I have a 88 with 5spd trans and a pretty fresh 3.4 pushrod from a 96 camaro. It also has crane cam and heads done. I’m considering putting a turbo on since the hard part is all done. Can anyone help me out? I was planning my 2nd 3800 swap but I bought the car I with a nice 3.4 already in. Thanks
What type of turbo or kit I can put together. Thanks! I’ll ask if he has it
I used a Garrett T-3 turbo on my 3.4L setup. Its uses the Buick Grand National compressor wheel. With 10 lbs of boost it gives fairly quick performance very similar to my 3800SC as the turbo car has a modified TH125H with 3.33 FDR that does help the acceleration quite a bit. If you go turbo be sure to use premium fuel and add octane booster if you do a 1/4 mile run.
------------------ " 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 "
[This message has been edited by Dennis LaGrua (edited 10-24-2021).]
There were some turbo kits made for the Fiero, such as the Miller-Woods kit.
However, there are no Fiero turbo kits in production anymore, so if you want a pre-made kit, you have to find one used.
On my own 3.2 L Fiero, I decided to get the various parts piece by piece. The centerpiece is the T04E 50-trim turbo, with 0.63 AR turbine housing and T3 stage 3 turbine wheel. I suppose it works OK, but I don't have enough experience driving many different turbo cars to make a good judgement. I almost always run 91 AKI pump gas, street or strip.
I would suggest looking into the BorgWarner EFR line of turbos. Each one works with a pretty wide window of airflow, so it's easy to match an EFR turbo to an engine. Besides that, the wastegate and BOV are combined into the turbo, so you don't have to take care of buying these items separately and plumbing them in.
Making your own setup piece-by-piece will require some study, whereas bolting on a pre-made turbo kit is probably simpler.
If you wish to add a turbo its not all that hard but it does require fabricating a crossover pipe w a mounting flange, connecting to the exhaust, running the oil feed/return lines, installing a 2 BAR MAP sensor and using a special program to work with it. The timing tables in the chip program need to be programmed to work with boost and N/A operation. I built and installed Turbo kits years back, then swaps came along and made them less desirable. I may still have the chip programs for turbo operation but I'd have to search my old computer files. If you get the system working properly 250+ HP is possible but size the turbo and crossover pipe properly and do not run more than 9 psi of boost without an intercooler. When complete and you slam that pedal down to the floor, the excitement is incredible.
------------------ " 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 "
A performance cam for a non-turbo engine is not ideal for a turbo engine - consider changing the cam out before you add a turbo. I had Comp Cams do a custom cam for me when I turboed my 3.2.
Unfortunately, depending on how much boost you want to use, your pistons may also be non-ideal. I had Ross Racing make me up a custom set of forged pistons that had 8.5 compression so I could boost to the 10-11 psi level.
I have never understood why people build a conventional no-turbo engine and then want to add a turbo. There is a fair bit of difference between the two sorts of build.
A performance cam for a non-turbo engine is not ideal for a turbo engine - consider changing the cam out before you add a turbo. I had Comp Cams do a custom cam for me when I turboed my 3.2.
Unfortunately, depending on how much boost you want to use, your pistons may also be non-ideal. I had Ross Racing make me up a custom set of forged pistons that had 8.5 compression so I could boost to the 10-11 psi level.
I have never understood why people build a conventional no-turbo engine and then want to add a turbo. There is a fair bit of difference between the two sorts of build.
Yes especially lower compression and forged components.
You only need to modify the engine for turbo if you're looking for more power. Otherwise, many people turbo factory NA engines without changing anything.
What 2 bar map do you recommend using? One from maybe a turbo sunbird?
I used the GM two BAR Map that was used on the Buick Grand National. The turbo Sunbird may have used the same part.
------------------ " 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 "
Do you know if an aftermarket cam was used in the 3.4? More overlap than stock is not a good thing for turbo installs. A true turbo cam has hardly any overlap.
I ran a 3.4 Turbo...it was a great performer, but less drivable then the 3800 SC. Turbo kick in a Fiero can be wild, not in the straight line, but going around turns.
I won't sway you away, but it does require some good knowledge and persistence. You have all that here, but you'll need to be dedicated. If you doing it from scratch your Fiero will be down for a while. If its your second or play car that's okay.
For me, I could never get a good idle. The hardware fabrication and installation is one thing, but understanding software programming is another.
Originally posted by RotrexFiero: For me, I could never get a good idle. The hardware fabrication and installation is one thing, but understanding software programming is another.
OP should not have a mechanical limitation with regards to smooth idling, if it idles smoothly now.
People seem to run into limitations with the Fiero ECM.
OP may wish to install a computer that is known for easier tuning.
If you want it to run good, you should to a '7730 ECM upgrade. Going the route of the Fiero '85 ECM route is an option but there are lots of benefits to the '7730 such as switching to DIS and you can program it with the 1990/1991 turbo 3.1 code as a base for tuning.
What he says its common sense. But all he does is test junkyard motors on the dyno with bolt ons. I sent a sugestion on an intake manifold test where he had 8 "straws" feeding a 4.6L Ford engine and he kept changing the height of the straws and lost power. I suggested to change the taper of the runners to increase velocity and volume and his answer was "it wont make a difference". Right there I knew he has no clue about the physics of an intake manifold to make it increase its velocity. That's why all you see in his channel is LS and turbo stuff, basically things that takes no effort or knowledge to achieve.
I have an existing 3.4 push rod engine converted to a turbo a number of years ago. It initially used a Garret T3 turbo that i purchased from someone on eBay, but currently has a Mitsubishi turbo installed after the original one died. I do not remember the specific turbo info since this was more than 15 years ago but might be able to see a part number if I looked. I am still using a conventional distributor on this set up. The ECU was reprogrammed with custom fuel tables since it ran pig rich with the 19 pound Ford injectors. This is hooked to a Getrag 283 manual transmission and does have an upgraded cam (272 IIRC).
The vehicle runs nice and I have since installed a Trueleo intake to help out with intake restrictions.
Nice! I have a 3.4 with a vortech supercharger. A bunch of custom intake work as well as heads and cam. Running series 1 3800 injectors and water meth injection. Haven’t dynod it yet but I’ve driven a stock series 2 3800 in a fiero before and this feels on par but with better torque feel.
Just for nostalgia sake back in the early 1990's before engine swaps were popular, there was a Fiero owner by the name of Ron Meyers who had an 87GT turbo 3.1L that ran a 12.0 1/4 mile. Ron had a modified engine with a good size turbo, high boost with a shot of nitrous.
------------------ " 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 "
