IF you use a auto, use the overdrive that comes with the 3800's. ( if you want any kind of mpg.) most of the 3800's had 3.05 rear gear. some of the 3800 sc, had 3.29 gears. But a 3.05 gear will let you get mpg on the high way. My 98 3800 n/a park ave gets 30 mpg @ 70 mph. The 3800 will be turning alot more rpm (than it needs to) to move your little car down the high way. It will do it, but you won't like stoppng for gas all the time.
"GMtuners" has a lot of info on the 4t40/4t60 to help you get the thans you need. It will bolt in. you can get axles that will work, you can get stuff to make the shift lever work. It will make it into the car GM should have built.
As for the wiring. you need to get a print out of the wiring for the 3800 engine control computer. It would be help full if the engine/trans/wiring/NS switch were all from the same car. You need a print out of the C203 connecter in the fiero, and the C500 connecter in the fiero engine compartme and the NS switch on your trans. Make sure you know what every wire on your car does, and put a tag ( masking tape) on it that indicates what it is for, where it comes from, and where it goes. than do the same for the 3800 ECM wiring. By that time you will have a good idear of what you need to connect, and were to connect it. The 3800 ecm wiring connects to the car at the c203, a little bit goes to the C500. You just have to make sure every wire goes to/from the right thing. Start a note book, make notes, this will be your tech manual after you are done. You do it one-wire-at-a-time. On my sons car, a 3800ser 1 SC/4t40 in a 85 gt fiero, me made a mount to put the alt. down in place of the A/C compresser. we only have to run one belt that way. Keep it simple. but it won't work with the a/c compresser.
I did a build book on my chevy v8 in to a 84/auto fiero. You can see it on youtube. It's "chevy v8 fiero-4" it's a slide show, 109 pictures/text. you can do better now. It show how i did the wiring

ok. which tranny has the overdrive? i assumed the original tranasmission had an overdrive. and i don't think im gonna be doing the wiring. I'm either gonna buy an already made harness. or just have someone else do it. cause i suck at electrical. i also need to get someone to program the computer thing : /

so here starts the story of the worst oil filter ever.....

so i finally decided to take the oil filter off of the the engine. cuase i wanted to clean and paint the oil filter assembly thing. so i tried real hard to turn it with my hands. didn't work. so i got the strap wrench and... nothing. it didn't budge. the strap wrench actually dented the can and slipped. i couldn't believe it. i had heard of some people stickin screwdrivers through the cans and turning it that way. since nothing else was working, i gave it a try. i stabbed the thing and turned. nothing. the stupid thing did not budge. i pulled as hard as i could, and the can ripped. greeeeeeaat. so i stabbed in a different spot. same thing. ripped the can. this thing seemed welded on. so i removed the whole assembly thing from the engine and put it in a vice. heres what it looked like after the massacre...



i got out the pry bar, hammer, vice grips, and whatever else i thought might help. oh and lots of lube. still nothing. i got so mad at it i walked over, and brought out... THE HACKSAW!! HAHAHAH! this thing was comin off.

so i sawed it down one side and tried to get it to budge and nothin. heres where i cut it



the space the saw left was big enough to get a screwdriver in to try and pry it off. I bent the screwdriver. so i got a pry bar. nothin. but, i noticed that the one side was lifting just a little and the rubber o-ring/gasket thing was hanging out. so i tried to pry that spot open more and pull the rubber thing out.

rubber thing


after pulling that out it created some space and most important, a little less friction. i pried a bit more up and the half that i sawed on ended up breaking. which was ok cause that made it easier. so i lubed that thing up and pinched what was left of it with the vise grips, and pulled. with all my weight and strength. IT WORKED! woo hoo! it moved a little for the first time.



i just kept lubing it up and pulling really hard till finally it got easier and it came off. YAY!

here's what it looked like after all that




i threw the filter away and guess what? after all that ridiculousness, the assebmly wasn't even scratched. so i cleaned it up and painted it. here it is all pretty and ready to be put back on the engine.





this wasn't really a major step in the engine build but i hadn't posted in a while and i thought this was interesting.

Were you turning the filter the right way to take it off?

Just kidding with you, I'm sure you were. That looked brutal, I've never had that problem before.

[This message has been edited by Fiero Owner (edited 04-02-2010).]

so it seems ill be using the fiero trans for the swap cause i can't find the trans that comes with this engine. so what do i need to get the fiero trans to work with the 3800? i heard somethin about a camaro flywheel?

ok so i will not be using the fiero trans with this swap. i changed my mind. but i still don't have a tranny for it. gotta find time to go bone yard searchin.

i haven't posted in a while but i have been workin on the engine. ive got it all painted and ready for real work now. i didn't put the fuel injectors back on cause im buyin new ones and haven't got around to actually getting them.





now the main problem i have is figuring out a belt configuration. i dont have any of the adjustable pulley thing on there yet so ive got to get on that.

nice work on the engine
parts are coming out nice.

thanks josh, appreciate it.

well no work on the car this weekend, its been bad weather and a tornado touched down. pretty cool though.

AH, this is a swap I wanna do. Do ya think a Fiero would be alright even without the SC with that 3800?

------------------
84 Duke, Holley TBI, Manual Trans 4.10, CompuCam, White

the stock difference between SC and N/A (naturally asperated), is about 30 or so hp. so yeah they are still pretty good. the reason the SC is more popular is because they come with more hp to begin with, and they are easily and cheaply upgradeable. you can get close to 300hp with out spending much over $100. so if you do it, i would just do the SC. the engines are easy to find and pretty much the same price as an N/A.

as always, please correct me if im wrong. but this is just the info that ive gathered

[This message has been edited by 07Hoffmannd (edited 04-26-2010).]

quote the stock difference between SC and N/A (naturally asperated), is about 30 or so hp.

In reality, its more like 80, and you are getting a MUCH flatter power curve.

80hp? i don't know about that. didn't the N/A come with 200 hp. and the sc comes with 230-250hp?

[This message has been edited by 07Hoffmannd (edited 04-27-2010).]

well i had taken a trip to Europe early this year. and i had lots of other car problems with my other car. so the bank account has been dry for a while. but recently i got up enough money to get a transmission. i got it home and cleaned and painted it.

now this picture is actually of a 4t60-e thats in my garage (which by the way is for sale). but i forgot to take a picture of how dirty the trans i picked up was before i cleaned it. and this this one is just as dirty as the 4t65-e i actually cleaned. so here it is dirty...



and here is is cleaned and partially painted. huge difference...



some comparison pictures, this is the difference between painted and not painted. can you tell which is which



and a pic of all 3 stages. before cleaned, cleaned, and finally painted...



and this is the end result with all the mounts and stuff put back on sans the dip stick cause i broke it. oops.....



im happy with the results.

so now im getting the old duke ready to be dropped out of the fiero. I HATE ELECTRICAL STUFF. dropping an engine at the junk yard is much easier, just cut anything in my way!!! Bwahaha!

That whole bit with the filter looked pretty intense!!!

Also you have done an excellent job with all the painting! It will be an awesome ride once you're all done!

------------------
1984 Red 4Spd "The Heartless"
1993 Chevy Lumina "Lauren"

thanks moose! always enjoy the compliments

and the oil filter WAS very intense. GRRrrrrrr......

well i managed to drop the engine this weekend. its sittin on an engine crate still under the car right now. i dont have a cherry picker so i went with the 2X4 under the car thats recomended in the book.



all was going fine until i realized that my little jack is not tall enough to clear the engine out of the car the engine is just about low enough to get out...



but the struts are not even close



so now i have to wait till my friend gets off work so he can bring his bigger jack over and get this show on the road... er... in the garage.

that's looking real nice, i'm about to start thesame swap in my '84 auto, with about the same budget and electrical knowledge so this thread is really helping me get ready. can't wait to see it finished.

so after my friend got off work last night to help me jack the car up. we got the car jacked up pretty high. the engine was already on the engine crate, so we started pulling it out from under the car, and then BAM!! we both jumped back. the engine looked like it fell over. not good. well we couldnt see anything so we tried to pull it out again. it was not budging. i though something must be in the way. well after further inspection i realized that one of the caster wheels that the crate was on had exploded...



all the other casters were fine. and these were the more expensive casters. so im thinking this was just a bad one. im gonna take it back to home depot and see what i can do. so i jacked up the corner of the engine cradle that had fallen, my jack has wheels so it just acted as the missing fourth wheel. after we got the the engine away from the car we put it back on jack stands and left it for the night...............

..............today i got off work and decided i need to get the engine off the crate so i can repair it and set the engine back one it. so i jacked the cradle up corner by corner until i got jack stands under it to hold it up



so ive got to repair the crate now... oh joy. but look, the first ever magical floating fiero!



haha, yeah long day.

and of coarse, the standing in the engine bay picture...

haven't updated in a while. so i thought i would.

after i got the engine out of the fiero. i took it off the cradle and got the cradle ready to be cleaned and painted. it was really dirty.







i also took apart the suspension and stuff, and cleaned and painted that too.

before...



after...



very shiny



i did the same for the engine bay but i can't find pics of it. ill go get some.

on that last pic. the trans mount is sitting on what looks like the old fiero front engine mount. what mount is that off of. is the motor fully mounted now? what brackets did you use? can u take pics of the mounting pionts

right now its just on temporary mounts until i get the real ones from WCF. im just waiting for my wireharness to do anything on this so i know how much money i have. i guess i shouldnt have said it was all mounted up cause its only partialy true

i havent gotten much dont lately, considering i dont have a garage to use, and it's snowed 20" in three weeks here. yeah. it sucked. but i did manage to get in contact with Bryan, the guy who is going to do my wiring.

getting picked up to get the wiring done! (sorry for the crappy pictures. i only had me cell. and it had dirty finger prints on the lens)







so, if he does a good job i will recomend him to other fiero guys. it should be done in a couple days. if its snow again then it will be longer. Ill let you guys know how he does

[This message has been edited by 07Hoffmannd (edited 02-17-2011).]

I thought you gave it all up and sold everything off?

Well then.... Good luck with everything!!!

i was going to. i was really discouraged. but no one seemed interested in it. then a guy called me and said he could do the wiring and fuel lines. i was tired of working on it. so i said yeah sure.

i havent worked on it to much lately. so im ready to go at it again. just needed a break i guess. we'll see. but we just had another big snow storm. so who knows when Brian will be able to bring it back to me. cause when he's done, all i need is an axle, brakes, and a fuel pump. then it will run

Young man, you have outstanding traits --your determination, attention to detail and mechanical attributes are all amazing. My grandson has many of the same. I now own 7 fieros, 84 to 87. Only one GT and it is one of the 87s. When he was 13 we rebuilt a 2.5 for a 84 and he would drag race it at the local drag strip in the Teen category --- and he won many races over the years. Being a drag racer myself in the Super Mod class his reaction time would often beat mine. He is 21 now and still drives a 84 that we rebuilt. I have a 3800SC W tranny I plan to use on my next project. Have notchback donor cars I could use but will wait till I can find a GT body. Have saved all your info as well as others who have posted here to aid me when I start.
Keep up the good work and keep us posted on the results.

------------------
3 1984
1 1985
2 1987
Only 3 runing at this.
1 63 Ford Fairlane--for 1/8 mile only-but still street legal without slicks. 7.5 ET's.
55 F100
59 Ford Skyliner

[This message has been edited by jim (edited 02-03-2011).]

thanks Jim! that means alot.

wow! 7 fieros! thats insane. good luck to you and your son on your projects too.

sorry i haven't been posting much, i've been busy with my other car.

so the fiero came back from wiring. it seemed fine. wasn't as professional looking as i wanted but it'll look better when i wire loom it.

after i got it back, the first thing i did was... nothing. because it was snowing like crazy here and it didnt get above 10* for a couple days. but now that cold snap is gone, and its really nice out. all the snow is gone.

so i hooked up the battery and everything worked. i had some problems with the starter...
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F...114253.html#lastpost

and some trouble with some grounds...
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/114345.html
but besides that i've just been doin busy work. tryin to run vacuum lines and organizing wires and stuff.

i got fuel lines hooked up but i need to drain the tank and put some premium in there. ill post some pics tomorrow.

P.S. there is big news for my fiero! but ill wait till i get some good pics and video <--- (hint) before i post it.

[This message has been edited by 07Hoffmannd (edited 02-17-2011).]

more updates

i got fuel lines hooked up



i got the accelerator line hooked up. i used the stock fiero line. i just trimmed it down so it fit in the 3800 bracket and put a bolt through the hole where the 3800 line used to hook up. it works fine



i hooked up the gear select cable. i used the 3800 cable. since the gear select is the opposite direction of the 2.5 i ran the cable around the other side if the engine. so it runs along the trunk wall. im gonna have to heat wrap it or somethin.





i got the pulley system finished. since i had a custom bracket i had to measure how long the belt was gonna be. it's 79"



i made a box in the trunk for the battery. cut a whole in the trunk wall so i could run the wires through.



and i put the coils where the battery was. i like it.



now i gotta get a new fuel pump' still need an axle, and i still need to run the coolant tubes

http://treperformance.com/i...-pump-1985-1988.html

^^ great for the price

cool thanks. but it says it's for 85-88. will it still fit mine? it's an 84

Ya itll fit

IT'S ALIVE!!!

EDIT: oh yeah, excuse the talking in the video, some people dont know how to use a camera phone


it only runs for a second because i havent gotten the new fuel pump. the 2.5 pump just doenst hold up. not even for a little (there is a whole thread about that so dont bother comenting on if it will or what pump i should use, unless yout dhobbs cause i specifically asked him to). i just havent gotten one yet because i have no money

[This message has been edited by 07Hoffmannd (edited 02-22-2011).]

i got the new fuel pump and installed it. now the engine actually runs. i got a 255 LPH from Tre Performance.

i didnt have coolant in the engine so i only ran it for a few seconds. but in those few seconds...

the engine idled high, around 3000. then it dipped a little and i thought i would settle down and idle right. but instead it climbed to 4000. so i turned it off. i don't know why it did that. maybe just working stuff out. but i'm not gonna run it again till i get the coolant tubes finished and actually have coolant in it. so we'll see.

im working on the coolant tubes now

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/114722.html

here it is running

this car has been sold if you want to see my new fiero go here!

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/121277.html