please help

fastluck · 10-19-2008, 03:49 PM

I am going to be trying to build a firebird that has the 3.8 in it. its exterior is so many colors i dont know what the original was, interior needs put together but is decent, and the motor as far as i know runs but is not in very great shape.

WHERE DO I START this is always a hard part of a project for me and i am new into cars so i dont know the greatest deal about them but i am willing to learn and this is a good car for me to start i think.

Z28_LT1 · 10-19-2008, 04:02 PM

i think you should start with the engine and tranny cuz that is the heart and soul of your car. you trying to build a race car or just back to driving condition?

fastluck · 10-19-2008, 05:23 PM

i am mostly just trying to get it looking good and have a reliable car, but i am younge so i would like to have a little bit of power under the hood but not a drag car

1 Bad Ass Formula · 10-20-2008, 10:02 AM

If you have the money start with an LS1 conversion. If not then work with the 3.8. Does the 3.8 motor run fine?

If not and its a high mileage car, make sure all of the typical maintenance stuff is taken care of first. Such as spark plugs & wires, Oil change, fuel filter, air filter, and etc.

If the engine does run fine then get an aftermarket exhaust, K&N Filter, maybe a higher flow air lid which I know I've seen somewhere for the V6 cars, and whatever else you can possibly find for the 3.8, there should be decent appearance ideas for the 3.8 engine out there as well. Then after the performance side is taken care of then get a ram air hood of some sort, new paint, and a set of wheels.

Swiat34 · 10-20-2008, 12:21 PM

[quote=Z28_LT1;10318819]i think you should start with the engine and tranny cuz that is the heart and soul of your car.QUOTE]

I second this. And if you need to re-build both or either, add in performance parts. Otherwise get it to be a "reliable driver" first. I'd follow this order when I can: 1 Engine/Trans/rearend. 2 Brakes/suspension. 3 Body/interior problems. 4 Performance/appearance.

Good luck with the project either way!

Swat

pathology knight · 10-22-2008, 08:33 PM

i'm getting a 3.8 too and am looking at some of the same mods mentioned.

do they make a high-rise air box (ram air) for the v6?
would a stock ram air (from v8) box work? what about a "cold air" set up?

ghardester · 10-22-2008, 10:38 PM

If you add an aftermarket exhaust to the V-6 you should be aware that the about 2 ft piece after the CAT to where the exhaust bolts up is really restricted, down to about 1 1/2 inches. The shop that did the exhaust on the V-6 I used to have cut that off and welded a 3 inch right up to the CAT. BIG improvement. Just buying a bolt on exhaust isn't going to help power much. Mine was custom bent 3 inch stainless pipe right from the CAT back through a Flowmaster and dual outlet. I would do Magnaflow instead of Flowmaster if I was to do that again.

SLP has a cold air induction that is basically a stainless chute that drops under the air box and picks up cold air from down in front of bottom of the radiator. I liked that and you could really tell a difference if you were moving at highway speed and romped on it. Involves cutting some plastic on the radiator shields and a few other things that anyone can do themselves in a hour or so.

Unlike the V-8, there are PCM modules (Chips) for the V-6 that plug in between the computer and the harness. My V-6 was an auto and the 'chip' moved the shift points all the way to the yellow line. Changed a couple other things and helped adjust for the increased air flow from the exhaust.

As stated by others, make sure that the basics are solid before worrying about mods. But I was very happy with the 3 mods I did listed above. It was about 7 years ago but I paid $500 something for the custom exhaust, about $125 for the cold air kit, and I forgot the chip price, couple hundred maybe.

whitdog54 · 10-23-2008, 09:12 AM

Dont do any performnace chips, those will just hurt your car. If anything wait until down the road to buy software to do some repropgramming. For exhaust do some headers and y pipe (pacestter has a good deal) then a 3in universal cat. Then pick up an exhaust off a t/a or SS and make sure you get it from the cat back including S and I pipe. And yes there are ram air options for the V6, but it takes some looking around