Interesting LNJ/LX9 article

[Kaiju Senso]

It was bugging me that I couldn't re-prove to myself why I thought the LNJ 3400 and LX9 3500 were basically the same engine. After more digging I found this very nice article breaking down some of the main aspects of the LNJ and LX9 engines, comparing the two as well as to the LA1. Be sure to read it as the Illustrated PDF version because it has pictures to actually see the differences the author is talking about. (It even goes into the late 3500 and 3900).

http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Article/85563/rebuilding_the_chevy_34l35l_engine.aspx

Looks like I was incorrect when I thought the heads were the same which is a bummer on my part. Question though, are the powdered metal rods stronger then the forged LA1 rods? Same question to any of the revised parts (pistons, timing set, ect) My next step is to see where the weak points are on this motor so I can fix them during an upgrade.

[bszopi]

Great article. I definitely need to save that somewhere (probably won't be able to host it.... yet).

Looking at all of the pics kind of made me wonder - what is the chance that 3.5/3.9 heads would work on a 3500 block? Hmmm....

[mickaz]

the rods are weaker. there is someone on the beretta forum that is boosted and actually found out that the rods are the weakest link in the 3500.

[Superdave]

In figure 18 the 3500's piston has a small valve relief in it... My spares don't have that but that's exactly where all the ones in my engine have dents from the exhaust valves.. lol

[3400-95-Modified]

I was unaware that the 3.4L rods were already forged... Interesting and could save me money in the long run.. LOL

and that's HILARIOUS that there is the same dink in the early 3.5L piston as Dave has and as I have... LOL

[07Maxx]

Great article. I still feel like a newbie to the 60-degree V6 world, even though I've been driving the Malibu since December 2007.