A history of Skitimes car (Page 8/72)
skitime FEB 08, 12:11 PM
 
quote
Originally posted by HIOSILVER!:

I have a question and a comment. First the comment. I am with everyone here when I say you did a spectacular job with your car. And now for the question.
I am in the process of a 3800SC swap myself and I am wondering if you still have the template you used for your cooling system? Or if possible would you get another set done if I pay for them plus extra for your trouble?
Also very curious on your fuel rail modifications.
Thanks in advance.
HIOSILVER

Yes, I do still have my PVC patterns. I am not sure if they would work for someone else or not since each install is different. For example I am using a series 1 AC compressor so the pipe might not clear a Series 2 compressor. There is still a lot of custom welding of support brackets too.
Now about fuel rails, I get asked a lot about these and had several request to make them for people. Since the rails are under a lot of fuel pressure a crack or even a pin hole would be a disaster. Therefore I have refrained from making these for someone because of the libility of having one that would fail. I mostly used the original pipe and rebent it after cutting it. I machined couplers on a lathe to precisely fit the pipe and brazed they pieces together so it would be plenty strong. One advantage is I will have an easy time putting on a intercooler which I hope to do soon. Since it will raise the supercharger two inches.

jscott1 FEB 08, 12:58 PM
 
quote
Originally posted by skitime:

Since I had the engine window I wanted to keep everything clean. I did not what anything interfering with the view through the window. When I announced that I was going to do a 3800SC swap, several people asked my why because the 3800 was too ugly to be in my car. I told them I would make it a pretty engine.

I too was one of those that thought the 3800SC would look like a mess in the window compared to the beautiful plenum of the Fiero. I'm glad you kept your promise and made the 3800SC pretty. But I had no idea you had to go through so much work to clean up the look of the engine with re-routing the fuel lines and wiring harnesses. That is a lot of extra work, but takes your car to the next level of being a true show car. Congratulations!

HIOSILVER! FEB 08, 01:15 PM
Understood. I do have a guy that will be doing some welding for me and custom brackets wouldnt be an issue for him. I do not have ac in my car nor do I have plans to install it. TTops is fine enough for me. Plus I live in Maine so AC is not really a requirement for me. At least 9 months out of the year anyway ;-) So I still would be interested. The pipe you had made is formed to go around the compressor? Seeing as though I wont have that is the bend that significant? Understood about the fuel lines. I didnt really anticipate going that far anyway.
Let me know.
Thanks
HIOSILVER
 
quote
Originally posted by skitime:

Yes, I do still have my PVC patterns. I am not sure if they would work for someone else or not since each install is different. For example I am using a series 1 AC compressor so the pipe might not clear a Series 2 compressor. There is still a lot of custom welding of support brackets too.
Now about fuel rails, I get asked a lot about these and had several request to make them for people. Since the rails are under a lot of fuel pressure a crack or even a pin hole would be a disaster. Therefore I have refrained from making these for someone because of the libility of having one that would fail. I mostly used the original pipe and rebent it after cutting it. I machined couplers on a lathe to precisely fit the pipe and brazed they pieces together so it would be plenty strong. One advantage is I will have an easy time putting on a intercooler which I hope to do soon. Since it will raise the supercharger two inches.

[This message has been edited by HIOSILVER! (edited 02-08-2003).]

skitime FEB 08, 01:34 PM
 
quote
Originally posted by HIOSILVER!:

Understood. I do have a guy that will be doing some welding for me and custom brackets wouldnt be an issue for him. I do not have ac in my car nor do I have plans to install it. TTops is fine enough for me. Plus I live in Maine so AC is not really a requirement for me. At least 9 months out of the year anyway ;-) So I still would be interested. The pipe you had made is formed to go around the compressor? Seeing as though I wont have that is the bend that significant? Understood about the fuel lines. I didnt really anticipate going that far anyway.
Let me know.
Thanks
HIOSILVER

You can see the pipe bending around the AC compressor in the section where I mentioned the PVC bending. Since you don't have AC it would be a easy piece to make yourself with my technique.

[This message has been edited by skitime (edited 02-08-2003).]

skitime FEB 08, 01:40 PM
Well, let me continue. After physically installing the engine. Vonnie and I towed the car to the muffler shop with a tow strap. Not a very pretty sight since there was no hood, front fenders or nose. Those pieces were not back from the body shop yet.

I had already purchased and modified a Series 80 Flowmaster muffler while the engine was out. I had to make clearance for the cradle.


skitime FEB 08, 01:40 PM
I had the shop install a flex joint at the header and use 2-½ stainless steel pipes throughout. It then flowed through a high flow CAT and with tight clearance past the oil pan and into the Flowmaster muffler and exhausts out through West Coast Fiero tips.




skitime FEB 08, 01:42 PM
After towing it home, I had to start hooking up all the lines and hoses and connections. I believe that was on a Wednesday. I spent a few evenings carefully hooking stuff up. I was very nervous about putting electric to the harness. I just knew some wires would smoke, sparks would fly, and flames would appear. Saturday evening I was done and announced to Vonnie I can’t find anything else to do. It must be ready.




Since I was worried about the wiring I disconnected the ECM just in case. So I carefully hooked the battery up. No sparks, no smoke. So I worriedly turned the key to on. No sparks, no smoke. I left the key on for 5 minutes just to be sure. I decided to turn the key to tap the starter. Nothing!! Damn Now what could be wrong. I knew all the wires were connected on the starter. I tested the starter by jumping the solenoid and it worked. I just took the Fiero manual inside and sat down to figure what I could of possibly done wrong. I figured I would be in for a long troubleshooting session. Almost by magic the manual opened to the starter diagram and there it was. On the C500 connector the automatics use a different pin for the solenoid than the manual cars. I had a automatic car and used a manual 2.8 engine harness to create my 3800 harness. I could not believe I found it so easily. I went out and move the pin to the correct location and tried again. OK the starter now turns the engine and no sparks or smoke. Hallelujah!!!

I just waited a while thinking about things and decided to hook up the ECM but removed my custom burnt chip just in case. I again just turned the key on and waited for smoke. Nothing. Turned the starter over. No smoke no sparks. I breathed a sigh of relief. I decided not to push my luck and quit for the night.

Sunday morning I decided to put the chip back in the ECM and do my smoke and sparks test. Nervously, I put it in and turned the key to on. Only heard the fuel pump priming. That’s a good sign. I decided to tap the starter for the smoke and sparks test. VAROOMMMMMM Oh my god it started immediately and scared the crap out of me! I instantly turned if off and was scared to look at the engine. Vonnie by now had run downstairs to the garage to see what the heck the noise was. I had a scared grin from ear to ear. I had started it by accident but it had started so easily. So with Vonnie watching for trouble I restarted it. Boy was the exhaust loud and sweet. It ran without so much as a miss. DAMN that was cool.

After a few test runs and checking that the coolant was full, I let it run long enough for it to get hot and burn off the oil and stuff since this was a new crate engine. Suddenly the entire contents of the cooling system dumped out on the floor. It was a green flood! Oh no, now what happened? Turns out some idiot never tighten the hose clamp to the coolant pipe under the passenger door. I couldn’t even yell at that idiot. Oh well I fixed the problem and refilled the system. After that I could only enjoy listening to the engine since I had not connected the hydraulics for the clutch.

Jim Gilbert (TooManyFieros) and I had dismantled the Getrag transmission weeks ago since this transmission was an unknown trans from a yard. We were amazed that it looked perfect inside. What luck! We decided to replace the differential axle bearings as well as the input shaft bearings. So after rebuilding the master and slave cylinders I bleed the system and luckily the clutch was releasing properly. Gee guess it soon time for a drive.
I put the trunk lid back on and pulled it outside for some trunk lid pictures with a 3800SC. Since I was waiting for the front end body panels I resisted driving it on the street but the clutch and trans seemed fine.

[This message has been edited by skitime (edited 02-08-2003).]

skitime FEB 08, 01:44 PM
Finally the front end body panels were ready to be picked up. YAHOO!! I had the nose and spoiler repainted as well just to be sure of a good match. I was excited to get the pieces on after months of working on them.



Well with the body panels on I could finally take the car out for a drive. I cannot totally describe the thrill of accomplishing the engine swap by myself. To know exactly where every wire is located and what it connects to, to know how the engine is mounted and engineered is such a satisfying feeling. It makes you so much more than the driver of your car and you become part of the car. The power of the engine is awesome it loves to pull hard and long. There is no lag in power as with a turbo. You can drive the car easy and it purrs right along. It has the power to lug through slow speeds in high gears that reduces shifting. The exhaust is nice and quite while driving easy but bellows sweetly when you get on the accelerator. One of the first drives we did was to go out and take some pictures of the new bodywork. Here is some of the first pictures we took on our first drive. It shows perfectly the bodylines on the nose I was trying to retain on the hood.

skitime FEB 08, 01:45 PM



Well let me stop here and post this and I will try to work on it some more.

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Red 88 GT T-Top 3800 Supercharged
White 88 GT Stock
Please give me a rating if you appreciate my contribution.

rynelson85 FEB 08, 02:27 PM
I Love it. A work of art to be sure.
-Ryan