bigger @ 3.8 but powers already there and theres a big aftermarket with that motor?

[95formula383lt1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyI414NxpYo

lumpy lil cam dont sound to bad at idle ether

i had a 3.1 91 camaro rs, i couldnt blow it up. it had 2 blown freeze plugs, no water and i used to drive it around every where like seriously miles with NO water in the block, held the gas pedel to the floor for minutes. still wouldnt blow. i ended up selling it as is when i got my 87 formula lol. some of them are strong motors i guess.

[joelster]

joelster, i don't see how getting close to stock LT1 hp numbers is a waste of money, especially when the car will be almost 400lbs lighter than a 350 TPI Iroc. should probably mention that this isn't a drag car, i auto-x race. having a lighter weight means a car that will change direction much quicker.

Whatever floats your boat. To go through the entire V6 motor you'll be looking at dropping $4000-$5000, easy. You can find modded LT1 cars for $5000.

[tomsws6]

Whatever floats your boat. To go through the entire V6 motor you'll be looking at dropping $4000-$5000, easy. You can find modded LT1 cars for $5000.

well thats why I brought up the tta motors. you can find an entire motor for that price or less. Not sure how the turbo would do during the autoX. nothin like 18psi crankin the rear wheels comin out of a tight turn! lol

[warnerTA]

hmm 3.1 sounds fun.

[Captain Dirtymax]

Just a thought. I know your goin with a 3.1 but......have you thought about a TTA motor? I know its a little bigger @ 3.8 but powers already there and theres a big aftermarket with that motor?

the whole problem with the TTA engine is boost. i would have the lag, which can really royally screw up a run.


Whatever floats your boat. To go through the entire V6 motor you'll be looking at dropping $4000-$5000, easy. You can find modded LT1 cars for $5000.

actually the very most i'll end up spending is around $2300-$2800. i can get reman 3400 heads for $200, which will bump the compression up from 8.8:1 to 11.5:1, all while loosing about 50lbs of weight over the front end. custom ground cam, probably around $500. the aftermarket crank and rods will probably be the most expensive part. around $1000 combined for both.

[joelster]

the whole problem with the TTA engine is boost. i would have the lag, which can really royally screw up a run.



actually the very most i'll end up spending is around $2300-$2800. i can get reman 3400 heads for $200, which will bump the compression up from 8.8:1 to 11.5:1, all while loosing about 50lbs of weight over the front end. custom ground cam, probably around $500. the aftermarket crank and rods will probably be the most expensive part. around $1000 combined for both.

Machine work for the block--$500-$750
Bearings--$75
Gaskets---$50
Timing Chain--$35-$50
Lifters--$200
Pushrods--$80
Injectors--$150
Headers---$300???
Oil Pump--$40
etc. etc..

Sure you can reuse a lot of stock parts if you want to I guess. Keep in mind that a 3.1 WAS NEVER INTENDED to be a performance piece, so virtually none of the stock components were engineered to see high-hp capabilities. What do the heads flow? They will have to flow a LOT to see 300hp out of 6 cylinders. They will probably need to be around the 250cfm mark at least. That will take some major port work and a pretty big camshaft. With a big camshaft you will need good lifters, stronger pushrods, and appropriate springs. Are the spring pockets on a 3.1 head deep enough to accomodate a spring that is going to see over .500" of lift? I have no idea, but I doubt it. You going to use stock rockers? Stock rockers won't have a slot long enough to allow high lift. There goes another $150 or so for rollers. Are the rocker studs pressed in? Probably, so you'll need to have them machined for screw in studs, or the cam will pull the pressed studs right out. Are you going to run a stock intake? I'd assume it will have to be ported to meet the hp goals. etc, etc, etc

I think your $2800 goal is pretty far off, unless you are using a lot of the stock components.

[warnerTA]

i think once its done it will be sweet. id recommend harrys heads i see you live in sioux falls.. its not far from there. they do really good work to heads and porting and such.. and for a really good price. i think it will be cool once done.. you never see it? which makes it better

[Blubird]

That's a lot for a custom ground cam

[warnerTA]

That's a lot for a custom ground cam

thats what i was thinking. arent they about the same price as a already made cam on production? lol. maybe im wrong very possible :D

[Blubird]

The most expensive I've seen is 400 for the AI cams,well for our cars anyways

[Captain Dirtymax]

Machine work for the block--$500-$750
Bearings--$75
Gaskets---$50
Timing Chain--$35-$50
Lifters--$200
Pushrods--$80
Injectors--$150
Headers---$300???
Oil Pump--$40
etc. etc..

Sure you can reuse a lot of stock parts if you want to I guess. Keep in mind that a 3.1 WAS NEVER INTENDED to be a performance piece, so virtually none of the stock components were engineered to see high-hp capabilities. What do the heads flow? They will have to flow a LOT to see 300hp out of 6 cylinders. They will probably need to be around the 250cfm mark at least. That will take some major port work and a pretty big camshaft. With a big camshaft you will need good lifters, stronger pushrods, and appropriate springs. Are the spring pockets on a 3.1 head deep enough to accomodate a spring that is going to see over .500" of lift? I have no idea, but I doubt it. You going to use stock rockers? Stock rockers won't have a slot long enough to allow high lift. There goes another $150 or so for rollers. Are the rocker studs pressed in? Probably, so you'll need to have them machined for screw in studs, or the cam will pull the pressed studs right out. Are you going to run a stock intake? I'd assume it will have to be ported to meet the hp goals. etc, etc, etc

I think your $2800 goal is pretty far off, unless you are using a lot of the stock components.

as i said earlier, i'm switching to 3400 heads. the factory 3.1 heads are asthmatic (like 125cfm asthmatic). the 3400 heads stock flow 230cfm, and ported have gone as high as 295cfm (heavily ported). they also can handle LS6 springs.