Reminded me of the first time I saw Chester fire up the Dirty Rat! Lots of fun.
First thing I noticed near the engine bay was the Mountain Dew bottle. I thought, "Oh, No! He's gonna spill the precious liquid gold into the engine bay!"
Then you started your car and I did not even detect the engine lurch. Looks like it is well secured, and I enjoyed sipping my Dew as you sipped yours in the video. Good Job.
IP: Logged
12:11 AM
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
As for mounts, it has new stock rubber tranny mounts. And I took 86FieroEarls mounts down To a fab guy and we re-designed them. Earl refunded my money for them so I took that cash and we basically doubled the strength of them. The front mount was re-enforced with 3/8 Plate, with all Grade 9.8 hardware and the other mount we added a 3/8 plate steel with gussets and mounted the heck out of it, three, 5/8's grade 8 bolts into the cradle, then 4 bolts between the mount and the upper plate and then 3 bolts into the block. We came to the conclusion that it would probably bend the cradle before it tore a mount out. The motor is balanced very well. If you watch in the fire up video, the motor does not even vibrate at all. I am very happy with the New Billet Flywheel from LSC. It was less than have the price of other places, and seems to be awesome.
IP: Logged
12:26 AM
watts Member
Posts: 3256 From: Coaldale, AB, Canada Registered: Aug 2001
Well I picked her up today and drove her home. WOW.
The power is amazing even with the little bit of horsing around I could do getting her straight home. 1st gear is almost useless unless you want to creep away from a light. I found myself going 2nd to 5th was the best for cruising down city streets at 60kph or so.
The sound is quieter than my old V6 I am really happy with that. Dan at the exhaust shop said that I am really going to have to get bigger pipes on it at some point but for the time being I am happy having a semi stock looking exhaust on the car. The custom Y-Pipe came out wonderfully. Has both O2 sensors in it and a flange in the middle to make removal easy. They gave me a HUGE price break. He spent close to 5hrs building the Y-Pipe, plus all new Pipe and bungs for the 02 sensors, and clamps and such. The total cost was 260 CDN after tax.
I will be here at the house for the rest of the evening getting it prepped for Arlington and then taking it for a short run later tonight to make sure there are no bugs left in the car.
The 5spd is wicked cool to have. I love it. The torque of the V8 is amzing, Even if she does not want to rev I dont care, I will just short shift and keep pulling like a freight train.
IP: Logged
08:28 PM
86fieroEarl Member
Posts: 2203 From: Orlando, FL Registered: Jun 2002
Well I picked her up today and drove her home. WOW.
The power is amazing even with the little bit of horsing around I could do getting her straight home. 1st gear is almost useless unless you want to creep away from a light. I found myself going 2nd to 5th was the best for cruising down city streets at 60kph or so.
The sound is quieter than my old V6 I am really happy with that. Dan at the exhaust shop said that I am really going to have to get bigger pipes on it at some point but for the time being I am happy having a semi stock looking exhaust on the car. The custom Y-Pipe came out wonderfully. Has both O2 sensors in it and a flange in the middle to make removal easy. They gave me a HUGE price break. He spent close to 5hrs building the Y-Pipe, plus all new Pipe and bungs for the 02 sensors, and clamps and such. The total cost was 260 CDN after tax.
I will be here at the house for the rest of the evening getting it prepped for Arlington and then taking it for a short run later tonight to make sure there are no bugs left in the car.
The 5spd is wicked cool to have. I love it. The torque of the V8 is amzing, Even if she does not want to rev I dont care, I will just short shift and keep pulling like a freight train.
Yeah driving the 4.9 stick is fun, It will get very addicting
And yes 1st gear is useless... Unless your launching it from a light.
A few tips to keep your car running good for a long time.
1.) Allow time for the clutch to break in 2.) make sure your oil cooler or line is tight
3.) Never run this engine with low oil.
------------------
[This message has been edited by 86fieroEarl (edited 06-03-2005).]
IP: Logged
08:31 PM
Jun 4th, 2005
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Idle crusing is an understatement. 800rpms, Yes 8 hundred rpms, in 5th gear and it just putts along. Drop 2 gears bring the revs up and HOLD ON. However I do have a problem.
Well I cheaped out on the clutch and it is going to cost me in the long run.
1st gear even rolling start smokes off the big 225/60/16's 2nd gear pretty much the same thing. 3rd gear, clutch slips at 3/4 throttle 4th gear clutch slips at 1/2 throttle and 5th gear, you guessed it, slips at anything over 1/4 throttle.
There has been no dumping of clutch. Just ease it out and then get on her a bit. I am hoping that it gets better.
This is having less grip than a normal clutch would even when hooked to a V6 so I don't think it is all Torque that is causing the problems.
Exhaust Stuff
I got a quote of 150 bucks for the Y-Pipe exhaust piece but after seeing the car though they could not stay with the original estimate, and I did not have any issue with them charging more, as it was a hell of a Job. They spent 5hrs just making the new down pipe as it had to route under the ignition, over the oil cooler lines, under the shift cables, around the clutch hydraulics and have 2 O2 sensors in it, one for each bank, and then hook to the factory collector.
They cut me ONE HECK OF A DEAL.
5hrs labour 4ft of pipe 2 O2 sensor bungs 3 flanges Plus a Split Flanged 3 bolt piece in the middle so the Y pipe can be taken in and out in 2 pieces with gaskets and stuff. Welded up a leak in my stock exhaust, added on a new clamp to it.
Total Cost
Take a Guess . . . . . . . . . . Taxes included out the door. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I even gave them a $10 tip to buy a beer at the bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $260 taxes and tip included out the door.
[This message has been edited by Capt Fiero (edited 06-04-2005).]
IP: Logged
02:22 AM
PFF
System Bot
Jun 5th, 2005
watts Member
Posts: 3256 From: Coaldale, AB, Canada Registered: Aug 2001
Here is a piece if you can locte it will make a world of difference 81-85 4.1 litre Eldorado or Seville has some tubular header exhaust the engine has the chrome valve covers they are pretty rare but if you can find them it will be even more awesome for the motor .
IP: Logged
12:03 PM
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
The really good news is the clutch is holding up now. It looks like I will never dump the clutch again, or have to high rpm slip it to pull away from a light. So this trans might last for a bit.
I kinda raced a couple of guys with it already. I ran the rpms up to about 1500-1750 the light went green I eased out of the hole so I did not spin the tires let the clutch out quickly but not snapped it up and then matted the gas once the car was rolling and the clutch was totally up and engaged. Weight went to the back and planted the rear tires. I was able to just walk right past the people. It was amazing what instant power "Torque" can do for you. The shift to 2nd was slow in comparison to the way I shifted my old Muncie. But when I was in the next gear and matted to the floor I was gone again. I have to learn to be very careful. Because when I start off I quickly end up at the 75mph mark.
I made the run with it to Arlington yesterday. Got 25 or MPG on the way back. I was not too unhappy about that, I think with tunning and tweaking I should be able to push that a little close to the 30mpg mark. I had no major mechanical problems the entire trip. The only problem I had or am having is with belt chip. I am pretty sure it is the idler pulley out of alignment. If I spray a little silicone on any part of the belt the chirp goes away. However as soon as it drys the chirp comes back. It is not a slip thing, it is a constant chirp.
Well here is the run down so far.
Power = Awesome Handling = unchanged from V6 Gearing = love the switch from 4spd to 5spd Exhaust = quieter than my V6 (this is a good thing) Cooling = I had a hard time getting it to Warm up. So I know the cooling system is good. Clutch = Getting better each day. I can now plant it foot to the floor in 5th and it wont slip Gauges = I have Volts, Oil, Temp, speedo does not work, tach is off and no check engine lights.
------------------ 85GT 5spd MSD Everything,4.9 With Nitrous. www.captfiero.com
IP: Logged
01:32 PM
watts Member
Posts: 3256 From: Coaldale, AB, Canada Registered: Aug 2001
Which side manifold are you talking about on the 81-85 deville/seville 4.1? www.car-parts.com has about a bajillion listed. Are you saying the RWD 4100 has the same exhaust ports as a 4.9?
[This message has been edited by GT (edited 06-05-2005).]
IP: Logged
08:31 PM
Jun 7th, 2005
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Yaa I got rid of the belt chirp today. I moved the idler in about .050 and the chirp stopped.
I got my CAI almost done today, and I am working on the MSD 6AL Install. The car should have a nice improvement by the end of the day.
Oh and I found out why my shifter was getting so sloppy and I could not get it into 5th or reverse 1/2 the time.
The 15mm / 5/8 nut on the shifter cable end on the trans. Was totally loose allowing it to slop the full Length of the trans bracket. Jesh some nut job, forgot to tighten it down. (grins in the background)
IP: Logged
04:40 PM
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
I got my new Cold Air Intake assembled and working.
I was almost ready to install the 6AL box when I got a call that I had to run out.
Well I left the house and immediately noticed the new intake had helped the motor. I was very pleased.
Then I found out, that well the motor makes more power now and is over coming the clutch disk once again. UGH. Can’t I win? Well car runs better much better, but I am back to square one with the clutch. I will take it easy on it and hope that it seats itself in better and will start grabbing again.
For whatever strange reason. It always slips the most when it is COLD, as the car warms up it grabs better and better. I can’t understand that. But that is the way it is working.
IP: Logged
09:34 PM
Jun 11th, 2005
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Are you gonna keep that dryer hose or are you looking for something cleaner..??
Everything is looking great.. I painted the engine compartment on mine "Aluminum" in color to match the 4.9L and then I also went w/ red but a darker red.. Looks very nice!
Steve
------------------ Choptop WideBody GT 1 of 1 4.9L-V8-Auto---almost finished
IP: Logged
11:07 AM
PFF
System Bot
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Well I took the car to Johns, he fixed my speedo problem and then put a thermal blanket under the ECM to protect it from the heat. I thought I was doing pretty good.
Till 4/5's of the way home, I boot it and POOF steam everywhere.
I chop it and force a small bit of it onto the pipe. (this is one of the hoses that has an expanded end on it. So you can just cut it and push the rest on. As the rest of the hose is smaller than the end you need.)
Fortunately this is a Caddy specific hose so I just need to order up a new one. It blew apart like a hot dog.
------------------ 85GT 5spd MSD Everything,4.9 With Nitrous. www.captfiero.com
IP: Logged
03:33 PM
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Heh, was tinkering with things under hte hood today and pulled the vac line off the EGR pod. Placed finger over it, expecting to feel nothing. WTF, There was vacume being applied to the EGR Pod at idle. I reved it up and let it back down, vacume increased. So quickly grab a screw and plug the hose and take car for a drive.
So that is what a 4.9 is suppose to feel like!!!
------------------ 85GT 5spd MSD Everything,4.9 With Nitrous. www.captfiero.com
IP: Logged
08:46 PM
Jul 2nd, 2005
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Well todays progress. Still getting horrid gas mileage in town. Highway is still high 20's so we cant figure it out yet. Still working on that. However I seem to be almost spitting raw fuel out the tail pipe. Really Really strong fuel smell while driving.
But we started on the tach mod today, and after 2.5hrs of trial and error, John came to the conclusion he did not have the correct resistor or pot to do what we needed.
So he ran two long wires from where we would need to put the resistor and ran them up so that I can put the pot on externally later. This will allow me to calibrate it later on without having to take it all apart in the future. I am going to hit up the electronics stores later on.
So here is todays progress.
Oh. P.S. The clutch is done. I cant even step on it 1/2 throttle in 1st gear anymore. So there is no hope of it getting better. I will be buying a new clutch as soon as finances have built up again.
Torn apart
John looking puzzled and frustrated
Car looking so good
IP: Logged
03:09 AM
Jul 4th, 2005
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Well thanks to John soldering the wire pigtail on the back of the tach, I was able to run it out of the cluster so that I could add the correct pot onto it later when I hit up the electronics store.
I went to SMI today in Langley and got what I needed today. I actually get something much better than what I expected. It is called a High Precision Pot. Instead of a simple 1 turn full to min, it is 10 turns to go full to max. It is a 200K High Precision Potentiometer. I wired the bad boy in today with my $1 soldering iron I got at the dollar store and my 1.95 solder. Tweaked it up and it is prefect. You can see on the Scan Tool it is dead on. I love this pot thingy, you can tweak it almost 1 rpm at a time.
My soldering skills are a bit on the lacking side, in the first pic it almost looks like there is so much solder that it bridged the 2 points, you can see in the 2nd pic that is not that bad. It is just a simple matter of wrapping some tape on it and pushing it down under the panel and then torquing the panel down. It will be nice too, if I ever have to recalibrate the tach it will be a simple mater of popping the panel off and twisting the pot.
Oh it is so nice to have a proper working tach again.
Well here are the pics.
My Mad Soldering Skills
My 1 dollar soldering Iron
Happiness is knowing what rpm your motor is at
IP: Logged
04:13 PM
Oct 11th, 2005
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Just adding this for the Guys that look at this thread and the last post was the V8 Tach mod, in case anyone wants to see what is in my opinion the best site ever for Fiero electronic tweaking.
Well it has been nearly 6 months on the road and only engine issue has been a starter that went bad. The new clutch and tranny are holding up remarkably. I have a feeling that the 1st 5spd was just a bad one to begin with.
I have another set of 245/50/16's bald thanks to my new found torque.
Driving has became 1st gear clutch up, clutch down 2nd gear, accelerate, shift directly to 4th or 5th.
I recently made a huge run around and got roughly 30mpg on the highway so I am quite happy about that.
I will update more a bit later. But that are the quick high points.
------------------ 85GT 5spd MSD Everything,4.9 With Nitrous. www.captfiero.com
IP: Logged
02:24 PM
May 23rd, 2006
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Below is email from Delta. ---------------------------------------------- Capt. We grind a cam for that motor that is a 10% to 15% better than stock. (thats 20-30hp and improved rpm range) It does not require a computer change or any other modification to run this cam. The camshaft is 203 duration @ .050 with .450 lift. We can send it USPS to Canada, but with customs and all it's much cheaper to send it to a U.S. address. The cost for this is $137.50 plus a $30 core and we have them in stock any time. I don't know what the cost of shipping is but I can check into it. Thank you, Scott
The lobe lift is .300 Scott
-------------------------
He says lift at lobe is .300 which means that with the caddy 1.6 rockers is really .480 gross valve lift. Not 450 which is quoted earlier.
------------------ 85GT 5spd ,93 Eldorado 4.9 Dual O2 Custom Chip, Archie Clutch. Custom Exhaust. MSD Everything 245/50/16's Not Your Average 4.9 Capt Fiero Com --- My Over View Cadero Pics Yellow 88GT 5spd Stock.
[This message has been edited by Capt Fiero (edited 10-26-2006).]
IP: Logged
06:27 PM
Feb 25th, 2007
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
I converted my excel sheet into a jpeg so that even people that can't open excel can view it. Its 200kb so dial up users will have to go and have a coffee if they want to view it.
I am just adding this to my personal build thread.
Hope it helps a few of you guys.
IP: Logged
01:48 PM
DanFiero Member
Posts: 2815 From: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Registered: Jul 2002
Hmmmm....that looks vaguley familiar I was just thinking I might have found a way to host my version online so others can download it easier (of course they'd need excel to open it), but being at work it's going to have to wait for my next day off.
Looks good Cap't
Dan
[This message has been edited by DanFiero (edited 02-25-2007).]
IP: Logged
03:38 PM
PFF
System Bot
May 26th, 2008
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
Well I have blown up 2 Isuzu's due to stripping 2nd gear and a 3rd Isuzu due to a catastrophic centerforce clutch and or throwout bearing shaft failure. Pics are here https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/088561.html
I finally drove the car again yesterday. After driving my 2.8 powered 88GT I had almost forgotten how much fun torque was. Man this car is a ball to drive. I can't beat on it as I need to break in the new clutch, but dang I am happy to have it again. So far so good the new clutch is a very smooth engagement and grabs really well. I won't know for a few months just how it holds up with use.
I have stepped my rear tire size down to 225/50/16 in an attempt to save trans axles. At least until I get a 3.32 4spd for the car. This current Isuzu seems to have excessive slop in the diff. When in gear you can roll the car almost a foot before the slop is gone and the engine starts to move. Regardless of what gear it is in. I am going to be semi gentle with it for the time being to see how it holds up.
I still have a lot of little mods to do to the car over the next few months, I have collected a new nose, body panels and such to replace the parts that are in poor shape.
Well all I can say is I am really happy I did this swap. The new cowl hood sure looks cool on it, the side exit exhaust makes it sound awesome and the V8 torque makes it an impressive driver. I can't ask for much more in a car.
Well I have blown up 2 Isuzu's due to stripping 2nd gear and a 3rd Isuzu due to a catastrophic centerforce clutch and or throwout bearing shaft failure.
You need to go 6 speed. I just drove mine for the first time and it's awesome. It can handle all the torque that the 4.9 can throw at it without breaking, and you can buy them brand new for less than $400. True parts to install are pricey but it will never break. And if it does it's cheap to replace.
IP: Logged
12:57 PM
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000
I would love to some day convert to a 6spd, however locally the trans is rare to find, and pricey to convert. Once the conversion parts are more readily available I will do the conversion.
I just spent $425 on a new clutch as well. (can you use the same clutch in the 6spd as the 5spd) I know the flywheel has to be changed. Does the 6spd use the same bell housing as the 5spd, or do I need to order an adapter plate? Just curious for now.
IP: Logged
08:02 PM
jscott1 Member
Posts: 21676 From: Houston, TX , USA Registered: Dec 2001
I just spent $425 on a new clutch as well. (can you use the same clutch in the 6spd as the 5spd) I know the flywheel has to be changed. Does the 6spd use the same bell housing as the 5spd, or do I need to order an adapter plate? Just curious for now.
The 6 speed uses the same bell housing as the regular FWD transmission. The clutch is the same as any Fiero Clutch and so is the flywheel. I don't see why you would need to change the flywheel?
These transmissions are all over eBay for less than $400. I'm sure they ship to Canada as well.
I am totally confused then. What is the expensive part of the conversion? I have a spare 4spd shifter and cables here. IIRC it is modified 4spd cables they use in the conversion.
[This message has been edited by Capt Fiero (edited 05-27-2008).]
IP: Logged
12:38 PM
jscott1 Member
Posts: 21676 From: Houston, TX , USA Registered: Dec 2001
I am totally confused then. What is the expensive part of the conversion? I have a spare 4spd shifter and cables here. IIRC it is modified 4spd cables they use in the conversion.
Close, it uses a 4 speed shifter and modified getrag cables. The expensive part of the conversion are the G6 specific parts. Archie can explain it better than I can, because I don't really understand how axles work, but my car needed a bunch of parts because it was converted from auto and I needed new transmission mounts, engine mounts, and axles anyway.
But if you had a G6 laying around in the junkyard I think you would work out the swap pretty cheaply.
IP: Logged
08:15 PM
Dec 10th, 2008
Capt Fiero Member
Posts: 7657 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2000