Turbo ready 3400

[funky3821]

Hey all I was looking through the boost section and I didn't find what I wanted so if you can help please post!

I have a 3400 02 grand am engine that I want to turbo down the road! Fo awhile this engine will be out of my car and I figured I would look in to what ir would take to put some good boost to this? I'm getting the corkey bell book but till I do I would like to have a discussion on it!
I want to be pretty close to being done with the engine by mid summer!


What all would be needed to get my 3400 internals to hold up to something like 15+ of boost? And any other advice that anyone can give me would be great!!

[funky3821]

How could you whore my thread????


I know that I will need forged pistons and rods but other then that I would need to know if I would need anything like a forged crank a reinforced rockers lifters stuff like that?

[SappySE107]

stop being a dumbass germ.

The pistons are actually ok stock from what I have gathered, though going with a better built set such as forged, or even hyperuetectic would be a solid upgrade. The rods are the part of the engine I would be most concerned with. You could just deburr, polish, and shotpeen them, which would make them quite a bit better than stock, and much cheaper than going with crower forged rods. There is also the small block V8 rods from 68 and older that you can machine to fit. Depending on how much boost you are talking, or better yet, RPM and HP, you may want to go with redoing stock and saving on reciprocating weight. ARP studs/caps would be a good idea as well.

[Froggx]

I would use a t3/t4 turbo 57 trim t04e on the compressor and the .82a/r t3 exhaust housing. Not sure about internals though, although lowering compression ratio would be the foremost requirement. From my understanding the inside of the 3x00's are pretty stout.

its funny it has taken someone almost a week to give this guy some help, and then he only got a response by an admin becuase i wasnt being nice



no wonder many people are going over to www.gmfwd.com

This is kind of a true point here. I've only asked a few questions, and very rarely gained useful information from them, usually getting a response from just one person who is speculating at best. I've found I'm better off posting at fiero.nl for questions 3x00's even though fieros are based on ancient 2.8's and going to my town's local racing forum for questions about anything else car related, including turbos and also 660's. This forum just needs to attract more users.

[bszopi]

If people would use the frickin search function, perhaps they wouldn't have to ask the questions. As Germ stated, you can only answer a question so many times before you get sick of answering it and just ignore it. There are many members that don't check this area because they aren't boosted or have no plans on boosting, even though they may be able to answer the question at hand.

The thing I love is that people will ask a question, wait a few days, and then come back with "Doesn't anyone know?" In that time frame, I guarantee you could have done some searching and found the answer to your question...

Feel free to go to gmfwd.com, we aren't the ones keeping you coming back here. If you don't feel you are gaining knowledge by coming here, or don't feel like helping others out, then you might as well just leave instead of bitching about people not answering your questions.

[bszopi]

And since I'm sure someone will bitch because I didn't provide any useful information, here you go...

http://www.60degreev6.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=353&highlight=3400+internals+boost

Gee, that took a whole 20 seconds to find... Unfortunately, I'm not going to pick through it to find the exact information you want. If you want spoon fed, just save yourself and have someone else do the entire engine build for you.

[funky3821]

I made this thread to help the people that will be doing the search! I took the easiest references I could think of.
3400=Engine
Turbo ready=plans
So in sence when anyone looks for info on this engine this thread should come up at the top! Kinda like the 3100 turbo page! A ONE STOP SHOP

I also made this page so I could have a discussion on parts, tips and tricks, and any other usefull info that would be needed to know, and be able to help out anyone thinking about this!

Now if the people that have experience want to help out that was up to them but if you ask me to have a page dedicated to the turboing of the 3400 engine alone instead of a basic overveiw of ten different engines. I think would help some people!


And Brad how often do you use the search to find certian things like stroke length, compression ratings? How many searches does it take and how much time do you spend doing it..........Or do you just ask a buddy if they can give some help! Personally I like to ask those who have experience.

[bszopi]

I never ask the questions cause I don't work on my car anymore. But since I'm still a moderator, I am responsible for helping people as much as possible. So yes, I often do searches for people when they can't (or are too lazy to) look for the info themselves. I have been here for over 4 years, so I know the info has been discussed. It all a matter of taking a few minutes to look for the info.

I unfortunately have other things to do than search for info for people. Things like school, work, my wife and daughter... And then there is trying to take care of this site and do as much as possible in my vast amount of free time to keep as much information as possible up to date and on the main page.

So, to sum it up... Even though I doubt I will EVER boost my 3400, I will try to gather all the info I can find on the site and organize it into a section on the main site so people can know what they are getting into when they look into boosting.... I'll do all the work so that you can just sit back and easily read it. Would hate to have to make you actually have to do anything.

In other words, if your goal behind making the thread was to make a ONE STOP SHOP for people, maybe you should have done some of the work and found at least SOME information and go from there. Your initial thread had no reference to what you stated in your most recent post, so how are we supposed to know what your plans are?

[SappySE107]

germs remarks have been deleted. Next time im deleting him.

[bszopi]

Ok, here we go...

http://www.60degreev6.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Pushrod&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=33&page=1

I did a quick writeup of my thoughts. How about we use that as a starting point and add to it. Since I have never ventured into the boost arena, I am going by what I have learned over the past 5 years from the site. So I can guarantee not everything is there. And it may not all be 100% accurate either. So we can use this thread as a comments area for the site article.

[Mechanic]

Just some considerations for the article.
Headers are a waste on a turbocharged engine unless a custom exhaust is needed for mounting the turbocharger. The use of headers for a turbocharged motor will not provide performance improvments as they do a normally aspirated motor. The reason for this is that headers work by using the scavanging effect, and once an obstruction to normal exhaust gas flow that a turbo represents has been attached, the scavanging effect is no longer available.

Another area that should be addressed is the trans. The selection of fwd automatic transaxles is not too bad, but the stock 4T60-E is not something I would put behind a 60V6 motor boosted to any level I consider extreme (> 12 PSIG). Rebuilding the 4T60-E to withstand torque levels that can easily exceed 300 ft-lbs is extremely expensive, enough so in fact that swapping to a manual trans becomes quite desireable. Since using a manual trans also permits the use of an OBDI PCM loaded with modified TGP code, you will save yourself the grand or two you would have had to spend for an aftermarket engine management system, and therefore the trans swap pretty much pays for itself. The stock Getrag 282 5-spd is commonly used behind high performance small block V8 transplants, so it will likely withstand just about anything a turbocharged 60V6 can throw at it just fine.

The use of a manual trans may also provide the clearance required to mount a turbocharger directly on the exhaust outlet when a 95' 3100 exhaust manifold is used on that side.
This is something that should be explored further for the particlular platform involved, as the cost required to mount a turbocharger with this method can be easily be less than $50.

[bszopi]

Thanks for the input Mick. Its people like you, who have gone through the work already, whose input is the greatest. I didn't even think about the turbo exhaust system, but I know exactly where you are coming from. So I'll have to mention exhaust for both SC and turbo setups. As far as the tranny, I again really didn't even think about it. I mentioned it in the discussion about engine management, but that's about as far as I thought. Perhaps it was because I was focusing more on the engine itself than the rest of the components. I will definately add a tranny section as well.

[Mechanic]

I know, I have far too much free time on my hands so thinking becomes a dangerous thing.

I am also hoping that someone who see's this will at least try a test fit for an exhaust outlet mounted Mitsubishi design turbo. There are a lot of these in any salvage yard one may peruse (any Turbo Ecplise/Talon will likely have one), and they can be obtained for few bucks since the condition is not an issue. The 95' exhaust manifold is also an important find since it provides the correct discharge angle for mounting the turbo.
The problem is there are very few GEN III's running a 5-spd manual trans at this point in time.

The turbocharger can be mounted using my methods with no welding required. I inadvertantly tested this mounting system myself, in a very profound way. I needed to use an "emissions" exhaust at one point in time that wrapped under the engine cradle to the front of the motor where there was sufficient space for a cat converter (actually its stock location on a Fiero). This particular exhaust system did not provide much ground clearance, and the speed bumps at my condo residence were just recently "upgraded". I must have hit them at least 20 times hard enough to cause kidney damage, and plenty hard enough to rip any welded system apart. There was no evidence that these stress tests had any adverse effect on the turbo mount whatsoever. Nodular cast iron is extremely strong, to say the least.

One may also note from the pic of my turbocharged 3100 Fiero project that the turbocharger is not visible. In fact, the stock aluminum exhaust heat shields were also used which essentially cover the top of the turbo, making it nearly indetectable. (The intercooler is a bit of a give away, but it can be removed temporarily if desired). This has obvious advantages in states like CA, where attaching a turbo in plain view at the exhaust crossover will typically result in an off-road only registration, unless the emission's inspector is quite blind.

[Froggx]

Mechanic, do you have any more pictures of your setup or information about it? I am currently swapping a 3400 into my fiero and plan on boosting it soon after I get it all together.

Also, maybe consider adding a section to the article about the exhaust after the turbocharger. Running a turbo through a stock exhaust system would have bad effects on thing like spool up time. Something like a 3 inch downpipe running to a highflow cat and then out through a 2.5 inch pipe would work pretty well in our case, I think.

[Mechanic]

Pics I have accumulated were pretty much scattered thoughout the internet, but I managed to get a fairly good collection added to this post :

http://www.gmpcm.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=145