3.4L DOHC Power

[buzz4096]

i have a 95 olds cutlass supreme w/ a 3.4l dohc engine. the engine has 110k miles on it. should i be thinking about getting a new engine? either way i want to get as much power as i can. any tips?

[SappySE107]

Your trans will go out before the engine, at least that is how things usually work. As for power, depends on what you wanna spend. Porting goes a long way on these motors, especially the heads.

[Lyle's GTP]

Well, if you are thinking power, better rebuild. If you are looking for serious power like 75+ HP, I would boost it. Either supercharger or turbo system. The only draw back is that all such kits must be custom built. But the results so far have been very good, there is one guy running close to 400HP at 12 PSI turbo charged.

If you are thinking naturally asperated, these engine have a problem there. By building custom cams and headers with a crazy custom intake setup there is hugh gains WAY up top. With the most power gains seen near the 7-8000 RPM range, but with the bottom end at a serious loss. Without a 5 speed tranny in there, putting the power to the wheels would be difficult. So, the N/A guys who are building these engines for hugh power are going to end up with basically a race-only car.

So, personally if you want serious power all across the RPM range. I would rebuild the engine/tranny accordingly then turbo/supercharge the beast with an intercooler and exhaust. Plus you can do alot of the stuff listed below it will only add to the overall out come.

Otherwise you can do the normal stuff, like 13 degree exhaust cam retard, Cold air intake, Exhaust, P/P heads and intake, Lighten up the valve train, Bore the T/B, Chip, U/D pulley, Poly dog bone, Magnecore wires, DIS ignition and some good plugs. Plus I would get a higher stall torque converter for your tranny too, ours suck, they are totally not set properly for our power band. If you did all this, I would say you would easily gain 50-60+ HP at the wheels with a decent powerband as well.

Now that I have said this, it should be iteresting what the other guys have to say.

Lyle

[Jacque8080]

I'm not an expert, but I agree with Lyle. A supercharger would be great for a daily driver that oozes low end torque and top notch throttle response. And a turbo as an excellent comprimise between a blower and being naturally asperiated. I belive that reality for natural asperiation is revs. If you want to make power you'll need to rev the hell out of it. And if you're not close to the red paint on your NEW tach, you won't make much power. Which will suck for driving around town, especially with an automatic tranny.

Don't let people tell you all turbos experience horrible lag because ones properly setup and sized right come onto boost quickly at any normal rpm you'd encounter. Truth is turbo is the way to go for most power. Higher psi will give more horse than higher compression. Also, turbos don't drain engine power like superchargers do. I don't know how much that drain is, but I've heard everything form 20 horse to 50% of the power increase with the blower (as in you'd have twice as much power if something besides your engine would drive the blower).

Also, it looks like you and I are in the same boat. We both want more power out of our 3.4 DOHC. But we aren't quite sure what it's capable of and what's the best route to go. I've got the engine in the garage and ready for a tear down and rebuild, and probably all about cranking 300-350 horse at the wheels (but I think I've decided on naturally asperated).

MOe

[bmlawson]

3.4

can the same things be do to my 93 z-34 motor? i have become very disapointed with the lack of go fast goodies out there for the z.

[Jacque8080]

It's alright to be dissapointed. But don't be surprised. People buy cars like Camaros, Mustangs, Supras, (sports cars) and they create a market for go fast parts. I bet there are tons more W cars like yours out on the streets, it's just that most aren't interested in performance enough to pay $$$ for it. I don't want to be discouraging because some easy things out there you can do to help performance.

As Lyle said:
Otherwise you can do the normal stuff, like 13 degree exhaust cam retard, Cold air intake, Exhaust, P/P heads and intake, Lighten up the valve train, Bore the T/B, Chip, U/D pulley, Poly dog bone, Magnecore wires, DIS ignition and some good plugs. Plus I would get a higher stall torque converter for your tranny too, ours suck, they are totally not set properly for our power band. If you did all this, I would say you would easily gain 50-60+ HP at the wheels with a decent powerband as well.

I think it would be cool to have a list of mods with cost and whp increase in order of proper supporting mods. That might make it easier for people to see which way they want to go / spend / how fast.

Kinda like on the http://www.intense-racing.com/side_bar_2.gif

MOe



MOe

[buzz4096]

are you guys saying that i should get a new engine or just rebuild mine?

[SappySE107]

75 hp doesnt require boost. You can boost it though and get some nice numbers but it really depends on your goals and money you wanna dump into it. I would actually try to find a 3.1 4T60 trans to pull some parts from and make a 3.73 FDR trans and go higher stall. Ive heard great things from this auto setup behind the DOHC motor. Gas milage will go down obviously but shit happens. Motor end, play with the cam timing if you aren't afraid of it. Having the DOHC tool kit helps or at least get the cam gear puller and make your own cam flat tool. Beyond that, cold air intake, headers (custom made there), and porting are good items. Exhaust is also key, so if its stock, look to start there for performance. 2.5" mandrel bent with a high flow cat and anything but stock mufflers will net you some noticable gains. UD pulley is also an excellent starting mod.

[buzz4096]

well, right now i just want to find out everything i can do to the car to make it faster. i'm not really worried about the money.

[blk92z34getrag]

https://www.fastfwdperformance.com

Get started there, great service.
----

https://www.rsmracing.com

Mixed reviews, but seem to have a very decent selection.

[buzz4096]

cool!
i was wondering if anyone knows if it would be safe to turbo this engine and possiblly a little NOS?

[rudefyet]

a couple people have turboed them

check http://www.brian89gp.com

and http://www.dohcfiero.com

the fiero has a little more room for a turbo though

[blk92z34getrag]

I've heard that these engines can handle 50 shot no problem... I forget who but someone sells a nos kit for the LQ1's. I think as long as your engine isn't burning oil and leaking compression it should handle a 50 shot fine.

[pocket-rocket]

I have heard a 50 shot is no problem, 75 is the top of the "safe on stock internals" end of the spectrum.

BTW, the license plate trim peice is called a license plate holder

[donk_316]

75 is the top of the "safe on stock internals"

The crank and rods can take more, its the pistons i would be concerned about. not correcting you, just adding to it.