at the moment .. at startup , my car smokes . thinking of that and that i need more power , can i use the
same engine and convert it to 3.1 ? i am a nebie to fieros and engines .. so bear with me . i found this lower
part on the internet . and if anyone knows a place close to san diego that does this let me know also

There is a new GM motor that has this displacement. However, you will need to replace your crank
and pistons. Your biggest problem is that the pistons will likely be too large for the 2.8 block. To go
to 3.4 you will need a new block, crank and pistons. Suddenly, a bored out 2.8 with a 3.1 crank will
save you a lot of money. You will give up very little displacement. The 2.8, with a .030 over bore and
a 3.1 crank will be just over 3.2L. That's easily within 5% of a 3.4L motor.

I got my 2.8 to 3.4 longblock from here. www.engine-parts.com they also sell the 3.1 kit. Check near the bottom of their page.

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 04-05-2004).]

so if i bought the 3.1 kit from there , how much do you think it would cost in labor to put it in ?

You are on the right track. To convert it to a 3.1, you replace the crank with one from a 3.1. It can be bored to a 3.4, but you are really pushing it on wall thickness. If you buy an alluminum head 3.1 you will need to replace the pistons for it to work with your fiero heads, not a big deal if you are boring it.

Sort of strange when I read your post, I am having a machine shop build me a 3.1 bored 30 over for my 86.

Some more details:

The 3.1 came with either aluminum heads or cast iron heads. The only difference between the cast iron head 3.1 and the 2.8 Fiero motor is the crank and pistons.All of the rest of the internals are the same. To make a 3.1 out of a 2.8 one only has to change the crank and use the matching pistons. The aluminum head motor shares nothing but the block and connecting rods with the Fiero motors, and the Fiero intake, exhaust, etc can't be used with the aluminum heads at all.

Balancing: The 60° V6 motor family, of which the 3.1 and 2.8 are members, came balanced one of two ways. The early Fiero motors, 85-87, were externally balanced, using a specially counterweighted flywheel or flex plate. The '88 Fiero motor was internally balanced, using a neutrally-balanced flywheel or flexplate. All of the 3.1 motors are balanced the same as the '88 Fiero motor.

What does this mean? You can convert any Fiero 2.8 motor to a 3.1 by simply swapping the crank and pistons. If your Fiero motor is an 85-87 you'll need to get a neutrally balanced flywheel or flexplate. Flexplates are cheap, just buy a new one. The flywheel is a bit more expensive, you can buy a new or used one, or if you can find a competent machine shop you can have them machine off the counterweight from the back of the old flywheel and then neutrally balance it. If you have an '88 FIero the crank/piston swap is plug-N-play and easy to do.

JazzMan

[This message has been edited by JazzMan (edited 04-05-2004).]

JAZZMAN .. you are the man . you really helped me start to start to understand this .

few more questions for you guys ..
1 what do they mean when they ask " Oversize (020, 030, 040, 060)? " which one ?
2 do i need to change the exhaust , or anything else after this ?
2 how do i know i have aluminum or cast iron heads?

THANKS all .

i have a 85 V6 SE

[This message has been edited by bsculptor (edited 04-05-2004).]

few more questions for you guys ..
1 what do they mean when they ask " Oversize (020, 030, 040, 060)? " which one ?
That is how much they are going to bore out the cylinders, the more they take out, the bigger the engine and the thinner the cylinder walls.

2 do i need to change the exhaust , or anything else after this ?
You do not need to but it might be a good idea to do it. Porting out the intake and the exaust would be a good idea for better airflow.

3 how do i know i have aluminum or cast iron heads?
All fieros have iron heads.

I put a 3.1 out of a 91 lumina (I always knew that they were good for somthing) in my 87GT, Tore the engine down to the short block then put it back together using the Fiero timing cover ,balancer,water pump,pullys,brakets,heads,intake, distributer,exaust manifolds ect. the car runs rather well. Makes a good daily driver. Joe