Well guys, I've put off posting this for long enough. This is my build thread for my very own 3800 supercharged fiero!
I bought the engine and tranny from a man in Des Moines for $600 total. They were pulled from a 1998 Buick Riviera with 134k miles on it. He also included the entire engine harness and the PCM. They looked pretty good so we loaded the bundle up and brought it home.
I have been working on this engine for a few weeks, and have lots of odds and ends pulled off. I think I am not going to replace pistons, valves, springs, or anything except gaskets and heavily worn parts, because I do not have a lot of money, but tell me what you think. I may change my mind!
Engine minus supercharger, valve covers, alternator, ac and power steering.
Honestly it looks in pretty good shape!
Fuel Rail has been Painted.
Wiring Harness. I have not decided if I will do my own or buy one, but I'm leaning toward buying one.
Tranny and Torque Converter.
A/C compressor. Since this will be my daily driver, I will be installing A/C on it.
That's all for now, I will try to post regularly on my progress, but the whole thing wont be done for a few months, as school is back in session.
Gokd deal on the setup u boufht since it came with all Acc. as those little parts add up if u have to buy them. U are on the right track and good idea on only replacing the gaskets on the motor as the rest is best un touched. I suggest having someone build the harness for u if ur not strong in the wiring area. Just makes for less issues on start up if there r any no start issues. All u need to know about the swap is on here...
Looks good, now take your time and build a nice reliable car. If you have any questions just ask as there is many knowledgeable people on here to help you. Dan
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DARN Cars now open with Over 30 years wiring experience between cars and trade as an avionics technician in both Canadian Air Force and civilian aviation. Over 25 years experience building and modifying cars. Over 10 years of full Fiero engine swaps and harnesses building and still going.
My advise would be to leave the engine alone for the most part, engine wise just change the LIM gasket, intake and upper gaskets, main seals, water pump and supercharger coupler... Transmission wise I would definitely have it rebuilt, that's a lot of miles and those transmissions are notorious for PCS and other solenoids going bad around that mileage, so a full out rebuild is a good idea!
------------------ 86 Fiero GT 4spd - L67 swap: VS cam, GenV Build Progress 98 GTP - Some mods
I also took off the water pump, it looks pretty good, spins good too , not much resistance.
One question to you guys out there, what do you use to get all the nasty grease off of parts? I've tried soapy water, and brake cleaner so far, not much luck. A toothbrush did good, but clogged up really fast. Well that's it for now, I will be heading to the salvage on Wednesday to try to locate a Sunbird turbo tach, and possibly some good fuel lines.
Replace the water pump for sure why risk all the possible future work plus maybe getting stranded for 30 bucks? Also soaking parts in a high concentration of pine sol does a pretty good job too at taking of the grease.
Greased Lightning, Purple Power Cleaner, any of the redily available degreasers will work for cleaning the engine and tranny up. Oh, some time with scrub brushes and a strong stream of water will help too. The local car wash works if you can get the items there or even a pressure washer. You just have to be careful not to blast anything into the engine or tranny. Replace the water pump while you have it off. It's not very expensive and if anything, it will give you the peace of mind knowing you have a good water pump installed.
replace all the sensors too, the water temp sensor is a b*tch to get to with the exhaust crossover on the car. I did all the sensors, gaskets (like you are), sparkplugs/wires and all hoses/clamps etc... best to do it now with easy access and you need to clean it up anyway. Just don't do what I did, after pulling the lower manifold to clean it up I noticed that it was in bad shape around the coolant ports, seams that the anitfreeze started to eat the aluminum. Anyway, I thought that SIII manifolds were specific to SIII motors so I had no choice but to order a new one. $360 bucks on RockAuto. Then I find out that SII would work, and the local j-yard was full of SII motors. could have pulled them all day for $35 bucks. Oh well, live and learn.
Rob
[This message has been edited by qwikgta (edited 09-17-2013).]
Well, I haven't got much done the past couple day or weeks, a lot of crap going on with school. Anyway, here is what I have finished so far. I got most of the pulleys, tensioners, and mounts painted. I painted the stock dogbone, but I don't think I got a picture of it.
Here they are. You can see my paint scheme is red/black.
Here are some more.
And here is the heater/coolant/tensioner assembly.
I got my LIM cleaned up pretty good, thanks for the tips on degreaser .
This however, sort of worries me. This is the inside of the LIM, it looks really weird, sort of like rust but I don't think it is.
This is the oil filter extension that came with my engine. I'm wondering if it will interfere with the cradle or not.
Finally, here are some nasty pics of the inside of my supercharger. Any recomendations?
Hey guys, no pictures this time sorry. I have taken off everything I can from the engine, save for the heads and the front/rear of the crankshaft. The back part of the waterpump assembly is still on too. I was wondering If you guys think that replacing the front/rear main seals is worth it or not. I also am not sure if I should be replacing the head gaskets. Please give me your input as I am stuck. I wanted to make sure I did everything I can before putting it all back on the engine (parts came BTW).
Hey! I'm in Ames also! If you need any help let me know. I haven't done an engine swap, but I can help with things that you might need another person for. This is the engine swap that I plan to do after I graduate. Which car is yours? I feel like I've found all the Fieros in Ames. I'm the one in the black and grey '86 GT with the chin spoiler and hood vent.
I've got the black 84 coupe. It's got custom plates saying my name on them. Do you happen to live right after a stoplight by a train bridge? If so, I've seen your GT.
So you're the one in way north Ames then? I've driven past your house a few times. (I hope that didn't sound creepy... haha) And no, I think you're thinking of the gold GT by the light on west 13th street. I'm down on Beach. I'd post a picture, but I don't want to confuse people looking at your thread. If you need any help or just want to talk Fieros let me know. I'd love to help out! I'll definitely be following the build!
If the head gaskets and rear seal are fine leave them alone for the front seal pull it and replace the timing chain and tensioner and possible the oil pump if it is in doubt. I would also replace the alt bracket/heater hose piece you have with the 99 and newer style to make a nice dog bone plat form with a low mount alt set up. Dan
I've been trying to do as much as I can, and it's getting colder here in Iowa which blows when your Fiero is outside, but I've got some updates!
I got lots of parts in the mail from zzp! As you can see I'm going with egr delete, and I got myself a new timing chain and dampener. Many, many new gaskets too.
It's kind of a bad picture, but you get the general idea. I got a v6 tach, and it bolted right into my gauge cluster (thank god). I also got rally gauges, which I don't have a pic of.
I got mounts! I went with fierox mounts, as they were $355 shipped and he had a set ready to go, and as far as I can tell they look amazing! everything is powder-coated, and the engine mounts have poly bushings, so I'm hoping that I wont feel too much vibration.
Here's the old timing chain and dampener. I don't have a picture but the dampener had an indent where the chain had been rubbing, a good 3mm in, so I'm glad it's being replaced!
New timing chain and dampener installed! They look so clean!
I'm afraid I must end on a sad note. When loosening the cam gear bolt, I acidentally broke off the cam position sensor- the little magnet thing- on the cam gear. I still have the cube magnet, but the plastic outer part is shot, and I'm not really sure what to do about it. Is there a place to buy just the plastic part? Or will I have to buy the whole magnet assembly, which I believe is like $50.
More to come (i'm dropping the cradle as i type, just a few more hoses and it'll be done!).
Well, I ended up just buying the cam magnet, but when I was putting the cover back on, dumb@$$ me torqued the right bolts down without the CPS underneath, so the head snapped off. Took me a long time, but I got it out and retapped the hole. I put most everything back on the engine, got my 3.5" Pulley Installed, and I got the old engine out!
Here is the Engine as it sits on the stand.
More engine views.
3.5" Supercharger Pulley.
Here's the top of the enigne. I relocated the MAP sensor by the bbv, and switched the t vacuum line on the LIM to a 90 degree elbow to reduce vacuum lines visible on the engine.
Here's the old 2.5l. It's for sale by the way, 120 for it and the tranny.
This is the cradle as it currently sits. Note that is the OLD transmission on it, the three speed auto. I still have to removed it and the axles.
Another View.
I ordered my harness from dan, it should be shipping out soon, he recently finished it. interior has been done (I upgraded to aux gauges and a GT tach). Still need to work up a low mount alt setup. Thinking of using a ford taurus tensioner and stock dogbone mount.
Alright so now that she runs I've been having issues with the rpms being very high, in the 3-4k range. I'm not really sure why they are so high, do you guys have any ideas? Vac lines seem good, I tried unplugging the MAP, none of which did anything.
Hey Don I have some questions for you. What did you end up using for your trans axles? Also you kinda skipped over a lot of the build and was wondering how the wiring harness was from Dan?
Hey Don I have some questions for you. What did you end up using for your trans axles? Also you kinda skipped over a lot of the build and was wondering how the wiring harness was from Dan?
Stock Drivers side Auto axle, passenger was made custom by mstangsbeware. The harness was plug and play, and works great from what I can tell. He is also very helpful if you are confused at all ask Dan and he will answer questions.
