I love free stuff

[Doubt_Incarnate]

YAY!

that waitress at work finally had her motor swapped, i dont get the whole 3100 she had, but i get the old short block, FREE! she felt bad about having to have all the crap moved over so she said she'd give me the old leftover. finally i get a roller block. now where to start?

I'm thinking of de-stroking it. no-one really does anything with 2.8's anymore it seems so i would have a one-of-a-kind setup. I have some 2.8l aluminum head pistons for 1mm oversize, just need to come up with the crank. I'm sure i can find some 3400 heads and topside (maybe that 3500 plenum) and maybe try my hand at a boosted motor. i've seen some pics on here of an upper 3400 manifold that doesnt have any identifying marks, just a smooth peice. what is that off of? or is it customized?

i'm open to ideas...

[sharkey]

RE: I love free stuff

cool, but unless you have to have a hydralic roller, id stick with a gen 2 block. if you are building a motor for all out performance, id just stick in a solid lifter cam. being you are destroking it to a 2.8l, seems kind of a waste to buy a mount to put it into your car. for the price or a mount and crank, you could pick up a complete 2.8l.

what i would think would be cool is a 3400 destroked using a 2.8l crank. would require custom pistons, but would be one rev happy engine.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

Yeah its all up in the air right now, i'd like all-out-performance, but i also like not adjusting valve lash every 5000miles or so. the main reason for destroking, if i really do, would be to ease the stress on my 4spd. they are few and far between in ohio it seems and i'd like to prolong its life. but since i have time to figure everything out i should find a 282 gretag and use that tranny anyways. i like all the low-end power i can get, so using a 2.8 crank is not helping me in that area either. i also thouhgt about using the L.O. 2.8 pistons like the old s-10's had with the aluminum heads for 12:1, but then i'm little worried about the 11.39: i have know so i probably won't do that either. i tinkerd on DD2K alittle and made a 200hp "2800" with 12:1 and retarding the stock cam 10*, and a set of headers minus mufflers cuz they are gay. but like i said, i'm open to all ideas. maybe i can get away with boring it out just enough to squeeze the 3400 sized pistons in. racer x-11 said he went 3 years on an overbored 3.1 block with about 10:1. make my own "poor man's 3400"

[sharkey]

the 4 to 5 speed swap is easy, i did it almost a yeard ago now. you need to change the shifter and shfiter cables. you can use the 4 speed clutch, but you need to use the release bearing from the 5 speed. depending on what year 5 speed you get, you may needd to change the slave (i used a 90 tranny, thats the first year of the slave bolting right to the bellhousing).

i was lucky when i did my swap, 4 of us went into a parts car for $300 and i got everything i needed for $75.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

yeah , i made the mistake of swapping in an isuzu 5spd. i recal my slave cylinder was attached to the bel housing. got a whopping 3 more mpg, and crappy acceleration. maybe if i had money to waste on it i would have it overhauled and get the 3.83 gears from mantapart, but probably not. it does a lot of grinding last time i drove it. probably just find the right tranny this time around. i'd like to make at least the same power to weight ratio my trans am has, about 12lbs/hp. maybe the extra omph from the 3100 would counter those crappy gears in the isuzu.

[sharkey]

once you throw more power at that isuzu, its gonna commit suicide. they are meant for a 4 cyl and wont hold the torque.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

true, i remember searching around and came across an atritcle on how chevy chinsed out on that tranny. turns out the geo storm gsi has the same tranny, but because its in an isuzu based car, it can put up with 400hp, gm purposely ordered the transmision wimpy so it was cheaper. according to the article. i'm still playing on dd2k with different setups for the 3x00 block. so far it isnt looking to be much faster than the gen2, but its free and it is a little faster. i think once company goes back home i'm going to getthe car started and running on the old motor just so its like a morale booster for me. put the z24 skirts and bumpers on and do a little body work on it to keep myself occupied so i dont go insane. i'm like the families inbox for complaint forms or something, i need an imediate escape befor things get bloody.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

this is going off on a non aplicable tangent, feel free to move it moderator.

[Cliff8928]

If i didn't get the 3400 when i did, i was going to get a 3000 from the school that i went to, somehow they got like 3 of them. That would've been an interesting swap. I have to go down that way, maybe I'll see if they still have them.



Cliff Scott
89 BerettaGT
04 AleroGX

[Doubt_Incarnate]

definitly wanna use those arp studs everywhere i can. heads, mains, rods, etc. get some real rods, aluminum jobs. I'll do this one right. mabey if use the 2.8 crank i'll do some custom pistons so i can have a 10:1. could turn into a "fastest all-motor 2.8" project. or because the old crank is there, just use that and stop trying to change everything. i dunno, i know she ran it out of oil somehow so i need to get it therest of the way apart first to see what the damage is. he car runs now, so somewhere in this thing is the reason it didn't before.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

i know there is a reason the aluminum head gaskets are thicker, i dont remember if it was a problem like the Q4's had where the expansion of the different metals tore it up, or if it was something else. just wondering what the durability of the iron head gaskets are with the aluminum heads. looks like you can get real close to 10:1 on a 3400 bore with the iron head gaskets from a 2.8/3.1, i dont think the ity bity difference in the bore size will be a problem, isnt it like 3.622" cyl vs. 3.642" gasket?