Well here we are a month past my expected completion date, and the cradle isn't yet in the car. First thing since the last update was getting the engine and transmission mated together and getting it all torqued to the rear cradle. We had to do some aligning with prybars to match the angles of the two going together, but it only took about 10 minutes to do. It went without a hitch and I'm very happy to have them together.


I did have custom AC lines made to join the 3800 compressor to the Fiero's hard lines, I worked with Auto Cooling Solutions in Flint, MI and they were really great and had it done in 5 days. I would highly recommend them, for me it cost 170 without shipping anything. I worked up in the front of the car a bit to swap in the Fiero Store's full aluminum upgraded radiator. I struggled on this for the entirety of the afternoon because it wouldn't seat properly. The stock Fiero radiator has cutouts in the bottom flange that allow it to seat over some bolts on the bottom radiator support, but this new one was completely absent of them. Rather than cut notches out of my new radiator- I cut down the excess length of the bolts that was causing the issue with my angle grinder and that allowed it to sit in there at the agle it needed to. I also cut down the height on the rubber isolators that others have done.




I have put in Archie's front battery relocation tray, couldn't watch the instructions because I don't own a DVD player- so I probably made it harder on myself than it needed to be. It really was a tight fit. I needed to cut a little more than I would've liked because it was running into the steering rack's damper bracket on the drivers side and the stainless coolant pipe on the passenger side. Was barely able to get the radiator hose and clamp on, hopefully I can get them off in the future. Because I had to cut more than I wanted to- I had to smother it with JB weld. I'll paint it all black eventually to cover my sins.

Most recently, I've been hooking up the electrical harness olejoedad made for me. It's been a little struggle figuring out the exact routing needed for each cable, but he's been amazing with the support and everything is labeled!! I've asked plenty of questions and very appreciative that he's been able to answer them all. I do have to make an extension to my alternator plug, I believe the fact that I'm using FieroRog's low mount alternator brackets and a Powermaster alternator- those both moved the plug about 3-4 inches away from where it is on the alternator. Not a huge deal- I have the two ends of the 4 pin Metri-pack 150 series on the way and I'll make a small plug in extender rather than cutting into the lines and having to seal
that up well.



Also in my case, the EGR is deleted so I need to make a block off plate. I decided to use some of the angle iron I had around and cut up a plate to mount where the EGR valve sat with the gasket. Doesn't look too bad if you ask me.



Next step is to finish the electrical hookup as much as possible, put on the belts to the pulley system, get the rest of the rear suspension put on, and get this thing into the car.....

[This message has been edited by MichiganReefer (edited 05-29-2023).]

I've finally got the cradle back under the car and bolted up. Thanks to a buddy and lessons learned from removing it, it went smoothly and didn't take too long. We hoisted the car higher by picking up the rear crash member and kept the front tires from moving with my scrap part wheel chocks.



We had the cradle on two Harbor Freight furniture dollies and jacked up the sides with two floor jacks. After getting it about a foot off the ground we realized how little we were jacking up with and sent it anyway. I had to give myself about 3 ft of height to slide the cradle in from the side.



It feels amazing to have the cradle in now. I've been hooking up connections as I go. Working on the coolant lines, transmission lines, fuel lines, electrical hookups, vacuum lines. So many more connections I can't recall. I'm going to struggle with the remaining electrical, getting power distribution taken care of. We'll cross that bridge in a couple weeks. I had bought Rodney's adjustable dogbone- to make it work for this application with FieroRog's brackets I had to chop length from both ends. Around 3/4" from each.



I think it looks amazing.



Up front I have mocked up my battery position and where I want to mount my intercooler pump- I'll be hole sawing a couple holes for the hoses to reach the 'frunk' compartment.


How have people historically been able to have a decklid hood work with a full stack intercooler? Have you all been able to use a large hood scoop? I will probably bring it to a body shop for a consulation, but would like to hear/see how other people have handled the supercharger sitting so high. Are the hinges or torsion springs a problem?

[This message has been edited by MichiganReefer (edited 06-15-2023).]

[This message has been edited by jelly2m8 (edited 06-16-2023).]

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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 "

[This message has been edited by olejoedad (edited 06-19-2023).]