So I have been out of the Fiero game for over 10 years when the urge to get into chump car racing got me to surfing Craigslist and thinking Fiero. I found a decent '85 4-speed GT that hadn't run in years for $500 and after a 4 hour drive The lil GT was at my shop. The next day it was run into by a dump truck, only cosmetic damage, but I needed a drivers side door skin, fender, mirror, aero fascia & some ribbed molding. On my quest for the parts I needed to repair the wounded '85 GT I stumbled across a running '86 SE with a rod knock, upon a closer inspection turned out the '86 SE was in FAR too good of shape to be pillaged for a few body parts. This will be the story of that '86 SE.
The engine & trans where pulled from a 1998 Pontiac Bonneville SSEi .3.8L Supercharged L67 & 4t65e-HD trans. I don't have a pic but we know what they look like. I got it a few years ago for a project that never panned out.
1986 SE before going under the knife.
I got the harness from Red Devil River
The mounts are from West Coast Fiero
In a very short amount of time the old 2.8 & auto trans where out.
Dropping the tank to install a Aeromotive 340lph in tank pump
The Aeromotive 11169 in tank pump was a perfect fit
I cut the flange off the 3800's down pipe to be reused
Here is the new 3" pipe tacked to the 3800 flange.
here is a shot of the rest of the exhaust before I cut down almost every straight portion of pipe leaving only the 12" resonator & the two sweeps.
after test fitting each piece, and tacking each pipe starting from the bumper working my way to the flange. i welded it all up.
I saw this DC Sports Tip at pep boys and $35 later it was mine, It's 9" long and resonated so I figured it would help control sound
I fabricated a coil mount that mounts the coils off the pass side shock tower in front of the c500 socket, it also has a 3/8" stud on the bottom for a solid grounding point.
The battery is going in the trunk for now, I left room for a Braile battery in the stock location, but I'm a little over budget, and I already had the yellow top. I used 3/8 X 1.5" bolts with 3/8" shoulders and ran nuts all the way up the bolts so even with the battery out the bolts wont fall out then a second pair of nuts holds my custom bent 1"X 1/8" battery hold down.
Close up of the hold down.
Installed & charging
There's a lot going in in this pic; The coils are mounted, stock length battery cables come up to the stock locations, and are bolted to another pair of cables that run to the trunk. the fuel lines are run, brake booster is hooked up and the car runs.
In the previous pic you can see one of my heater hoses looping past the oil cap, I used about 12" of 5/8" heater hose from the factory fiero hardline to a coolant elbow that I cut the mounting tab off of and re attached it rotated 180deg.
That's it for today, I still have a lot to do.
------------------ Current: 1986 SE 3800SC/4t65eHD (swap in progress), 1985 GT 3800SC/F23 (on deck) Past: Two '84SE's, 85GT, 86GT, 88 Coupe & 88 Formula
[This message has been edited by 1fast2m4 (edited 05-05-2013).]
I was a little um prepared for all the $20 trips to napa to finish her out, but she's on the road. and she runs great. couldn't be more happy, now it's time to address the 27 year old suspension and rough paint.
------------------ Current: 1986 SE 3800SC/4t65eHD, 1985 GT 3800SC (swap in progress) Past: Two '84SE's, 85GT, 86GT, 88 Coupe & 88 Formula
This thread is going in my Favorites! You obviously know what you're doing because you just busted in here and showed everyone how to do it instead of asking a thousand questions. I've got a project of my own that I'll get back to one day. I hope you're still around when I need help!
This thread is going in my Favorites! You obviously know what you're doing because you just busted in here and showed everyone how to do it instead of asking a thousand questions. I've got a project of my own that I'll get back to one day. I hope you're still around when I need help!
I can't really take that much credit, I bought off the shelf mounts that fit almost 99% perfect right out of the box, and I bought an over the counter harness from Phonedawgz. So between those two items I think that covers about 70% of the swap
I just found this pic, I like it, for what it's worth I tried the exhaust without the DC sports resonated tip and I sounds awefull, like a grandprix with the muffler falling off/ generally not good the tip actualy kills alot of the rasp and overall makes the exhaust allot less annoying, but I can still imagine cutting the trunk out to make room for a real muffler.
Also here Is a shot of the engine bay as the car left the shop, although I did make a little dog bone out of 5/8" Rod ends that is not shown in this picture. as you can see my 3.4" pulley is on, you can get a good look at my heater hoses, the red & white wires in the battery area are for the Fuel pump hot wire.
while that radiator hose setup worked I needed a provision for the mechanical water temp gauge so I ditched the moroso water neck in favor of a 99 mustang GT radiator hose that has a 5/8 heater hose coming off it. and just used the "T" as a water temp gauge sending unit mount. I plan to switch back to the moroso filler neck & cap when I switch out the mechanical temp gauge for electrical.
you can also see my shift linkage, I hacked up and rewelded the 4t65e's shift lever and hacked up & rewelded the TH125 cable bracket. It works well P is P, 1 is 1, but D is actually 3 so i drive around with the indicator showing that im in Neutral but I'm actually in Drive. I stopped tweaking my design because while driving I can easily bump the car into and out of overdrive and the reverse lockout is fully functional
------------------ 1986 SE 3800SC/4t65eHD (12.871@104.96) 1985 GT 3800SC (swap in progress)
you can also see my shift linkage, I hacked up and rewelded the 4t65e's shift lever and hacked up & rewelded the TH125 cable bracket. It works well P is P, 1 is 1, but D is actually 3 so i drive around with the indicator showing that im in Neutral but I'm actually in Drive. I stopped tweaking my design because while driving I can easily bump the car into and out of overdrive and the reverse lockout is fully functional
Yea, I have found this happens with any 4-speed auto swap into a Fiero, with any of the three 4-speeds we commonly swap in (4t60, 4t60e, and 4t65e). Since my shifter trim plate is in poor shape I was going to make something custom with lettering and lighting, but I haven't yet.
But I agree with previous posts, great job! Even with premade mounts and harness, it takes skill to do something like this. I will say this though, I'm jealous of your lift. That makes it 10x easier to do everything, most so the cradle bolts and getting the fuel tank out. Pulling/replace the tank while on your back (even with a creeper) crawling under the car is not something I enjoy.
[This message has been edited by mattwa (edited 06-05-2013).]
Its been quite some time since I've posted on PFF, but...
Have you considered hacking together an extractor hood for it? I plan to (eventually) run chump with a Fiero, and that'll be one of the first things to get done to it. I'm curious how well the auto will stand up to track use.
Looks good!!!! Just 2 quick questions... did you have to notch out your decklid by the alternator? And 2 did you keep the stock heater core elbows and just adapt them?
[This message has been edited by kikinz24 (edited 06-07-2013).]
Aero Turbine exhaust.......It sounds very very good.
3" Turbo Outlet...3" Straight Through Turbine Exhaust...3" Resenator Tip
Not your ordinary straight through muffler....
thats looks cool, I'm going to try cutting my 1st pipe coming down off the stock manifold and then mirror what I have on the passenger side. My thought is that with the same amount of exhaust gasses running through twice as much pipe and twice as many mufflers could drastically change the way is sounds for the better I hope.
quote
Originally posted by hklvette:
Its been quite some time since I've posted on PFF, but...
Have you considered hacking together an extractor hood for it? I plan to (eventually) run chump with a Fiero, and that'll be one of the first things to get done to it. I'm curious how well the auto will stand up to track use.
Well to be honest this car got a little out of hand money wise to ever legally run Chump or Lemons without cheating on the paperwork. I grabbed a 85 GT for my chump car project but it got some body damage and while searching for a aero fascia, fender & some ribbed molding I found this 86 SE that was already an Auto and I already had the l67/ 4t65 left over from a 88 GT project the never panned out. I'm still not sure whats going on with the 85GT
quote
Originally posted by kikinz24:
Looks good!!!! Just 2 quick questions... did you have to notch out your decklid by the alternator? And 2 did you keep the stock heater core elbows and just adapt them?
Yes I did notch the decklid directly above the alternator. and the heater hose elbow that faces the drivers side is the only one I modified they where from the 98 Bonneville SSEi they where already 90deg fittings I only modified the retainer. they are all steel unlike the straight fittings you might be used to seeing on the GrandPrix
heat allowed the shift cable end to get soft and pop up, I didn't catch it in time and in Drive the cable was resting on the x-over pipe.
I used some side cutters and removed the remaining plastic from the end of the fiero auto cable.
Here is my modified 4t65e shift lever.
after a close inspection it looked like the pin was just press fit into the lever, so I ground off the back side a punched to pin out.
A 1/4 Inch bold fits PERFECT
If I would have replaced the ball pin with a 1/4-20 nut & bolt to begin with I wouldn't have to repair my shift cable at all.
I looked at two local hardware stores and home depot, I would like to find a Clevis rod end or something like it to put on the end of the factory cable but I had no luck today.
There was no room for one with the joint to the stock X-over pipe right there.
I just ordered 2 if of this
I got one with a 3/16" body and another with a 1/4" body. The end of the stock cable measured out to 5mm or .1969"
at .1875" I'm not sure I'll be able to get a 3/16 Die down the cable end and the 1/4 is going to be too big. I'll probably end up using what ever die I can work the best down the cable end and using a decent amount of 15min epoxy to fill the voids.
The Rod ends where only $4.99 each at SpeedWay Motors and if this works it will be about a $20 Fix
One other thing I ran My alternator in the stock position, with A/C and NO P/S just like in the pic below.
But every day my belt is squealing more and more, I saw a pic in somebody's build thread where they did it the same way as me and somebody posted a pic in which the water pump and tensioner had much less belt wrap and the crank pulley had much more wrap, anybody know what I'm talking about??
Is the tensioner in proper range? maybe the belt needs to be a little smaller.. Or maybe it's a crap belt, try replacing it with a Gates belt.
It is a Napa belt and the tensioner has plenty more to go as the belt stretches, I hit it with some belt dressing, lol yea worked far worse than I could have ever imagined. squealed like a pig for about 20min. The Next shorter belt won't fit either. I was actually starting to think it was a failing bearing, but the way it squealed when the dressing hit it.
For a Grand total of $1.96 I've found at least a temporary fix for my cable.
It's a 6ga electrical lug from home depot. a set screw holds it on the Shift cable and it has a 1/4" hole that I just stuck a bolt in. not bad for less than $2 and it gets me up and running for a preplanned 600mile 3day road trip that starts tomorrow morning.
Oh and My Shift cable is phenomenally adjustable, I had no idea, I played with it a little and easily got every position on the stock shifter to display correctly. with actual 1st gear i click past the indicated 1st. But the reverse lockout didn't work and I could easily bump the shifter into R while rolling in Netural. The problem was that when I fine tuned my shifting with the actual shift lever length, which worked. What I should have done was adjust the cable to about the middle of the range, made my lever and then fine tuned the cable. I'm going to put some real time into it, I really think I'll get all the gears to display properly at the shifter.
I also have gotten a few PM's about my dog bone and if I run one. so here is a pic. I made it out of a shock tower brace I got off a GTP at the pick-n-pull, I cut in down as short as I could and it's 100% adjustable from 2.75 - 4.00"
I had a bit of belt squeal going on my wife's Grand Marquis. A new store brand belt was no better. The squeal stopped with a Gates belt. It's worth the extra dough.
Thats funny using a ground lug as a shift cable end.
I know but I'm on my 3rd tank of gas with it on there, and It's working great, I'm also averaging 27mpg city/highways average running with 2 cobras and two zo6's all over hell and back.
When my "real" rod end gets here I am going to cross drill it and and tap the holes and use set screws to mount it to my cable.
I know but I'm on my 3rd tank of gas with it on there, and It's working great, I'm also averaging 27mpg city/highways average running with 2 cobras and two zo6's all over hell and back.
When my "real" rod end gets here I am going to cross drill it and and tap the holes and use set screws to mount it to my cable.
Nice job on the swap. With the alternator up top, you can completely stop the belt slip/squeal by using an idler where the PS pump was located and use the stock belt routing or locate the alternator down low , reclock the tensioner and your in business.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Powerlog manifold, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Flotech Afterburner Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
12.84 @ 104 at mason dixon (1.8x 60's and the air temp was in the LOW 60's) 13.1x @ 102 at 75 & 80 (1.8x 60's and teh air temp was over 90) 13.0x @ 103 at capitol (1.8x 60's and the air temp was in the mid 80's) 12.9x @ 103 at MIR (1.8x 60's and the air temp was in the mid 80's)
Maybe I should Bracket race her, but my shift solenoids have failed, not shure why
[This message has been edited by 1fast2m4 (edited 08-01-2013).]
I feel like I should note, I had every intention of running the ZZP race pellet and race gas at the track but i never have gotten around to it, I have run race gas at the track but not the race pellet (+4deg timing) I have run race gas + the Pellet on the street and it is a noticeable difference probably .1sec & 1mph if I ever manage to try it at the track
It has become apparent to at least myself that I will be turbo charging my '86 SE I figured I'd just keep updating this thread rather than starting a new one.
My Turbo is off of a 2002 Dodge Ram (Holset HX-40) I had it leftover from a previous project, I'll have it back early next week, it had some shaft play so a local diesel shop is rebuilding it & balancing it for me.
The Fed-ex guy just dropped off my Frozen-boost Water to Air intercooler I thught I had ordered there Ice-box as well, but after looking into is I wasn't charged for it so I'll just work that in later. I 'll also be using atleast one more 7" fan
Well, I haven't been updating much, I'm not that impressed with my work thus far. the cars maiden voyage was yesterday about 80miles each way to and from Carlisle. there was alot of smoke, and missing but she made it. runs like it has a Vacuum leak feels like I might have a dead coil, but she rolls.
I haven't done much with the car all summer I even thought about parting it out a few times. With winter coming I'm going to need a project. as I type this my new to me L36 N/A heads are at the machine shop getting cleaned up (Tanked, Fluxed valve job as needed & pressure checked)
I have also ordered MLS head gaskets, ARP head studs, 105lb springs & Keepers.
L26 Heads, cleaned, 5 angle valve job, gasket matched, nothing special just cleaned up and just like new. ZZP Power log, Wrapped stock X-Over & 104 plugs @ .30" gap
#120 valve springs, ZZP Retainers, L26 LIM, Metal LIM gaskets & Rodneys solid cradle mounts
ZZP HV3 mock up?
My Son reall enjoying the progress (Priceless...............)
