Need 3400 compatibility info

[bachert24]

For the time being I have decided to put money into my 95 Camaro 3400 engine to produce more power. Please keep the "put in a v8" and "the 3400 isn't worth it" comments to yourself. I know what's wrong with the engine and I am certain I can get some power from it. My question is this, which top end parts will bolt onto the 95 3400 block? 3500? 3800? Etc. I am not too concerned about port sizes, I will get them machined. I will be upgrading the valves, springs, seats, pushrods and such. I am looking for aluminum parts. My searches haven't been the best. Even if you have links I would appreciate that as well. I know the 99+ grand am top end adds pretty good power. Thanks peeps!

[carbon]

No one here is gonna tell you to put a V8 in it... although you could...

Secondly, unless you've already done a swap, the V6 in your car is a 3.4 SFI, with iron heads and flat tappet cam. The 3400 is an aluminum head engine with a roller cam. I don't know why, but there seems to be a lot of confusion about what the 3400 is, some people refer to both the F-body 3.4L and the 3.4 DOHC as 3400s and they are not.

Not sure what you're talking about port sizes if your swapping to aluminum heads... what you are looking for is 2000+ 3100/3400. The 99+ Grand Am V6 cars were all 3400s so that is one option for a donor... any car model year 2000+ with a 3100 or 3400 are going to have the same heads as the 99+ Grand Am.

There are a couple of people with a lot of experience with swapping the top ends on the 3.4L to aluminum, hopefully they'll chime in...

Oh... and nothing having to do with a 3800, mechanically, is compatible with your engine.

Here is a discussion under way in the Engine Swap section:
3.4L/3400 Top End Swap

[bachert24]

Thanks for the info carbon, that bit of info helps. So for my swap I'll need the heads, intakes, and cam correct? Hopefully more people chime in!

[Guest]

No, the cam will not work in your block. Well it can, but due to the oiling need differences between flat tappet (what you have) and roller (the gen3 - 3100/3400), I wouldn't trust the swap. You do however need custom length pushrods, that will need to be determined on YOUR engine, due to variations in cam choice, head gasket thickness, how much a head is planed or the block decked, etc.

[bachert24]

If I am reading this correctly I can use the 3400 heads and TB with the 3.1L intake, fuel rails, and injectors. Am I mis-reading this?

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/v6/342953-some-insight-3-4l.html

[Guest]

If I am reading this correctly I can use the 3400 heads and TB with the 3.1L intake, fuel rails, and injectors. Am I mis-reading this?

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/v6...ight-3-4l.html

That's RWD 3.4, that you already have. The RWD intake is not compatible with gen3 (3100/3400) heads.

[bachert24]

I'm sorry I must be confused. In that article doesn't it say he put gen 3 aluminum heads on a rwd 3..4 block?

[Bridgetown]

For the amount of work it would take to swap the aluminum top end onto an iron block, I would consider a complete 3400 or 3500. There are many benefits to using the 3400 block over the 3.4. Just my two cents

[geoffinbc]

Agreed. Your pretty much into a complete engine rebuild since you will need to change pistons to keep it streetable on regular gas. So converting a 3400 or 3500 block to RWD is a good move. You get a full roller valvetrain, priority main oiling, stronger main bearings, and an engine with a focus on noise vibration and harshness control. So overall it will be quieter and smoother.

[Guest]

I'm sorry I must be confused. In that article doesn't it say he put gen 3 aluminum heads on a rwd 3..4 block?

Yes, but the intake manifold(s) from the gen3 also needs to installed.

The intake "flange", if you want to call it that, of the gen1 is extremely different than the gen3 and makes them entirely not compatible.

For the amount of work it would take to swap the aluminum top end onto an iron block, I would consider a complete 3400 or 3500. There are many benefits to using the 3400 block over the 3.4. Just my two cents

While I agree that there are benefits to using the gen3 block, there are also certain chassis fitment benefits to retaining the RWD block. In my case, back when I built the Franken60, I used the RWD 2.8L block, because I could get one cheap and it would bolt in to the chassis I was using (1985 GMC S-15 Jimmy), which simplified the swap and allowed me to concentrate on other aspects of the swap. At the time I didn't have a way to weld aluminum, so modifying the gen3 oil pan was out of the question, and didn't want to cut away the cross member either. Engine mounts would have also needed to be fabricated, and the starter location, along with oil filter fitment would have also been pretty big issues. The only difficult part that I had to deal with was to create a custom crank trigger wheel for the DIS. Had I been able to find a 3.4 block at the time I would have went that route to save on the crank trigger, but it worked out in the end, and was easier than trying to use a gen3 block.