building engine. Prepping

[littlehat]

Hey guys. I plan on building up my 3L in the near future and am trying to prep and make sure I have a list of everything i'll need. First off I have to say this because other forums are going to chime in, I DO NOT want to swap in another engine and realize I could get more power from a swap, my '98 only 35k original miles so I'm keeping it. I haven't really thought of a desired hp/tq target, but the main uprage i will be doing is morana's 3.3L stroker kit because of the forged internals and increased rpm's. The reason why i am going with the stroker kit is to boost later on.

So here is what I have come up with so far
-Stroker kit
-injectors and fuel pump. What fuel pump would you guys recommend and are new fuel rails neccesary for now if i keep it N/A?
-aggressive camshaft with upgraded valve train and roller rockers
-i am thinking about port matching my intakes and heads myself. will this be sufficient to hold out while N/A right now? Any of you guys have experience doing this as it doesn't seem too complicated/difficult.
-upgraded head gasket
-headers
-ignition system upgrades

What else will I need to get these rev's to 7k and bypass the redline limiter. Will my stock cooling system take the increased heat?

 

[Angie]

Hi, Just thought I would let you know about this and can possibly save you some coin. On your cam saying aggressive you can take a look at this place, they do custom shaft grindings to any profile you are needing. If I would have known about him before I placed in my 410 I would have gotten him to grind my old cam (cheaper and more to different spec) I recently got them to grind me a custom grind on a 2.8 from mid 70's engine.

check them out. www.coltcams.com they do many HI-PO custom grinds.

as for the cooling question, My guess is yes you would probally want to go full aluminum racing rad... if you are laying out that type of coin, why cheap out on $200 for cooling.

cheers

 

[stmitch]

Read this site:http://rogueperformance.com/WelcometoFredland.html
Specifically the parts about head and block mods, cooling mods, lower manifold porting, and 3.0 potential. Theres a ton of good info there. Besides being a 3.0 guru, Fred's a great tuning resource if you don't already have one.
I'd shoot him an email ( as well as Tom Morana) with your plans before you do anything and see what they say.

To answer some of your questions:
-fuel pump- an upgrade may not be necessary, but wouldn't hurt either. I'd suggest a Walbro 195 or 225
-fuel rail-Stock should be fine
-porting- The heads and lower intake are the biggest restrictions. Start there.
-ignition- Stock ignition setup is more than enough for most applications. In fact most boosted guys have problems with aftermarket stuff, and switch back to stock.
-valvetrain- Will need to be full roller to reduce friction, newer beehive springs may work, or you could get custom double springs.
-fasteners- I'd highly suggest ARP head studs at minimum. Main studs and a stud girdle would be a good idea too. (Stock head gaskets can hold up to 17ish psi. It's the head bolts that stretch and cause the gaskets to blow.)
-MAF- You will eventually need a larger MAF as well. Especially if you get into boost. The Whipple superchargers came with a 4.0 SOHC maf. That may be a good idea for you. You may even need something larger than that. Talk to an experienced tuner about it.

 

[littlehat]

Another quick question that I came up. I don't know if any of you guys have any experience with it, but would an aggresive cam with 1.8 rockers have too much lift and possible have a problem with creating the vacum?
Looks like my funds for this project are settling in and hopefully I'll have it rolling pretty soon and I'll let you guys know how the stroker kit performs.

 

[stmitch]

I would be pretty concerned about the valve to piston clearance even on a stock stroke. I've seen pics of Morana's stroker before where the pistons were fly cut to avoid hitting the valves. I'd consult Tom about whatever your plans are to make sure your planned combo would be feasible. When I last spoke with Tom in January, he was working on a cam profile that would compliment the 1.8's. Maybe that would be a better way to go. Whatever you decide, be sure and post up, because I'll be running into some similar issues soon on my build, and I'd love to know what you find out.

 

[littlehat]

Just a little update. I have my stroker kit and 1.8's ordered and I spoke to Tom about the piston valve clearance and he said just don't go over a 500 lift when I get my cam grinded. I also spoke to the guy from Colt Cams(forget his name) and he seemed really nice and knew what he was talking about. I'm going to go with him but he'll be on vacation till the second half of august. I think the plan we're going to go is a redline bumped up to 6.5k IF drivability is still going to be there on the street, but I don't think it's going to be.

 

[Big Jim M]

Howdy Little hat

Just a little update. I have my stroker kit and 1.8's ordered and I spoke to Tom about the piston valve clearance and he said just don't go over a 500 lift when I get my cam grinded. I also spoke to the guy from Colt Cams(forget his name) and he seemed really nice and knew what he was talking about. I'm going to go with him but he'll be on vacation till the second half of august. I think the plan we're going to go is a redline bumped up to 6.5k IF drivability is still going to be there on the street, but I don't think it's going to be.

You havn't said which tranny you have in that ride. Nor have you said zackly what you will use that ride for. Is it going to the track? If it is purly for grocery getting I'd look at the camshaft specs available and think about the torque/horespower at 2000/3500 rpm. Then I'd make a choice from them charts as to what I really wanted my ride to do.
6500 is a little radical for most street applications, as you have indicated.
Every camshaft has a sweetspot in it's chart that should be considered.
Now on the other hand if all you want is balls to the wall.. AND you are considering a gear/tire change then 6500 rpm may work out well for ya.
Remember even with the stroker kit you still have a small engine and increasing the rpms make a difference in torque.
I would be looking for the most lift that I could get with the shortest overlap. Duration alone won't cut it for grocery getting.
Big JIm

 

[littlehat]

I'll have a manual trans swapped in pretty soon and I have 4.10 gears with stock tires waiting to be put in as well. Your right about looking at the charts and thats basicly what I'm waiting on since he's on vacation.

 

[stmitch]

Glad you're making some progress! It sounds like it's going to be sweet! Did you just get the storker parts, or did you go with a preassembled short/long block? Any idea when you'll get the stroker? I'm curious about the lead time on some of Morana's stuff.

 

[joecool85]

Can't wait to hear how the 3.3 stroker turns out. Might be something I'd be interested in doing eventually.

 

[littlehat]

Ya I'm syked for it. I haven't heard of a single soul who's dropped one so hopefully I can really help out the 3.slow crowd out.

 

[littlehat]

so I'm almost done gathering everything up just need another quick question answered. I picked up some p&p'ed heads for cheap. Only have 3k since the work was done so i figured i'd pick them up. They are from a '94 and was wondering if this is going to raise/lower my compression ratio compared to my stock '98 heads. Also for you guys wondering about the turn around on Morana's kit. I got the pistons and rods fairly quick, but he doesn't make them. He does the machine work on the crank and it took him a while to find the right one i guess. Been about a month now and still counting.

 

[stmitch]

I don't think the older heads will affect your comp ratio. Unless your truck is flex fuel, in which case the flex fuel heads raise compression slightly due to a different shaped combustion chamber. So if your truck is flex fuel, the older heads would likely drop your ratio slightly.

 

[littlehat]

thanks! Better safe then sorry figured i'd ask just in case.

 

[littlehat]

okay guys i know it's been a little while, but I have one last simple question before i finally order some injectors and a tuner to get this puppy rolling. I just want to make sure that a '94 bottom intake manifold will mate with my '98 upper.