Hey fiero goons. Im building my 87 GT my dad gave to me a few years ago. Its your plain old 87 gt model with a faded spoiler and silver ground effects. 145k miles, runs great, 5 speed car.

Going to be boosting it, with a intercooled setup, probably a 60mm turbo t3/t4 with a DSM style in/out on one side intercooler i will mount in the trunk, Ill cut the trunk to allow air to pass probably.

bigger injectors, and some other odds and ends will go along with it, going to straightpipe the car from the turbo back (got collector plates)

All this will be done this winter before I paint the car, going to paint it factory color, along with a new wingless decklid.

Expect pics soon, the car is sitting in the shop collecting dust as it has been for the past 5 years, starts up great every month or so, gonna pull it out and detail it in a week or so, gotta move my dads 92 mark vii lsc out of the garage first

Going to keep all this to a below $2000 - $2300 budget, and do it right/clean, im a mechanic in the auto and diesel field so i know sort of what im doing dont know a ton about the L44 or any 60 degree v6 for that matter so im a complete NOOB and please dont be afraid to correct me!

I need input from guys that have done these builds, backwoodsfiero, for example, dont know if ya'll remember that build, it was a blue GT with a boosted/built 2.8, theres videos of it on youtube. car had 2-step and everything.

THANKS

Boosting a 30 year old motor is going to be risky business regardless. The best bet woudl be just to build the 3.4 to boost it instead. Everything will bolt onto it and it would be a better platform to work with. Are you planning on rebuilding the 2.8 before adding boost? If so then it woudl make even more sense just to use the 3.4.

[This message has been edited by Spadesluck (edited 09-06-2018).]

Scrapping the trunk is pretty awful considering that there are alternatives...
1. The in-wing intercooler: https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wvmy4po/

2. Another spot for an intercooler is in the stock catalyst location, just ahead of the cradle.

I agree with the premise that you should build the motor you want.
Building half of what you want only to scrap it and start over is a waste of time and money.

2k is a very aggressive cost target for paint + turbo.

Would that air to air IC been efficient at all? Or is it not air to air?

You mean the one in the wing?

That one is an air-to-air intercooler. There are other pics of that car on the Internet with its hood open. Air hoses linking the intercooler to the engine can be seen.

I don't know how well any intercooler that's not in front facing the wind can function. Turbo Porsches used to have their intercoolers in the back, horizontal. I don't know if they were any good.

I decided to skip this head-scratcher and go to water injection for my (not yet running) turbo Fiero.

My first mod in the late 90's was to install an old Ford Thunderbird Turbo on my 2.8L. The engine had 55K on it that I thought was risky but it ran well with 5 psi of boost. Wanting to go further, I swapped a rebuilt 3.4L Camaro/Firebird engine in with forged pistons a cam and a modified Garrett Hybrid Turbo with 9 psi of boost. That car is still fun to drive but since it is an auto that also had to be modified to take the power. Its a good runner but with the three speed gas mileage wasn't particularly great. Finally the 3800SC came to replace it and with the 4T65eHD offered better mileage and more power. If I had to do it all over again I would just have gone right to the 3800.

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" 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, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, 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 "

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: My first mod in the late 90's was to install an old Ford Thunderbird Turbo on my 2.8L. The engine had 55K on it that I thought was risky but it ran well with 5 psi of boost. Wanting to go further, I swapped a rebuilt 3.4L Camaro/Firebird engine in with forged pistons a cam and a modified Garrett Hybrid Turbo with 9 psi of boost. That car is still fun to drive but since it is an auto that also had to be modified to take the power. Its a good runner but with the three speed gas mileage wasn't particularly great. Finally the 3800SC came to replace it and with the 4T65eHD offered better mileage and more power. If I had to do it all over again I would just have gone right to the 3800.

I fully agree with Dennis. I have a 3.4 L push rod engine with a turbo plus a couple of other vehicles with the 3800 SC engines. The turbo is fun to drive but hp/$ favors the SC 3800 engine. Now I do need to say the turbo set up with a Truleo intake that is powder coated to match the valve covers looks fairly exotic and really fits the 1987 Mera that is my back up show car. Note that this set up is for a 5-7 psi boost and has no intercooler.



Nelson

[This message has been edited by hnthomps (edited 09-14-2018).]

The car has a running 2.8 in it, I might as well pull it and put in a 3.4 first. Not really looking to 3800sc swap the car, simply because id rather do it to a 88 GT and everyone does 3800's (for good reason)

I would like to build a 3.4 up, (big cam, heads, etc) then put boost to it.

Now if the quad cam 3.4 route was cheaper i would do it and keep it all motor.