4.6 Northstar Swap Project (Page 9/22)
copperhens DEC 01, 09:21 PM

quote
Originally posted by Will:


What application did your rear cam cover come from? The close corner looks different than the ones I've seen.



Good to know about the hose!

I thought about doing it on the left side too. I think you’re right and it could fit good, I suppose it depends how the air filter goes.

The rear one is off of a ‘93 Northstar. You can’t see in the picture but it has the “stripes” on it. I found it cool because I was able to make them silver, and the red and silver reminds me of the Fiero intake. The later year valve covers don’t seem to be produced with the grooves for the stripes.
olejoedad DEC 02, 07:27 AM
Lookin' great! Good job!
copperhens DEC 07, 02:53 PM

quote
Originally posted by olejoedad:

Lookin' great! Good job!



Thanks! You’ve been a big help in this too.
copperhens DEC 07, 03:00 PM
Here is the old sending unit. The unit itself is actually not really rusty, but the fuel pump itself is awful looking. The strainer was filled of rust.


I took the gas tank to a radiator shop and they cleaned it out for $100. They said it should’ve been more because there was a lot of rust in the tank! It must’ve all been hidden by the plastic baffle. There must’ve been a lot of water in the tank from the open gas cap, because the outside actually looks good.

New sending unit, nee fuel pump and new gasket. Fuel pump is an AC Delhi EP376 out of 90s Corvettes, Impalas and other V8s. It was plug and play.


Original, unpainted straps and gas tank. I thought it was too cool to paint over, so I cleaned it up and sprayed some clear over this stuff to keep it looking ‘factory’.


We ran out of time yesterday to finish the gas tank installation. I hope today we can get it all strapped in.
copperhens DEC 08, 08:32 PM
Gas tank is installed! There is a small leak at the one fitting that comes out of the filter. Will probably have to weld a new one on.


The car was finally ready to start! Except it didn’t. I appreciate 2 Seat Garage helping us out with some ideas on what it could be, especially on things we didn’t know since this was our first swap.


The car had fuel and spark, but still sounded like it was missing something. We decided to check the fuel injectors the easiest but most unsafe way we knew how. We started a small fire, but it was easy enough to blow out(fire extinguisher on standby, what’s a Fiero without a fire). Only 3 fuel injectors sprayed. Time to order brand new ones and hope this was the only issue.


Here is a video of the car cranking, as well as the small fire that was started.
https://youtu.be/p6Vbe6y2nUQ
IXSLR8 DEC 10, 04:45 PM
Nice work.

Nice nuances on the valve covers too.

I didn't see your response to Will's engine management question. What are you planning to run? Stock or ...like Camaro LS computer and shelby tune?
olejoedad DEC 10, 06:32 PM
Shelby tune
copperhens DEC 21, 09:15 PM
On Friday I did some messing around with the radiator. I was just gonna leave it, but we’ve gone this far and why not redo this too. According to the Pennocks thread on this car, it was a Oldsmobile radiator installed in the ‘90s, and they did not install it the best... I could only hope they were not gonna leave it how it was and fix it but who knows.


Instead of undoing 4 bolts, they hacked the lower radiator support off, and the radiator was not bolts to anything and just dangling and wiggly. PO also cut the fan shroud by an inch which looked bad for whatever reason, and left a stock fan.


There was a lot of white sludge in the radiator. Ignore the oil it was just leftover from the pan.
copperhens DEC 21, 09:17 PM
On Saturday I went to a scrap yard in Mason that had just gotten two near Fieros. Both notchback, both complete, but nothing exceptionally rare. I took a lot of interior pieces, rear wheel wells, a radiator shroud, upper radiator bracket, and little things.



I then swung by 2 Seat Garage’s place to get the lower radiator bracket, and check out their beechwood interior parts. I ended up coming home with almost all of it, as my car was missing just about everything and there’s was in great shape. Thank you guys again for the interior parts, I’m excited to install them.

[This message has been edited by copperhens (edited 12-21-2020).]

copperhens DEC 21, 09:29 PM
Yesterday I started on the interior. This was all that was left of the headliner that was in there.


I had to do some modifications. The headliner was from my friend’s ‘84. I had to cut out a 3rd brake light, and the clothes hanger things. I also saw that those old headliners had clips to hold up the rear. My ‘88 still had them tab in the roof it fit into so I left it. They should’ve kept those tabs on all years, as it’s no fun fighting with the headliner trying to hold it up and install stuff. The clip(single clip other was missing) held it up. This board was floppy in many places, I tried hot glue to stiffen it up, but it still wasn’t great. Once in the car and held up you can’t tell it’s a bit broken.



Here is a ‘new’ headliner installed. I have had it for a while actually, but never had the trim pieces I needed to hold it up.


I started dew wipes yesterday and finished them today. I haven’t done them in a few years and was dreading it. Taking the window tracks out made the job much easier! I also painted and regreased them too. I only stripped one screw thank goodness. I then went to the local hardware place and bought brand new screws that were the same size. Since this car hasn’t ran in decades, the windows were unscratched since they were never used.