3100 - Goal: Mild gains over stock N/A

[tobz]

I have a 1996 Olds Cutlass Supreme, 3.1L 4dr sedan. I plan on doing some mild work, and I am fairly new to engine modifications. I don't plan on boosting it, nor do I think I'll magically get 300 HP. I just want something with a little more pickup than stock, for my own satisfaction of a project well-done.

I was thinking about: Open Air Filter with 2.5" piping, TB from a 3400, custom headers (possibly), high flow cat(s), 2.5" exhaust piping and some Borla mufflers. I want dual exhaust for the nice sound. I haven't looked underneath ol' trusty, but I wonder if true duals are possible?

That's about it. I would like to know:

While I am doing this, are there any other not-so-serious mods that I should look into? I don't plan on an engine swap unless mine has severe problems. I'm sure there are a few things I might be overlooking...

Thanks

[SappySE107]

switching to the large port intakes from a 96-99 3400 would be a good upgrade over stock manifolds.

[sharkey]

i have true dual exaust on my car, and its a pain keeping it from rattling and hitting the floor. if its a driver, id recoemnd sticking with single 2.5" exaust.

one thing you will want to look into is a way to tune it. doing the mods will get you so far, but unless you can tune you wont see the gains that you should.

[IanSzgatti]

ione thing you will want to look into is a way to tune it. doing the mods will get you so far, but unless you can tune you wont see the gains that you should.

agreed... one thing that is overlooked too much. I'm new to this engine and site as well, and while I've begun the collecting the parts i'll need, I realize that the most difficult but worthy component is the tuning.

[tobz]

How can I tune my vehicle? Does this step require me to bring it to a shop?

I was looking at other vehicles, can I get the computer to ODB adapter and get the numbers into my laptop? Then from there make minor changes as needed?

If there is a good link on tuning that I should see, I will be glad to start reading!

[tobz]

What parts does this require? I may hit up a junkyard to find them. I am guessing this may be a good time to get Phenolic Plenum Spacers if I want to have them?

Thanks everyone for your help.

switching to the large port intakes from a 96-99 3400 would be a good upgrade over stock manifolds.

[mbear2489]

the large port intakes would consist of the top two pieces of the motor. the aluminum piece that says "3400" on it, and the attached part below it. as far as tuning goes you can have your PCM (powertrain control module) reprogrammed by a guy named mark. you can check it out and get a hold of him on www.mpracing.org

[IsaacHayes]

DHP powertuner would work with your car since you have a 96. It hooks up to a laptop and you can edit spark, fuel and transmission stuff. You can even swap in a 97 venture van ECM and use that. The reason for the 97 ECM is that it has more memory than 96 did and has more options opened up for tuning.

For intakes you need the lower and upper and throttle body (it's 56mm vs your 52). Get the metal felpro Lower intake gasket too so that job will never need re-sealing again. You get the gasket for the year of your heads. Make sure you have roller fulcrum rockers when swapping, as if you don't you will need to bolt on some if your head has notches. Most all 96 had them only a few didn't but they should have notches for swapping them over. Non roller rockers will hit the large port intake manifolds. That's why when I did the swap I had to grind my intakes to clear them. (my heads don't have notches to swap over to rollers).

I don't think there is any other issues for swapping the large ports to a 96.. Unless you are getting the 2000+ ones, those have a few differences like coolant pipe fitting (can be tapped) and EGR (you could swap to new egr and tube).

For the TB's you can swap the linkages over.

[mbear2489]

DHP powertuner would work with your car since you have a 96. It hooks up to a laptop and you can edit spark, fuel and transmission stuff.

]

granted, but its like 350 bucks or so. where he can easily get a pretuned PCM that has all that covered for 100

[IsaacHayes]

Do elaborate on this pretuned PCM you speak of.......

[mbear2489]

ok, well i dont know if you are familiar with him, but Mark Petterson? he has his small company called MP Racing. anywho he gets a compatible PCM for you, based upon the service number on it. then he uses the tuning interface he has (not sure what it is) and pretunes it. from my understandings he can do all of the things a DHP tuner can. anywho on www.unitedmalibus.com (the forum part) there are a large handful of people sporting his tuned PCM and can vouch for it.


also. i do not have one to personally vouch for it. i dont have a service number on my PCM since its a replacement.... otherwise i would.

[IsaacHayes]

Oh I see. But mail order tunes are hard to get perfect without having the car there to scan adjust, repeat.

[mbear2489]

that i do realize. however, i've looked into the DHP tuner, and its definitely not the easiest thing to maneuver. seeing as it has over one hundred, i think maybe 200 different parameters.... its just a tweak overwhelimg. and also i beleive he offers retunes for free. dont hold me to it im not sure

[bszopi]

Mark (who is on this site) uses the DHP PowerTunr to do all of his programming. The way I see it, if you are just looking for a tune and don't plan on doing anything in the future, then a "mail-order" tune should be sufficient. BUT, if you plan on continuing to mod the car, then buying and learning to use your own PowerTunr is the way to go. As you continue to modify the car, you can retune the car for the maximum performance. So it will pay for itself in the end.

The other nice thing about having a PowerTunr is the ability to retrieve and clear codes from the PCM. Saves a trip to either a auto part store or the dealership, and could end up saving you money there as well.

[mbear2489]

indeed, however i've seen it and it takes a bit to learn it... thats all