Got the car back together with the turbo blanket on Friday and spent the weekend just driving and doing some tuning tweaks.

Messed with the EOIT and it helped off idle torque and should improve fuel economy. I spent a couple of hours rowing through the gears for no reason other than it being fun. I really like the sound of the turbo spooling but not building boost.

I wanted to verify my manual boost pressure gauge matched the boost in the ecm. On prior tuning runs the ECM logged about 9 psi, but I never looked at the gauge to know for sure. I decided to test it while watching the gauge. I was in 4th gear around 2600 rpm and I rolled into the throttle to build boost. Started building boost at 50% throttle and reached about 15 psi on the manual gauge in about 2.25 seconds at 96% throttle (it does go 100% throttle, but wasn't really planning to get on it, just make some boost).

As I saw the boost gauge pass 9 psi, I remembered that I didn't reconnect the boost reference line (oops!), so I got out of it. Now I know the wastegate spring will hold about 15 psi boost at a minimum. The log showed 190 kPa = 27.55 psi, or 12.85 psi, which is close enough. Luckily I have been keeping the boost timing low (single digits) and fueling around 10.8:1, so no harm was done.

While driving just to enjoy, I stopped by one of the local grain elevators. Without me, the car tipped the scales at 2920 lbs, 1660 lbs on the rear, and 1260 lbs on the front. 43.2% front / 56.8% rear.







Let's go back in time and compare the specs of my previous swaps.

code:

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SBC/Getrag:        2960 lbs, 283 rwhp, and 21 mpg.
LS4/F40:           2807 lbs, 382 rwhp, and 29 mpg. 
LS4/F40/Turbo:     2920 lbs. ??? rwhp, and 27 mpg so far. 

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This includes a jack, spare front wheel bearing, and caliper up front (haven't taken them out from the HRPT). It also includes the heavier 17/18 wheel combo I have been running since 2016, the rear wing (2017), the twin disc clutch (2023), the 20 lbs for amp/sub/speaker setup (2024).

This likely means that I have met my goal of the turbo swap adding less than 100 lbs, but I want to do a few more things to reduce the weight.
I really would love to have this car in the 28XX lb range with full interior and A/C.

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 07-21-2024).]

Another couple of weeks of daily driving the Fiero. Up to 4,100 miles on the swap now.

This weekend I went to my brother's house to work on my nephews S10 mud truck. I should have taken some pictures.... It is a mid 90s S10 with a 4.8, 5 speed, gear driven transfer case, 3/4" axles with some large tires. It was running rough and I went down to help figure out its issues and do some preliminary tuning. We were able to track down a bad connection to the MAP and the fueling (MAP and MAF) was off between 22 and 15% in the idle and part throttle ranges. Got the truck running much better, but he is going to invest in HP tuners, a wide band, and some street tires do we can do some more part throttle and WOT tuning.

Picked up a new head unit for the Fiero, but haven't started the install.


Also started working on the Fiero Store ABS door panels. Overall they should work, but the speaker openings are about 1/2" oversized for the 6.5" speakers. Here you can see the speaker shifted all the way to one side:


So to make sure the speakers are centered as well as reinforcing the plastic mounting flange, I make a centering ring for the front and a backup ring for the rear. Use the centering ring to locate and drill all 8 mounting holes. Here are the speaker holes in the flange. Notice they are closer to the edge than ideal:


Top centering ring:


Rear centering ring:


Here is the speaker set in place:


Here is the speaker and grill installed for mockup:



The backside also has sound deadening material:


My custom SEM paint for the interior panels has also arrived. I sent them the sample in front of the cans and they found the closest match and tinted them to match. In the coming weeks I will be prepping the door panels, A and B pillars and Fiero Store ABS headliner for painting.

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 08-18-2024).]

Back in 2006, I refinished the dash, cluster surround HVAC/Radio trim, shifter surround, center console, and the top of the door panels. I also installed new aftermarket sun visors.

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: Painted the top side of the dash this evening and I think it came out pretty decent! Then I painted several other parts... this car started out as a $500 purchase and will never be a show car, but I would like it to be less of a disaster from and interior (and eventual exterior) perspective.

Everything came out looking very good and has held up quite well except for a couple of areas.
With the Fiero Store Door Panels, I am going a non-stock color pattern. I am carrying the charcoal color from the top of the dash to the top of the door panels. Reason being is when I rest my sweaty arm on the top of the door panel, the light grey can become a little discolored to the point I notice it. So the darker color will help with this. I am also painting the lower section charcoal as well as there is a very good chance that my size 13s will make contact with them at some point, so the darker color should hide normal wear and tear better:



I will let these bake in the sun for the rest of the day today and likely all day on Sunday


Here is my make shift painting area.


The speaker centering rings and backing plates were treated to a coating of truck bed liner so they have a similar textured surface as the rest of the custom interior parts.


On Sunday I am planning to pull most of the plastic interior from the car. I plan to clean and refinish the A and B pillar trim pieces, the lower door/carpet trim, the Fiero Store ABS headliner, the roof lights, the 3rd break light housing, and the center console.
The current plan is for the A & B pillars, floor trim and headliner to be medium grey (stock), the roof light, 3rd brake light, center console to be charcoal. The console is currently light grey and has the same issue with my sweaty arms.

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 08-26-2024).]

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Astronomy says we will find a coded signal from outer space. Then we'll KNOW that life exists there, for coded signals aren't by chance.

Biology says there are coded genetic signals in every cell, but we KNOW that no intelligence created life.

I'm the original owner of a white ' 84 2M4 purchased Dec 10, 1983 from Pontiac. Always garaged, no rust, 3800SC, 4-wheel drifts are fun!