World's slowest Fiero/Quad 4 Swap (Page 30/48)
Quadfather DEC 28, 09:13 PM
This 1990 Sunbird brought back memories. The first new car I ever had was a 1989 Sunbird that was the same color as this one. It was the car my wife and I drove on our honeymoon.
Quadfather DEC 28, 09:22 PM
The real magic happened when I found the ‘84 Fiero which had lured me to the yard.



Just as I was about to start removing the t-stat housing and the right front lower control arm, I turned around and saw this.



It’s an ‘87 that’s almost a clone of what mine was. It was a surprise because it’s not on the salvage yard’s official online roster. It has cruise control and an automatic, but other than that it’s a zero-option coupe. It even had the same hubcaps mine did.

‘

A hunch tells me the car had been well cared for while it was being driven, and then was stored inside for quite some time. The t-stat housing came off quickly, and removing the lower control arm was one of the easiest salvage yard jobs I’ve ever completed.



I wrapped a chain through the spring and around the control arm, but when the spring jumped out of the control arm it was stopped by the upper perch.

When I got the control arm out I lay there on the ground holding it in the air like Jeremiah Johnson after killing a grizzly.



Tomorrow I’ll get back to work on the engine, installing the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate, then the starter and the manifolds. After that it will be time to remove the spare engine from the car to put this engine on the cradle. Fun, fun.

[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 12-28-2021).]

Quadfather DEC 31, 10:37 AM
Fun with flywheels. On the left is the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate from my non-HO Quad. Middle is the one from the ‘93 Grand Am and the right is from my GTZ.



The non-HO clutch disk is a quarter inch smaller diameter than the other two, so even though it’s in the best condition I won’t use it. Next best is the disk from my GTZ. I bought it new in 2008 when I replaced the head. Even after 100,000 miles it’s still in good shape.



The pressure plate, though, has a lot of wear. I know I should just buy a new kit but that would have to wait a couple of months so the GTZ clutch with the ‘93 Grand Am pressure plate will have to do for now.



I spent an hour sanding the GTZ flywheel to get it clean and smooth but forgot to take any photos.

[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 12-31-2021).]

Quadfather DEC 31, 11:09 AM
Got an auto-darkening welding helmet for Christmas. Armed with that and a pair of cheap reading glasses, I tried modifying the coolant outlet pipe. The swap instructions call for cutting off the heater pipe and using a clamp to close the stub, but I prefer cutting off the heater pipe flush and welding a patch panel over the hole.



I experimented with turning the voltage and line speed way down. After a couple small adjustments, it worked. No leaks.
Quadfather DEC 31, 11:16 AM
Came across a photo from ten years ago. On New Years Eve, 2011, I replaced the fuel pump and hoses.



Hope to get back over to the shop this afternoon to install the flywheel and related parts. Then it will be time to pull the spare Quad out of the Fiero. We’re expecting bitter cold weather tomorrow and Sunday with some winter precipitation so it will be a good time to be working inside.
Quadfather DEC 31, 09:13 PM
The flywheel is ready to go back on the engine.



I had just about finished unbolting the engine from the engine stand to install the flywheel when I realized I didn’t have any place to put the engine while I used the hoist to pull the spare engine out of the Fiero. Bolted the engine back on the stand then pulled the spare engine and cradle out of the Fiero. Boy, was I out of practice.





Another engine and a cradle sure fill up the garage in a hurry. Also it’s amazing how dusty the engine and cradle were after just sitting in the car for a few years.

Getting to this point is a big step forward, but it also shows how much work is still needed, like finishing the engine/transmission mounts, stripping and painting the cradle, cleaning up the suspension, etc.

The engine compartment also needs major attention.

Quadfather JAN 08, 09:12 PM
Made some progress this afternoon. First up was re-engineering the front transmission mount. I didn’t like the look of the one I fabricated years ago, using the bottom half of the stock Fiero mount. It’s ugly and the angle iron wasn’t thick enough.



I had the other half of a poly dog bone from a trip to the salvage yard years ago, so I decided to use that. I cut a piece of plate to cover the holes on the cradle, and used some angle iron to make a u-shaped flange to hold the dog bone end, kind of like an engine mount.



The mounting studs are the studs from the Fiero mount. I used a piece of cardboard to make a pattern then cut out the flange from some quarter-inch plate.







The poly got a little melty while I welded the flange to the dog bone end, but it will still work.



]

[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 01-08-2022).]

Quadfather JAN 08, 09:23 PM
Lifted the spare Quad and the transmission off the cradle and set them aside for now. The cradle is dirty and rusty from the previous work I did to it.





Lots of wire brushing and sanding in store for the cradle. Also thinking about adding steel plates on the ends of the pipes where the vertical bolts attach to the space frame. I’d been using the stock Fiero washers and bolts, but I noticed in Sardonyx’s thread that he welded plates onto the pipes.



[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 01-08-2022).]

Quadfather JAN 08, 09:26 PM
Having two spare engines sure fills up the shop.



I need to spend some time on the engine cart. I slapped this together years ago when I first started working on the Fiero. It works but I’d like to dress it up a bit and add some flanges to keep the cradle centered on the supports.



Also, I’m considering cutting off part of the shift cable mount. I had to drill a new hole in order to fit the mount to the Quad/Getrag and since the Getrag’s slave cylinder is in a different location the slave cylinder mount isn’t needed.

[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 01-08-2022).]

Quadfather JAN 09, 07:46 PM
Worked on the engine cradle today. I decided years ago to switch to solid mounts. At the time one of my nephews was working at a machine shop so he turned me a set of aluminum bushings for the front mounts. I used the stock rear mounts as guides to cut and weld sections of pipes to the perches.







Over the last few weeks I’ve realized I didn’t need the piece of pipe on the bottom of the cradle perch. I can weld a plate over the opening on the bottom and then just use a shorter bolt.



Still have to use a section of pipe on top of the perch in order to keep the cradle at the same angle as OEM, right?





Tempted to dig my ‘88 cradle out of storage to compare and contrast.

[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 01-09-2022).]