I really don't know what I am doing but I am going to make this happen. Always feel free to give advice. Everything is out of a 2000 Pontiac grand prix going into my 86 GT.
I want to keep my fiero running for now so I think I am going to buy a spare cradle and assemble everything on it. It came with a set of headers that I am hoping I can make work with my car somehow. The engine I bought has a 3.5 pulley installed and I think stock would be 3.8. Is it safe to run a 3.5 on a stock motor ( I have no idea what may have been done internally if anything) I am just going to assume internals are stock? What do I need to do to the engine to get it ready for the fiero? Plug things remove things add something that kind of stuff. It has a power steering do I just remove and discard? Just want to get started doing something while I am looking for a cradle.
I paid $1500 for the motor,transmission, and computer. The transmission is a recent gm rebuild exact miles unknown same with the engine. It was probably $500 to much but finding this in my area is difficult.
It is hard to tell by the pics but if the engine still has plastic lower intake gaskets replace them with newer aluminum ones now and check the SC coupler for play. The headers might work if you remove the lower portion of the trunk for clearance or modify the headers to work. Get the engine and tranny back together and ready to mount on a cradle. You can fabricate your own mounts or buy them then start your harness building or again buy one. The power steering pump can come off as it is not needed and the alt is easier to mount low on that side for clearance. if you run A/C belt rotation is easy if not build an idler pulley set up for the belt to work. Dan
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DARN Cars now open with Over 30 years wiring experience between cars and trade as an avionics technician in both Canadian Air Force and civilian aviation. Over 25 years experience building and modifying cars. Over 10 years of full Fiero engine swaps and harnesses building and still going.
How do you check the coupler? What exactly is the coupler? Is there any type of gasket the goes between the trany and engine or just line them up and bolt them back together? Do you still sell mounts and harnesses? What would the price be for all the mounts includeing low alt bracket and would the harness be true plug and play?
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Originally posted by FIEROFLYER:
It is hard to tell by the pics but if the engine still has plastic lower intake gaskets replace them with newer aluminum ones now and check the SC coupler for play. The headers might work if you remove the lower portion of the trunk for clearance or modify the headers to work. Get the engine and tranny back together and ready to mount on a cradle. You can fabricate your own mounts or buy them then start your harness building or again buy one. The power steering pump can come off as it is not needed and the alt is easier to mount low on that side for clearance. if you run A/C belt rotation is easy if not build an idler pulley set up for the belt to work. Dan
How do you check the coupler? What exactly is the coupler?
Take the belt off the supercharger and wiggle the pulley to check for play.
The lower intake manifold gasket was plastic from the factory. The replacement is metal. You really want to replace it to avoid having pieces of plastic sucked into your motor. It will require you to replace the supercharger gasket and two little yellow coolant o-rings. You should replace the supercharger oil while you have it off. The supercharger oil is about $13-$14 per bottle at the dealership and you need 2 of them. I think zzp may sell them cheaper...
$1,500 isn't a bad price when you consider the headers...
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun?
I checked the lower intake gasket it is plastic. So i will get a gasket set orderd. Does the sc take exactly two bottles of oil or is there an exact amount i need to put in? Also i will probably paint the sc while i have it off is there anything I should be carefull of while painting? When wiggling the sc pulley am i looking for side to side play or in and out? both?
Six ounces. Mobil One 5W-30 Full Synthetic is GM approved for use in the supercharger snout. Look for radial and axial play and quiet, smooth operation.
Six ounces. Mobil One 5W-30 Full Synthetic is GM approved for use in the supercharger snout. Look for radial and axial play and quiet, smooth operation.
Originally posted by crashmydaytona: When wiggling the sc pulley am i looking for side to side play or in and out? both?
Neither, you are looking for rotary play, wiggle it clockwise to counterclock wise, should be no play. If play you need a new plastic coupler in the snout, very easy to replace.
------------------ 86 Fiero GT 4spd - L67 swap: VS cam, GenV 98 GTP - Some mods
Neither, you are looking for rotary play, wiggle it clockwise to counterclock wise, should be no play. If play you need a new plastic coupler in the snout, very easy to replace.
What he said and any play at all replace it as the job is much easier with the engine out of the car, also if you do get some kind of suction device to get as much fluid as you can out first as that stuff really reeks and is very hard to get rid of the smell after. Dan
I checked the supercharger tonight and it seems really tight to me. I cant feel any play at all. The charger was supposedly rebuilt recently but i noticed some oil on the pulley and of course i wiped it with my finger and gave it the sniff test HOLY crap that stuff stinks. Is there a seal that could be leaking from the pulley or is it just left over oil from an oil change? Do you suck the oil out from the allen head plug thats in the snout of the sc?
siting at the hospital wife having a baby. Now that we have ipads and wi fi i can search the forum while listening to contractions. This is kid number 4 so i can get away with it.
Just got my sc pulled off so I can paint it and was wondering what I can use to clean it? I was thinking engine degreaser but you need to rinse with water. Is there anything that could be damaged by getting it wet?
Power steering pump as you know as well as the EVAP solenoids and second O2 are not needed. Optional is the EGR and boost bypass solenoid and of course the MAP can easily be relocated if wanted just make sure your harness is made to match. Dan
Power steering pump as you know as well as the EVAP solenoids and second O2 are not needed. Optional is the EGR and boost bypass solenoid and of course the MAP can easily be relocated if wanted just make sure your harness is made to match. Dan
You dont need the EVAP because you use the stock fiero setup correct? If I delete the EGR and boost bypass you just program the ECM accordingly correct? What is the boost bypass for? Do i need to run a boost gauge in my car like a turbo setup would?
Boost bypass is what keeps the super charger from generating boost till you want it, some remove it I prefer to keep it. Yes the stock Fiero charcoal canister works just fine and yes any changes made should also be dealt with in the PCM program. Dan
I was getting ready to install my LIM on my 3800 and I realized that I will be using a low alternator mount and was not sure what to do with the coolant lines. I have the new aluminum elbow to go from the intake to the alternator bracket but I dont know if i will still be using that bracket or not. I read somewhere guys are tapping the LIM and putting a fitting in place of the elbow is this what I need to do? If so do I just use a brass fitting? I figure I should figure this out before installing the LIM.
Also does anyone no where I can buy bolts for mounting the transmission to the engine? I checked Napa, Oriley's , Autozone with no luck.
If your still reading Dan has finished my harness and all necessary mounting brackets. I also have allot of parts coming in from other members so soon I will have everything I need or least most of it. I am hoping to get this swap going. I will keep this thread updated with pictures of progress and of course with all my questions. And finally even if your tired of hearing this THANK YOU! to all the guys who answer questions on this forum even the redundant ones that get asked over and over. This stuff can be intimidating for some of us thanks again.
I got my harness and brackets from fieroflyer and it got me motivated to get something done today. also figured out how to use PIP
Now that the old is out I need to decide what to do next. I don't have a cherry picker so I will have to figure something out to get the old engine off. I might start pulling everything apart and sell it. But I don't know if there is any market for 2.8 stuff. I will keep taking pics as I go.
I was supposed to post pics of the stuff I received from Dan a long time ago for a couple different members who where interested in Dans products and my dealings with him. Better late then never. Dan answered all my questions and gave me advice on what would be the best way to build my harness. He answered all my PMs within a couple of days. I think from the time I sent him my parts until I received all my goodies was about 3 months. Most of this time was shipping lots of snow storms and stuff like that slowed things down. As far as I can tell everything looks great the harness is very well made, neat and clean. I cant tell how the brackets will fit because I have fallen way behind schedule and have not had time to test fit anything. Over all I would give Dan an A+ for quality and service.
I would hope there is no rust. I have given up my mount and bracket making to Roger on here as he is a great guy who is also a licensed welder and the parts go well with the machined and balanced 3800 flywheels he sells. I will now pretty much only make these parts on the full swaps I do or maybe the odd kit. Plus him being in the states makes shipping heavy parts a lot easier and cheaper. Dan
Using the stock dogbone bracket from my 3800 and swapping it to the other side of the motor how do install the the pulley that mounts there? Do i cut the pulley bracket and weld it to the dogbone bracket? How precise would this have to be? Is there a simpler way around this? I am not using the coolant lines from the pulley bracket so i was planing on cutting it anyway. I am using fieroflyers low alt bracket. Thanks for any ideas.
The spot where the tensioner is mounted on the existing bracket from the right of the 3800 has to be milled to a thickness of 1". I used an $8.00 milling bit on my drill press and did the job. You will find the old tensioner will not work as it torques the wrong way. I bought one that fits a ford windstar which had the correct pulley and everything. I will look up the part number and send pictures.
im watching this thread very closely my friend ...very interesting...good luck post all the small things too im getting info for the swap cause I might be doing one this year
The spot where the tensioner is mounted on the existing bracket from the right of the 3800 has to be milled to a thickness of 1". I used an $8.00 milling bit on my drill press and did the job. You will find the old tensioner will not work as it torques the wrong way. I bought one that fits a ford windstar which had the correct pulley and everything. I will look up the part number and send pictures.
do I machine down the dogbone bracket and mount the Windstar tensioner to it. part number 305 217?
I hope the attached pictures explain how I built the bracket. The ford belt tensioner is from a 97 ford windstar 3.8 Auto Value part number is GDY 49247 The bracket is milled down to a thickness of 1" behind the tensioner this will line up the pulley Now if someone can tell me how to attach pictures we can make this work
I would love to see pics of what you did. You can use PIP to post pictures there is a download botton at the bottom of the page just follow the directions. You can email them to me if you want crashmydaytona@hotmail.com
Took a while but I finally found a 97 windstar 3.8 that still had the tensioner pulley. $20 from the junk yard. Machinist $60 to cut down the dogbone. $80 is $50 more then what I wanted to invest in this bracket but I don't have the tools to mill it down myself. Should have it back Friday and hopefully I will get all the pulleys back on and track down a belt that will work.
Then all I need is my fuel rail from fierofreak00 and I think the engine will be complete. Feels good to make some progress finally. still lots left to do.
Two questions I will start with the easy one first the other has me so pissed off I almost punched a hole in the wall.
Is there anything that goes on before this tensioner? Do I need a special nut for holding it on? I must have lost mine the only nuts I have that fit it are 15mm and the largest socket that will fit in the hole is a 14mm
Don't ask me how I missed this when I put it together but I did. I paid a guy $150 to polish my snout (that sounds wrong) he said he new what he was doing and assured me that he would not damage the bearings in the process. He did about a 70% job of polishing it and trashed the bearings. So I ordered them and paid someone else $75 to install them since I don't have a press. with the price of the new bearings I have now invested $280 in the snout. While I was taking the picture of the tensioner I noticed that I missed a bolt on the charger then I noticed the massive gap and realized that he polished that area and removed a crap load of material. Please tell me I can run it like it is? Will the gasket seal the way it is?
Answer to your first question: Tensioner bolts directly to the bracket. Nothing behind. I've got to check your picture against my unit. I'm not sure what you are referring to.
Thanks for the congrats.
