NS F355 Project (Page 71/73)
fierogt28 FEB 22, 03:59 AM
Hi Yarmouth,

Hey...that's nice work.

Nice to see people doing / fabricating nice stuff for these types of cars. It seem like there is no end in
what imagination can do with a project car. The fiero seems to be the only popular platform that can
be done with many body kits, suspension upgrades, and engine swaps, and so on.

I have no plan on doing custom work besides maybe an engine swap in the future, but I guess I will leave
Blooze and yourself to do re-engineering fiero projects here in the maritimes.

Cheers
Yarmouth Fiero FEB 22, 05:38 AM
Thanks fierogt28. It's certainly alot of fun to be able to design a modification and then build it. But you are right when you say " It seems like there is no end ......" It was only a few pages back I was documenting the process of stretching my stock cradle. Now I have taken it in a completely different direction.

There are many interesting builds on this site and all the builders offer their unique variation regarding concept and execution. It's very interesting to watch them all develop.

My next step will be to fabricate my rear control arms and then weld up the last of the structure in my engine bay. Then I may even be able to set the rear of the chassis back on its own wheels. Its been a long-g-g-g-g time since that last happened.

Thanks for following along.
Yarmouth Fiero FEB 22, 03:15 PM
I installed the cradle bushings and then fitted the cradle into the chassis. It was a perfect fit and the cradle bolts slid right into place.
Yarmouth Fiero FEB 22, 04:24 PM
I weighed my stock cradle at 48 lbs and my new aluminum cradle at 44 lbs. As a side note, my stock cradle had a 3" stretch so the weight may seem slightly higher than others have recorded.
Lunatic FEB 23, 05:44 AM
Great job on the cradle! I too made my own, however it comes in at a whopping 66 pounds. Perhaps I should now make one in aluminum. Decisions, decisions.
Rickady88GT FEB 25, 12:33 AM

quote
Originally posted by Yarmouth Fiero:

Well today I finally got my new aluminum engine cradle welded together. The main rails are 3" x 4" x 1/4" HSS and tapered down to 2" x 4" x 1/4" at the forward bushings. The transverse members are 2" x 3" x 3/16" HSS and are only tacked in place to hold everything together. Their final location will be determined by the requirements of the engine / gearbox mounts and it will be a while before I get to that stage. The rear cradle supports still need to be drilled to accept the poly bushings. The lugs for the control arms are only sitting in place for the photos. Again, their exact location will be determined once the new control arms are finished. They have been drilled oversize to accept SS inserts which have not been pressed in yet. This will prevent the control arm bolts from wearing the holes in the aluminum lugs. The control arm bushings have been fabricated from 2" sch 80 seamless SS pipe. I designed the bushings to be slightly longer than stock to suit the increased dimensions on the control arm structure. I bought two sets of poly bushings and cut them shorter so that I could install two bushings, one from each side. I had new bushing inner sleaves machined to suit the new total poly bushing length.

I haven't weighed the new cradle yet but will try to get that done so I can compare it to the weight of the stock cradle.

I appologize for the poor quality of the photos. My email is down so I had to text them to myself.














WOW, I realy like what you have done. I wish I had this for my LS4 swap.
I have a GM aluminum cradle, and did (at the time) compare it to a stock Fiero cradle and the difference was a lot in %. But after the LS4 Fiero cradle, the aluminum advantage was even better.

Good work
Yarmouth Fiero FEB 25, 07:12 AM
Thanks Lunatic. Nice strong cradle you fabricated. I suspect mine will get heavier once I start adding engine supports and some cross bracing. Its bare bones at the moment but will allow me to install my control arms and set up the rear suspension.

Thanks as well Rickady88GT, I am hopeful the cradle will be a suitable compliment to my eventual LS1 or SBC... or whatever I end up with
RCR MAR 03, 04:56 PM
The cradle is gorgeous. I wish i could TIG aluminum...



Bob
kennn MAR 04, 11:57 AM
HHS aluminum, eh? Is that high structural strength and not high strength steel? Just curious.

Ken

------------------
'88 Formula V6
'88 GT TPI V8

Yarmouth Fiero MAR 04, 02:07 PM
Hi Ken

In this instance, I use the term HSS in reference to Hollow Structural Section. While the term usually refers to steel sections in the construction industry, we also use it for aluminum hollow sections in the marine industry, whether they be square, rectangular, circular or oval in section produced by extrusion, rolling or formed and welded . They are considered structure shapes as opposed to pipes or tubing which are designed to carry fluids and gasses.

Thanks for asking. I know I should be more clear when using acronyms.

Edit to add: with regard to the aluminum material used, all HSS is 6061-T6 and all plate is 5083 / 5086 H116.

[This message has been edited by Yarmouth Fiero (edited 03-04-2015).]