How to build up a 3.8l engine??

[akira32492]

hey i have a 96 3.8l camaro and i was wondering if you guys could help me. I want to build up my engine because i just want more hp and all i have on now is a CA intake. I want to stay naturally asperated and everyone keeps saying get bigger cams do this do that but specifically i dnt know what or where to order parts to build up my engine. sry its so long but help would be nice. thanxx

[97rs4life]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

first, we only have one cam. ;)

Next what kind of track times/power levels are you after NA?

Manual or auto trans?

[Pewter02Camaro]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

If you go to the third post in this thread it lists the vast majority of suppliers of aftermarket parts for our cars. Hope this helps.

http://forum.camarov6.com/showthread.php?t=7536

[akira32492]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

auto tranny and dnt really care about track times just want to beat out all the gay hondas around me

[akira32492]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

and yah those websites are awesome so what parts specifically should i order from them?

[mrhobbz]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

and yah those websites are awesome so what parts specifically should i order from them?

Sounds like you might need some more wrench time before you dive deeper than bolt ons. Check out some of the free mods, they will at least get you started

[97rs4life]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

auto tranny and dnt really care about track times just want to beat out all the gay hondas around me

well we need something to base our recommendations off of instead of just wasting your money buying parts you don't need to attain your goals or making the wrong setup and hurting your racing outcomes. Gay hondas, what kind of gay times are they running? The fart cans must be getting pretty big around there if they are all gay and working each other over anally, but that is besides the point.

[mrhobbz]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

well we need something to base our recommendations off of instead of just wasting your money buying parts you don't need to attain your goals or making the wrong setup and hurting your racing outcomes. Gay hondas, what kind of gay times are they running? The fart cans must be getting pretty big around there if they are all gay and working each other over anally, but that is besides the point.

[OneEightSeven]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

Akira, you should do some reading on how your car works as a whole and the basics of performance. The way you're posing the question, the easiest answer is buy a Z28 or another fast car and beat those gay hondas stock. If you're totally new to how cars work and performance you could read this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Hacks-Mods-Dum.../dp/0764571427

I saw an ebook of it once and skimmed through it. It's nothing special, but if you don't know cars and don't know performance this is certainly going to show you the basics.

The questions asked by posters above are totally right. How fast are the gay hondas? How much faster do you want to be? How much money do you have? How much work are you willing to do yourself?

If the hondas are a just a hair faster and you're on stock tires with an open diff and crappy gearing you might beat them with some sticky rubber, 3.42 or 3.73 gears and a LSD. All together not too expensive if you can find a car to take the parts off of. If they're a few car lengths quicker at the quarter you're probably going to need to do all the common bolt-ons and think about a cam and top end work. Some suspension work would be good too. I'm getting way better launches now with my setup.

Before getting into any engine tech you really need to do your bolt on mods to get your feet wet.

[ssms5411]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

Theres a Civic around here thats stripped with some nitrous running 12.1 1/4 mile time, he works at Checker over here, also down a couple of blocks there is a older turboed Accord that likes to cruise through the neighbor hood thinking hes bad@ss reving and letting his BOV blow off but I haven't seen him on the same street to see how much hes got in it(sounds decent though).

[mrhobbz]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

Theres a Civic around here thats stripped with some nitrous running 12.1 1/4 mile time, he works at Checker over here, also down a couple of blocks there is a older turboed Accord that likes to cruise through the neighbor hood thinking hes bad@ss reving and letting his BOV blow off but I haven't seen him on the same street to see how much hes got in it(sounds decent though).

There is a turbo'd AWD 90 something civic hatch roaming around here :) Honda hatch with a talon tsi drive and powertrain ftw!

[LETZRIDE]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

faster track times equate to actually being faster...it is a good measure of ummm...how fast your car actually is...good way to find out to...so that is something you should be worried about...

How deep are your pockets?

after going full bolt on you can:

ENGINE:

Cam (ARH cam is a nice choice of N/A, but there are more radical out there, but this one gets nice results)

Heads (not just a Port and polish, go bigger valves and shave them for higher compression)

4.2L stroker

Build an ITB setup for your intake...best possible way to get power N/A

High compression pistons

^ Thats the big stuff engine wise that will net you quite a bit of power, although you will have to research each one for supporting mods/hardware...like stated you should read into how these engines work, and start to get your feet wet a little before just diving in and dumping loads of cash.

Transmission:

Vette servo

Shift kit

High Stall converter

^Those will make a nice difference.

Rear end

Posi/gears

Tunning:

Hp tuners or a Standalone, depends on the work you decide to do...

Individual cylinder tuning...ESPECIALLY if you do an ITB setup...

Suspension

All lightweight suspension/chromoly stuff

Lightweight K frame, A arms,

LCA's

shocks/springs (this is dependant on what you want to do with the car, tons of options)

Torque arm

Panhard rod

Subframe connectors

Other:

Severe weight reduction (alot of weight reduction is free...nothing like getting the car from 3400lbs to 3000lbs...she'll move

look at the weight reduction list for this...it all varies on how extreme you want to go...

[Watazz]

Re: How to build up a 3.8l engine??

some of the hondas are hard to beat. Theres a couple k20 hatches around here that run 12's easy on just motor. Theres a turbo one that ran a 9.20 and one that has 900hp all motor. Has a 15:1 comp ratio. So depending on what these hondas have will determine what you need to do. If its like a 98 si with a intake and exhaust you can probably keep up with him stock and take him with bolt ons. But keep in mind the average STOCK honda weighs about 2800 or less.