Okay, maybe this is not completly Fiero related, but it is because of the Fiero engine swaps that I did this project. I found a '91 Olds Silhouette van for $400 with a bad engine. Later, I found a Caddy 4.5 with about 90,000 miles for $200. Well, the pictures tell the story: The Van- Notching the bell housing- The new home:
I used Dodge truck motor mounts on the front and rear of the engine, but it still needs a dog bone. The fit is very tight around the belt and A/C compresser. I had to have a power steering hose made up and the exhaust needs to be done. How about a set of duals run out the back? I still have some issues to work out- the valve train is very noisy and the transmission shifts late. But I did drive it around the lot and it is going to be a van that us guys can be proud of! Thanks to Terry and Jon- I could not have done this without your wealth of knowledge.
[This message has been edited by Cooter (edited 08-02-2003).]
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09:28 PM
PFF
System Bot
rockcrawl Member
Posts: 2528 From: Lehigh Valley, PA Registered: Jul 2000
Yep, it's right down the road from Petticoat Junction
All in all, everything went fairly well. I only had to 'bless' it 3 or 4 times. I started work pulling the old engine Tuesday morning and had the cradle out that afternoon. Wednesday was spent trying to make an A/C mount that would fit the Olds compressor to the Caddy engine. Thursday was all about motor mounts. Friday was finishing up the mounts and fitting the engine in the van and today was getting it to run. I could not go too far because the cooling fan will not fit any more and the alternator was not putting out anything. I am going to change oil again tomorrow and see if the lifters will quiet down some (I hope so!) and rig a fan so I can bring it home to finish the detail work. Driving impression? Even with the crappy exhaust leaking and poor tune in the computer, it is very responsive. I could not test the acceleration too much because the engine wanted to join me in front seat whenever I pushed hard on the loud pedal. The bad thing is that this month's funding for the project is already spent, so it will not get too many new parts for a few more weeks.
You remind me of a guy here that put a semi built dodge 2.2 turbo in his old caravan. then ran it a the track and got like 14.9 - 15.1 s. Made me sick, a caravan faster than my fiero.
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08:45 AM
rockcrawl Member
Posts: 2528 From: Lehigh Valley, PA Registered: Jul 2000
Well, bad news The valve train noise turned out to be a broken lifter on #5 exhaust and the rocker bolt on #5 intake is stripped. Looks like the intake will have to come off to make some repairs. There is a junk yard down the road with a couple of busted engines like this that I can rob the parts from, but my 'real' job starts tomorrow and time has run out on the summer projects.
Well, bad news The valve train noise turned out to be a broken lifter on #5 exhaust and the rocker bolt on #5 intake is stripped. Looks like the intake will have to come off to make some repairs. There is a junk yard down the road with a couple of busted engines like this that I can rob the parts from, but my 'real' job starts tomorrow and time has run out on the summer projects.
Dang dude.....that's gotta be harsh. I mean, if you had some extra money and cleaned up everything lookin nice, that would be totally awesome. The best of luck to you on fixing it. Also, I just had a thought on how you could make money. Have people sit on lawn chairs on State Street, and you and a suped up Civic drag down the line and get bids as to who would win. I would like to see the tears running down the rice rocketeers face as his butt gets totally wasted, by a grandma van.
ImmortalFirefly
------------------ Practice makes perfect, but since nobodies perfect why practice?
[This message has been edited by ImmortalFirefly (edited 08-04-2003).]
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12:27 AM
HYPTNOTiSE Member
Posts: 504 From: frederick, md 21702 Registered: May 2000
Originally posted by batboy: My Dad had a Chevy Astro with a 4.3, that thing would get up and move for a minivan too.
There's a guy buzzing around town here in an Astro with a 6-71 blown 383 in it. ~1000HP, and it pulls the front wheels about a foot in the air at the track!! Comes complete with wheel chair lift and all. The guy's a paraplegic, so he didn't have a lot of choice on 'what to hot-rod'.
Cool conversion though Cooter - hope it all works out!
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02:46 PM
SplineZ Member
Posts: 952 From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Registered: Nov 2002
There's a guy buzzing around town here in an Astro with a 6-71 blown 383 in it. ~1000HP, and it pulls the front wheels about a foot in the air at the track!! Comes complete with wheel chair lift and all. The guy's a paraplegic, so he didn't have a lot of choice on 'what to hot-rod'.
Cool conversion though Cooter - hope it all works out!
------------------ - 2.8v6, 5spd - no cat, msd ignition/coil, K&N
[This message has been edited by SplineZ (edited 08-04-2003).]
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10:59 PM
Aug 5th, 2003
watts Member
Posts: 3256 From: Coaldale, AB, Canada Registered: Aug 2001
I just discovered this post and was overjoyed. I have a 90 Silhouette. I love the darn thing and plan to keep it forever (bought it new the year it came out). A bigger engine would be a nice thing down the road (its 3.1 is still running silky-smooth at 170k miles).
Right now she's little jealous of baby Fiero -- who should get the bigger engine first -- but her turn will come.
Benno
[This message has been edited by Jdlog (edited 08-17-2003).]
I've been busy with my regular job (school teacher) and have not had too much time to mess with the van. It 'looks' like it will be fairly simple to fix- I've got to pull the intake, replace a couple of lifters and replace the rocker arm mounting cradle on the forward bank of cylinders. Give me 15-20 minutes and I'll have it back up and running I was actually relieved to find the engine noise was just the screwed up lifters because I did not like the thought of having to drop the engine assembly again. While I have the intake off, I'm going to plug the injector holes because I am using a throttle body injection and the 8 extra injectors looks a little strange. So far, the only thing that I have found that I should have done different was to move the engine/tranny about 1/4 inch to the driver's side so the drive belt would be a little easier to get to. Everything else went better than expected. Even running poorly on 7 cylinders and the knock sensor pulling bunches of timing because of the excessive lifter tapping, the thing hauls some serious butt!
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11:04 AM
PFF
System Bot
Rob Ernst Member
Posts: 329 From: West Harrison, IN Registered: Feb 2002
I've been busy with my regular job (school teacher) and have not had too much time to mess with the van. .... snip.... the thing hauls some serious butt!
Cooter, what exactly DO you TEACH? This could be REALLY scary if it was SHOP!!!!!!!
Cooter, what exactly DO you TEACH? This could be REALLY scary if it was SHOP!!!!!!!
Rob
Not shop class- my dad does that. The pictures above were taken at his shop. I was able to use the equipment for a few days before school started. I teach second grade.
Not shop class- my dad does that. The pictures above were taken at his shop. I was able to use the equipment for a few days before school started. I teach second grade.
What? You think auto mechanics is too hard for second graders? I can see it now, 10 of them working in unison to bolt up a 700R4 in the class project Grand National....
It lives again! It took 4 new lifters to get some life back into the old 4.5- but it rumbled to life (with a huge flame from the throttle body, damn low timing!). I did not put the belt driven stuff back on yet, so it only ran for a minute, but it sounded really good. I romped on it pretty hard to see if it was going to rattle and all I heard was the sweet music of 8 cylinders. Now, time to rest....
Track times!? The man is still waiting for the glue to fully cure before pushing things too far. We'll just have to sit tight and wait patiently...not!
I installed the accessories today and took a trip around the block. All I can say is DAMN! This is going to rock!!!! Now it is off to the exhaust shop on Saturday and then start tuning the ecm for better driveability. And then make a dogbone and then. . . . .
I still have some issues to work out- the valve train is very noisy and the transmission shifts late. But I did drive it around the lot and it is going to be a van that us guys can be proud of!
<Mental image of Olds Silhouette roaring out of Kroger parking lot, front tires smoking.> 
The man is still waiting for the glue to fully cure before pushing things too far. We'll just have to sit tight and wait patiently...not! 
