So swapping out the top end of a 3.4 to a 3400 is not easy...

[Shadly]

Oh damn, dude! Just a wee bit different with that intake setup, isn't it? Let's say you spent a good 10-20 hours locked in a room with a dremel tool, the lower FWD intake and an upper LT1 intake... Shave enough material off of both, I think you might get a mating surface. Then it's just a matter of drilling and tapping bolt holes to merge the two. You can buy gasket material by the sheet, so that's good.

[nova]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Russell:
LOL. weld aluminum? its tricky..and..actually NO...tiago didnt, he got the intake from james montigny, who got it done at NRT.

<hr></blockquote>

Yep, I talked to our welder at work today. He said you can weld aluminum using TIG but that it takes a LOT of heat and you have to know what you're doing and be very practiced at it.

[Shadly]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by nova:


Yep, I talked to our welder at work today. He said you can weld aluminum using TIG but that it takes a LOT of heat and you have to know what you're doing and be very practiced at it.<hr></blockquote>Yeah, I know. I have a hard enough time dropping my mask with one hand and holding the stick in the other. There's no way I can hold a stick, a tip, and drop the mask. That's just way too much coordination on my part.

[nova]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Shadly:
Yeah, I know. I have a hard enough time dropping my mask with one hand and holding the stick in the other. There's no way I can hold a stick, a tip, and drop the mask. That's just way too much coordination on my part.<hr></blockquote>

Don't forget you have to work the pedal too.

Sounds like you are kinda like me. The only reason I havn't gotten our welder to show me how to do TIG is I'd probably get confused and kill myself. :D

I'm barely coordinated enough to do MIG.

[black34v6]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Shadly:
Oh damn, dude! Just a wee bit different with that intake setup, isn't it? Let's say you spent a good 10-20 hours locked in a room with a dremel tool, the lower FWD intake and an upper LT1 intake... Shave enough material off of both, I think you might get a mating surface. Then it's just a matter of drilling and tapping bolt holes to merge the two. You can buy gasket material by the sheet, so that's good.<hr></blockquote>

LMFAO. heellz no am i gonna spend 10-20 hours on anything. besides..i dont wanna MAKE anything, well..aside from making the 3100 intake work with the LT1 TB. dont worry i have ideas [img]smile.gif[/img] i shoulda been an engineer...its my grandfather's blood in me (he IS an engineer...electronics tho..anyway..)

ive always been creative.. now, my idea on the intake NO ONE -- except tiago (it pays to have talked to me a year or so ago) knows what i have in mind. he might not even remember in fact, but i showed him something i wanted to do...this should all work out perfectly. the only issue is that i might have to shave off a half an inch from the top of the 3100 intake to achieve height fit
but
if that works out..it'll be nice [img]smile.gif[/img]

-R

[Shadly]

I had my car up on the rack yesterday and took a look at the k-member and suspension and all that. That k-member spacer idea is so easy it hurts. Dropping it up to an inch and a half would lower your car's stance by less than half an inch and won't conflict with any suspension or steering elements. I would do this myself, but I have other ideas for that intake setup when I do up my car and I'm DEFINITELY going to have to buy a TIG welder and practice. I'm going to use a used block as a base so I won't be pressed for time and I can try different stuff. I want a sleeper engine. I want people to pop the hood and say, "Ho-Hum, another 3.4, whatever!" right before I smoke 'em. You can hide a lot of "surprises" inside a custom intake... especially a custom intake that says "3.4" right on top. That and I want the smog inspector to pop the hood and say, "Ho-Hum, another 3.4, whatever!" and pass my test.

[black34v6]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Shadly:
I had my car up on the rack yesterday and took a look at the k-member and suspension and all that. That k-member spacer idea is so easy it hurts. Dropping it up to an inch and a half would lower your car's stance by less than half an inch and won't conflict with any suspension or steering elements.<hr></blockquote>

hrm. lower? how do you figure? if you move the k-member/suspension towards the ground (any suspension guys present?) the front of the car would lift UPWARD. you would have to get lowering springs to even out the lift. that or remove your shocks..anyway..

as for passing smog, should work fine. it is a 3.4, id like to see them prove otherwise.

o yea, and using the top Y-shaped 3.4 intake, will not get as much of a gain with these heads/intake, because it wont flow as much air..i think you will be hurting your performance, but..i cant make you do what you dont want to. i think your idea with the LT1 manifold on top of the intake would be a better idea than anything else with that stupid y-shaped piece o crap.

just my $.02.

-R

[Shadly]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Russell:
hrm. lower? how do you figure? if you move the k-member/suspension towards the ground (any suspension guys present?) the front of the car would lift UPWARD. you would have to get lowering springs to even out the lift. that or remove your shocks..anyway..Only the lower control arms are attached to the k-member, everything else is attached to the frame. If you moved the k-member towards the ground, you'd separate the k-member from the frame. The front spring/shock is attached to the frame, so it would act as a pivot. The k-member end of the LCA would move towards the ground and the spindle end of the LCA would move upwards, pivoting on the spring/shock. If the spindle end moves upward, the tire is pressed closer to the top of the fender therefore lowering the front end of the car. But, like I said, it will be less than half an inch of height difference, so it wouldn't matter anyway. You could raise it back up with a rubber spring gasket if you really wanted to, but a half inch drop would probably look good in front.

as for passing smog, should work fine. it is a 3.4, id like to see them prove otherwise.

o yea, and using the top Y-shaped 3.4 intake, will not get as much of a gain with these heads/intake, because it wont flow as much air..i think you will be hurting your performance, but..i cant make you do what you dont want to. i think your idea with the LT1 manifold on top of the intake would be a better idea than anything else with that stupid y-shaped piece o crap.<hr></blockquote>Oh, of course. I just want it to look like a 3.4 intake and actually say "3.4" on top. I am a master of the Dremel Tool, I just need a little practice with a TIG welder. I went shopping for one yesterday, the store I went to didn't have them, but they had a nice supply of MIGs for sale.

Hey, I have a question for... well, anybody. If you heat a cast aluminum part with a torch, will it flex or will it just melt or snap? Also, if it actually does flex, will it harden or weaken in that heated area?

Anyway... any new news or pics, Russell? What's up with your intake? Got that thing figured out?

[black34v6]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Shadly:
Oh, of course. I just want it to look like a 3.4 intake and actually say "3.4" on top. I am a master of the Dremel Tool, I just need a little practice with a TIG welder. I went shopping for one yesterday, the store I went to didn't have them, but they had a nice supply of MIGs for sale.


in the grand am, the hugeass intake says "3400" on the top of it. i was looking for one but never found it...

Hey, I have a question for... well, anybody. If you heat a cast aluminum part with a torch, will it flex or will it just melt or snap? Also, if it actually does flex, will it harden or weaken in that heated area?

no idea, talk to someone that knows how to weld aluminum. i dont reccomend you try welding aluminum by yourself if you have never done it before, ive heard its near impossible.

Anyway... any new news or pics, Russell? What's up with your intake? Got that thing figured out?

not yet. working on the motor still. it sits in my parents garage rite now, shiney aluminum heads atop the dirty oil-covered engine on the engine stand, awaiting tomorrow when the engine rebuilders will send a truck to come and get the motor and take it back to the shop to be rebuilt. i put the lower intake on top of the engine..and found that the whole thing is like..1.5" less than the TOTAL height of the stock 3.4 with the y-shaped intake, so maybe i will add some body spacers between the k-member.

hey shadly -- feel like coming up for a weekend to check out the car and we can shoot the **** and figure things out? i mean seeing as how my car is in pieces rite now it would be the best way to find out if something works. i gotta change my shocks anyway, so i guess i have to take all that off anyway...

-R

<hr></blockquote>

edit: here is a good pic of how the front of the car is setup, i think i see what you mean...

http://www.willburns.com/northstar/P5030005.jpg

[ August 19, 2002: Message edited by: Russell ]</p>

[Shadly]

That's a great picture! Try to snap off a picture of the block with the heads and intake on top. Shocks are easy. I've replaced a gazillion of them. I'd love to come up and see what you have going on there. I'd also like to check out the Car Wash deal and meet some GMEternal guys. Maybe this weekend if I'm not in San Francisco?

[black34v6]

works for me man, the engine will be at the shop tho, w/the heads, so you wont be able to see it, but you can check out the intake close up.

im more on the k-member research [img]smile.gif[/img]

heheh..

-R

edit: btw...what the hell does your sig mean? i tried translating it from latin...something about not having a Fiat and going to a mechanic??? wtf..LOL

[ August 19, 2002: Message edited by: Russell ]</p>

[Shadly]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Russell:
edit: btw...what the hell does your sig mean? i tried translating it from latin...something about not having a Fiat and going to a mechanic??? wtf..LOL<hr></blockquote>
[img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img] It's Italian. "I miss my Fiat, but then again, so does my mechanic." Just having a little fun with my translator. It may have translated literally, so the grammar could be all messed up.

[nova]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Shadly:
Hey, I have a question for... well, anybody. If you heat a cast aluminum part with a torch, will it flex or will it just melt or snap? Also, if it actually does flex, will it harden or weaken in that heated area?

<hr></blockquote>

I can ask our welder at work how hard it is to weld cast parts next time I'm in there if you'd like me to. We were welding some sheet aluminum last week but I havn't seen any cast parts done.

[black34v6]

Engine is off to the rebuilder as of 8:45 this morning.

Guy was LATE and made me late to work, but thats ok. Also had to remind them that I need the 3400 (LA1) pistons or I'd be running 12.48:1 Compression (yikes, 101 octane here i come) -- he seemed to understand and told me he'd remind them (the guys at the shop) when he got there.

i have pictures from this morning of the engine with the aluminum heads loose-bolted to it with the pushrods just sitting in the guideplates.

ill try to make a page here soon...

-R

[MustangEater8251]

On the exhasut manifold header idea.

coouldn't you jsut use the FWD ones, and cut them off very high, and cusotmize them to go in about the same place as the stock Y-pipe.

As for modifyng the firewall, you think a plasma cutter and welding in metal plates to "box" in what you cut out would work?

Just somehtng I was thinking up if I were to ever do a small block conversion.