I am planning an engine swap for my 88 GT. I think I want to put in a 3.4L frontwheel drive motor (with the aluminum heads). I also plan to turbocharge. I have some questions:

The array of 60 degree V6 variants is dizzying to me. I know that the 3.4L from the 93 -95 camaro is an easy swap. As I understand it, the most difficult part of that is relocating the starter. (not too hard) Is the later front wheel drive motor more difficult? What are the issues? Engine mounts? Clearances? I assume it will bolt up to the Getrag just fine. Correct? Any advice or information is appreciated.


Regards
Tjack74

The later aluminum head V6s are more difficult because their intake manifolds will not clear a distributor, so some rewiring is required.

Chris

the 3.4l from 92-95 will bolt right up. I think rodneydickman.com has the starter relocation kit. The 3.4 will use all the same external dress up as the 2.8, so it'll basically look stock but with 15-20 more hp and 15-20 ft tq.

I am aware of the Iron head 3.4 and how easy it is to put in a Fiero. Unfortunately, the iron heads flow rather poorly compared to the later aluminum heads, I believe. I want to acheive more HP than the iron head 3.4 will produce. As I see it, the 2.8's already asthmatic (can't) breath. Increasing the displacement under the same restricted heads, can't acheive much, it seems to me. Mostly, you get a reasonable torque boost at low RPM and a small peak horsepower increase.

I want stick with a 60 degree v6. I am not very inclined toward the amount of modification required to a really foreign engine (V8 or even 90 degree V6) in the car. I definitely want to keep the Getrag 5 speed too. So whatever the solution is, it must bolt up to it.

Within those constraints I want as much power as possible. I probably will turbo charge too, but I want to start with as good a starting place as possible, and not just count on a turbo. The aluminum head 3.4 is an attractive option (3.5 even better but not easy to get one). It has the benefit of 20% more displacement and MUCH better flowing heads.

I hadn't thought about the distributor issues. I guess I forgot that the Aluminum head 3.4 doesn't use one. I had assumed that I would use the standard fiero ECM with programming changes, but I guess that won't play. What about using the ECM from the doner car?

Any ideas?

regards
Tjack74

I think you technically can use the iron heads from a 2.8L Fiero V-6 to replace the front-wheel-drive 3.4L engine's aluminum heads. As SpeedDemon points out, those aluminum heads make the 3.4L engine swap more difficult. However, if you substituted the iron heads for the aluminum ones, I think it also would reduce your compression ratio to only around 7:1. That might not be entirely bad if you plan to follow through with your idea of turbocharging your 3.4, but even for turbocharging, 7:1 may be a little on the low side.

Because I think he's actually done it, Ed Parks of the Fiero Factory in Toney Alabama would be more knowledgeable than I about the effects of that head swap on your front-driver engine's compression ratio.

You are correct. The 3.4L engine from the`93 to`95 Camaro is a relatively simple swap. My swap is normally aspirated, and started with the bare block from `95 3.4L Camaro (stock compresion was around 9:1). Be aware that to make your search easier, the same 3.4L block also can be found in the `93 to `95 Firebird. (I think the `92 engines that 88White3.4GT mentions were actually 3.1L engines, not 3.4s.)

To relocate the starter to the other side of the engine, the 3.4L V-6 drill jig from Rodney Dickman that 88White3.4GT mentions was used for my 3.4L swap, and it worked just fine.

Incidentally, a 2006 book, "High Performance Fieros," by Robert Wagoner, covers the `93 to `95 3.4L V-6 swap, as well as turbocharging it (which he did later, before eventually switching to a small-block Chevy). The difficulties he encountered in reprogramming the Fiero's ECM and getting the turbocharged 3.4L to run right were an eye-opener for me.

I'm not saying it can't be done. That would be silly because several people have turbocharged 3.4L engines. I just felt that it might involve more grief to do right than I wanted in a car that has to be a year-round, daily driver in Norheastern Wisconsin. In fact, if I felt confident it would run right for me year-round here, I think a turbocharged 3.4L would be great fun!

Incidentally, this web site has a gold mine of information on engine swaps. One thing you might try is searching its "Technical Discussions and Questions" section for the topic, "Building a 60 degree engine for boost." Good luck with your project!