can anyone tell me what is an easy engine swap for these cars? I have a duke out of a older sunbird that had 32000 miles on it when pulled, will that work? can I turbo it with out killing the bottom end??

[This message has been edited by Rusty1m23 (edited 05-03-2008).]

If its front wheel drive it should work. There may be differences in the wiring though and other things; I wouldn't think there would be all that many though if at all. The dukes with a turbo, not so much. You would be better off rebuilding it with a better cam and stronger bottom end, better fuel rail and intake set up with better exhaust. The only other options for the duke if you can find it is the super duty parts from Pontiac, such as the head, but their hard to find.

so if I want more power I should look at different engines

The L4 should work but the wiring is different and you'll want to have kept the Sunbird wiring harness.

If I was doing a swap, for the amount of work I don't think I'd use the Sunbird L4. There just isn't any gain for you unless your current engine is beat and you don't have the bucks to buy an engine.

Good luck with it though

Arn

If you are looking for substantial power increase and dependability then yes, You need to use something that starts in the power range that you want.

im new at the fiero thing, what would be a good engine to get? I'm not looking for a 10 sec car, but would like it to be quick.
And thanks for all the help and advice!

[This message has been edited by Rusty1m23 (edited 05-03-2008).]

Just do a quick search, you'll find tons of swaps. 2.8, 3.4 3.4 dohc, 3800sc, quad 4, 4.9, 350's

Its all what you want out of your car

If your car has a 4cyl engine then all swaps are close to the same difficulty except maybe a SD4 swap. Problem is it's harder to find a SD4 to swap in than it is to find and install a LS2 engine.

you have a lot of work to do because you have the four banger no matter what swap. so pick one in your skill range, and price range.

Click on search, type in engine swap and start reading. In about 2 months of reading carefully you will have a very good idea as to what you are getting into and what you can do with your skills.

[This message has been edited by timgray (edited 05-03-2008).]

3.4 dohc, 3800sc, quad 4, 4.9,

those are my picks, the quad is a bit different, as you will most likely bring a new transmission in from a FWD car, but overall its quite easy.

i HIGHLY suggest looking at 3800's if your considering an automatic car, as you get a brand new high tech electronic trans.

If your going manual, check out the 3400 pushrod, or 3.4 DOHC.

Anything you do will be an investment in the car so make sure you know what you want from the car upfront before you start.

Different engines have different characteristics, lowend torque,highend torque, horsepower,ect... that make the car drive differently.

Some of the engines that are used are older engines and would most likely need to be rebuilt and some are still or receintly in production so you could get a low milage one from a junkyard for about the same price as rebuilding an older one.

No engine is a straight drop-in and go except for the 2.5 or 2.8 that came in them but some others can be done with the use of bolt-on parts like adapters,engine and tranny mounts, ect... while others require some fabrication like cutting and welding usally on the cradle.

I believe the easiest one to do with some extra power would be the 3.4 pushrod from a Camero but it is an older engine and would need some work if you managed to get one.

The 3800 will work with a few bolt-one parts that can be bought from various people on here and the hardest part would be making a wiring harness by combining the Fieros and the one from the car you got the 3800 from along with the computer , but can also be bought if you are not up for the task.

Generally the V8s take some fabracating to get them in and quite a bit of know how. Archie on here can do this and also sells the kits for the Do It Yourselfer for the SBC and the Lx series (Corvette) engines. The Cadillac Northstar and 4.9 are two of the other V8 options and are a little easier to do.

Horsepower, torque, gas milage, $$$, time.....All things to be concidered before jumping in but once it is done, you can reap the rewards.

Steve

The best bang for your buck is to upgrade to the stock 2.8 V6. You can often get them for free from someone that pulled it out to put in a more powerful engine. You get some thing on the order of 40% more power out of the 2.8 so it's a decent upgrade.

The next step would be a 3.4 pushrod, which is just a bit more work, and in the midrange of upgrades is the 4.9 and the 3800 Normally aspirated. The 3800 SC and a V8 are near the high end of the power scale.

But since you had easy in the title, I still recommend the 2.8 V6 since the Fiero was designed to make it fit, (except 84).

it would figure that my car is a 84, maybe I should just go with the duke and find another fiero??? a friend of mine owns a salvage yard so I could get an engine and wiring for a good price.

quote Originally posted by Rusty1m23: so if I want more power I should look at different engines

Oh my YES.

just wanted to say thanks to everyone for there advice, this is a great site!!!