3400 iron head?

[bszopi]

93-95 Camaro 3.4 Iron head - 160hp/180ft-lbs
96-99 Venture 3400 Alum head - 185hp/205ft-lbs

Yes, they make less power (http://60degreev6.com/content/60%C2%BAV6_Family_Tree)

[X11_STE]

Dave, How do you come up with that power loss figure? I could see it if someone used iron heads with alum. pistons, but not if built properly. Seriously, does the 94-96 camaro's make LESS power than say, a venture mini-van? I cant see that.

Hood clearance is not an issue as I plan on cutting the hood scoop & raising it. I've never heard of anyone cutting a UIM to mount a carb. Got any pics of how to do this? So far everyones said that this process simply cannot be done.....

[Superdave]

that guy had a Chevette iirc

[ForcedFirebird]

Dave, a side draft carb would be a better idea, then an adapter would just be needed to mate it to the upper manifold (based on the availability of a carb big enough).

X 11, I had you confused with another member here with an X11, who is running a 3.4/3400 hybrid motor with boost, sorry.

[Superdave]

using the iron heads on a 3400 block will net about a 50 HP loss.. or more.


People have used the aluminium top end with a carb before, If you have enough hood clearance you could always weld a carb flange ontop of a 3400 UIM and block off the TB neck.

[X11_STE]

They are compatable, but will give you a high quench (not optimal) for the iron heads.

Are we still siscussing an iron head 3400 here? IMO, it's a waste of time, you can mod a 3400 oil pan to work in your car and have all the benifits of the 3x00 shortblock, heads and intakes.

Wasn't it you who was opting to do a 4 bolt main 60 degree? Why not use a 3x00 block and have the cross-bolted mains that use the oil pan as a girdle?

Yes, we are still discussing my building a 3400 hybrid. 3400 bottom end with 2.8 heads. Maybe a waste of time, and it may be better to use an all 3400 engie, but then how would I be able to fit a carb? Again, FI may be better & I may be able to get more power, but thats not the way I'm going with this build. Keepin it 'ol skool, ya know?
If I was going strictly for balls out power & not worry about hacking the firewall, I would probably go for a S/C 3800 or a 4.9 v8. But its not like that. Just as my sig. line said, tuning a car is fully of compromises & while I want something really ballsy, that really packs a punch, I am perfectly willing to lose a little power in favor of keeping a "clean" true school appearance.

I dont remember posting about wanting a 4 bolt main, but as my friend showed me, the 3400 uses the pan as a girdle stock so thats a point in its favor. Since whatever I get will have a rebuild anyways, it just makes sense to go ahead & cross drill for much better oiling.

[Superdave]

ROL makes graphite headgaskets for the 3.4 iron head engine.. .040-.045" compressed thickness.

[ForcedFirebird]

OK, so I assume the graphite gaskets will be compatible with the iron heads?

They are compatable, but will give you a high quench (not optimal) for the iron heads.

Are we still siscussing an iron head 3400 here? IMO, it's a waste of time, you can mod a 3400 oil pan to work in your car and have all the benifits of the 3x00 shortblock, heads and intakes.

Wasn't it you who was opting to do a 4 bolt main 60 degree? Why not use a 3x00 block and have the cross-bolted mains that use the oil pan as a girdle?

[X11_STE]

OK, so I assume the graphite gaskets will be compatible with the iron heads?

[ForcedFirebird]

Lies. The later 3400's use graphite gaskets, far superior to the iron headed gaskets. Makes no sense to me.

3x00's are superior, period. Heads, block, cam etc - the only thing *I* don't like about them is that the cam is held on by a single bolt with an alignment pin.

[X11_STE]

Thanks for the info so far guys. I have found a guy that has 3400 short block (blew a head gasket) but he dont know if he wants to part with it. One thing he mentioned has me really curious, especially with building a hybrid. He said the 3400's are more prone to blowing head gaskets than the 3100's due to thinner water jackets or something. Is there any truth to this or would a 3100 block be a better choice? Even though I'm wanting a fairly radical hybrid, I also want something thats built right and is reliable.

[Mr_Efficiency]

All of the 60V6s can run a distributor. The only problem is you need to find an intake that will clear it, as there is no aluminum head intake that will.

thats not problem for him cause he wants iron heads so he can use a carbed intake... as far as i know they never made a carbed intake for aluminum heads, so if your set on carbed you stuck with iron heads.

[geoffinbc]

Yea a distributor is no problem. Just pull out the oil pump drive plug and pop in your distributor.

[bszopi]

All of the 60V6s can run a distributor. The only problem is you need to find an intake that will clear it, as there is no aluminum head intake that will.

[X11_STE]

Will the 3400 bottom end be able to handle a dist.? Seems to me (though I could be wrong) that GM had gone to an all DIS system by then.