Once I buy a fiero, one of the first things I plan on getting done to it is getting the engine (4cyl) rebuilt. Considering a rebuild is going to cost me about $900 anyways, what can be done during time of the rebuild to improve the engine performance? Instead of rebuilding with the standard parts, should I used stroked parts? How much would this cost? (On a side note I'm located in Toronto if anyone knows a good and cheap person here for rebuilding engines please let me know)

Thanks
Adrift

Also, is there any engine you can swap in for under $1000 that would provide better performance then the rebuild? Is it proper to refer to an engine as "stroked" ?

I have a lot of parts you might want. Since you are in Canada I guess that isn't much help. Search for my posts if you want to see what I have for sale.

Duke upgrades during rebuild . . .

1. don't overbore unless you have to, then just enough to clean up the bores.

2. get a mild camshaft and lifters

3. valve job and new valve springs

4. use the holley intake and TBI

5. use the hooker tri-Y header

This stuff will increase your power without putting stress on the block. Treat the head and block with caution. Do not assume that because they are not cracked before machining, they won't crack later.

I rebuilt my Duke with 0.030" overbore and the block cracked. This reply is an attempt to save you from making the mistakes I did. Don't machine the block if you can avoid it and DO NOT ALLOW THE ENGINE TO OVERHEAT, EVER!

Most 2M4 owners do swap to another engine after struggling rebuilding a cragly old Duke. Of the swaps possible, the 2.8 V6 is the easiest and the 3800 V6 is considered the best by many.

I think I am going the 3800 route. But right now I am just looking at a cracked Iron Duke block.

Hey Everyone this article i found has all sorts of suggestions! seems like I might have answered my own question!

Head porting can help and the Fiero Shop in Ontario Canada sells some already ported heads. www.thefieroshop.com
Cost for this ported 4cyl head is only $275.00!
GM still sells the alum. Super Duty head but it costs $995.00 so i'm not sure how cost effective that is for you.

As mentioned above: there are many high perf. cams available for the 84-86 4cyl's too
Comp. Cams: www.compcams.com
Or Crane Cams at: www.cranecams.com

Fiero Conversions still makes a turbo.
They are also located in Canada.
They don't have a web-site that i'm aware of but their PH# is: (519)-972-4989
Cost is $3400 probably not cost effective either but I thought you might want to know anyway.

The big bore t-body and Holly tri-y metioned above are good parts but remember that they only fit the 84-86 4cyl's not the 87-88's.

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Dave Gunsul
N.I.F.E. member
86 GT modified
85 SE daily driver

Hey Adrift!
I would look for a 3800 that is cheep but rebuildable...
Sometimes you can get them for free (I did!) or low cost...
I am also buying a computer that is programmable on a pc...
total cost of rebuild and computer is high ($2500 to $3000) but the results will go much further than an iron duke...
BTW, I have a duke that I built, but I would not race it...
crash...

I'm not looking for a racer. When I buy the car the engine will have over 180,000 km on it, so I would be rebuilding the engine just for reliability reasons. I was just thinking, heck, if I'm rebuilding the engine already there must be some sort of performance enhancements which can be done at the same time! I can't spend more then $1000 on this rebuild though...

I would just have a performance valve job done and have the valves back cut for more low lift flow. I would upgrade the camshaft only slightly if at all and bore the block as little as possible. I would not go cheap on the machine work either.

Porting the heads on the iron duke is not worth it. The engine can't rev high enough to take advantage of it and it will hurt your low-end torque if you make the runners bigger.

Just my two cents, I’m sure others think differently. Just to let you know I have rebuilt one of these engines and ported the heads.

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