LS4 / F40 swap - fieroguru (Page 115/216)
fieroguru MAR 28, 11:30 PM

quote
Originally posted by mrstan:

Do you have instructions for that Kent Moore J-36419 tool for castor / camber? I have a pair, but wanted to see if you had advice or instructions for use? Any pointers for this tool?



They didn't come with any instructions. When I do alignments, I take the wheels off and let the car rest on the rotors on blocks. Then you install the tools on both ends of the upper a-arms and snug them to the chassis. Loosen the a-arm bolts. I use a couple of magnetic digital angle finders. One on the face of the rotor (camber), the other on the upper flat of the tie rod arm or the vertical surface of the upper ball joint surface (caster). I try to dial in as much caster as I can get on both sides while making the caster and camber match from side to side. Once you have the caster & camber set, then you adjust toe.

Use the tool on the front side of the cross shaft to push the leading edge of the cross shaft as far from the chassis as possible to increase caster and reduce negative camber. At the rear having the bolt as close to the chassis increases caster while increasing negative camber. Normally I start with the front bolt moved to the outer most position of the slot and the rear bolt at the inner most portion. Check both sides to see which has the lowest value of caster. Then on that side use the adjusters to adjust the camber while trying to keep the camber maximized. Once you have one side done, make the other side match.

Another way to think about it is by focusing on the ball joint end of the upper a-arm. You want it as far to the rear of the chassis as possible to maximize caster, while keeping it at the needed lateral distance from the side of the front frame rails to have the proper camber (-1 degree or so). So you adjust the tools at each end until you get the desired measurements.
fieroguru APR 02, 08:36 PM
I am a pack rat... acceptance is the first step right?

The 425 lb rear spring finally arrived:


So did the aluminum bar for the tension. The problem was that the rotary table was at the very back of the 10x40 storage unit. My wife as been on me to get out of that unit (45 miles from the house) and get into a smaller/cheaper one a few blocks from the house. So she got me a 10x7 unit and today I started moving crap into it. 1 of my wooden work benches, 3 88 rear cradles, 2 88 front suspensions, Isuzu 5 speed, 92-94 HTOB getrag, 2002 Maxima 6 speed, and a 6000 lb scissor lift are now in the new storage place... I still have a lot of panels, 20ish axles, 4 seats, and other crap that needs to go in there too... 10x7 might be a little too small.

But after two 90 mile round trips with the truck and trailer... I now have this ready and waiting for some free time... and the rotary table is quite heavy:


I also made the decision to bring my metal work bench and both LS4/4T65e-hd to the garage as well. This bay is now just a work bay, there isn't any room for even a fiero in there any more:



On Sunday, I will likely be on the road for 6 hrs to pick up a lawn mower. My International low boy mower with a 60" cut is too big for the new house, so I needed something smaller. I am cheap and like older stuff, so I have been on the hunt for a 32" Swisher Ride King/Big Mow from the early 80's. My grandfather had several of them and I spent many summers growing up mowing his place with that mower. It was one of the first zero turns as the front wheel does the driving and can be turned 360 degrees (you turn it 180 for reverse). Here is a sample pic of what it looks like.


fieroguru APR 03, 08:32 PM
Long day... picked up the mower. Here it is next to the LS4/F40 fiero. I think it has been restored at least once in its lifetime.


When I got back, I put fuel in it and mowed the grass (.37 acre). Then replaced the fuel line on the weed wacker and got it running again after not using it for 1.5 years. The trimmed along the house and the 4 neighbor fences (end of cul-de-sac lot - so the lot has 5 adjacent lots - 2 on the side, 3 along the back). Then sprayed those same areas with round up... did I mention I hate yard work.
fieroguru APR 09, 07:08 PM
It has only taken a year and half, but my 10x40 storage unit is just about empty. The desk I am giving to my mom, but have to wait 2 weeks until she gets her new hardwood floors. The trash can will likely be craigslisted as I just don't need it.


Not everything would fit in the garage (and still have room to do something in it), so what didn't fit was crammed into a 7x10 storage unit about 3 blocks from my house (the 10x40 is 45 miles away).



Sunday I need to clean/organize the garage and probably put more stuff in storage to get it out of my way.
davylong86 APR 09, 11:48 PM
That is a one cool mower. Good job on setting up your shop as quick as you did, I would have been a year behind you. It took me that long to find all my stuff from boxes and totes.
FOREVER88 APR 11, 05:49 PM
I have a question with regards possible engines for this swap. I have been following developments on this build for some time now and am almost ready to get serious about collecting parts for my own version.I have two 88,s which could be used as starting points. One GT and One Formula. Both are manual trans cars without air conditioning. The question is which version of the LS4 is going to make My life easier? 2006 and earlier or 2007 and later? Also would it be possible to to use an earlier LS1 control module on the earlier model engine and go back to a cable type throttle body. Since I plan on getting rid of the DOD anyway and changing the intake and exhaust manifolds I am not seeing a lot of down side to this plan at the moment.I know that I will have a bit more work as far as finding parts but the end result will hopefully be a simple easy to service installation.
fieroguru APR 11, 06:42 PM

quote
Originally posted by FOREVER88:

I have a question with regards possible engines for this swap. I have been following developments on this build for some time now and am almost ready to get serious about collecting parts for my own version.I have two 88,s which could be used as starting points. One GT and One Formula. Both are manual trans cars without air conditioning. The question is which version of the LS4 is going to make My life easier? 2006 and earlier or 2007 and later? Also would it be possible to to use an earlier LS1 control module on the earlier model engine and go back to a cable type throttle body. Since I plan on getting rid of the DOD anyway and changing the intake and exhaust manifolds I am not seeing a lot of down side to this plan at the moment.I know that I will have a bit more work as far as finding parts but the end result will hopefully be a simple easy to service installation.



The 05 & 06 versions (24x) are simpler in that they are less "connected" to the BCM than the 07+ engines and easier to get some of the other features (like cruise control) working. The 05 and 06 ones could also be ran with one of the other 24x ecms in either cable or DBW.

Having done swaps with DBW and with cables... DBW is my preference by a significant margin.
fieroguru APR 16, 09:07 PM
Did some more work to the car. First I washed it, including the engine bay and front area. Then I got the phantom wipe after using the wipers to clear the windshield. Swapped out the wiper motor and it still does it. Think the cheapo turn stalk might be the cause.

I have to run a front plate, but my Fiero didn't have the bracket, so Raydar hooked me up with one that just need a little crack fixed. So I mixed up some epoxy, fixed the crack and then painted it flat back. On Sunday I will install it.


Moving on, the clutch master has been losing fluid recently. No drips, so figured it was the clutch master. It did give up a little fight with the line. But I fabbed up some heat shields to protect the harness and rubber items in the area and used a propane torch to heat up the fitting. Old one:


New one from Rodney! Very nice piece and install was quite simple.


Then I moved to the rear of the car and swapped out the 10" 275 lb/in springs for some 12" 425 lb/in springs. Only complicated thing was needed to turn off the weld bead so the sleeves could slide all the way down:
Old springs:


Old vs. New:


Removing the weld bead:


Installed:


Back from test drive. With 575 lb/in springs up front and 425 lb/in springs in rear with the Konis on all corners set to full stiff... it handles quite nice. Ride is quite firm, but not really harsh, minimal body roll, squat, or dive. It no longer bottoms out on the rear over some of the larger road depressions, which is good as well. The rear is sitting about 3/8" lower than before, but I can raise it up in the next few days.


Before I put the rear springs on, I mocked up the rear suspension and used my Percy's Wheel Rite tool to verify a 18 x 9.5 45et wheel will fit. It looks to be close, but it should. So I sent an email to Tire Rack for a wheel and tire quote.

Wheels are Enkei Tuning Kojin in matte silver.


Tires are Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 as the car is becoming more and more focused on autocrossing.


Front: 17x8 45et with 235/40/17
Rear 18x9.5 45et with 285/30/18

The front wheels and tires are a smidge wider than I would have preferred (7.5 and 225), but 8 and 235 are as close as I could get with these specific wheels and tires. All the more reason to get some rear flares and run a 305 or wider rear wheel!

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 04-16-2016).]

fieroguru APR 24, 02:09 PM
Wheels and tires specified above have been ordered from Tire Rack as a package. They will come mounted, balanced, and with the needed lug nuts, but won't arrive until mid-May. Wallet is still hurting a little...

Still working on some of the more minor upgrades as I get ready for the Hot Rod Power Tour. This weekend I worked a little on a power window/lock setup. The LS4/F40 car had hand crank windows. In my younger, thinner, more flexible years, I could reach over from the driver's seat and roll the passenger window down, but those days are long past...

Fierobsessed had a great idea to use different motors for faster windows and shared it here:
http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/000317.html

Before anyone asks, I have zero interest in make a power window motor kit... I merely want these for my personal Fiero. I have a spare set of power window/lock doors from an 86 GT, so these will be the test subjects, then I will swap the guts to the doors on the LS4/F40 car.


Scissor cam with stock motor and replacement below:


To support the new motor shaft, I welded 3/16" shaft collar to the frame. The adapter bracket is 16ga steel and has 6 holes. 3 for the motor, 3 smaller ones for the frame. The shape of the adapter matches the stock mounting tabs, then is expanded to pickup the 1 motor mounting bolt that is above the cam. If you look closely at the frame, two of the bolts holes for the new motor land on the stock mounting tabs:


The bolt above the scissor cam is very close to the rib in the cam. I clearanced the button head bolt, but it still touches on the side so I will likely weld it in place.


Motor installed (I haven't installed the rivets in the small holes yet):


Now I need to reinstall and rig up a power source to check for fit and clearance to the main window rail.
fieroguru MAY 03, 07:53 PM
My wheels and tires came in Monday and I installed them, verified the alignment and took it out for a test spin.

Front old/new (24.4"):


Rear old/new (24.8"):


Some clearance pics with a couple of notes:
1. the top of my struts are moved inboard 1" from the stock 88 location.
2. the rear mount for the lateral links are moved inboard 3/8" due to my lateral link relocation brackets.




Installed pics:






Camber was set to -0.7o in the front and -1.0o in the rear.

The rear center caps wont fit over the excess length of the CV stub shaft, so I will need to cut it shorter. I am on vacation from 5/14-5/22 with the sole purpose of getting the car ready for the HRPT. I will probably take the wheels off then to clean all the suspension parts and repaint the calipers and rotors since they will be more visible.

Overall I am pretty pleased with them. There is an autocross both days this weekend, but I don't know yet if I will have the free time to start wearing down the new tires!