85 GT into 88 (Page 1/1) Vicophine JUN 06, 01:18 PM Just as the title says, I have a parts car 85 GT V6 that I have planned on swapping over into my old 88 4 Cylinder. My question is, should this be a simple swap in regards to extra parts being needed? I am tempted to purchase an engine rebuild kit for the 85GT engine that is going into the 88. I also plan on replacing the insanely slow 3 speed auto that came with the 88 with the 4-speed manual that is in the 85GT. This will be my first engine swap, let alone transmission work (Have 3 friends assisting me) Patrick JUN 06, 04:06 PM I don't know the condition of either car, but have you considered swapping over the '88 rear cradle/rear suspension into your '85 GT instead? Would certainly reduce the amount of work required compared to changing an automatic to a manual. Vicophine JUN 06, 04:26 PM quote Originally posted by Patrick: I don't know the condition of either car, but have you considered swapping over the '88 rear cradle/rear suspension into your '85 GT instead? Would certainly reduce the amount of work required compared to changing an automatic to a manual. It is... not ideal, entire interior is destroyed, body is practically shot (except the sunroof), meanwhile the 88 is nearly pristine inside and outside. Patrick JUN 06, 04:39 PM quote Originally posted by Vicophine: ...my old 88 4 Cylinder. quote Originally posted by Vicophine: ...the 88 is nearly pristine inside and outside. With the knowledge that your '88 has gone from "old" to "pristine"... okay, I can now better appreciate the swap. pmbrunelle JUN 06, 10:15 PM The transmission swap is a simple bolt-on affair; I can't see you needing any parts that you don't already have between both cars, except for maybe the clutch line. I don't know if the 85 line needs massaging to work in the 88, or if you would need to bend or buy a new line from Fiero Store. You have the mono-mount underneath the automatic transmission; my friend with an 88 4-cylinder converted his to the dual V6 mounts. I think the holes in the cradle were there already. Otherwise, you should look out for the different coolant / heater hoses to the engine. You'll have some mixing/matching to do, possibly involving 88 V6 stuff. Ideally, you should use the V6 instrument cluster, to get the tach with the correct redline (and calibrated for the V6 ignition pulses). You should also use the V6 throttle cable; it's not the same length as the 4-cylinder part. This one is a real PITA to change. It will be worth it; the difference between a 4-cylinder auto and a V6 stick shift is night and day. Vicophine JUN 06, 10:39 PM quote Originally posted by Patrick: With the knowledge that your '88 has gone from "old" to "pristine"... okay, I can now better appreciate the swap. Well the 88 is subjectively old, it's got 265,000 miles on it but it's been meticulously maintained. Runs perfectly fine, so for a car of its age and mileage, I'd say pristine is a fair assement. quote Originally posted by pmbrunelle: The transmission swap is a simple bolt-on affair; I can't see you needing any parts that you don't already have between both cars, except for maybe the clutch line. I don't know if the 85 line needs massaging to work in the 88, or if you would need to bend or buy a new line from Fiero Store. You have the mono-mount underneath the automatic transmission; my friend with an 88 4-cylinder converted his to the dual V6 mounts. I think the holes in the cradle were there already. Otherwise, you should look out for the different coolant / heater hoses to the engine. You'll have some mixing/matching to do, possibly involving 88 V6 stuff. Ideally, you should use the V6 instrument cluster, to get the tach with the correct redline (and calibrated for the V6 ignition pulses). You should also use the V6 throttle cable; it's not the same length as the 4-cylinder part. This one is a real PITA to change. It will be worth it; the difference between a 4-cylinder auto and a V6 stick shift is night and day. This is exactly what I wanted to hear, thank you, it sounds like I should have most of the parts between them. I most likely will do a slow engine rebuild of the V6, Lord knows what the previous owner of it did to it.. It's not in the best of shape, so some new parts for both the engine and transmission I expected. Would it be as simple as taking the ECU from the 85 GT and swapping it directly into the 88? pmbrunelle JUN 06, 10:48 PM Were you going to to the transmission swap first, and then replace the engine at a later date? Or, did you want to do both at the same time? The engine harness should follow the engine, and the ECU should follow the engine harness. You'll want to check the pinouts at the C203 / C500 connectors and swap pins as needed; there are some variances depending on year and transmission. Vicophine JUN 07, 07:57 AM quote Originally posted by pmbrunelle: Were you going to to the transmission swap first, and then replace the engine at a later date? Or, did you want to do both at the same time? The engine harness should follow the engine, and the ECU should follow the engine harness. You'll want to check the pinouts at the C203 / C500 connectors and swap pins as needed; there are some variances depending on year and transmission. Ideally, was going to do them both at the same time. As long as I can get the shift knob components installed over to where the automatic shifter console was at.