wow!!! Now I wish I went to the meetings! If I would of known you were doing a 3800 swap I would of asked to help so I could get ideas for mine. Mine is still on the engine stand in pieces. Awesome job though!! Adam
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07:58 PM
Rborecky Member
Posts: 675 From: Cleveland,Ohio U.S. Registered: Oct 2003
plenty of stuff to learn still if you want to stop. We have open shop night all the time and eveything is out in the open still so it is easy to see and understand. I'm near Parma right off of 480 and State rd if you want to stop in anytime. Rick B
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08:22 PM
Mar 13th, 2005
Rborecky Member
Posts: 675 From: Cleveland,Ohio U.S. Registered: Oct 2003
Well we test fitted the engine and also set it in to get the exhaust done. It fit great and so did the exhaust so were proud. I put 2003 Cadillac tips on and they look sweet in person. We finished the engine harness now have a few thing to tie into the Fiero left and axles need to go in. I want to paint up a few things and mount the ECM. I am waiting for the alternator bracket to come back from the second welding process and then will line up the Dog Bone to have it finalized and that is done. I would say we will have this on the road in a few weeks as we are in no hurry or we could have it done by mid week. I need to mount up all fluids like trans radiator and heater hoses then cables. I need to get the cradle out for finish and the fuel rail painted. I have also decided to change all gaskets to make sure I don't have any leaks. The engine will be coming out after I get the Dog Bone positioned then back it for its resting place to be final. Here are a few pictures from last night. Rick B
Yep a Flowmaster 80 cut down and welded back. Here is a picture of the clearance and the outlets are on the bottom compared to a normal Fiero since I am not using Cat. You can see the pipes if you look down from behind and it is about 1 inch lower than the cradle. It had to go here since it was 2 1/2 inch pipe and right under the manifold. Here is a shot of clearances. Rick B
Rick call Steve at Summit 1-800-230-3030 and tell him you need the Flowmaster 80. I have been buying allot of stuff from them and even got the Blower gasket at GM for $10.13 I started buying GM original parts since they seem to be cheap or the same as the parts stores. Rick B
Talk about frames. Mine is in good condition until last night when the floating nut for the cradle kinked and then tore out of its sleeve. I showed Don how to remedy this problem and having the welder here is the best. I am hoping I don't have the other side tear out when we remove it and put it back. This one apparently kicked the nut sideways and cross threaded then ripped the rusty welded in cover to become loose and spin. I drilled then sawzalled the frame open, cleaned the area with a small wire wheel and Don welded the diamond nut back in. We will weld it closed after we have the engine in for good. I have the other car here to take the frame off if you want. I will sawzall off the sections you need and you can weld them back in. Rick B
SKIDMARK (don s) are you talking to me? yes im doing the 3800sc swap also but ive run into some rust i want im taking care of first. ive got the brackets and the tensioners situated and will be sending the wiring and ecm to loyde this week. other than that im on hold with the swao until i fix my rust.
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" DRIVE IT LIKE YOU LOVE IT"
[This message has been edited by ohio86se (edited 03-15-2005).]
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12:11 PM
Rborecky Member
Posts: 675 From: Cleveland,Ohio U.S. Registered: Oct 2003
Hey FIE RO sorry for not answering you above. The fuel rail is being made by Don in the pictures and the large schematics were blown up form the ones sent to me by Loyde at Fast Fieros of Dallas. I had him do my computer programming and he sent the standard size for reference to get my 96 to work with the 97 computer and 86 fiero wires. Loyde has been a unbelievable help during this project and a heck of a gentleman at all times. I know I have had to aggravate him and he has never shown it. Thanks again Loyde I cant say it enough. Rick B
Thanks Rick. So how difficult was it to built these rails? Looks like he reused most of the original tubing....seems like the cleanest solution before going to aftermarket rails...more info about them will be appreciated ...keep up the good work!
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03:23 AM
ohio86se Member
Posts: 1308 From: akron, ohio, summit Registered: Mar 2002
Rick L you have not hijacked this thread so please do not stop posting. Here are a few new pictures of the rail and exhaust. The rail looks funny as the light made it look washed out. I am working on the AC now and the cradle is coming off to get cleaned & painted. We are going to finish up the engine compartment and wires in there. I replaced the oil and trans gaskets and will do the intake and blower gaskets maybe this weekend. The blower is going to be painted red since I will have it off then I can work on the accelerator cable hook ups per Loydes web page. Again I cant thank Loyde enough for all the help. I think he is going to get caller I.D. and stop answering his phone shortly hahahahaha. If you look you can see I found the left side axle and am waiting for the right side to arrive. More photos to come. Rick B
I bought a set in a round about way from Purple Rein. I wasnt going to try and make them after I started and figured I would have allot of time and money in them. They are in this link so you can see them. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/040806.html I think he is making them again. If you get a chance call me tomorrow. Rick B
Well we haven't hit the car hard with Easter having been this weekend but jumped back on it tonight. First off another THANKS to Loyde at Fast Fieros of Dallas for mentioning to me it would be a good idea to change the Blower and Manifold gaskets as they were prone to leaking antifreeze. We did find some sludge from this in the bottom of the oil pan and tonight found it had leak and deteriorated the gasket under the blower. We also found where on the head a water jacket bead was broken from someone tightening it to much and it was leaking into the oil chamber also. The engine ran great when I checked it before I bought it so I am sure I was lucky enough to find this now before it became a big problem. Below are a few pictures of Norms battery box right before I screwed it in and sealed it,,, the small section of trunk I am fitting the alternator for that it slightly bumped so I decided to do this instead of hammering it in. The gasket problems and the wall behind the seats that is done with insulator and hoses. I used the old air tube that was a recall and not being used to run the heater hose over to the thermostat now. I put 5/8th to 3/4 reducers on both ends so I didn't do like GM did and squeeze a 3/4 hose on a 5/8th Cleaner and tighter. I order new tires tonight and the rims should be on there way also. Rick B
Good info about the gaskets. I will pull the supercharger anyway and do a check....and maybe some more when Ive checked the oilpan... So which replacement gaskets are recommended? There are several brands to choose from...
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02:00 PM
Mar 30th, 2005
Rborecky Member
Posts: 675 From: Cleveland,Ohio U.S. Registered: Oct 2003
Well harness is real close to done. I took the exhaust off for engine clean up and to put gaskets in. Pulled the A arms off so I can send the cradle out for stripping. Worked on mounting the computer and did allot of day job and house stuff which gets in the way but has to be done. The pictures below show a 1997 OBDII done by Loyde at Fast Fieros of Dallas Texas. 1st I had to cut a small area out of the inside wall to help fit the computer in then a so-called harness to hold it in then removed some of the foam from the console to get a snug fit. I may put small rubber bumpers behind the computer instead of the foam so it breaths. The wire I soldered and pinched the ends on and can tighten the screw to move it up or down. It is held in pretty good at this point so I may leave this set up in. I hope this gives some a good idea as to what to do to get this larger computer to go in. Well bed time and we see light at the end of the tunnel now.. Rick B
Cut out area I used a cutting wheel on to trim out.
Foam I removed behind the console to get a nice snug fit.
Rick You are doing an awesome job! I wish I had the skill and time to do it so I ended up buying my Fiero with a 95 Buick 3800 SC engine already installed. This a great engine and you are going to freaking love the ride especially because you did the work. Enjoy it! Gene
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09:18 AM
ohio86se Member
Posts: 1308 From: akron, ohio, summit Registered: Mar 2002
Here is a side shot from earlier. What shots would you like to see? Let me know and I will take a few more shots. Thanks,,Rick B
More up close around the manifold where the downpipe goes into the muffler as fieroX is designing mine right now, and I would like to see some up close so we can see what will work on mine. Also what year engine are you using? I would like to know so if I can put the ECM in the stock location like you did, but I have a 97 which is fairly bigger than the newer ones. Thanks man. Looks good.
-Amir
[This message has been edited by Rare87GT (edited 03-30-2005).]
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01:28 PM
PFF
System Bot
Rborecky Member
Posts: 675 From: Cleveland,Ohio U.S. Registered: Oct 2003
Here are a few and these were 2 1/2 J-bends from Summit racing. I used 3 of them with one having 2 inches cut out of the center making the first bend and another going into the manifold flange leaving a extra half. The other J-bend is the two angles for the outlets with a short 2 14/ piece then a 2" outlet with Cadillac tips from Ebay. So that is 2 1/2 from flange and 4" total at outlets so no restriction. We cut 3" off of the muffler and ground of the weld on edge and slipped it in the shorter muffler welding it up. This is the solid steel flange manifold from a 1996 Riviera also. Let me know if there are any other questions I didn't answer. Hope this helps. Rick B
I hit Supercharger heaven last night. I made a Ebay contact and found the seller was about 20 minutes from me in Cleveland. Ed is a heck of a guy and has lots of the brackets you need for the 3800 Supercharge swap heck I had to pay him when he didn't want much money as I felt bad. Great person to talk to although he is a bit green on our swaps as he does allot of the proper cars with SC and not the Fieros yet but he builds race motors out of these. I think his one car did 11.02 with the standard computer if I remember right. Ed if you read this I may have to work on a AC compressor as mine is larger like I was talking with Don about. It also hits the manifold a touch so I am thinking a newer style like the one the hoses came from may be the way I have to go. If you are looking for something especially brackets or tensioners besides the obvious engines and brand new trans's that he may have in stock email him at gtped@msn.com and please tell him Rick sent you. Rick B
Well wire harness is done :} and the blower is painted. I am going to clean the engine up and replace upper gaskets. The cradle is at the stripping shop and they said it will be ready Friday so paint will be this weekend and I will start putting it back in next week. It should be running with some luck by April 16th which is just a hair over 2 months. We worked on it a few nights a week at 3 hrs normally and Saturday's except Easter weekend and only 2 Sundays. Those Saturdays were spent many times at parts stores or junk yards so we figured that we had maybe 100 hours in this. We have had plenty of experience with cars before and fabricating which is a plus. If you have common sense you can do allot of the work yourself and if you can talk with Loyde from Fast Fieros of Dallas TX you got it made. He has been a big part of this and is across the country. I highly recommend him for the things you may need to buy for your Supercharge swap. Well more progress reports to come this week especially when I get the engine painted and put back together. Rick B
On the 1996 Buick there is a tube on the side of the blower with three outlets The Map is on the front of the manifold. On the throttle body there are two large ones if you look at my pictures in this post you will see them on the right side of the blower neck or horn. There is plenty of vacum spots on mine and your may have less as they looked for ways to save time and money???? Let me know if you have the same ones. . I got your lines today also. Rick
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11:56 PM
Apr 5th, 2005
The Fieromaster Member
Posts: 4124 From: Painesville, Ohio USA Registered: Jun 2001
Look great so far Rick. I'm gonna be out there on thursday morning to pick up that 86 GT in Brecksville. Unfortunately i have to head back west right away for a meeting on friday otherwise i'd look you up.
Al from Nebraska
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07:20 PM
Apr 6th, 2005
Rborecky Member
Posts: 675 From: Cleveland,Ohio U.S. Registered: Oct 2003
My door is always open Al so if your ever up this way again holler. Was that the 86 off our page???
Fieromaster, that wasn't my welder so you can't get mad at me hahhaha. You guys would have loved what I did yesterday. I used EagleOne aluminum wheel etcher to clean the trans and brackets. I decided while it basked in the sun to rinse the drive off. Well I heard a loud hard THUD and looked down the drive where the engine had rolled and turned on its side. I had oiled the wheels on the cart to make it easier to roll down the drive to clean and I guess I oiled them good. It was so windy it was enough to push it in motion and then down the drive about 25' It hit the sidewalk and tipped. I was so upset with myself that I hurried down the drive and lifted it back onto the pans. I should have taken a picture and looked over how it hit 1st but on inspection it bent my copper water tube on the water pump and smashed the trans dipstick tube a bit. Other than this and a few concrete marks on the head, oil extension and trans sensor and edge of the pan it seems to have weathered fine. I was happy I didn't have the painted parts on yet or I would have been doing allot of touch up. Rick B
