ecotec swap (Page 82/98)
wftb OCT 17, 07:42 PM
I decided not to get the new tires till next spring .I will be lucky to get a month of driving on them before it gets too cold to drive summer tires .Too bad but it just does not make sense right now .I have ordered a Wilwood (260-11179) adjustable proportion valve to replace the stock prop valve with .Read the spec sheets and it will allow up to 50/50 front/rear brake bias .Fully adjustable with a knob on top , 2 inlets and 2 front outlets and 1 rear outlet . Very hopeful this will let me get rid of the front lockup once and for all .Hopefully here on Thursday .

[This message has been edited by wftb (edited 10-17-2016).]

Dennis LaGrua OCT 20, 11:37 AM
I admire your perseverance to stay with this project for as long as you did and meet the challenge. There are some clever work-arounds and some interesting solutions but many kudos; you did accomplish a difficult swap. It seems that you while you proved that the Ecotec Fiero swap is certainly doable; if it were easier, we might see more Ecotec swaps. Its an excellent engine choice just begging for a plug and play solution but I did notice that P & P solutions in the form of a harness and PCM are available online for some Ecotecs and Roger Thelin still makes the mount swap parts. If you come down to Fieros at Carlisle in 2017 I would love to see your swap.

------------------
" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

wftb OCT 20, 06:43 PM
Thanks for the reply Dennis .This is a long thread full of all my success and failures but one thing most people don't realize is that when I first got this swap running , it only took 6 weeks to get it on the road .I just continue to change things because this is a hobby car and I hope to someday to get it exactly the way I want it . I think I have only not driven the car for 2 summers out of the last 10 .A lot of the stuff I have been doing to the car lately really do not have to do with being ecotec powered , it is just easier for me to continue to add to the thread .I hope to have time after I retire (this coming March) to go to a lot of Fiero related events and Carlisle will be one of them .
wftb MAY 08, 08:56 PM
I have been driving the Fiero and tuning the suspension for about 3 weeks now. At the end of last season I made changes to the brakes and I am very happy with the way they came out. So I have been concentrating on the rear suspension, the latest change being dropping all the way down to 200 lb. 10" springs in the rear of the car.I started last year with 450 lb 9" springs, then went to 350 lb 10" springs because the 450's just seemed too stiff. Keep in mind when I still had struts on the car it had 350 lb 12" springs on it. I always thought that gave more body roll than I like so when I changed the suspension, I went with the heavier springs. Even with the 350's it still seemed too stiff. I would stand in the trunk and bounce the car up and down and it seemed like it was barely moving. So rather than order a 300lb set of springs I decided to try the 200lb 10" springs I had laying around from my dead in the water Locost build. My logic was to start with these springs and then go up in weight from there if needed. To my surprise these turned out to be what I needed. I set up the ride height and decided to try the shocks on the stiffest setting, compression and rebound. I rode about 5 miles like that and then stopped every 5 miles and backed them down 2 clicks at a time until I had a comfortable ride. Each knob has 18 settings and I ended up at about +10 for compression and +7 for rebound. At the stiffest settings the ride was back spasm inducing harsh. The body roll stayed the same as it was with the stiffer springs, something I thought would not be possible. The car corners flat and really tracks around a corner. The overall ride is not as good as my old strut suspension, simply not as smooth over bumpy roads. But that is a trade off I can live with.I hope to finally get to a track day this year to see how it works when I really push it.
wftb MAY 14, 11:50 PM
I decided to try the minimum settings on the rear coilovers. I had set them to the point that I thought was a good compromise between harshness and cornering force but I wanted to see what the softest settings would be like. On the lowest settings, it rides like a Fiero with brand new monroe shocks on it. Maybe QA1 has a forum for these shocks where I could learn all about how they work but I have been just working blind here. I have learned that the lowest settings basically replicate what a factory stock shock gives you. Right now my Fiero is smoother than my wifes loaded hardtop convertible 2012 Miata.The only time I am going to crank the settings up will be when I go to a track day.

[This message has been edited by wftb (edited 05-14-2017).]

wftb JUL 20, 01:11 PM
I noticed that the lower ball joint on the rear passenger side had seen better days so I changed it out. That threw the alignment out of wack , and then I started noticing some squirming in the back that seemed to be getting worse. I took both wheels off to tighten and check everything and then I realized the upper control arm bushing nuts needed to be tightened up. I had left them a little on the loose side while I built the new tie rods so I could move it all up and down by hand. They are locking nuts so no danger of falling off but the bushings got a little sloppy, hence the squirming. Tightened the nuts up and that problem went away.
I did an alignment using a 4' straight edge and a tape measure and it looks like I have it close enough, the steering wheel is centred again. I am waiting to get my new tires before I pay for another alignment. I also increased tire pressure to 42 rear and 40 front to reduce sidewall flexing. Max is 51 PSI for these tires so lots of room there.
Today I am taking the car to Grand Bend Raceway for road course lapping. If it goes well, then I am going to leave the setup basically the same but make a proper upper mount setup with a built in adjustment system and arms with better bushings. If things do not go as expected, then I have a lot of ideas for a redesign of the upper arm system. The way it is working now, I am expecting good things at the track.
wftb JUL 22, 10:04 AM
At the track:

The layout was the screaming alien. Track is part of the Grand Bend airport.


I was a little surprised at the speed of the cars in the group I went out with. These guys are serious track day people. For the first 4 laps or so I just tried to get faster and stay out of everyones way. So I got passed. A lot ! Then I got it figured out and I managed to stay in front of some of the cars. My old Kumho tires were howling for mercy on every turn so I was sadly lacking grip compared to everyone else. A lot of the cars were running racing tires and the rest with newer style high performance summer tires. The track was also quite a bit longer and higher speed than I was expecting.
I only went out for one 15 minute session. The airport was expecting some landings so they were not allowing a cool down lap. The car ran slightly hotter than normal on the track but nothing high enough to be concerned about. I should have cooled down with a slow drive in to Grand Bend and back, instead I just did a slow lap of the pits and that was not enough. About a minute after I parked, a plastic heater hose T developed a hole and I lost about a 1/2 gallon of coolant. Before leaving for the track I decided to take some spare fittings, hose and some clamps and a set of tools. And a gallon of demin water. I have never trusted the fittings I used so better safe than sorry. So after letting things cool down my wife and I changed out the melted fitting with the hopefully better fitting we had. And then after about 1/2 hour of filling and burping we were on our way home.
I learned that to run this track my springs are too light. Way too much body roll. My tires suck but I new that already. My suspension works really well, no surprises there.The car is just as neutral on the track as the street. When I got a bit loose it was usually the whole car sliding, not the rear fishtailing or a front end plow. Very easy to just brake or back off the throttle and get the car back on line. I never put a wheel off the track. I ran with the shocks set at mid position. The plan was to start there and change to stiffer settings every session. But because of the coolant leak I did not get to see how much affect adjusting the shocks would have on body roll.
The brakes worked well, I could really stomp on them and not have lockup. And they stopped really well, as I found out when I stayed on the gas too long on the main straight. I was smelling the pads by the end of the session so maybe some race pads would be a good idea.
I am going to put on the heavier springs I have. Might get a set of race tires instead of buying BFG's. Just get hi performance all season tires for the street. And check out what better pads are available.

[This message has been edited by wftb (edited 12-29-2017).]

zkhennings AUG 09, 11:06 AM
Very cool work! I love my Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Positions, they are an ultra summer tire and have awesome grip, I think the only other summer tire that outgrips them is the Michelin Pilot Super Sports, but I went with the Bridgestones because they have AMAZING wet grip, as in I have never lost traction in the rain no matter how hard I drive.

http://www.caranddriver.com...pole-position-page-9

I have them on my WRX for almost 30,000 miles and they have plenty of life left. I have dedicated snow tires and rims for the winter.

I have had good luck with both Hawk and EBC pads in the past, they all make a buttload of dust no matter what reviews say. I use Hawk HPS pads (high performance street).

Also something that can improve track braking is using some DOT 5.1 fluid, Bosch makes some that is readily available at autoparts stores. Flush your system using that and then the brake fluid can take much more heat without degrading.

Some adjustable swaybars are also a great choice for tuning the turn in at the track, and don't forget how much affect altering alignment and also setting cross weights can make! Find a buddy with a set of racing scales to get your cross weights set up correctly.

Zach
wftb AUG 13, 11:20 PM
Thanks for the comments and tips for setup. I have not had time to do anything to the car but I hope to have a bit of a plan in place soon. Decided to change the springs out first and see how that works and go from there. Hope to get another track day in this month.
wftb AUG 24, 11:42 PM
I might be able to make it out to one more track day so making a few changes. I installed the 10" by 350 lb springs into the rear coil overs and put the 450 lb by 9" springs into the front coil overs. While I had the rear springs out I installed some rod end bushings in to the shock mounts. These take care of the misallignment between the shock mounts. Better freedom of movement.

One thing I have not been happy with is the rear camber adjustment with the present setup. I cant get enough negative camber the way it is, not enough room between the shift linkage. I thought about making a different upper ball joint mount and new control arms but could not come up with anything that did not entail a ton of work. I wanted the ball joint lower and further out to reduce the kingpin inclination.Where the ball joint is now I cant put bigger tires on because they would rub against the bj housing. So I have decided to experiment with two upper links per side. I got some aircraft rod ends made by Radial Bearing Corp and combined them with swedged tubes and some delrin bushings I have had for a while now:

These will be mounted with frame tabs on the chassis for the delrin ends and the rod ends will be mounted by a long 5/8" grade 8 bolt directly on either side of the strut stub. The chassis mounts will be further outboard than they are now and the rod ends will be down and further away from the frame, lessening the kingpin angle and giving the tire clearance I am looking for.