You must be congratuated on a nice and ultraneat ( and ultrafast) V8 swap. By matching a powerful V8 to a high strength transmission, the combimation is also bound to be reliable. I have two questions and please do not get the idea that they are intended to flame. I really like your Fiero but I am just curious. 1. What is the new weight of the Fiero? 2. If you take your Fiero to a show out of state with your girlfriend or wife, and do an "overnighter" where do you keep your spare and luggage?
1. i havnt had it weighed yet, but i figure about 175 lbs more than it was. 2. its a trailer queen!!!!!!
man... that is one BEAST of a fiero man... heh... and that thing is going to be street legal??? damn.... have you run it yet, or still connectin things up?
*Bump* BTW...
-Daniel
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10:16 PM
Sep 17th, 2003
tesmith66 Member
Posts: 7355 From: Jerseyville, IL Registered: Sep 2001
i am waiting on some parts to fix a short axle and some exhaust pieces to be completly done. i ran it and drove it a little, just enough to break in the cam and check the gears in the trans. all seems great! wife, kids, business, girlfriend are preventing me from finishing it!
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11:05 AM
GTFiero1 Member
Posts: 6508 From: Camden County NJ Registered: Sep 2001
all was great, broke in the cam, reran the valves, finished the exhaust, woke up the nieghbors, broke a oil line. no real big deal, but i did pull the engine/trans out of the car to install some new lower plantery gears in the trans. i had a smaller axle on one side but that has now been cured. i will be dropping the engine/trans back in on thursday to be ready for the weekend.
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09:38 AM
Smoooooth GT Member
Posts: 8823 From: Lake Palestine, Texas Registered: Jun 2001
Did you fix that 'LIP' in the concrete at the edge of the garage yet?? I hear it's a KILLER!!
Haha... you know those concrete lips... they just love to eat up axles
Gimme a call when you finally get this thing on the road... you get your wheelie bars figured out yet? I will hopefully be getting my engine here pretty soon
you gotta bring this beast up to RPM once you get it done if for nothing more than just to scare the SH!T out of the rice-boys that are always up there... lol...
Cardealer...what struts are you running in the rear? If you are using coilovers, what length and spring rate are the springs. Also, I was wondering how the diff is working since it's running in reverse. Is it noisy at all? That is my concern about the reverse swap and I was curious to know what it sounds like. Thanks. Tony
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04:24 PM
PFF
System Bot
Oct 2nd, 2003
cardealer Member
Posts: 511 From: austin tx usa Registered: Jan 2001
Cardealer...what struts are you running in the rear? If you are using coilovers, what length and spring rate are the springs. Also, I was wondering how the diff is working since it's running in reverse. Is it noisy at all? That is my concern about the reverse swap and I was curious to know what it sounds like. Thanks. Tony
the struts are stock replacements the coils are QA1 10" 450lbs. i just used engery suspensions coil spring isolators on top and bottom of the spring and just trimed down the perches on the strut for clearence for the drag radials. i cant hear the diff gears over the motor but i am sure that it would be noticable on a lesser motor. although all seems well with the set-up other than a short axle, i have a few more ideas on the reverse rotation set-up that i will be starting on soon.
how well did you search for other diff gears that can be machined to work in a reversed set-up? there has to be something out there that can be made to work!!!!!! hows your project coming?
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01:39 PM
TONY_C Member
Posts: 2747 From: North Bellmore, NY 11710 Registered: May 2001
the struts are stock replacements the coils are QA1 10" 450lbs. i just used engery suspensions coil spring isolators on top and bottom of the spring and just trimed down the perches on the strut for clearence for the drag radials. i cant hear the diff gears over the motor but i am sure that it would be noticable on a lesser motor. although all seems well with the set-up other than a short axle, i have a few more ideas on the reverse rotation set-up that i will be starting on soon.
how well did you search for other diff gears that can be machined to work in a reversed set-up? there has to be something out there that can be made to work!!!!!! hows your project coming?
Wow...450 lbs...I would have thought that was too high. Are you using coilovers or are they stock style strut springs? As for the diff gears, I did alot of searching, all I found was one company willing to reverse engineer my gears and machine new ones with the helix going in the other direction. He wanted $3250 a set! My project is going pretty good, I have the axles done and installed and I am doing alot of the finish work on the cradle now. The plan is to finish an engine over the winter months, I have a forged crank 327 that I am seriously considering using. It's either that or a 350 I have that needs rebuilding also.
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02:38 PM
Smoooooth GT Member
Posts: 8823 From: Lake Palestine, Texas Registered: Jun 2001
since intake is about level with the roof you could make a nice ram air scoop to take the air that comes over the roof. at high speeds you'd get a boost in power. just a thought for drag racing.
marcus
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06:29 PM
Oct 21st, 2003
breakneck88 Member
Posts: 265 From: Chambersburg P.A. Registered: Feb 2003
A bump for free! What is going n you guys??? I am thinking ofchanging my swap due to the fact I want a tough tranny I wont have to replace every weekend!!!!!
------------------ ,86 GT poly suspension. 357 c.i. sbc 4 bolt 010 block, steel crank, x rods, arp, Fed Mog. 9.25:1 Hypers, 882's,XE 256 with 1.6 rollers. Weiand excellerator w/ divider plate. Carter 750. Headers And all the goodies. 375 h.p.Soon to hit the street! Gotta finish them vortecs!!! and the xe 274! ooohhh yyyeeaahh!
I just read this whole and I don't think I missed this or nobody else has asked it. Did you ever consider going with a dry sump to avoid the oilpan problem?
------------------
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02:29 PM
Ron22 Member
Posts: 21 From: Forest Lake, MN Registered: Sep 2003
a forward mount requires to much work to the cradle.
I guess I don't follow you there. All that is required is a simple elongation of the rear cross member location. The new extension & cross member are welded in, and then the old cross member is cut out and patched over. Very simple & cradle never distorts.
This shows the 1/4" x 2" steel angle iron extension and the 1/4" x 2" tubular steel cross member.
This shows the motor mount. While this is a solid mount, it is easily adapted to a bushed mount.
[This message has been edited by opm2000 (edited 11-12-2003).]
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06:14 AM
TONY_C Member
Posts: 2747 From: North Bellmore, NY 11710 Registered: May 2001
I just read this whole and I don't think I missed this or nobody else has asked it. Did you ever consider going with a dry sump to avoid the oilpan problem?
Even with a dry sump, you still need an oil pan and would still have to notch it out to clear the axle. Also, then you have to deal with more hoses and an oil reservoir and a crankshaft driven pump connected by a cog belt. Not to mention the $$$ involved over using just a good internal oil pump and a notched pan.
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01:08 PM
Nov 13th, 2003
ducattiman Member
Posts: 674 From: TheNetherlands Registered: Mar 2003
eh cardealer and tony_c if u guys can get some time i would really love and need to see some detail pics of the engine bay from above and below to help me get some questions answered.
THX IN ADVANCE
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02:39 PM
Nov 14th, 2003
TONY_C Member
Posts: 2747 From: North Bellmore, NY 11710 Registered: May 2001
omp2000- you still need to relocate the tierod ends, figure out a good way to do the exhaust and the shifter. and you still have alot of weight hanging out the back. im not saying it cant be done but it is considerable amout of more work to do than a reversed set-up.
is there anybody else currently doing a longitudinal setup?
thinking in my head....... i sure wish TONY_C would hurry up and finish his!!!!!i want to see it!
[This message has been edited by cardealer (edited 11-14-2003).]
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09:25 PM
TONY_C Member
Posts: 2747 From: North Bellmore, NY 11710 Registered: May 2001
Originally posted by cardealer: thinking in my head....... i sure wish TONY_C would hurry up and finish his!!!!!i want to see it!
I hear ya!!...I wish I was further along also. Always seems like there is something more important around the house to spend money on. I hope that this winter I can spend some time firing up the kerosene heater in the garage and really get to work on this project. This car has been off the road for more years than it's been on it.
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09:46 PM
Nov 15th, 2003
perkidelic Member
Posts: 772 From: Masury Ohio USA Registered: Aug 2002
This shows one way to relocate the tie-rods. All parts are from Speedway or Jegs. Here I've "reversed" the knuckles, searching for a combination of the easiest place to locate the cradle-end of the tie-rod, and the "sweetest" 0-bupmsteer position. With "un-reversed" knuckles the tie-rod mounting plate is welded onto the flat face of the rear cradle bushing tower. I got a very suitable location there, and am just seeing if it is better if "reversed".
Here is the right side stock manifold of a Camaro LT1. Using two of these when installing an LT1 (what I'm doing) solves all exhaust routing problems concerning transmission & accessories such as ac, starter, etc. One side has exhaust routed forewards & one side routes exhaust aft, which works well with the stock Fiero cradle & chassis setup.
The shifter requires a small lever fabricated from flat steel which is Mig'd onto the trans shift lever rod end. A bracket is easily attached to mount the aft end of the shifter cable.
All of these details fit nicely into a stock Fiero.
[This message has been edited by opm2000 (edited 11-15-2003).]
