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" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

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'87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. Sticky tyres. Driven hard!

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" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

It's my bank 1 knock sensor that's behind my coolers.

Here's how I mounted the intercooler:




Above that is the oil cooler with its fan:



This photo shows the plumbing from the oil filter block (block came off a series 1 3800 in a Pontiac Transport):




And then I can get, just about !!, at the knock sensor!:




Who put all that stuff under the engine? Oh yes, it was me!

Regards, Rafe

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'87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. Sticky tyres. Driven hard!

For the engine photos, I don't have many available - we had to move house at the time and the Fiero was "thrown together" in order to move the car. I wasn't really documenting the build after a time. It just had to get finished and running!
Here are a few however that I've managed to find:





This was the weekend just before the move when I (we) worked all day to drop the body back down and haul the car away. Just before handing in the house keys the monday morning!


More recently, this is a photo taken by a reporter at a track day:



I realise that I don't have any photos of the complete motor with its turbo?
Just some photos of the hatch in the modified firewall giving me acces to the turbo etc...



Concerning US parts numbers, I haven't a clue? As I said, the oil filter block with the oil lines input/output came off a series 1 3800 in a '95 Transport. Its where my PCM came from as well. (We don't have alot of wreakers with american cars here in France.)

Regards, Rafe

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'87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. Sticky tyres. Driven hard!

I saw today that a subject on the aluminium radiators came back from the dead, rather like this thread.
Here is my experience with radiators:

While on the track back in 2017 my radiator finally gave out - or more so the radiator cap. Coolant spayed out while racing and the engine got hot. Luckily not too catastophic and I managed to get back to the pits. Once stopped, I opened the bonnet to this mess:


I topped up with coolant, greased the radiator cap seals to help seal the 30 year old rubber seals a little bit better and limped the car home gently. No further overheating during the 60 or so km to the house.

Once home, a stripdown of the radiator area showed up some rather "crusty" supports:


The radiator, while still fonctionnal, was 30 years old and rather corroded on the bottom tubes. As well, the trackday overheating had disloged all the "crud" and rust inside these tubes - I wasn't sure that the lower tubes would not start to weep once flushed etc...
… so, out with the old and in with the new 3-row all aluminium radiator:


The lower radiator support was well rusted on its foward facing lip. Since no Fieros are in the scrap yards here, E-bay France and/or Germany don't have any secondhand spares and paying the shipping from the US costs double the overpriced used part on E-bay US, I decided to repair what I have:
(Something that I do pretty much all the time with this car!)

You can see the new strip welded along the front edge.

Fixed this rusty front lip extension support at the same time:



"Ajusting" the upper radiator support (it's never a bolt on fix!), fitting a new fan motor (30 years old as well) and generally cleaning and painting all bits necessary and here is (was) the result:



So there it is. I've been running the 3-row radiator for 1 year now with no issues.

My opinion? It doesn't cool a whole lot better than a stock radiator. Which is to say that the stock radiator was quite capable of cooling my 3800 turbo, until the radiator cap gave out.
Yes, a new cap costs little in comparaison to the complete 3-row. But I had other rust issues to treat as well, so I went the extra wallet emptying to have a better looking radiator setup.

Regards, Rafe

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'87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. Sticky tyres. Driven hard!

quote Originally posted by vette7584: ...I think we need an engine shot!...

I found this photo the other day, taken while repairing the flywheel one time:


In fact, it was the unfortunate time most of the flywheel bolts gave out. You know the how it goes; "I'll use another sort of bolt for my new flywheel and clutch setup." "What could possibly go wrong in not using OEM flywheel bolts?" "It takes too long to get new bolts shipped out from the USA anyway." "I'm in a hurry to get all of this finished!"

Moral of the story - don't do it!



I was damn lucky not to grunge up my crank:


The flywheel boltholes looked pretty knackered once disassembled. I wasn't sure if the flywheel would go again?


However, after careful repairs with aluminium inserts it seemed OK:
(Not got any photos of how to reline/make up inserts. All I remember was that it was rather tiresome adjusting and flaring in the inserts made out of 1mm walled aluminium tube.)


So here is another engine shot, from the front this time - just before sliding the whole drivetrain under the car again:


As said before, don't skip on the small components of your builds. It doesn't pay!!

Regards, Rafe

PS: Yes it worked. Proper bolts and all. The flywheel has stayed in place, no worries for 2 or 3 years now.

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'87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. Sticky tyres. Driven hard!

[This message has been edited by Frenchrafe (edited 09-16-2018).]

Back to present day problems. The knock sensor issue.
This weekend I replaced the two knock sensors (after waiting 3 weeks for the spares to arrive from the USA - no import tax this time! Must be in inverse proportion to how quick the parts are shipped! The French customs must think that if he waited this long to get his parts, we're not going to sting him on top of the purchase price and shipping costs. Poor guy has had his car in the garage for a month now! Lets be nice!!)


OK. Started by testing (again) the old knock sensors:


One was at infinite resistance - can't be good!


And the other one was at 100kohm - again, not good!


New parts:
(Nice.)


As said in my previous posts, the front knock sensor is a pain to access, and you've got to be quick to change over the part while being rained on with coolant! Messy!



Once both sensors changed, its time to test again:


And both sensors are at 3.87kohm / 3.88kohm. I'm calling this one a win!



Reconnect the leads and it's all good:



The car is back on its wheels and drives. Accelerations are good. No more fault codes and no more orange SES light blinking away at you!
I guess the other codes were incidental codes caused by the engine ignition retard and resulting partial limp mode.

Cheers, Rafe

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'87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. Sticky tyres. Driven hard!