beefing up a 3.1

Well im getting my tranny rebuilt so when its done i was wondering if there is any safe way to beef up a 3. v-6 with 180,000 miles in it? it seems to be either a well maintained 180,000 or was rebuild at one time. i have know idea what to do to it for cheap. i dont have a lot of money to invest but other than a k&n filter i would like to add some power about 20 hp if possible. any idea's anyone? does anyone make air rams, or open air intake kits for them? thanks guys for the help. Jess

Damn man, beefing up a V6 is alot harder than V8s because of how not alot of people do that kind of thing, im personally going to just get rid of mine for an ls1, sorry I cant help you out, but i'd try to get a ram air hood on that thing.

best way to beef up a 3.1... take it out and put in a 350.. :biggrin:

Yea, if it were a 3.4 or especially a 3.8 I could definately point you in the right direction... but unfortunately I don't know much about the 3rd gen's v6's and I don't believe there's much potential or market for them.

sorry

Free flowing exhaust, dual custom build or at least a cut-out with a high flow cat,headers-expensive! cold air intake, get some new sensors, bigger fuel pump+ bigger injectors, bigger throthel boddy. When all this is done u might be able to kick any stock v8 ass, AND it is good on gas. For example my 2.8MFI firebird would be faster than my beefed up 305OH cutlass, not as much torque tho. Iam tired to pay for gas.

And if u dont have emissions just get rid off your exhaust

could i use nos? will the engine take it. if so what kind of system wet or dry and how much power could the engine take safely?

Nah, I dont think your engine would handle nos, thats like a thing you shouldnt put until your engine has like alot of mods on it, well thats the way I see it.

it has actual dual exhuast with out cats so i know it has more than the stock rated power but i still want about 20 hp more. any good idea's?

fastest ive ever heard a 3.1 (bored to hell ported all stainless valves componets upgraded to hell i think the guy spent around 5 grand and it only shat with a 14.8 sec 1/4 mile. take engine and trans out, kick both of them seveal times and then put in an LT4 with a hot cam, hold your A$$ and say bye bye

believe me, ram air is worthless, forget it. see if you can get a better intake plenum first (not the filter and hose section). Edelbrock make a performance lower intake plenum for the 60degree V-6, but i'm not sure if they make them for your particular engine http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/man_sbchev.html (call them and ask them). Also try www.v6fbody.com

the more mods you put on that engine the more likely it is to break as with all engine performance mods

ill tell u what, if anyone gets a v6 fast enough for a ramair hood to actually work before the 1/4 mile is up then let me see because "ram air" aint good for crap untill u start reaching around 80 or 100 or something silly like that, cold air intake is a much better way to go( and im not sure if u can say much better) but im saying it

believe me, ram air is worthless, forget it. see if you can get a better intake plenum first (not the filter and hose section). Edelbrock make a performance lower intake plenum for the 60degree V-6, but i'm not sure if they make them for your particular engine http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/man_sbchev.html (call them and ask them). Also try www.v6fbody.com


the 2.8, 3.1 and 3.4 are all very similar 60 degree engines

@ the comment that said remove your exhast.

No, these new cars NEED the exhast, its not like the older cars where if you run open headers they will run amazing. If you kill the exhast system, the car will run like shit.

i've read on a w-body (FWD: cutlass, monte carlo, regal, lumina, etc...) website about some of them boring their 3.1's to 3.4's, perhaps that's something you could look into.

Couple things now. First off LOTS AND LOTS of people beef up their 6ers. Also agreed, DONT remove your exhaust that's retarted and annoying. Get a nice 2.5" or 3" catback. You can't and shouldn't run TRUE duals, because of issues with fitting it under, and also because your v6 doesnt need it, the single back suffices. And ys I believe it wouldnt be too unrealistic to stroke it to 3.4 (all the 3.4 is is I think a stroked 2.8)