Nitrousbird

My Premier in the Formula does that. It never annoyed me, but I might just try that little trick anyway. And Sam, I PRAY you didn't pay anywhere near that MSRP for this head unit.....otherwise you got raked over the coals, bad.

I noticed my 93 S-Blazer was leaking coolant. Looked like it was coming from the water pump, and since the pump is only $14, I replaced it. Well, I noticed the fan clutch had some forward/backwards play, so I replaced that too (which was $65). Well, the truck runs smoother, but the next day, I notice it is still leaking. Upon further investigation, looks like the leak was from the upper heater hose (previous owner put this cheapo hose on there). When I pulled the old hose, a ton of coolant came out of the intake manifold. Put the new hose on, fill the radiator, but I put far less coolant in that came out. I start the truck, yet it still won't take more coolant. I top it off, fill the reserve tank. Every time I drive it on the highway, it warms up to around 240 degrees....the truck has a 180 T-stat in it, and usually sits at about 185 (this is me trying to go by my dinky cheap aftermarket temp gauge). When idling, it cools down to around 220 or so. I've heat cycled it several times (from dead cold to almost overheating). I've tried topping off the coolant system, but it just won't take any more coolant. All of the hoses get warm, and when I push on any of them, it makes the coolant rise in the radiator slightly. The hoses for the cooling system are as follows: - Hose from the top of the radiator to the overflow tank - Hose from the lower passenger side radiator to the water pump - Hose from the T-stat housing to the upper radiator (opposite side to the lower radiator hose) - Hose from intake to one side of the heater core. - Other heater core outlet to the middle pass side of the radiator. Any ideas?? I really need to get this fixed; I can't keep driving it like this. Edit: I flushed the cooling system very well this past summer. The radiator is a little over 2 years old, and everything seems pretty clean in the system, so I doubt unlodged deposits are the cause of this.

Nah, 8.5" will work fine (I believe that was the width of the early Firehawk rims). Factory SS/WS6/newer Hawk rims are 17x9" As long as the wheels have the correct backspacing, of course they will fit just fine; it's a factory size. I don't even consider my 275's big at all anymore; I'd love to cram some 285 or 295's up front, and some 325's in the rear, but my funds definately said hell no to any such idea.

Did you just say that Neon's are classy?? graemlins/slap.gifgraemlins/nonono.gif

Do I really need to comment on this??? Didn't think so.

Damn, and people complain that the LT1's are hard to work on! graemlins/eek2.gif

I'd personally go w/ the 4 gauge. I went way overkill on mine with 0 gauge, but that was back when I was going to run my class A Audio Art 100HC, before I got my Memphis 1000D I put in there instead (plus it powers my 4-channel Eclipse and my bottle heater). Something I have that I haven't seen to often is RCA's w/ the remote wire built into them. Buddy of mine sold me an extra set of his; American Bass RCA's, and the remote wire is run between the two RCA cables. One less wire to run, and is pretty convienent. I personally just pieced mine together, though I suppose a kit would probably be cheaper. Also, many brands are relabled versions of other brands. I know there are at least 2 other brands that are relabled Street Wires stuff, but significantly cheaper (can't recall the brands anymore, lol, it's been a while).

Do you have anything to back that up?? I've known the newer Rockford stuff has went downhill, at least from what I've seen/heard. Just because a company has a big name doesn't mean they make a good product. I mean, Jenson has a big name..............

Here are a couple other amps you could consider (I'll just link the E-bay auctions): Audiobahn A4002T Audiobahn A2601Q Just a couple amps I was glancing at while looking for some other stuff. I haven't heard any Audiobahn amps yet, but I love the Audiobahn sub I have, and the set of Audiobahn components I just put in my g/f's car sound great.

It helps if you have a dollar figure to work with. Power ratings are nothing more than a guideline at best. Power isn't what kills a speaker; distortion is what kills one.

My Eclipse 5506 had one. Dumb shits that stole it cut it off the back of the HU and left it in the car. I mean, it was a paperweight after they cut the power, since they had no clue what the key CD was, but even if I gave them the key CD, it still wouldn't work. Freaking morons.

I thought he has an S-truck, not a full size.

Well, other than notching the frame a bit. But I fully agree if the motor needs any money into it, just swap in a 350; definately worth it. If I had the cash, my Blazer would probably have a 350 in it, but since there's no way I'd go carbed on my Blazer, the cost/labor would definately be higher.

I honestly think that Kumho must have some very inconsistant tire compounds with the batches of these 712's Ecsta Supras they put out. Why?? Because the variety of reponses I've heard on this board and others is very noticable. I have them on my Formula (275/40/17 all around). IMO, their straight line traction is pretty decent for a street tire (I'm sure my suspension setup comes into play a bit here), but their handling isn't quite up to snuff IMO. I had no problems with their wet weather abilities, and I don't drive the car in the snow anymore, so I have no experience w/ these tires in the white stuff. But treadwear for me has sucked pretty badly. I'd say the treadlife on my former set of Nitto DR's was just as good, yet with better traction. My regular Nitto 555's I had on the front of my old rims DEFINATELY had better tread life than my front Kumho's have. Though these tires were dirt cheap, I'll definately be going with something else the next time around.

On Tuesday, I did the front brakes on ym 1993 S-Blazer 2WD. I pulled the calipers off the rotors (left them attached at the lines), replaced the pads, and replaced the rotors. Since the wheel bearings are built into the rotors on the 2WD trucks, I packed and replaced the inner/out wheel bearings on both sides. Everything went on fine. The brakes work great, pedal is firmer than before, no complaints at all, and the truck drive like it always has. So, it's slick on my street this evening, so I decide to play a bit and hit the brakes. Hmmmmm......they locked up. Since the ABS unit is in the cab on S-trucks, it is VERY loud, so you know when the ABS kicks in. Well, it's not. No ABS light on the dash. Odd; I mean I never messed with the wheel speed sensor or any wiring to it. I honestly just pulled the caliper/rotors, and sprayed down the spindles w/ brake cleaner and cleaned off all the old grease. I mean, this isn't a big deal, and I'm well aware of how to drive a vehicle with no ABS. But I just find it odd that the ABS decides not to work w/ out tripping a light. Any thoughts?

Perhaps your friends need driving lessons. My car with nothing but the Ram-Air hood w/ airbox (just like a stock WS6), an air filter, Flowmaster catback (SLP loudmouth would definately be a better performer) I ran a 14.5 the first time EVER down the strip, and that was spinning like a mad man. Low 14's from then on. And that was at heavier than stock weight. I'd love to know how you figure you'll get away with only $1200 in the motor. A decent port/polish, valve job (which means you'll probably want new valve, and valve springs to go with it) is going to cost AT LEAST $800, if not more. Hell, I have $1500 wrapped up in my heads, though they were new castings, which added a bit to the cost. And that was bought "used" (guy purchased new castings, had them ported, then ended up selling the car and never installing them). Forged pistons alone are going to be around $400. There's at least $1200 right there. And then you are going w/ forged pistons but sticking w/ stock rods.....wanna know what the weak point will be in your bottom end??? Then you have gaskets, new bolts all around. And why would you waste the time/money doing headwork and leaving a stock cam in there?? You aren't going to see crap for gains w/ the stock cam. Better add a couple hundred for a cam. But then you need to reprogram the PCM. And that's assuming you still want to stick w/ the stamped steel rockers, which IMO isn't all that great of an idea. See where this is all adding up?? Then your N2O kit. I'm sorry, but $400 won't buy you jack, unless you go used. But that's going to end up being nothing with it. No window switch, no bottle heater, nadda. Then we go to the LT1. You should be able to pick one up for around $1500 w/ PCM and no tranny. If you plan on using your stock tranny and rear end for a "worked" 3.4L w/ nitrous, then it should work for a stock LT1 as well. The 3.4L is a slug, plain and simple. In the end, you can toss an assload of time/money into it for some high 13's. The weight difference is negligable. In all honesty, the cheapest way to go would be to sell the car and just buy an LT1. The next best would be to swap in an LT1....or an LS1. Because you are shooting yourself in the foot trying to go fast in that 3.4L. So in the end, all this extra time/effort/money is to do what, be the fastest 3.4L?? Even the serious V6 guys don't waste their time with that, they all run the 3.8L motor, so if you want to be the fastest V6, you'd have to be in the 11's.......not exactly a task I'd want to try with that motor. Sorry to be blunt, but that sure is a lot of money you will be dumping into something that was meant to be an A to B motor, not a performance motor.

I honestly can't understand why you would want to dump money into that motor. Thousands of dollars later it MIGHT be on par w/ a bone stock LT1, that you could have swapped in for less money. Throwing some nitrous on it is one thing, but paying good money for head porting and other internal motor work just isn't worth it. WWAAYYY too many other options out there (LT1/LT4/LS1/LS6 swaps, GEN-1 SBC, SB2.2, have seen BBC swaps and turbo Buick motor swaps as well).

Sounds like my Blazer, when it's 2nd Autozone pump died. It got progressively worse. On the highway, barely pushing the gas, it would run fine. The harder I pushed the gas, the rougher it ran. I datalogged it, and found that the harder I'd push the gas, the leaner it was running. Tossed my FP meter on there, and sure enough, fuel pressure would drop every time the motor was revved. New pump = all good from then on.

I also have that as well, with my E-cuout closed: Cutout Closed I've gotten tons of compliments from people I know and perfect strangers about how my car sounds, both with the cutout opened and closed. Combo is Hooker Long Tubes, Mufflex catless Y-pipe (POS), and Flowmaster catback, with a cutout under where the rear passenger seat would be, welded to the I-pipe right before it goes over the axle. My plan is to go true duals, hopefully next year if I can afford it, because I'm sick of dealing with my POS Y-pipe (long story, but I no Mufflex fan). Even then, I'll probably do dual electric cuouts, maybe off the headers. I would like to add that my car would sound significantly different if I had the stock catback with the cutout on it, even if the rest of my exhaust remained the way it is. Remember, only some of the exhaust actually goes through the cutout, the rest exits through the catback.

Yup, sure sounds horriable

From a cost standpoint, you are probably best off just going w/ the OBD-I swap and the 95 cable (95 is the one year that had OBD-II ports w/ OBD-I PCM's). You also have to swap knock sensors, but that's cake and cheap. The only time I'd say keep the OBD-II PCM was if you were running a 4L60E/4L80E with a big stall, as the OBD-I PCM's tend to have problems with that. But I assume you are running the stock ZF-6 tranny, so that isn't an issue. As for tuning, I'm definately not one to look towards. BillumSS has some experience with it. Reckless knows a good amount of forced induction tuning. They are both more LS1 oriented, but the tuning is pretty much the same for both; with the OBD-I swap, I'd venture to say the tuning is actually a tad easier. I have both LT1_Edit (though it's VIN locked), and Tunercat, which isn't. Both work about the same, and get the job done.

Ahhh, let me guess, she smokes every time you start her. Sadly, the common valve seal problem that plagues the older 4.3L motors (mine does it too, but doesn't consume nearly enough oil to ever have to add any, luckily). Jegs and other places sell a device that screws into each spark plug hole, with which you hook an air-compressor hose to. The air pressure keeps the valves from falling. While you are doing new seals, I'd say it would probably be a great time to do new valve springs, since the old ones are worn for sure. Those should be pretty cheap. Could also toss in some 1.6 roller rockers while you are in there. Sadly, I don't have any first hand experience changing valves/seals/springs, as my heads were fully assembled when I bought them for my car, and haven't had a reason to replace any yet.

I'd sure think going bigger on the exhaust side and a better intake is nothing but a good idea. Same goes for the upgrading of the fuel system. Further, what about the intercooler?? How big is your current one, and can you reasonably go bigger? Perhaps even add on an air-water unit. And how about heads?? Perhaps something with slightly larger chambers (lowering the CR a bit), and flow a lot better (assuming a good head, properly ported). A far better flowing head will make more power at the same PSI, which definately isn't a bad thing. This is just my personal opinion, but since you are playing with fire as it is with that shortblock, do everything possible to increase power without increasing overall boost pressure. Heads/intake/exhaust/intercooler all seem like great places to do just that. Perhaps a different cam to go along with it. smile.gif Of course, that's funds permitting...........

I say leave the stock exhaust and mod something else. You aren't going to see any significant gains on a N/A car with a catback, and will most likely only make the car sound worse (and/or have a huge mellon launcher canister hanging off the back graemlins/bubbrubb.gif ). Imagine what other mods that could go to.

It's honestly a total waste of $$ to try to go fast in a 3.4L. Save your cash on buying a different car or a motor swap....you'll NEVER be happy with the results of modding that motor. As for slowing down, could be a million things, though I think a head gasket would be way at the bottom of the list. Check the plugs, make sure she is firing on all 6 cylinders. Try yanking that Jet tuning off. Do a compression test. Things like that.