3400 mods to do during freshening up?

[Whitefiretiger]

Foing to be ripping into my 3400 to freshen it up a bit (new gaskets, seals, and whatever else i happen to find needing attention)
I'm wondering if theres anything besides maybe some port & polish I should or can do while its apart without spending bank on a cam.

and suggestions would be great.

[Guest]

Honestly, cam IS the place to start. P&P won't help much with a stock cam, when the stock cam is better suited to low RPM, and typically P&P moves the power band up.

[Whitefiretiger]

Honestly, cam IS the place to start. P&P won't help much with a stock cam, when the stock cam is better suited to low RPM, and typically P&P moves the power band up.

Thanks but no budget for a cam unfortunately.

I'm not wanting to hog out the ports just clean up castings and smooth them out as well as make sure the ports line up well at mating surfaces. This shouldn't throw the rpm band off from the stock cam and still improve performancea bit.

i have plenty of time to put into it but not a big budget unfortunately. This is going to go into my 92 cavalier with the wot chip for obd1 to replace the tired old engine.

[Guest]

Blending and port matching won't hurt, but will work better with an upgraded cam.

[Whitefiretiger]

Blending and port matching won't hurt, but will work better with an upgraded cam.

Thanks. I wish there was more budget so i could get a cam but unfortunately it's going to probably take a few months just to gather the parts needed to freshen it up and get the chip.

is there any other little things I should do beyond seals/gaskets and a new timing set (read its best to stick to 99 & older timing set)

[woody90gtz]

Interested in this myself, too. Pretty sure I just bent a valve (45psi in one cylinder after I hit 2nd instead of 4th on a WOT pull). So it has to come apart and I'm looking for some cheap power while it's in pieces.

What's the deal with head gaskets? I'm guessing there is no safe room to go thinner on the gasket for some more compression? I was surprised a stock cam would have interference with a piston...

Also, let's say I spend some cash and go stage 2 heads, how much re-tuning is required? Gonna throw the base map totally off? Wondering because OBD1 is a pain to log and tune. Same q for the street/strip cam.

I've got too many other projects going on to spend too much time on this car. haha

[Whitefiretiger]

Looks like I'm going to be a bit longer on a 3400 build. Crank & cam are damaged thanks to a spun rod bearing sending metal threw the block.