87 z-24 engine swap? Whats my best options?

[houseinateor]

Hey guys new to your site. I recently purchaced an 87 z-24. I have been interested in building/swaping a motor in one of these for years. Ive always liked the box style cav and would like to make a cool little sleeper/driver out of this one. Maybe 3.1? 3400? I had a 2001 grand am with the 3400 and always thought that would be a cool swap to the box style cav. Can you guys give me some ideas and maybe point me in the right direction? Im not sure what all interchanges between these engines? Id like to keep the origional 5spd tranny and keep it as stock looking as possible.

[IsaacHayes]

3400 defiantly. Check out www.domesticcrew.com and www.v6z24.com for inspiration. Common swap. There are a lot of turbo 3400 guys too.

If you need advice with building up a 3400 we can help you with that too. cam, headers, etc

Your car probably doesn't weigh much, so it will be pretty easy to make it fast!!

[houseinateor]

nice!! 3400 was my first choice. Before I worry about BUILDING a 3400. Can you give me some lists of what I need to change with the car?

1. What year/model 3400 should I look for?
2. Computer/wiring?
3. Flywheel/Clutch?
4. Any other major changes?

[IsaacHayes]

1) Any year 3400 except the ones from the Equinox, it has a different crank trigger setup and won't work with our ECM's. Check out www.car-part.com for 3400's. You can find some low mileage ones for cheap!!! It would be a good idea to put on the metal felpro problem solver lower intake manifold gasket before you drop it in so you don't have to worry about coolant leaking into the oil ever.

2) You will need to learn how to tune and burn chips or use an emulator, or get someone to burn you a chip. www.moates.net has stuff, and info is available just search around on this site and the ones mentioned above. Not sure what ECM your car has but if it's not DIS then you can swap to the newer gen 2 cav's 2.8/3.1mpfi ECM and use that (might require a few pinout changes). You will want to use the new injectors that come with the 3400 as your old ones will be too small. But you will need the ECM to be tuned with the right tables for the larger injectors as un-tuned it will run rich at idle/partial cruise.

3) A 2.8/3.1mpfi aluminum head flywheel and clutch will work. Not sure if your flywheel is the same on the 1st gen?? You can get several different brands of stronger clutches which is recommended for the extra power the 3400 puts out. 6 or 4 puck clutches are offered too. Search v6z24.com and look around at what other people run.

4) Engine mount, I think it's SixShooter on www.v6z24.com that offers the mount. The 3x00 install guide is here
http://www.domesticcrew.com/installguide.htm that tells you about the other details.

Register at those 2 sites. You can get help from v6z24.com as they are experts on the cavaliers. And domesticcrew once you register you can view more forums there.