3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

[BearWithChainsaw]

Say I collected all the peices that i will need in order to do this swap. Instead of pulling my engine and building it myself, what would a local shop charge if i gave them all the peices and asked them to put it together and drop it in for me? Looking for merely a rough estimate if anyone has one.

[niik000]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

lots. probably about as much as you would end up paying for a motor rebuld. not shure exatly how much that would be.

[nightrider2]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

probably close to $900+ just man up and build it yourself. Theres much more feeling of accomplishment

[87SC/SS]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

I agree with nightrider2. Its an awesome feeling to see all of the parts laying on a table and a few days later see and hear the engine you just built roar to life. Just don't make the same mistake I made and forget to install the oil pressure valve where the filter assembly goes, you WILL waste the bottom end of the motor. (That was an expensive mistake!)

Chilton's guides are pretty decent reference guides for a rebuild. Plus if you have questions as you go, a lot of us have rebuilt these motors. Just ask.

[BearWithChainsaw]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

Ic ic. Was just curious, I'm not exaclty mechanical savy and this conversion has me really interested. I'm pretty sure I am going to try this myself when time/money is right. Full time work / Highschool / Girl-friend; kinda has me booked for all my free time. Anyone know of any good "Engines for newbs" guide?

[87SC/SS]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

Chilton's guides are pretty good, Haynes manuals are ok for maintenance stuff but kinda suck for rebuild. I'd get a donor motor from the junkyard and rebuild that. This way if you screw something up on the rebuild you're not stuck without a runnning motor. I got a complete donor motor with harness, computer, everything but the actual accessories with 90K mi for $400 from the local junkyard. This way you don't have to rush. Take your time and do it right. You'll need some machine work done, etc. so be sure to ask us for advice b4 diving in to the rebuild. Many of us have done these and can save you some time/money. A very brief overview of what you need to do:

Machine work
- Tear down the donor motor completely (remove freeze plugs, oil galley plugs and all)
- Have a REPUTABLE machine shop look at the block, don't go to someone because they're cheap, you get what you pay for.
- Make sure they check the block and heads for cracks and warppage
- if it was badly overheated the heads may be warped, they can align hone the block to make sure the cylinders are true.
- also if its been overheated the heads may be cracked, have them magnafluxed, if for some reason it went lean the valve seats could be cracked, magnafluxing will find that. Have the heads check especially since you're going aluminum. Aluminum isn't as strong as iron and cracks more easliy.
- You'll more than likely have to cut the cylinders at least .020
- Replace cam bearings
- It's always nice to have them hot tank the block to make it nice and clean
- Have the rotating assembly balanced, they'll need to have the rods, pistons, wristpins, crank, harmoinc balancer, and if 5 speed flywheel.
- You can more than likely use the stock rods if nothing is bent, have the rod ends checked for roundness. You can grind away the casting seams on the sides to srengthen them, any time you can remove a sharp edge on a high stress part you should, it'll help prevent breakage. Please ask for details when your ready and I'll post pics of rods, block and pistons I've done. It's not difficult at all.
- Have them check out the crank, mine only needed to be polished but your's may need to be cut .010 (if you have it cut don't forget to get matching bearings)

Expect to spend $250-$500 in machine work to have it done right. (don't go cheap you'll regret it later)

Parts
- Since you probably had to bore the block at least .020 you'll need pistons
- If you're going to stay naturally aspirated, a set of Keith Black or Speed Pro Hypereutectics will work great and their very cost effective, I'm using Speed Pros. I think I've got $350 in pistons and rings. You don't really need moly rings unless your going to boost or run spray, but they're not much more expensive. If you're going with a power adder you can get forged pistons for about $600. Remember if you're going with the 3400 hybrid to get the lower compression pistons. You'll ususally need to set the gap on the rings with ring gapping tool. The rings will usually come with a card that will give you this spec, it is different for N/A vs Power adder.
- Use ARP bolts for the rods, main caps, and cylinder head bolts (I don't remember what I paid for these, I used studs for the heads)
- You'll need a complete gasket set, I used all Felpro gaskets
- At this point you probably want to look into cams, I'd stay away from Crane, I had one replaced under warranty and just gave up after the second one. Ask us when you get to this point, those of us that are cammed have done quite a bit of research (I'm using an Edelbrock RPM and love it). There is nothing wrong with the factory bump stick. Even that cam with the hybrid option will still see an extra 30-40 hp.
- Get a new oil pump, factory replacement is fine, these engines make great pressure and use basically the same pump as a SBC so they pump plenty of volume.
- With the cam if you replace it get new lifters, don't use the originals you'll waste the cam. Ususally they come with the cam in a kit.
- If you change the cam keep in mind that you're valvetrain geometry just changed, you may need longer or short pushrods depending on your cam and what rockers you go with, I went with Ford racing pushrods (they were the only ones I could get that were the right length without going custom $$$), and I have CompCams roller tipped rockers, I didn't see the need to spend the extra on full roller but thats up to you. Also if you're changing the cam make sure you get valvesprings that go with that cam. With the 3400 hybrid you'll be able to make power above 5000, and if the valvesprings aren't heavy enough you'll float the valves at high revs. This can be catastrophic.
- You'll want new main bearings, I went with Clevite 77's
- You'll need new freeze plugs, I went with brass
- Make sure you're liberal with the assembly lube when building the engine
- As I mentioned in my earlier post, don't forget the oil pressure valve behind the oil filter assembly

Make sure you torque everything to proper specs, these will be in any manual (chiltons, haynes, alldata). Upon startup make sure you've filled all the fluids (coolant, trans, oil, power steering). Don't start it until you've got EVERYTHING hooked up. You'll want to run it immediately up start up at 2000-2500 RPM for 30 minutes to break in the cam. Change the oil AND filter. Drive the car for 500 miles varying the RPM (don't beat the snot out of it yet just drive it nice, don't exceed 55 mph or 3750 rpm). Change the oil and filter one more time and have fun.

Thats pretty much all I can think of off the top of my head, there is more detail to it, but expect to spend between $1500 and $2000 depending on what toys you add. TAKE YOUR TIME, if you rush, it'll blow up. I've built 4 small blocks and my 3.4 twice (stupid oil pressure valve), and it took me a few weekends each time, make sure your workspace is clean, one piece of garbage that gets into the motor can shorten its life drastically.

Anyways I hope that gives you a brief overview of what you're getting into. I probably left a couple things out, but this was just an overview, not a complete build guide. Its a lot of work but very rewarding when you hear it run and stick your foot into :-). I had a blast on each engine I built, and even more fun afterwards.

[BearWithChainsaw]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

:) sounds like a long project for me lol

[Forced_Firebird]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

:) sounds like a long project for me lol

You can do a simple rebuild. As 87sc/ss said, go to a reputable place and have the block checked. The 3.4 I took apart was running fine with 120,000 miles on it and the bores were within .0015" (typically you need to be within .002"), so they got honed and gat a crank/bearing kit from ARI that included Clevite77 bearings. There may be some special tools that you probably don't have, but many parts stores rent them out, or buy a cheap one from Harbor Freight (or even Ebay). Make sure you use a quality torque wrench, though.

[nightrider2]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

send the block out for cleaning and plastiguaging it cost me $150. then get a haines manual and start building. If you have ALL the parts it should take you about4 days

[black34v6]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

I had my motor rebuilt professionally.

I gave the company the new heads and told them to use pistons for a certain engine. They had waaaay too much trouble doing it (took them 2 months to finish when it should have taken 2 weeks) and ended up costing me 1250.

The nice thing is that I had a rebuilt engine with a warranty - bad thing was it cost me 1250.

[elkindw]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

Let us know when you get started. I am going to do the same thing more than likely this summer.

[nightrider2]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

I've been working on this build for a year!!!!!

[Forced_Firebird]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

I've been working on this build for a year!!!!!

I hear ya'

Between buying parts for the twin turbo kit, buying parts for the hybrid swap and other projects going on...

I started mine in Oct(?) Just have to make the custom accy mounts and headers, then it's time for fitment :D

250whp is the goal.

[nightrider2]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

yea the in betwine fabrication part is so freakin time consuming, but in the end its worth it.

And its something like +1,000 man points when you do it your self!!!! ladies get sexy points LOL

[Forced_Firebird]

Re: 3400 - 3.4L hybrid question

yea the in betwine fabrication part is so freakin time consuming, but in the end its worth it.

And its something like +1,000 man points when you do it your self!!!! ladies get sexy points LOL

Especially when it's not even finished yet, and looks like this...