Ok, well it looks like I might have landed myself a decent job so I can start to explore and plan the possibility of where I go next with the TF. This is all in concept at this stage, nothing definite.

I have thought long and hard where I go next and have decided against Turbo and against SC :shock: I have just always been keen to push NA. The way I see it pumping money into turbs and SC is equating to how much money I want to write off (IMO).

Truth of the matter is my motor is fast approaching 219,000 on the ODO and what ever i do is going to impact on this, or vice versa. So my thinking is at this stage is a rebuild, to not only attempt to prolong the life of a tiring block, but to see what gains can be made if at all possible.

My knowledge on this is fairly limited but this is what I am looking at, at this stage:

- Engine bored and stroked to 3200 - 3300cc (from 2972cc)
- Ported and polished cylinder head
- Camshaft upgrade (waiting on news from WADE or CROW possibilities) - to a mild cam
- Raised compression ratio
- Strengthened pistons/conrods and upgraded running gear etc

I know there is more required but this is the main guts of what I am looking at.

As I have stated before this is not my strong point but I intend to do some research and see where I go, so any info/advice would be much appreciated. I will hopefully take it to a workshop (recommended by Ash) to see what they recommend and or can do.

Cheers in advance :D

Im also very interested in keeping my engine n/a and would like to do all that you have done minus the boring out..

Cmon booya help us out :P

Get it balanced too Neil...otherwise I'll smack you in the chops :P

Other things you could look at are knife edging the crank and lightened flywheel

Get it balanced too Neil...otherwise I'll smack you in the chops :P

Other things you could look at are knife edging the crank and lightened flywheel


DEFINATELY DO THIS!!

You'll need a piggy back, fuel upgrades, throttle body options etc of course.

If you want to go nuts, run a stroker kit and domed "+" topped pistons.

If your going to do those kinda mods please dont use a piggy back :cry:

would it be more economical to put a 3.5 in and then do mild head work on that? i would assume you would end up with more power in the end

Get it balanced too Neil...otherwise I'll smack you in the chops :P

Other things you could look at are knife edging the crank and lightened flywheel

Mate did this (well allong with full rebuild) on his VN Commodore V6 whos engine was aging. Now that it has been fully ballanced and bluprinted it idles smoother with it's ballance shafts removed then it did before the rebuild :P .

Ohh he also has stage 1 cams and high compresion pistons in it too, for a rough idea of power improvement on the old buick it lifter power from a tired 80ish rw-kW to 132 rw-kW in a base tune (waiting for it to run in before full tune) :P

If your going to do those kinda mods please dont use a piggy back :cry:

would it be more economical to put a 3.5 in and then do mild head work on that? i would assume you would end up with more power in the end
I hear what you are saying but that would increase the overall cost again for the replacement block! money i could put into the 3.0. I am looking at extending the life of my current block... don't mind if it is essentially a smaller capacity, i mean the way it is now It has a fair amount of power I just want to see how far it will safely go. Having a smaller capacity engine that can out perform bigger varieties brings its own rewards. Surely you can agree with me there ;)

Ok... the mother of all questions that I am yet to have a definite answer on... Is the 3.5 block essentially a bored and stroked 3.0L? No guess work please, I want to get this one settled.

Oh btw... I already have a piggy back :)

Edit: Thanks for the responses so far, Cheers :D... check out my sig link for current specs.

According to Dave from RPW, the 3.0 can only be bored and stroked to 3.3litres. I think this is reflected in the slightlly shorter block (this leads to the pacemaker exractors sitting lower). So I can safelly assume that he is right. :D

While it might be possible to further bore the cylinders out, you would have to use new cylinder sleaves as you will probablly bore into the water jackets...not worth the hassle :confused: