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| Another Northstar/F40 Swap. (Page 1/9) |
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1986 Fiero GT
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SEP 13, 02:13 AM
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Okay, okay, it's really an Aurora/F40 swap...but what's the difference?
Quick history of the car...bought it in 2005 when I was a senior in high school. Drove it for just over a year, then I let a ladyfriend drive it and she toasted the clutch.  A year later, I've finally got the clutch replaced and now I've got an impossibly high idle (~2,500 RPM) and no amount of new sensors, seals or vacuum lines would bring it down. Sometime in 2007 or 2008, it went up on the jackstands for the last time and sat there ever since. Now, almost 3 years later, I'm slowly nearing completion.
Here's how she looked when I took her to my shop in July:
Here's how she looked within a few hours of getting there:
There's a few other random modifications being performed at the same time, such as Fiero1Fan's 90MM Hella Projector buckets with the 90MM modules.
Here's just the passenger side installed, mainly so that I could measure/check battery box clearances before I fabricated it:
Here's both:
Threw some paint on them:
Then I put some modules in them:
Then I put the hood back on (which is still horribly misaligned):
After I verified clearances and such, I got to work on fabricating my battery box to go under the passenger headlight. I used 1/8" mild steel angle iron. Worked pretty well. I didn't seem to take any pictures while welding it, other than this one, after I caught myself on fire:
And here's the final product, painted and welded in:
From the side:
From the front:
…and after I got the headlight assembly back in:
After I got that all finalized and mounted, I ran the 1/0AWG power wire from the battery to ground (a whopping 4" away), and 1/0AWG wire from the battery through the front compartment to a distribution block also mounted on the 1/4" ABS airbox replacement panel.
Here's the power wire coming from the battery:
…then snaking through the front compartment:
…and finally ending at the D-block. There will be another run of 1/0AWG coming from here to the alternator, then 4AWG from the alternator to the starter motor:
Then I started replacing all of the factory wiring with a universal 21-circuit fuse-block system. It came from eBay, but I'm fairly certain it's a Hoffman Group "Keep it Clean" system. It's got a "Keep it Clean" horn relay, anyway.
Here's the car over by my welding station so I could weld a stud onto the front frame rail to act as a grounding point:
…and when I started wiring it:
Here's the fuse block with the ignition and multifunction switch connectors plugged in:
…and the fuse block nicely mounted on my 1/4" ABS airbox replacement panel:
Now onto the good stuff, the heavy fabrication.
The F40 notched for the top-mounted Northstar starter:
Here's the 3/16" flat stock I'm using for the mounts. All hand-cut with a jigsaw, then welded together with my Hobart:
Here's the "finished" mounts. The tubing used for the poly is actually the two ends from my factory dogbone. Worked out pretty well, I feel:
Here's the forward mount on the transmission:
Here's two shots of the rearward mount:
…and here's both, partially mounted:
Here's most of the drivetrain, just thrown in to check clearance:
That about does it for build pics for tonight…just catching you guys up on the past few months of work.
Here's my welding rig:
…and here's the car every night when I put it to bed at around 4AM:
I'm supposed to work today from around 6AM to 7PM, so I may or may not have the energy to work on the car tonight…but if I do, I'll finish the cradle-side of the transmission mounts. Updated pics to follow as I take them and work on the car, obviously. If there's anything specific you'd like to know more about or see pics of, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.
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KissMySSFiero
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SEP 13, 03:09 AM
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looks good so far. How long do you expect this one will take to complete? ------------------
SSFiero@Aol.com 87 Gt-5spd-62k miles.
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1986 Fiero GT
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SEP 13, 08:07 AM
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I hope to drive it out of the shop by the end of the month. If I keep up these 6+ hour nights 5 nights a week, I feel that's attainable.
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dratts
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SEP 13, 11:13 AM
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Nice work! What do you do in your spare time? Could you make a kit? Archies stuff is amazing but pricey.
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GADJet
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SEP 13, 11:14 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by 1986 Fiero GT:
I hope to drive it out of the shop by the end of the month. If I keep up these 6+ hour nights 5 nights a week, I feel that's attainable. |
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Nice work. I just hope you get enough rest to compensate for the hard work your putting into it. Looks good so far.
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dratts
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SEP 13, 11:19 AM
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Nice work! What do you do in your spare time? Could you make a kit? Archies stuff is amazing but pricey.
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Hockaday
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SEP 13, 12:22 PM
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odd place for a battery! Will you be able to drop it from underneath the car? ( sorry if you said you had a solution I may have skimmed over that part...the pant leg got my attention lol ) Are you concerned about putting all that weight up in your front right corner? ------------------
Cliff's 610th Positive Feedback Giver.
#12 NYFOC Member
In recent times, the custom aftermarket car/automobile roadwheel has become a status symbol. These wheels are often incorrectly referred to as "rims". The term "rim" is incorrect because the rim is only the outer portion of a wheel (where the tire is mounted )
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1986 Fiero GT
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SEP 13, 06:59 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Hockaday:
odd place for a battery! Will you be able to drop it from underneath the car? ( sorry if you said you had a solution I may have skimmed over that part...the pant leg got my attention lol ) Are you concerned about putting all that weight up in your front right corner?
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It is perhaps a bit strange, but I am by no means the first to relocate the battery there. The battery comes out only from the top. Yup, I've got to pull my headlight assembly to get it out. Oh well, I'm okay with that. There's a 200A breaker just below the forward bulkhead of the front compartment, mounted on the framerail. If for any reason I need to disconnect, I just trip the breaker. Not concerned with weight, as the battery weighs only 10 pounds or so...very light. Even still, any weight on the far opposite corner will help offset my weight, ever so slightly. Plus, it just plain gets the battery out of the way.
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1986 Fiero GT
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SEP 13, 07:11 PM
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...and about making the mounts. I'd love to do that, but unfortunately the cradle needs to be modified to fit the Northstars. As every modified Northstar cradle is different, my F40 mounts will fit my cradle and my cradle only. Truthfully? It's not hard. I just fired up my MIG for the very first time about 2 weeks ago. The 3/16" steel cuts very nicely with a jigsaw and a thick metal blade. Just take your time, make templates out of cardboard first and weld away.
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Team Race-Tech
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SEP 13, 08:27 PM
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