I have a question for those familiar with the Northstar engine and/or the 7730 ECM. The question concerns a 1993 vs later model engines utilizing the 7730.

I have ran across a website were Ryan Hess has gracefully documented and provided a BIN file to run this engine on a 7730. First off, great work by Ryan for this and it was very nice of him to post his hard work for others to use. I have used 7730’s in the past for other swaps and can appreciate the work he has put into this.

I guess my real big question is here, what are the major differences between a 1993 and a 1996 to 1999 engine? The only thing I am aware of is the 93 has a stepper instead of IAC for Idle control and a different intake. Does anyone know if I could simply swap a 96 to 99 throttle body on to a 93? I am assuming this is the only mod needed to utilize the DIS code that Ryan has shared. Could anyone verify this being the only real difference?

As far as I'm aware, that is the only difference. I believe Ryan is actually using a 95 engine with the throttle body swapped, but I'm pretty sure it's only a direct swap for a 95. I may be wrong but you might have to make an adapter plate for a 93-94. Either way get a 96-99 throttle on there and your golden

The OBDII throttle bolts onto any OBDI engine. Obviously you need the OBDII throttle as the 7730 will not operate the OBDI Northstar ISC stepper motor.
You'll need the MAF sensor housing to adapt a hose coupler as the OBDII throttle only has a flat 3 bolt flange for mounting the MAF housing.
The PCV tubes are different between the two throttles, but the dealership had the ones I needed. The later forward valve cover has a larger hole for the PCV grommet, so the later PCV tubes don't work directly with the old valve cover.

There are very minor internal differences between the OBDI and OBDII engines. The OBDI engines have 1.5, 1.5, 3.0 mm ring packs with wider top ring lands, while the OBDII engines have 1.2, 1.5, 3.0 ring packs and narrower top ring lands.

I appreciate all of the useful information from both of you.

I was going to pull a throttle body off of a 99 this week, but stopped when I realized it had a MAF on it. Overall it sounds like the Idle control is the only issue. I may just use an IAC from a 3.1 engine and make a manifold block to adapt it into the 93 throttle body. In any case it shouldn't be a show stopper. It looks like after 5 years being away from a Fiero I will be doing another swap. I honestly thought I was done and had all of this out of my system, but couldn't resist another go at one.

Easier to swap throttles and leave the MAF unplugged...

Very true, I better make another trip to the local yard before the throttle body disappears.