Ok i have a couple questions lol

1. I want to go to a local junk yard and find a northstar throttle body for my 04 monte. Does it matter what Cadillac it comes out from? Yr, model ect?

2. Im getting the scan gauge for xmas to read my KR. I know that too high of a number and i run the risk of chipping a piston. What number is consider too high or what is the ideal reading i wanna keep it at?

3. What's the difference between xp hot cam and vs cam?

Thanks in advance!

 

IMO a TB and cam is a bit overkill for a 3.4"

If you're going that far- I'd definitely get a modular pulley system so you can sell the 3.4, and easily stick on a smaller pulley later.


For real KR (not talking false here)- any number is too high. If you only see spikes of 1-2* here or there, its not the end of the world, but if you're still seeing 5*+ of real KR, you really need to do something about it (ie keep tuning), and you certainly shouldn't be dropping pulley size.

XP cam is bigger and more aggressive than the VS. IMO, if you're going through all the work to do a cam, you may as well go with the biggest one you're considering running because you'd hate to go too conservative and want to go back for more later. The XP isn't really all that crazy of a cam anyways- totally streetable.

 

Nice thanks for the info! And yea i have the modular pulley system. Do u think the pulley puller is worth the 100 dollars zzp sells it for? And nice to know i dnt need to swap TB for the 3.4! Saves money and time lol

 

I have the zzp pulley puller and it is great. However, if you have a modular system- maybe they still have the rental option? You're only going to need it once. I bought mine because I do pulley swaps for others- but it would be cheaper to rent for a 1 time thing.

For a 3.4, I wouldn't be as worried with skipping the TB as I would the cam. A cam is a ton of work, and is certainly overkill for a 3.4". Putting a TB on is easy- especially with an adapter kit.

Dunno what mods you have- but a good mod to kill KR would be headers. Kind of a pain to put on (nowhere near as bad as a cam)- but still cheap and good at killing KR.

 

Well my current set up now is speed daddy headers, 180 tstat, iridium autolite plugs, zzp spark wires, egr delete, and custom exhaust. 3 inches all the way back no res or cat...so to drop to a 3.4 with that set up may be iffy? Also, kinda random but how would having 1.9 rocker arms work with xp cam?

 

I wouldn't say it would be iffy at all. Add some rockers and a tune (even a mail order tune from a vendor) and you should be more than fine with a 3.4". Even as is, I wouldn't be too worried about having a ton of knock.

They wouldn't work together. The XP's exhaust lift is 0.335", which is about 0.536" on a stock 1.6 ratio rocker. With 1.9 rockers, that puts you at ~0.637" actual valve lift which is WAY too much for stock heads. It even pushes the limits of machined heads (which are usually set up for 0.650").

If you want that much more lift than an XP cam- go with a bigger cam to start with.

 

Once i get the scan gauge i can use that AFR to tune my car correctly? Cuz my buddy that tunes asked for me to get a wideband o2 for accurate tuning. But since the scan gauge already reads airflow, can i just use that?

 

Your scan gauge reads the factory narrowband gauge which isn't all that great to tune with. An actual wideband would be better- but it depends how far you want to go. But really, for a 3.4" setup- I don't know that I'd go too crazy spending $300 on a wideband just for one tune. You can make plenty of improvement without a wideband.