Newbie race car project

[pony]

hi first time posting (bran spankin new to the internet forum thing) so please bear with me

here it goes: i m a 30 something wanna be do it yourself mechanic with moderate tech knowlege (i ll understand but it can take a while) have some minimum experience wrenching have been following the v8 crowd for a while but have no clue to what makes a 60 degree tick

I happen to own an 87 hyundai pony winter beater (mid eighties korean rwd sub compact that intreduced hyundai to north america)

me and my dad where thinking about stripping it down swapping a v6 5 speed in it and racing the local boys to shame

heres where it gets interresting:
RWD stick car 1800lbs (steet trim) comparable to a chevette in platform and engine bay size

my plan to this date:
v6 5 speed 10 bolt 4.10 gears lsd stripped to the bone frame connectors 6 point cage(minimum) plan on building it myself and learning as i go along
I presently dont know wich engine (2.8 3.1 or 3.4) would be best to build on
I plan on running nitrous and possibly super charge later on

so enough for now i ll wait for your sugestions

[bszopi]

Welcome to the site! Sounds like a very interesting build, so be sure to keep us updated as you go.

For starters, are you wanting to go fuel injected (ie, ECM required) or do you want to run a carb? This basically will lead us in the direction to start giving you ideas. But, either way, I would start with a 93-95 Camaro setup, which will get you the 3.4L and possibility of a 5-spd setup stock (can't remember off the top of my head if the 3.4s were available with a manual, although I think they were). Might as well start with the largest displacement. If you plan on running a carb setup, you will have less options. If you plan to run an ECM, then you will have many more options, including swapping over to the FWD aluminum heads and top end, which will gain you more power potential.

[Superdave]

Agreed, i'd start off with the 3.4 RWD as well.. or since you'll probably have to fab up motor mounts maybe using a FWD engine in the RWD config would work out better. There are a few small issues here and there but the FWD V6 engines are stronger and make considerably more power.

the 3500 V6 i pulled from a '04 Malibu is making ~320 crank HP with a cam, headers and some porting

60 degrees are just like the SBC's.. you want the best flowing heads possible, a matched cam, headers etc.. you'd be suprised how they respond. And as always, fuel injection will make more power, be more reliable and get better gas mileage (not that we worry about that).

[pony]

thanks for the responses never thought it d come so fast

my plans for this year are:gatering info(best parts for the buck parts interchange mods getting my plan laid out) getting the frame axle brakes set up and finally dropping the engine in...basicly getting it up and running

I wasnt planning on running FI for now since this car is ultra lowtec (points distibutor electonics nothing) but it could come later down the road

ok let me throw some ideas I got and let me know what you guys think:

carbed 3.4 stroker?? (ARI engines in Grandview MO has a kit and performance heads available) heads ported polished port matched bigger valves?? 3-5 angle valve job running 10.5 comp high volume oil pump(available?) high volume water pump BIG cam probably homemade long tube headers dual exhaust with hi-po mufflers T-5 tranny hi-po clutch 10 bolt axle 3.73 or 4.10 gears(not sure yet) lsd supercharging could come up farther down the road

I m planning on running some serious numbers to shut up those who laughed and told me it wont work
(I saw Ortie666 3.1 acadian drag car earlier anybody knows how it runs??)

by the way gas milage is not so much an issue since this car will mostly be run at the track but it still has to be drivable since I dont own a trailer or tow vehicule

nuff said let me know if im off my rockers or not

[LeftVentricle]

I don't know if there's a stroker kit for the 3.4. It's a bored-out 3.1, which itself is a stroked 2.8, and I believe that even the newest engines (3.5, 3.9) still share the 84 mm stroke that the 3.1 has. All newer ones have just been bored out.

As for your want of higher compression and bigger valves, I think you can use the newer aluminum heads with the iron head pistons and get a pretty ridiculous ratio, like over 11.

[pony]

thanks for the input

I understand the importance of aluminium heads on these engines but wont be running them (unless I can find an intake) since this car will be carburated

as for the stroker kit just looked it up and your right (2.8 stroked to 3.4)

oh well back to the old drawing board