Hi,

Is there anyone out there who has dealt with Ryane Motorsports and is not living in America?

I would like to buy some parts from them and wondered what they are like to deal with. Being here in England I am a bit concerned about sending money and not getting any parts back.

Any thoughts?

Right hand drive Fieros???

Yes, we convert them here in the UK using a ford steering rack.

Has anybody brought parts from Ryane? Judging by the response to this no one has outside of America, what are they like to deal with in your own country

Bish.

Bish,

I can't help you with the Ryan question but I do have a question for you. Which model Ford do you use to convert the rack?

Roy

Hi Roy,

We use the steering rack from a Ford Sierra and adjust the mounting position to eliminate bump steer. That way we have the best of both worlds, a Fiero and right hand drive

I'm not sure if you have the Sierra in America as they are built in Europe. It certainly does the job very well.

We modify the Fiero in a lot of ways over here as parts are not always easy to come by, basically because we love em. My fiero's both run Volkswagen Corrado VR6 engines on 6 speed gearboxes, which are easier for us to maintain than the American units.

Bish.

6 speed. Hmmm...

A six speed gearbox in a Fiero? You are going to make a lot of friends on this board.
Got any pics of your ride???

Bish,

Ford Sierra??? I would love to see a picture of this car to see if there is a US equivilent. I'm thinking that maybe it has a cheap power rack for future Fiero power steering project.

Also, what DJRice said... Got pictures of the VW V6/6-speed install? I would also like to hear more details of the install. Did you use a kit or just a few local experts? What kind of horsepower, etc. This sounds like a fun car!

Thanks,
Roy

Yeah,I will grad hold of a digital camera and take some.

Has anyone dealt with Ryane Motorsports? Us poor old English feel like we are missing out on some cool performance goodies.

Bish.

hmmm.. I think I'm moving to england...

Bish,

I'm not too sure I would go with the VW motor (for the same reasons you don't use the US motors) but, I am intrigued by the 6-speed transmission. How did you handel the clutch? what about the axles? Are they custom made? Did you have to remove or modify the trunk?

You said the trans missions were modified here in the US. By who? Do the have a web site?

Sorry for all the questions. Maybe we should start another thread so more can participate. This is good stuff!!!

Roy

Well, back to the original question ... who has dealt with Ryane Motorsports ... I have for 88 Fiero parts. I dealt with RCC for earlier model Fieros.

They both have quality parts ... the only problem I have had with Ryane Motorsports is the length of time between ordering and receiving the parts. I (and others) have waited as long as 6 months to receive what we ordered.

Paul

I believe the U.S equivelent to the Sierra would be the XR4Ti,that came with a 2.3 turbo.If these are German built racks,as I suspect,they should be light years ahead of ours for quality.I have an old Opel Ascona(Vauxhaul) rack that I've been saving,that'll also fit with a couple mods.

0-60 in 4.3 sec??? Thats amazing!!! A 300 HP Northstar Fiero will only do high 4's.

0-60 in most likely KPH not MPH. If not that is one fast car!!!

It's definately MPH (Miles per hour)for this track run the car was set up this way:-

Shrick VR6 3.1 litre

'No mercy' fuel snap response regulator, this doubles fuel pressure upon hard acceleration.

Stage 3 ported & polished cylinder head with large valves

Energy surge camshafts

Cosworth black spot fuel injectors

Power steering and air conditioning disconnected

Cyclone air ram induction system

Variable track inlet manifold

Slitfire spark plugs & iginition leads

Super 98 Roz/Ron unleaded fuel with octane booster

The BHP to be honest was probably a bit more than 270 on the day, but what a day it was.

This is all driven through a six speed box with Quaiffe limited slip differential and sequencial select, this does away with the normal 'H' type gearchange. You push the gear lever forward to change up and back to change down.

For a clutch I use an AP racing products 'In or Out' unit which is a bit harsh for road use, on the other car I use an LUK heavy duty unit which is just an upgraded VW item.

The driveshafts are a combination of the Pontiac outer CV joints mated to the VW shafts and inner joints. The biggest problem I've had driveline wise is the rear hub bearing units which have sheared off in the past under heavy acceleration, to combat this we had an engineering company make replica's of the originals out of high grade steel but so they are re-buildable and I run Timken bearings in them which are about as good as you can get.

The beauty of the VW VR6 engine is that it uses a single cylinder head over 6 cylinders which makes it extremely narrow, if you hold out 3 fingers on each hand and then interlink them that's how the piston layout looks. So although one of my cars is stretched by 3.5 inches it fits in very easily in both so there is no need to remove the trunk etc., although routing the exhaust is a fine art.

I will contact Stealth racing the gearbox supplier here in the UK to obtain the details of the American supplier.

I can understand you not wanting to use the VW engine, I have seen Fiero's in the UK using the Pontiac engine and VW box as they are very similar in size, also some people use a GM unit from a 2.8 Cavalier (Vauxhall/Opel in the UK) but you only get 5 speeds. The only problem is the shift cables as the VW engine is front mounted so moving the engine to the back reverses the shift mechanism. There are three ways round this, either route the shift cables forward from the gear shift mechanism and back round under the car (very easy) or modify the gearbox cable mounting at the gearbox end (a real pain) or use a sequential box (very expensive).

Paul - who are RCC and how do I get hold of them?

I think your probably spot on with the XR4TI as we have a model called the Ford Sierra XR4 and XR4x4 which uses a 2.8 V6 engine and is also available in four wheel drive, the great thing about the Ford rack is that you get power steering.

Well that's all for now as I have to go to work and it's snowing and you all still in bed as I type this.

Remember :-

Old Fiero's never die they just get faster!

Bye for now, Bish.

Like I said, "thats one fast car"!!!

Bish,

PICTURES PLEASE!!!

Roy

Can we post pictures on this site?

Bish

Definately more info is wanted on the 6 sp. As for pics just click on Pennock image poster button on the bottom of this page and follow the instructions

The US XR4Ti is a Merkur which is owned by Ford. I'm sure that and your Ford Sierra are the same assuming the Sierra is a 2 door. If it's a 4 door it would be equivalent to the Merkur Scorpio. Either way, they haven't sold these over here for quite some time. They didn't sell that many (relatively speaking) so I don't know how plentiful the parts would be. Maybe the parts are off-the-shelf parts from other Fords just like most of the Fiero is from other GMs.

The UK Sierra is normally 4 door, we did have two door models for a while but they were unpopular as well. In the UK we also have a Ford Scorpio (used to be Granada) but this is a much bigger car with a different steering set up.

I will get hold of the Ford part number and you can check it out.

Bish.

Bish,

I have both purchased Ryane components and spoken with Daryl several times. Darryl has always been EXCEPTIONALLY helpful in every way. In fact, when I ordered my rear coil-over kit, it was received in less than 3 business days. I would feel comfortable dealing with them even overseas. I would suggest calling them and asking to speak with Darryl directly... he really knows his suspensions. That way you can discuss your specific problems and work out some possibly unique solutions before the shipping is even considered. That aside.. international orders shouldn't be a problem as long as you use a credit card (or otherwise U.S. funds).

Naturally, I would love to keep hearing more about your car. I had thought about a VW swap, but the engines are VERY rare over here. Don't worry though.. soon I will have something that will blow the doors off of most rides.

By the way, I was fortunate to go to University in France for a while... and really miss Europe. Ahhh what I wouldn't give for a good Piano Bar or Pub around here.

oh yeah... welcome to the Forum!

William T. Thorn, III

[This message has been edited by william_thorniii (edited 04-06-2000).]

i may have missed it in the thread but what did you do as far as the computer is concerned? the engine demensions make this a really interesting swap.

So bish, are you mounting the VW engines transverse or north and south? Ohhh and if it clicked of a 4.3 0-60 (mph), well lets say I am moving to england! Just goes to prove the engineers know whats up over there! DOes a company do theese conversions? everything sounded cool except the race gas or octane booster and the no ac! and hey I will take a manula that you just bang up and down to shift! Man I wan't to see pics, and want one in my car! when you get back on here tell us more this sounds like one bad ace fiero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think Haze would like to send his Fiero to England for a little tweeking

Many thanks for all your kind words and advice, I will give Ryane a try a let you know how I get on.

I will be posting some pics of the faster of the two cars soon, it is a F355 replica, is that a problem as I don't want to upset anybody?

I thought America had imported the idea of pubs and had a few now, mind you it's not the same unless there is a game of cricket going on or a good game of football.

The engine is mounted transverse as per the original Fiero layout and we use everything from the VW donor, the VW computer is chipped to give more fuel and stabilise the idle speed. I don't know of a company that does a conversion kit as it is so simple to do yourself providing your handy with a welder.

Do you fit different front a rear end panels / bumpers on your Fiero's, we do and they make the car look really cool. The big craze here at the moment is converting Fiero's in to convertibles which look even cooler.

Bish.

Bish,
what are thees shrick v6's coming out of? and they bolt up to this 6 speed? Did you ever find the name of the manufacturer. Didn't you say they were from america? Also can you find theese engines over here or would you have to go over sea's to get one? Also can you convert the getrag 5 speed to sequential gear shift? I would go back to from auto to stick if I could do that!!!!

About those Sierras, I was in England( Ormskirk, L'pool,and York) a few weeks ago, and saw some of those. Unfortunately I didnt take any pics, cause they werent that impressive looking. The closest american car appearance wise, was the Taurus, not the latest kind, but the early '90s models. Certainly under the hood they are different as all of the european counterparts are, for instance the Sierra RS is a turbo, which of course has never been an option on the Taurus. Dont know if that helps or not, but you might try looking into those Tauruses for the Power Steering. I'll see if there are some pics of one in my Brit car mags.

Those looking to use the RH drive steering racks on a LH drive car will be in for a suprise! And it wouldn't be the power steering.
Won't it be fun to turn the steering wheel right...and have the car make a smart left turn. LOL

Ok, this power steering idea has me intrigued. The Merkur came out in what, 85? Bish, what year Sierra racks are used? Would the (early) XR4ti rack conceivably work on an 85-87 GT? I can say with assurance that the Merkur is the same car as the Sierra of the same vintage, as I moved back from Belgium after the release of the Sierra and shortly before the release of the Merkur. WE NEED MORE DETAILS!!! Sounds like the UK has got it goin on when it comes to putting together some wild mods! Bish, got any big brake tricks?

Oops. Yeah the american equivalent is the Merkur, but since I had only seen one Merkur in my life, it didnt even come to mind when we were trying to figure out what the Sierra was in America. Anyways I found some Sierras on the net. These are the Cosworth models, but Sierras none the less. http://www.turbocharger.co.uk/

stimpy,

The racks must interchange but I don't know how much machine work is needed. Rodney Dickman has one on his Fiero but he said it was already installed when he got it.

Bish,

Can you shead a little more light on this topic. How much work was needed to convert the power rack from the Sierra to make it work on your Fiero?

Roy

Who cares about the steering rack lets hear more about the engine conversion, and that 6 speed gear box. Buy the way, what are you doing to your car william thornhill 3? You might have already told me but I forgot. O well catch yall on the filp side. I got to go to class!

This thread has two balls of fire going here along with Bish not getting what he originally asked for. That is information about Rayne. For the rest of you animals out there. I live in Germany where they drive on the same side of the road and sit in the same seat as America. Yes they do have Sierras here and there somewhat abundant. In fact I have one as my second car(my old Fiero isn't dead yet, although on the operating table). If Bish could lend some details I would attempt this conversion on my own beast, and post my results here. How many are interested?

also wondering what front and rear bumpers you're able to find. i've decided to use a stock gt rear but i'd love to find a more aggressive front bumper. are you adapting something from another car or is something optional available there?