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The most efficient way to make power? Cam swap or a NOS. Neither is very simple on a car with OBD II. I know that’s not very helpful, but the other guys who commented that this is not the car to be doing this with are right. If this is your daily, I would leave it stock. If you are trying to be different simply for the sake of it, go right ahead. I wouldn’t stop you. I don’t think that a 4 banger Honda Accord is the way to go if you are going to modify a car. I am not knocking Hondas or any foreign make for that matter. Honda builds a bulletproof 4 cylinder motor. I once had a Toyota Matrix that I wanted to turbo. Once I found out how expensive those mods were I let that dream go real fast. It was $4k for a whole turbo kit with a tune. Too rich for my blood.
I have a technician friend who absolutely swears that ATF cures lifter ticks and gets sludge out to a smaller degree. (He claims a quart of diesel is better for sludge.) But Dan is right. Don’t run it much if you do at all.
I don’t know, man. CAI’s have always seemed like snake oil to me. If you do get one, make sure it actually gets fed cold air. Most vehicles already get fed cold air from inside the fender or somewhere else for their stock air cleaners. With a CAI you get to hear the engines intake some more, and it sounds like power, but doesn’t actually boost power significantly.
Thanks for all the detailed info. I think the old GM 3.x liter engines were really good. You didn’t have any actual mechanical failures with the motor so I would call it good.Those gen 2 3100’s were nice and smooth. I just love cars in general. My dad had an early 90’s lumina, too a long time ago. It was a good car. And thank you for the info on the oil change intervals. I’m probably gonna do 4k intervals.
I just wish that I could use the conventional. I don’t know why but I think that Pennzoil 5W-30 conventional is the best oil there is. Obviously synthetic is better, but I have seen that yellow bottle of oil take my Toyota to 194k before its premature death by wreck, and it took my dad’s 99 F150 to 256k before he traded it in. Too bad I have to use a synthetic blend. I like my Pennzoil conventional a little too much.
As a closing thought, I did not know there were problems with the Dex-Cool coolant. I am pretty sure the plain green stuff voids the warranty, does it not? I don’t know the rules, however, so I could be wrong. I have never owned a newer GM vehicle. I have the orange Ford coolant in my F-150 and I am wondering if I should replace it or not. It’s probably about that time. It’s probably the factory coolant.
I forgot all about PCV oil vapor. I was thinking “what does oil have to do with buildup in the cylinders?” Good thing I didn’t say anything before I was done reading your post. It’s good to read everything before you reply. 😆 I was actually looking at a 2013 Camaro but it was a little out of my price range. It was a stick and in dark blue. I liked it a lot but I like trucks, too. That why I ultimately ended up getting one. I think that PCV systems are overall pretty reliable but I do know about the oil related issues those early 3.6’s had and I do not blame you for being cautious. Do you just empty the catch can periodically? And what is your oil change interval on the Camaro?
The MMO seems like good stuff. I am a Lucas Oil Stabilizer man myself. I don’t go crazy with it. I usually use about a 1/2 Quart with an oil change. It served my old Toyota well. Whether or not I put it in my newer truck with less than 60k on the clock remains to be decided.
I love my Pennzoil conventional. Always did. The new Pennzoil platinum makes me a little leery with the natural gas thing, but the process is indeed quite old. It has good protection but not actually protection I am in love with according to new tests. I saw these tests at this link
There is also a blog made by the same guy within that forum about the best oils. The test is very thorough, although it takes quite a long time to chew through. The #1 Oil is Pennzoil with Prolong Engine Treatment. This is worth a look. The only wrinkle is that the test was used with the synthetic that was not made from natural gas.
Biggest problem with older cars in the north east is rust. Gotta be aware of that. I was looking for a car this past September and it’s good to have a budget of more than $5K. I know how hard money is to come by, believe that. A family friend told me about a Toyota Camry that was his grandma’s, and it’s in pretty decent shape. It needs some maintenance, but other than that it’s solid. It has maintenance records all the way back to when it was new. It’s a 2002 and has 89K on it and they want $4400. I didn’t end up going with it because I wanted a stick, but it’s going to be a real score when someone buys that thing.
As others said, tell your family and friends about it. That’s how I found out about the Camry. I ended up buying my F-150 from Craigslist. I know a lot of people have had nightmare stories from CL, but if you are an informed buyer you will likely be fine. I got a good score on both of my vehicles from CL.
BigDan, I agree that full synthetics are better. For my next oil change I will probably end up going full synthetic. I also agree with you in thinking that they never tell you what percentage the blend is in the synthetic blend. The only reason I am even slightly hesitant to go to the full synthetic is because Wal-Mart carries almost the exact thing that the owners manual calls for. However, the Super Tech full synthetic is exactly the same price as the Motorcraft blend.
When it comes to the brand, I have always been a Pennzoil guy like my father. It’s what I was raised on. But as I have become more educated I realize that brand does not really matter. There are only so many refineries in the world. And as long as the oils have the approved symbols on them they are pretty safe to use. At first I was leery of the Super Tech stuff, but after some research I have calmed down. It looks like a good value.
BigDan, I have some questions for you just out of curiosity. What brand of oil do you use? And why put Marvel Mystery Oil in? Some people say MMO doesn’t work, others swear by it. What is your opinion on why you use it?
Thank you for your reply.
Thanks for the reply Evil-i. I try not to get too hung up on brand names. I know ETCG doesn’t. Today I changed the oil out for the Motorcraft Synthetic Blend. It was cheap at the local Wal-Mart and so I changed it out because, like you, I wanted to use at least what it specified in the manual. Maybe in a few thousand miles I’ll upgrade to full synthetic. I’m torn whether I will upgrade to full synthetic or not. It already calls for a synthetic blend, so I don’t see any harm in an upgrade.
Funny. Oil seems so simple. It’s not. I guess that’s why there are entire websites dedicated to it.
“Lifetime” factory parts are garbage + BS. I changed the trans fluid and filter in my Toyota and it saved the trans even though it was never “supposed” to be changed.
Let me come forward and say that I don’t know about a lot of the things that you have asked. So far as copper, bundy tubing, and testing. But what I do know is that changing fluid for a lot of people is taking MOST of the fluid out of the master cylinder is enough for a lot of people. I think Eric talked about that method in a video. It’s probably not the best way to change it but I think if you did it frequently enough it would be fine. When I say frequently enough, if you did that once a year it would be more often than I.
I don’t have a power bleeder, but when I “flush” my fluid I just pull most of the fluid out of the master cylinder — obviously not all the way, and replace that. I fill it up more than you’re supposed to and then bleed the lines a bit. It’s a backyard and maybe a “hack” way of doing things but I figure that’s going to get rid of at least 90% of the old stuff. By the time you get done bleeding the lines it needs more fluid anyway. Overfilling it is just insurance that I don’t bleed the master cylinder dry in the process. After the bleeding I top the master off to the PROPER level and that’s about it.
I do understand the significance of how a broken bleeder can ruin your day/week/put your car out of commission till you have time to source a new part and the time to fix it. I agree that when you are dealing with more than one or two vehicles there should be some kind of process for testing, because you don’t have that kind of time to waste. But I don’t test it. I just change it periodically. Usually I do that once every 5 years. I know people who have gone a lot longer without trouble. Mostly my dad, but I don’t trust his opinion on cars because he hates them. They are just an appliance to him anymore.
I know this wasn’t exactly responsive, but I thought some madness should go with the method.
It would not be the first time a defective part has left the factory. My friend chased countless problems before tracing it back to the distributor. Intermittent non starting problems are hard to diagnose. Check the battery connections as well. Spider injectors could be a problem too but I don’t know anything about them.
Saved. I have an 07 F-150 where someone diddled with the headlights. I could see needing new connectors if mine ever deteriorate. Thanks a lot.
Nick
I would have a look at things like the ignition system. I think those things still had a distributor in 1998, correct me if I’m wrong. Also look at things like the fuel pump relay. Although things like relays are usually not an intermittent thing. Check the simple stuff. My buddy had a problem with his distributor cap on his Chevy and it was a quick and cheap fix.
I agree very much with keeping the lift mild. Most trucks never even see off road, let alone use to their full potential. It’s good that you have an extra motor laying around to replace that abused block. It sucks getting a vehicle that’s been abused or neglected. With a lot of love, you can bring them back. The one thing that is going to be difficult with a vette motor is that while the block is mostly the same, you are going to have trouble with the front accessories bolting up. I swapped a motor out of a corvette into my El Camino and what a nightmare the front accessories were. Nothing matched up. So just a word of caution there. We were lucky we were able to take the front accessories off the 267 and get them on the 350. You sound like you are quite knowledgeable, so I think you will be fine.
Ah see I knew this was going to be a good car, save for the fact it sat for a long time. I have never had an issue with the cars that Ford made from the early 90’s to the late 2000’s. I never owned any but I did work on a couple and they were pretty easy to fix. I think this car is gonna be choice when you are finished with it and the spiders take their leave. I think this is a much better car to start with than Barbara’s van so far as intitial quality and engineering are concerned. Just a much better platform to work on.
I have a couple of comments that are about the video but not about repair. That old Jeep was very cool to see. Almost never see those anymore.
Also, I am still a fan of putting the best tires with more tread on the front of a FWD vehicle. I know that the tire companies say that having the old tires on the back induces fishtail, and there is absolutely truth to that. But on most small cars the fronts are the drive wheels. Having good tires on the drive wheels is essential because in hilly PA if you don’t have good tires on the front you are not going anywhere fast in the snow. On my 2007 F-150 (2WD, 4.2 V6, 5 Speed Manual; may the Matrix rest in peace) I’ll be putting snow tires on the back after the first snow. The truck came with good all seasons on the front so those will stay there, and the Hankooks on the back are trashed anyway. So Blizzaks for the back. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully this isn’t too far afield. I think tires are always relevant.Nick (Sliberty)