Question : Engine Upgrade

[lucki5179]

I'm doing a rebuild on a 3.1L in a olds cutlass trying to get a lil more power out of this slow motor any help would be appreciated. i have added a msd ignition set and cold air however i'm having trouble finding parts for the interior of the motor i.e. pushrods, rocker arms, fuel injectors etc. anyone with any info help me please. I need to bring my autobot back to life.

[geoffinbc]

We need year make and model of you car. You should add it to your signature. All the parts can be had but we need to know which exact motor you have.

[bszopi]

1993 Old Cutlass, per his vehicle identification dropdown. But, I know some Cutlass' (the Ciera mainly) came with a 3100 instead of the old 3.1MPFI, so a clarification on that needs to be had.

[3100 MPFI]

The only 3100 Cutlass in 1993 was the Cutlass SUPREME. However, it could STILL be the 3100 if it is a VIN M.

[bszopi]

No. The Cutlass Ciera had it in 93. I have a book to prove it (somewhere).

[lucki5179]

the car is a 93 cutlass supreme sl. It's a 3.1L not a 3100 the vin# is T not M

[3100 MPFI]

The first things I would do is swap the coils back to the stock setup, and put the stock airbox back in. That should get your power back up to where it should be.

Some other things that would help is a camshaft swap, and swap the heads and intakes to the newer 3100 LARGE PORT, or 3400 setup. Those, as well as the larger throttle body offered in the 3400 minivans will get you some power.



There is quite a few things that will need to be done, but I think if you start getting the parts together, you can do most of this work in a weekend with proper preperation.




Brad, so far, I have not physically seen a 1993 Cutlass Ciera with a 3100. I also have a picture of a 1995 Cutlass Supreme with HUD, and I have seen 1 in person, but GM even says they never did it. A friend of mine has a POSTER with a picture of a 1995 Cutlass Supreme convertible with REAR BUCKET SEATS, but GM never offered it. Books can lie too. I am not saying they have not done it, but I have not seen one. I HAVE seen a 1993 Cutlass Supreme with the 3100 seeing that my intake on my gold car is from a 1993 Supreme 3100.

[lucki5179]

why go back to stock setup from high performance and if possible i want to do everything but a cam swap but if i have to i will but the only things that are still orginal is the cam, pistons and lifters.

[3100 MPFI]

Stock is actually a HOTTER SPARK than what msd has. As for the stock airbox, it was designed to raise your torque. When you go to anything other than a complete stock box WITH THE SNORKLE STILL ATTACHED, you might gain a few HP, but you will lose a lot of TORQUE. Do not confuse NOISE with power. Put some ear plugs in, and drive the car, then put the stock airbox in and drive it again. The ear plugs block out the noise so you are more likely to FEEL the difference.

[lucki5179]

noise is the last thing i'm worried about since it's 4 alpine r-12's in the trunk i'm just looking for a little more get up and go than stock. and snce i had to do a head job i might as well upgrade anything i can. so is torque better than hp? i had a high flow cat installed(mangaflow) and the trans was rebuilt with a shiftkit(B&M) installed and the oil pump is fairly new(stock) the rod bearings were also changed with the oil pump. And i'm waiting to see what kinds of options i have with the heads. And afte that finding new bolts.

[IanSzgatti]

I do agree about the hotter spark and the stock air-box. what he's saying makes sence... Once you've done even just the 3400 heads and intakes/TB and exhaust again, it's be a different car.

[lucki5179]

s there any info on the head swap?? also would the rckers and pushrods have to be different doesn't matter since i need new ones anyway

[IanSzgatti]

the nuts and bolts of it are easy, you taking off parts and replacing with same stuff but bigger, better. Really the most critical part of that is cleanliness during the procedure.
I think there could be a fuel/air/computer issue though that might need to be corrected by a PCM tune.....

[lucki5179]

oh well the motor has already ben cleaned and it would be heads off of the 3400 not the 3.4 correct??

[3100 MPFI]

correct. The 3.4 SFI is used in the REAR DRIVE cars, or the 3.4 DOHC which is an overhead cam.

A 3100 and a 3400 have the heads and intakes that you will want. I recommend getting at least 1996 or newer for those parts. The 1993-1995 3100 SFI has STAMPED STEEL rockers which will require you to do some modding to the lower intake for clearance issues.

Getting the parts is easy. The harder part is going to be getting the other things that make it work. You will need to swap out some heater hoses, coolant pipes, and the exhaust downpipe. As well as everything from the heads up, you will need the exhaust manifolds and crossover as well. Your stock airbox will not fit, so you might have not choice but to use a cone filter on it.

As for torque being better than horsepower, what it really boils down too is that you need a good BALANCE between the two, and as heavy as some of these cars are, you kinda need the torque a little more.

The easiest way to explain it is basically like this:

"TORQUE is what GETS you moving. HORSEPOWER is what KEEPS you moving."