I got cut off by a Malibu! A stinkin' 4-door 99 or something Malibu. Saw him coming up the side, I hit the gas, we are both doing about the same speed limit and then he slowly goes right past me and cuts me off!

Yeah, I know it's newer, yeah, I know it's 3100 V6 has got like 150 or 170 horsepower compared my 135, but STILL!!! I know "there is always someone faster", but getting beat by stock family cars is killin me!

Don't get me wrong, the car is fun to drive, is great on gas and handles better than alot of cars I've drove. But, I can't wait till' my Z is on the road! :rockon:

 

if you had a stick and droped it into 3rd and reved it too redline he would of been left behind, sure he has more power but what I love about my 2.8 is I can out rev just about anything, he has power but without using gears and rpms its wont do him any good.

I can get on the eway, hit the ramp doing 35, drop it in 3rd and out rev and pass cars already going 60-65 and jump ahead of them.

 

Imagine how I felt months ago..I lost a stoplight drag to a new...what was it..the cop cars. Not Caprices or Impalas, the other ones.. And I repeatedly lost to my buddy's Saturn...REPEATEDLY! Even when I tore him up off the line..and the outrevving thing, I dunno, mine revs up real high before a shift (stupid autos) and I don't have any high rpm power...considering the car's horsepower peaks at 4400...and my best guess (busted tach) is the car hangs in to 5800-6000...it runs out of power at about 5500 or so. The Saturn always hit 2nd before I did, and once it did, breezed past me. Not anymore though, thank ***.. Get exhaust..you'll be surprised how enormous of a difference it makes. It doesn't just help you inch up on cars you lost to before, it helps you BEAT cars you lost to before.

 

hey man i feel your pain don't give up when i had my 85 2.8 Camaro i never ever won a race lost to my friends beretta,another friends maxima everything beat me so i gave up racing that thing

now another friend of mine however has an 88 Sport Coupe with the same motor i had
he runs 13.80s all day long
his solution to the get up and slow of his little 6 banger

 

So HOW much of a gain will I see if I put exhaust on the thing? And are you talking from the cat back with something like a flowmaster on there or are you talking about revamping the whole exhaust system? And I'd love to put NOS on my car, but I don't want to blow it up either. I'd be hitting that button 24-7 if it's available! And it's too bad my car has an AT, or else I'd be winding my gears out in situations like that.

Basically, this car is my daily driver and not my race car. . . but I like to go fast in it and hate to have my *** handed to me by unformidible opponents. Like, I'm not going to gun it and try to outrun a 2002 SS, I know that won't happen. Heck, even ANYTHING with a V8, I'd be ok losing to. But a 99 stock V6 Malibu? Comon, I gotta be able to hold my own with something like that! So I'm trying to keep whatever mods I do to it relatively inexpensive and sink the big bucks into my other car.

 

people say that the 2.8 V6 has a "GLASS CRANKSHAFT" me personally think thats a bunch of his motor has little over 130,000 miles on it he is running the 150 shot for the new V6 fbody cars its the same setup he got it from jegs and he loves puttin the spank on some 5.0 mustangs

you don't have to use it all the time dude then it will blow up no motor can stand that just when you are racing somebody throw the switch and you are gone

as for the exhaust on my Camaro i had with the 2.8 in it i went with the Dynomax Catback Exhaust from Jegs its only like 151 bucks and it 2 1/2 inches when you put it on i recommend you gut the converter don't waste your money on a high flow converter trust me you will get more power out of a busted out converter then a high flow one and still pass emissions if you need to

 

The stock exhaust is restrictive as heck, i raced a 88 prelude and we ran dead even, i then put 2 and a half inch piping all the way without muffler and hi-flo cat and i beat him by half a car...its not too much of a HP gain overall, hehe the straight piping all the way tho makes the car very loud, its pretty fun, the car sounds mean....that costed me $100

 

About the converter...if you do decide to trash it, don't just gut it, run a pipe through it. If you follow it out, the air (which is being compressed down in 2 1/2 in. piping), hits the chamber and expands out immediately..where it then has to cram BACK into the piping...creates turbulence and bad aerodynamics. And yeah, the stock exhaust system is terrible...although I heard this type of car relies on a certain amount of backpressure through the exhaust to make power properly.. Additionally, a 2 1/2 in. system is better for us than 3 in, strangely enough. The 3 in. raises the powerband up too high...the easier the air can flow, the higher rpms you make power at. And vice versa. BTW, I raced a twin cam Saturn before my exhaust and lost by 1/2 to one car length. I installed my exhaust and beat him by slightly over 1 car length. So I gained 2 carlengths from it... It's the Dynomax Super Turbo catback with a high flow converter.

 

You're saying he has a 2.8 with a 150 shot of nitrous, and it runs 13.8s? What else has he done to it? A 2.8 usually will run about 17.5 in these cars, it would take a lot more than a 150 shot to get one into the 13s. Got any timeslips?

 

I wouldn't think it'd take much more than a 150 shot... I mean, really, I've heard they'll run more like a 17 flat, and then a 150 shot IS about double the power output... all speculation, of course.

 

oh yeah duh he has a lot more mods to the car it runs 16.3s without the nitrous heres a list of mods that i can think of off the top of my head if you want me to i will ask him for everything

-MSD 6AL spark box
-MSD Distributer (don't have a clue where he got that from??)
-MSD Wires 9mm
-MSD Coil
-Hypertech Chip
-Bigger Throttle body for a 2.8 Fiero he said it bolted right up
-Edlebrock Valve Covers which don't add anything just makes it prettier
-Flowmaster Catback Exhaust 2 1/2 inch not sure which series muffler
-straight pipe where his converter was
-homemade ram air system made from AC ducts
-255/50/R16 BFG Comp T/A Drag Radials
-the aftermarket lightweight hatch that looks really retarded
-4 inch bolton fiberglass Cowl Hood
-Rebuilt 700R4 with homemade shiftkit (hehehe took out some parts here and there to bange gears)
-B&M megashifter
-Hypertech underdrive pulleys
and then the NOS

 

a 150 shot is double the output, but 10hp improvement usually equals about a tenth in the quarter, maybe a little more...which would put a stocker in the low 16s to high 15s. The mods listed below don't sound like enough to me to get it there, though, at least from what has been posted here before. Every time I post a thread about 1/4 mile times, the best anybody ever lists (without timeslips, still) is mid 15s.

 

Random nitrous question..do you guys know what kind of shot the V6 with stock internals and such can handle? I've heard it can handle around 40 horsepower, possibly more....but what size shot does that translate into?

 

yeah he has more things done to the car but alls i know is the car runs 13.80s and has a 2.8 in it

don't beleive me? just ask some of the guys from maryland that go to Budds Creek to race on friday nights they will tell ya

 

You should tell him to grab a computer and hop on here, we'd love to hear more about his combination! And what's the mileage? Sounds like I should be close to his 16.3 1/4 time, but I ran the track with over 200,000 miles on the car, and got a 17.1.

But off the bat, if he's got a fiberglass hatch, it's gotta be way lighter than that heavy *** back window of ours. (you guys ever feel how heavy that thing is? It doesn't look heavy, but, damn!)

 

what's that guys name who has the Nitrous kit for a mustang? Pontiacguy or something? He has several posts about it, stock internals and at least a 100 shot, I think it might have been more. Do a search for his info, I bet he's tired of posting it.

 

Hello, it is me! I have a 3.1 liter V6 with 167K miles on it. I run a 75 HP shot with no problems. It is set up for 75 HP at 750 PSI bottle pressure. If the bottle pressure is up to over 1000 PSI, like when it has been sitting out in the hot summer sun all day, then the thing is probably right around 100 HP. I have had no problems with the motor with this amount of HP gain. This car was my daily driver from the time it was new until a couple of years ago when my truck took over those duties.

I don't see any problems with a stock 3.1 liter and a shot of up to 100 HP. I know that a lot of you guys have said that the later 2.8 liters had much stronger cranks than the earlier ones, so they should be able to handle 75 to 100 as well in my opinion.

 

Mine with few mods ran 16.01 before I sold it for my 1997 Red Z28 that runs 13's....

 

You mind mentioning what few mods? To go from mid 17s (stock) to 16.1 is pretty impressive, even with nitrous.

 

Yeah the rear hatch is quite heavy. We replaced my decklid and I got the honor of sitting the car holding the the glass hatch for a good 30 min. My back was sore for a week after that.

Also I met a fiero guy who said he has a basically stock 2.8L motor (no internal work), with a tuning program. He ran it with a 100-125 shot and got the car into the 12.9s. Granted his car weighs 800-1000lbs less and the weigh is over the rear wheels.

I secong the motion...get the guy on here I would love to talk to him and hear exactly what he has done. Did he swap the Cam?

 

Yep, early 81-84 2.8 cranks had only one large journal, the #3 journal. The other 3 journals were smaller. In '85, GM made all crank journals the same size as the #3... so that crank is usually called the "large journal 2.8 crank".

Then in '87, because the front wheel drive Gen II 2.8's went to DIS (distributorless ignition system), GM added a center counterweight to the crank which did 2 things: It had the notches for the DIS crank sensor to pick up, and 2, it allowed the crank to be internally balanced (on the crank) instead of externally balanced (on the 82-86 flywheel). So the Gen I 2.8 f-bodies adopted the same crank as the DIS motors. That's why the motor I rebuild will be an 87-89 2.8l, so I can get the internally balanced crank. (All harmonic balancers for the 2.8/3.1/3.4 are neutral balanced.)

 

They had DIS way back then?? Man....and I thought it was a recent technology.

 

Back when my car was not running to well in the winter of 1999, I was right next to a new Chrysler Minivan, the nice one. I needed to get in that lane and figured that I could easily accelerate and pass the minivan. Nope, thats not what happened. Apparently the minivan needed to get into my lane and shot past me like a rocket and was about 7 car lengths ahead of me by the time I got to 40mph. My car is bit faster now that I got the vaccuum and electronics sorted out. Now I can actually peel out with 245/50s. Back then I couldn't even chirp my tires with the stock 15's. I hate it when family cars beat me too, even though newer cars are newer and have more power.

For the most part anycar will beat me if I go from 0-30mph in 2100 rpm. I push the car to 4500 I don't have a problem out accelerating other family cars. I don't drive in the 3000-5100 range in the city since the speed limit is 30-35 and cops like to jump out random bushes. The other reason why I don't drive in the 3000-5100 range in a 30 mph zone is because my car is loud in the range and draws attention to me. I prefer to let it rip when I get on the country roads were the cops are few and the roads are limiteless and empty.

 

That's kinda funny, devian. I can beat or tie almost any car off the line..between 0 and 30 mph my car SCREAMS... It pulls hard in the upper end too, but so do other cars...mine out-torques them in the low end range. My 1/4 times are gonna get killed by my laggy tranny though. It doesn't like to shift AT ALL at WOT.

 

I didn't think it was funny at the time. Some middle schoolers were acrosss the street watching. I was going to impress them by passing that minivan. After the van passed me I saw the kids laughing at me. Now that's just plain embarrassing.

 

Very true...I hate being embarassed. I got to show off today though...getting on the interstate, I had the car held in 2nd gear and right at the merge squeeze point, this dude jumped on the gas trying to leapfrog me..so I hit the pedal and luckily, I was RIGHT at my peak torque range...in a split second, I put about 5 feet between us, when he was right next to me to start with...it felt GREAT. Car ran like sh*t the rest of the day though....bucking and kicking. I got so irritated after 20 mins of that that everytime it started to shudder, I'd punch the gas so the car could jerk/kick really hard and accelerate...I wanted to kick the thing when I shut her off in my driveway. But I was afraid something would fall off.

 

Man I know the feeling. I seem to have an extremely slow spot at 1500 rpm. Everytime I hit 3000rpm or higher and let of the gas, the tach goes straight back to 1500 and the car becomes slow. If I drive in the 2000-5000 rpm range for about 20 minutes, my car is fine, but if I drive around below the 2000 rpm range, my car will want to act slow the rest of the day. Somedays my car can be quick (relatively speaking) and other days it can be slow. I just never know.

 

Yeah.. Well all my current problems from what I can tell are related to the TCC (I hate that freakin thing..I swear I'm wiring up a switch to control it COMPLETELY manually..on or off. And mostly, it'll be off.), and ignition problems...whatever the ignition problem is, it's getting worse..I'm going to just replace stuff for it part by part until I hit the problem. It's leeching all my mid range power away and turning my throttle response from a sharp kick to a slow roll followed by a sharp spike of power. :P

 

My car is can be quite slow in the regular drive gear. Last week I drove my car in the D2 gear. Woooowwww, was I happy. The revs in that gear raised quite a bit and the throttle response was much quicker. Best of all, When I took my foot off the throttle, The engine still stayed at 3,000 rpm and the rpms dropped very slowly. It was like it the engine paused its rpm until I hit the gas again.

The sound of my exhaust changed as well. In the regular drive, my exhaust makes a loud annoying rumble at 1500 rpm. In the D2 gear I don't hear it all. The sound of it decelerating in that gear is great too. I can cruise 3,000 rpm and it doesn't affect my gas milage! How great is that. I think I will use it more often.

 

You must've had that sucker going fairly quick to feel that! I always drive in Drive, instead of Overdrive. Overdrive, around 40-ish..the rpms are just too low. With overdrive engaged, PLUSA the torque converter locked, it's too much..the car gets screwy and jerky. Although with my exhaust now, my car sounds best at around 2,000 rpms... At idle it sounds like a beefy V6...at 2,000 it sounds like a weird 305! Higher up you can definitely tell it's a 6...but around 2,000 is perfect. I love my Dynomax...the car sounds so threatening from behind with it now..

 

Yeah, in that other gear I can push my car to 5500 rpm before my rev limit on my Accel box kicks in. I can't do that in the normal overdrive gear. I have never used the D1 gear. I am assuming that is for really steep grades?

 

Are you talking about 1? There's 1, 2, D, and OD...1 holds it in first gear...that's for slow towing of heavy loads pretty much.. 2 holds it in second gear...real steep grade climbing. Drive is 3rd gear..and Overdrive is overdrive, basically 4th gear.

 

From what I read in your last post..it sounds like you're cruising the car in second gear. While it's fun and the throttle response is amazing, just watch out..the car isn't meant to sustain cruise in second gear. It's recommended in the manual not to use it steady on for more than like 5 miles or so I think...cause the engine is turning quite a few rpms cruising anything 40 mph and up in that gear. I imagine it's a little tough on the engine too...but mainly the manual is concerned with the possibility of overheating.

 

I probably have it backwards, I'm no where near my car so I don't know which one it is without looking at it. The drive I was talking about that I have never used is at the very bottom.

 

Yeah..the gears go from top to bottom: Park, Reverse, Neutral, Overdrive, Drive, 2, 1. 1 is first gear...I don't use that unless I'm doing less than 10 mph. First gear on my car runs up to about 30 mph..but that's screaming mad. 2 is second gear. Second gear, at WOT, is capable of doing up to around 70-75 mph....but like I said, it's not good to sustain a cruise in it.

 

you must have some giant tires...mine could go up to 60 right before redline.

 

235 60-R15's I think...I KNOW they're 235, and I'm pretty sure it's 60. BF Goodrich Radial T/A's. I dont have a tach so I cant say what rpms I'm turning...but I know redline isn't at 60. Redline is somewhere between 70 and 75 for me.. Funny part is, the car doesn't shift until about 75 at WOT. What size are your tires? I could use the lower simulated gear ratio....

 

I'm using the stock tire size of 245-50-16s and my speedo is off buy 5 mph since I put my GTA wheels on.

 

My 85 2.8L is an auto but definately aint slow. the only things i have lost light battles to are a newer vette (obviously) and a 96 viper(ironic it was the first viper i had ever seen and somehow thoght he would stall it or something lol) but it has no problem taming imports and rustangs. it does have a few good mods
dynomax exhaust
home made cold air intake
etc.

 

Umm, we are going to need specs and possible pics of your car. You say you tame rustangs and imports? Other members will want you to prove it with by giving your specs. Just thought I'd give you a heads up, being new to the board and all.

 

Yes, I'd LOVE to hear what you've got. I've got a 3.1 auto with a high flow converter, Dynomax Super Turbo catback, open-element filter, plugs, cap and rotor... My car's pretty dang fast..like fast enough to beat a bunch of newer stock/base model cars...but I can't beat r!ced imports or anything..and I've never ran a 5.0 but I imagine they'd chew me up and spit me out. I'm estimating my horsepower at between 145 and 150 right now, depending on what the exhaust gave me with the intake factored in... All I can say is..never been beat by another V6 Camaro.

 

What "rustangs" are you beating? Sorry, I have trouble believing that a 60 degree V6 is beating any Mustang, other than maybe a 2.3 liter (nonturbo) Fox body. Even the 3.8 V6s are around 200hp, a good 60 more than a stock 2.8, and you're not getting 50hp out of mods like that.

 

it sounds like no one has any confidence in their birds. i have a list typed up of the $5k i have under the hood that i will try and post. As soon as i buy a digital camera and stop dumping money into the car ill get some pics. its got the sleeper thing going for it because it needs paint but is unbelievebly fast for what it is. lighten up!

 

No offense intended, but we often see outrageous claims here with nothing to back them up. If you have $5k in the motor, it should run...but your previous post made it sound like you made a 2.8 into a worldbeater with a few bolton mods, which just isn't possible. Do you have any timeslips or dyno sheets ? I'm sure everyone here would like to see what a 2.8 is capable of with heavier mods.

 

$5,000..that's a lot! I just got $500 for nothing today and I'm ***** out happy! Now the question is whether that's going for a water pump, a timing chain, roller rockers, and a nitrous compatible cam, or a nitrous kit itself!

 

I hope there is some sort of forced induction with that price.

 

none taken. I know it aint the fastest car in the world ive been dusted by a few 350s but for a 17 year old it is the fastest in the scholl parking lot. hopefully i can take it to the next high school drags and see what she legally runs.

 

Or find a jewel of a 87 Conquest turbo for $1700 and have fun with a 14 sec car... Stock.

Welcome to the wonderfull world of BOOST

 

Ironic just as we are out talking about 2.8s being dusted by vans and mommy mobiles i had to drive my moms 91 lumina van to the body shop to drop off her blazer. I start talking crap to this kid in a riced out integra about how my bird would leave him 10 blocks behind. the light goes and i'll be damne the mommy mobile gets up and goes. although i could smoke an integra on running bare feet in alaska. imagine how well the bird would have stood him up. talk about embarassing the poor kid.

 

irocbirdbuilder, I also would love to here what you have done to yours. We have tried a few avenues with mine and have not gotten the power we have expected. We have heard about the 16 sec birds and just can't get mine to break in. Though our last attempt will be a piggyback computer sys, to manage fuel and timing. Hopefully this will effectively tune the car. An give some less embarassing numbers.



Don't know that your HP is that high....

I have the Suncoast Hood with the ram air box, which is basically, at reg speeds, a glorified cold air sys. The plenum, runners and lower intake have been ported. The heads have been ported. I have mildly ported and ceramic coated the exhaust manifolds (mostly to smooth). The Cat: 2.5 in and out high capacity Carsound and a Flowmaster muffler. I have a Reed cams: TM276/282H12A2,this cam is 223/228 with 471/480 lift on 112 int C/L is108. Also a holley adjustable fuel pressure regulator, 19lb injectors. Taylor 8mm wires. ACDelco Rapidfire plugs. I have a new timing chain. Rebuilt distributor. EGR block off and TB bypass. Recently Dynoed at 114 HP.

This is why so many of us give up and swap in an v-8. The problem is not enough people build up these cars, so there is no formula for this. No this with that. We think we might have over cammed it. That and we know the balancer is shot. Have a new one ready for install. So honestly, I have not clue where my timing is. Right now it is set to 20 with no ping on 87 octane. I know...WHAT?!...But setting it that high gave me 6 more HP from 10 degrees. On 10 it would barely run.