I bought an '87 Coupe from its original owner in January of 2011. My plan was (and still is) to use it as a new home for the Quad 4 out of my rusty Beretta GTZ. According to my original plan, I would have the swap finished and the Fiero on the road as my daily driver in six months. Well, here it is three YEARS later and I'm still working on the swap.
The thing is, every time I make progress, something goes wrong with one of the other vehicles in my family. For instance, I planned to spend my vacation last week working on the swap but burned two days dealing with the front axles on my daughter's Toyota. By Sunday evening I was feeling pretty good about the progress I'd made on fabricating engine/trans mounts. Monday morning on the way to work with the temperature at -2 degrees, my Jeep overheated and blew its head gasket (and maybe worse). I'm not dodging responsibility for the coolant issue, but it's hard not to think something else is at play here.
The kicker is, I still love the car. I've never even driven it, but I love it. Can't wait to finish the swap, paint it, reupholster the seats, etc., then drive the hell out of it.
Sounds like the curse of the Jeep and Toyota Maybe they are jealous!
Of course! That must be it.
I just pulled the head off my Jeep and it looks OK. Blew the head gasket on the number 1 and 6 cylinders, but I don't see any cracks and the pistons look good.
This happens to me all the time. Any time I would buy parts or do work on my '85 GT, something would go wrong with my Volvo. It's almost like she was saying, "You cheating B@$t@rd! How dare you!"
Seems every time mine is running great with no problems for a while, I'll either mention on PFF or to friends or family. Sure enough, it's like something start's acting up or needs replacing. Therefore, I try not to comment on how she's running.
The curse strikes again. Blew the head gasket on my Jeep again. Yes, it's my own fault (a slow coolant leak and the lack of a working temperature gauge are a dangerous combination). But I had made significant progess on my Fiero engine swap and was actually starting to think I might finish it before the end of the year.
I would not allow your hobby to become like work. A spare hour here and an hour there all add up. I've had projects that go in a month or two and others that drag on for 10 years like my 4.9L ragtop. I am just getting to that one now. If we were all full time mechanics things would be different but most of us are part time and labor intensive work takes time.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Powerlog manifold, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Flotech Afterburner Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, 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 "
My 'curse' started with a blown break line. 3 years later I'm swapping the engine & transmission. & just to explain further, it was still a few more years before it was on the road.
It's like the thread on a sweater.
[This message has been edited by no2pencil (edited 09-19-2014).]
On a positive note, I had to roll the Fiero out of the shop to put the Jeep inside, so it gave me a chance to take some photos.
I AM making progress.
I also got the head off the Jeep and it is toast, almost literally. Three huge cracks, including one between the valves in the #1 cylinder. I really baked it.
My GT was jealous of the time/money being spent on the Indy. It had things like noisy water pump (only a few years old), suspension issues, and S/C idler pulley problems. Then it dumped a clutch last year in an unheard of manner. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/129057.html
This spring while neither Fiero was driveable (installing 1227165 ECMs), my mini-van had an electrical crap-out (ECM related). I needed to get a loaner vehicle for a week while it was fixed.
Then there is the general vehicle curse like my Indy has - where the vehicle is never "right" and everything always seems to go wrong. I've had numerous things to sort out after rebuilding the car (transmission, clutch line, carb problems, exhaust, unexplained noises and more). You'd think installing a new (rebuilt) steering rack would solve steering issues? https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/133418.html Or an aftermarket "self tuning" injection system that works "as advertised"? https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F...3/HTML/000077-5.html
I'm sorry to hear of your curse! I hope it doesn't travel through the internet and get to me! Lol. I too had a Beretta GTZ back in the day. Quad 4 from an Olds Achieva SCX, manual transmission, hollowed out cat and JET performance chip = 180KM/H in third gear, no problem! This thing took everything I threw at it and it always ran and I never had one issue, ever! That's why I chose to install the Ecotec into my 84 Fiero. Good luck with the build.
Look on the bright side, I bet all of your cars are paid for!
Yes, they are.
By the way, the reason my Jeep overheated and blew the head gasket back in January wasn't because the coolant was low. The catalytic converter was plugged and the engine overheated because it was working so hard. The CC was actually under a factory recall for replacement, which I didn't discover until I installed a replacement head. Got it all put back together and the thing would idle fine but wouldn't go faster than 45 or 50 mph. I was stumped, until I did a google search for the symptoms and discovered the recall.
The curse is back. I took a week's vacation, hoping to spend 90% of the time working on my Fiero. I began the week on Sunday with a quick water pump replacement on my Jeep. What I thought was a piece of gasket stuck on the block turned out to be a crack. Based on the mysterious things the engine has been doing, I think the crack has been there for a long time.
My son and I pulled a replacement engine from the salvage yesterday and I'll try to get the cracked block out today.
I now believe the Jeep, not the Fiero, is cursed. Hopefully replacing the block will exorcise the demon.
I just had an instance. After working 80 hours this week, I wanted to take the Fiero out for a spin to decompress. Apparently it saw me driving the Subaru a few times too many, and decided not to start. Charged the battery overnight and took it on a Taco Bell run an hour ago, ran perfectly.
I think it's funny OP appears to be using all 87 body panels
Thankfully my diesel truck isn't a jealous ***** . My 3800sc ran fine until I blew up the clutch. Then it say for several years until I got motivated to fix it. Now, I've had trouble shifting into second, engine running very rich, and now the upper door hinge pin fell out on the way home from work. I was going to put in a new pin and bushings, but the local Advance Auto didn't have the right kit. Now, for the parts and tool from Rodney, is ~$50.
It's going to sit while I work on the bikes and maybe the boat. I'm starting to think about keeping the engine and trans and parting the rest. The PO who did the swap butchered the trunk and trunk wall.
Wow! What kind of Jeep/engine? I know the 4.0 L is nearly impossible to kill. If that' s what you have, you must be pushing the hell out of it.
I think the block cracked in January 2014 when the catalytic converter became plugged as I was driving to work in below-zero temperatures. The Jeep has 221,000+ miles on it. I will be so thrilled when I get my Fiero finished so it can be my daily driver.
