I am getting near the end of my swap and just learned (from Erik) that the injection Harness I received is from a 94 and not a 91-93 like the rest of the wiring harness. I know it's a shot in the dark looking for an injection harness here in the mall but I'm getting a little desperate. I haven't had any vehicle with this motor pop up in a yard near me in roughly 4 months and just want the swap to be done. I can trade Fiero parts and/or cash whatever works best, Thank you!
*This post is also in the mall to hopefully get a few more eyes
------------------ "I am not what you so glibly call to be a civilized man. I have broken with society for reasons which I alone am able to appreciate. I am therefore not subject to it's stupid laws, and I ask you to never allude to them in my presence again."
I invited Lou Dias to trash me in my own thread, he refused. sorry. if he trashes your thread going after me. I tried.
That's becoming a more and more essential option at this point. I was hoping I could find a parts car that was laying around and being able to pick one up. So far, no dice. Also, !PAGE 2! Whoop whoop!
it's not hard at all, get a pair of proper crimpers, the right parts, and put them together. I built the entire harness for my MS3 Pro setup, take your time, terminate one connector/splice at a time. stagger splices so they don't cause a lump in the harness, ect.
------------------ "I am not what you so glibly call to be a civilized man. I have broken with society for reasons which I alone am able to appreciate. I am therefore not subject to it's stupid laws, and I ask you to never allude to them in my presence again."
I invited Lou Dias to trash me in my own thread, he refused. sorry. if he trashes your thread going after me. I tried.
I know it's been a minute but I haven't had many advances lately. A car Finally popped up in a local scrap scrap yard and I was able to get the harness pulled for Erik. It should be in his hands by now, so here's to hoping things are going well on his front. I'll also be sending a later model MAF sensor pigtail his way and that should be the final final piece to the puzzle! This has been a very long 6 week project
Cheers eveyone!
------------------ Black 88 GT, a 19 year old here about 20 years to late -LQ1 Swap in progress-
A little more progress as things are starting to heat up again, got a Dickman cold air intake that someone never got around to installing put onto the car today. Nothing to fancy but another thing to check off the box for sure
I also finally did a little grinding for clearance on the knuckle. I made strut housing so I could run Koni double adjustable struts on the rear, downside to that being that I'M the one who made them. So when i made them i didn't account for their effect on camber and made them willy wompus throwing off my camber. so a little work with the grinder later and I've got a little more room to work with
Won't be much between now and he first start (Knock on wood) So until then, cheers!
A little more behind the scenes progress going on over the past week or two. I had to redo the vacuum lines (I think I'm on the 3rd time now?) to accept an older style MAP sensor so I can run the motor before testing the newer style sensor for compatibility. The bigger project came in the form of the ECU holder. It is by no means a complicated thing to make but I'm happy with how it turned out, probably in part to the use of a new tool (metal brake).
The only thing I could've done better would be making mounts for the glove box, but I'm just gonna turn a blind eye on this one since I've been running it with one screw with no issues thus far. Plus I don't think there is quite enough room to make it happen behind the glove box. -- First start date that has any actual possibility 12/3/2023 (Depends on shipping time) --
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Today's project was a bit of a smaller one but I got no complaints there . One of the few quality of life changes I'm doing along with this swap is completely re-doing the wires going through the firewall for convenience at a later date. I have a good buddy of mine who got some decent experience with re-pinning connectors so he is helping me create three twist on connectors right on the fire wall to help with pulling the engine (hopefully no time soon) and testing sensors right at those connectors. Fingers crossed I don't lose the pin-out sheet
Might get a test pipe tossed together just so i can drive it around the block before getting the big boy exhaust on. Luckily my neighbors have actually been following along so they shouldn't be too startled upon the first startup
It's been since the last time I added here, figured I'd toss up a quick update. Got a little bit of a rain check on the wiring harness so I started picking away at the body work that I've been putting off. I'm starting with the bumper and probably moving my way back. I'm using this guy as an inspiration, from what I'm told its an old forum member.
I went and robbed the parts car bumper which was in structurally good shape so got that one and started sanding. I took my old bumper that had a few cracks and started choppin a slicen to get the rough shape made up. I figured now would be a good time for my first fiberglass project and covered the whole where the middle support used to be and I'd say it went pretty well.
I got the bumper tossed on the car and trimmed the sides to kinda sorta fit the body lines a little better. But of course in old car fashion the bumper had another small crack so I got to do my second fiberglass job. So once that's cured its onto sanding and prepping for paint which might happen later this week depending on how long it takes to obtain the correct paint.
------------------ Black 88 GT, a 19 year old here about 20 years to late -LQ1 Swap in progress-
I don't often post twice in one day, but I'm pretty happy with the result. I'm not ready for a career change, but I'm starting to enjoy doing body work. It was so close to not needing a filler but I had one little pinhole that'll need touching up.
I do have couple layers on the back to add a little strength as well
Been back and forth with Erik over the past few days and it sounds like I'll be able to start reassembly late next week with maybe being able to start the car next weekend for the first time. but to keep my mind occupied between now and then I've started to dip my toes into body work as my previous post showed. I painted the front bumper and it turned out pretty bad, there's no beating around the bush on this one. I sprayed while it was 40ish degrees outside and rushed through the process making many more mistakes then I would like to admit at this time . I've got both ends of the spectrum from spraying to thin and spraying to thick along with a solid amount of orange peel. That being said I can say that I'M the idiot who biffed it and have many things to improve on next time.
Which will be pretty soon if tomorrow goes well. I snagged a vented hood from a pick and pull a while back and didn't trust my fiberglass/body work skills to fix the few issue spots and clean it up. But with the practice i got from the bumper I figured it was worth a shot and started cleaning it up. Both corners (by the headlight buckets) had cracks forming so I put down a layer of fiberglass on those guys, the vents had some gaps forming around them so got that cleaned up with a filler (Bondo to the rescue), and filled a few holes/ dents around the edge. As of tonight the fiberglass still has a little curing to do and the rest of the hood is sanded down to 400 grit.
That leaves shaping the fiberglass and a little sanding up in those aforementioned corners before painting. Long term I would like to use my original hood and put in Archies Warber hood scoop as I think they look amazing but this will do for now
------------------ Black 88 GT, a 19 year old here about 20 years to late -LQ1 Swap in progress-
I have found my new bible. I was in an auto shop talking and this guy caught the corner of my eye. Smack dab on front is a LQ1. Talked a little longer and he asked if I had any interest in taking it off his hands and here we are. I was scrolling though and it also has a ton of info on the 88 fieros that I'll probably be using at some point. I found plenty of info on the LQ1 as well including torque specs, bearing clearances, ring gaps, ect.
Now onto the aspect of the actual car, daylight (or the lack there of) is annoying to say the least. I tried to put down a couple coats of a new primer down (some filler rattle can) and it didn't lay to well. It doesn't help that I was rushed for time and laid a super thick coat. So back to sanding, sanding, and more sanding
I hope to have this painted before the weekend as I'm planning on getting the car back together for it's first start over the weekend
------------------ Black 88 GT, a 19 year old here about 20 years to late -LQ1 Swap in progress-
Have you ever met Stephen Snyder? Another 88 with 3.4 DOHC owner,
Sorta! I haven't gotten the chance to meet him in person yet, but he's now on my speed dial when I hit some weird snag or issue . He's definitely helped a ton over the past few months (cooling system, vacuum lines, electrical) in keeping he ball rolling
Sorta! I haven't gotten the chance to meet him in person yet, but he's now on my speed dial when I hit some weird snag or issue . He's definitely helped a ton over the past few months (cooling system, vacuum lines, electrical) in keeping he ball rolling
Good source of information re: 3.4 DOHC as well as tracking your Fiero. Smooth driver too. He drove on our team at race held at Laguna Seca a few years back. I invited him to join us after viewing a video of him driving at Buttonwillow Raceway.
Good source of information re: 3.4 DOHC as well as tracking your Fiero. Smooth driver too
He has definitely been an incredible resource throughout this process, and I hope to see his car and driving in person.
Got some huge news today, The wiring harness is on the way! It should be here Friday meaning it's going to be a busy weekend for sure. So that means I'm hopefully going to have a running and driving car by Sunday night. But I've still got a hood to paint......so I'm going to try and paint that tomorrow and get it ready for the post-swap cleanup. I got the final coat of primer down leaving one final sanding away from being ready to lay down paint. I should be able to squeak that out tomorrow as well.
I also replaced all of the exhaust manifold studs because the old ones were half stripped out, nothing special to note there.
These past few weeks where I've been dipping my toes into body work completely opens my eyes to how truly incredible all of the multi-year full build threads are. I'm ready to take a hammer to the car after only two body panels, one of which still isn't even done yet
I put out a rain check on painting tonight and put extra time towards getting everything perfect for tomorrow. So everything should hopefully go pretty smooth in the painting department, now as for the engine swap....I've got my last trick up my sleeve planned out tomorrow. So while I paint I have a buddy of mine doing a couple of touch-ups on the car.
I'm going to try and hold off on the brunt of the work tomorrow night, as I'm already prone to mistakes when I'm not tired. So Saturday it is
It's been a long past couple of days, BUT IT STARTED!!!!!! I thought I was tracking down an electrical gremlin but it ended up being a poor connection in the C203 that a little cleaning solved. Vid is linked here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5BeydiYUQac
Sorry for the lack of words but this has left me Speechless, goodnight guys!
So I went for the first test drive and immediately realized the brakes were absent. So a little yank of the E-Brake (good thing I decided to hook it up ) and a slow drive back to the house. Found out that I built the calipers wrong (pass side on driver and vise versa) and the bleed port is on the bottom of the caliper so when I bleed it it was just dumping whatever fluid going in strait back out. So there goes a couple more hours tomorrow and it should be completely derivable. I would do it tonight but I've been staying up until 2 for the past few nights trying to get the car all back together and I feel like the living dead :sleep:
Have the wheels off for the brakes and still need to toss on the front bumper and hood but that should all be done by tomorrow night
Got up to the 150 mile mark today, did an oil change at 50 miles and it looked pretty much golden so at this time I don't believe this to be a NOS crate motor. The first vid is of a cold start (it sounds pretty dam similar to a small block ) and the second vid is heading down the hill at 80mph-ish. I think the gauges are a little off as to what the RPMs sound like and what the tac shows don't match up, as well as the temp seems to be reading low (it seems to constantly sit around "160" when warmed up). So I'll toss in another guage cluster and see if it's on that side of things.
All that leaves me with now is resembling the interior and installing the new Dickmen sending unit and upgraded fuel pump. Until then I don't want to really step on it encase it leans out and cooks a piston
------------------ Black 88 GT, a 19 year old here about 20 years to late -LQ1 Swap in progress-
Little bit of a small one, got a 2nd dogbone put into place. Admittedly this guy is almost as much for looks but adding another engine mount can't hurt anything right
Still trying to track down a backfire at idle, very very rough hot/warm starts, and almost dying coming to a stop but I've got a couple of ideas for solutions so I'll be addressing those next week when parts arrive. Cheers!
I've gotten about 250 miles on the car so far, but last night threw me for a loop. I got the new Dickmen sending unit along with the much needed fuel pump in two nights ago, and last night decided to head with some friends. Right when I showed up my buddy in his MR2 had found a massive coolant leak, but one of us breaking down isn't too unusual. Ran to the Home Depot to snag a bolt and some coolant, and along with the help of a few passersby with a floor jack he was in a position to limp the car home.
But when I went to start the car to follow him home, it wouldn't start. Not like it would fire and die, it just wouldn't fire for 10 second periods at a time. And it sounded like only one cylinder would fire before going back to cranking. Got it started and limped it home, going to put up a more in depth help post a little later today to bounce some ideas off the community for some possible solutions
------------------ Black 88 GT, a 19 year old here about 20 years to late - Running(?) LQ1 Swap-
I Know it's been a minute but the work never stops! In the past month or so it's been a constant tinkering to get the car to run WELL as opposed to just running. The biggest piece of that puzzle has been getting a proper exhaust onto the car While I can't TIG i have a good friend who can, so a little design, an order for materials placed, and hours later he came up with this
It's pretty much as simple as it looks, a flange goes into a flex joint, through some pie cuts into a T style Borla, then through two baby resonators then out through the tips. I've also been replacing sensors left and right trying to fix small problems here and there. Crank Position, TPS, Fuel Pressure Regulator, IAC, Ignition Module, Coil Packs, and a new 02 sensor. It seemed that every time I threw a new part at it it fixed one aspect but caused/brought out another. Today I sit and wait for the warranty IAC that should be here around noon as I pulled the last one out in pieces. But the engine bay is pretty much in its final form for now
I'm also pretty happy with how the ECU/Firewall turned out as I wanted it to be a bit of a stand out from stock. I think I showed the ECU holder in a previous post, but I didn't show the firewall connectors and their holding bracket. These guys allow me to pop off all the wires going into the engine bay in about 30 seconds flat and (I think at least ) looks pretty good.
We went overkill with the pinouts for future proofing sake, and plugged up the engine side pinouts (white specks) to avoid contamination. I now have a wideband hooked up as well, although it's a very ghetto job that I'll need to rework later It's nice to see the engine not leaning out in real time. But for now she's doing car things and starting (most the time ) and pulling like a freight train, and most importantly stopping.
Future plans include: Wheels, FieroGuru Lateral Link Relocation Kit, Big Break Kit, Tom's Digital Gauges, Harness Bar/Buckets, switch to a Standalone (got a microsquirt with the parts car), get a set of BraveTech GT LED Tails, try and make ITB's for the car, and last but not least make an oil cooler (got something pretty cool in mind for this guy ). But that all takes time and more importantly money, and I'm yet to win the lottery so it's going to be a long road but I think it's going to be a fun one none the less.
------------------ Black 88 GT, a 19 year old here about 20 years to late - Running(?) LQ1 Swap-
First off, I totally apologize for the pictures today. They were taken from a longer video and I honestly could have taken better pics with a potato. BUT moving on from that, I finally finished up a week or so long project of installing a bar and fin style oil cooler. Now admittedly the location isn't perfect, but I have a slim fan that seems like it will be able to tuck under the cooler and get some real air flow. I really couldn't think of anywhere else to put it without it sticking out like a sore thumb or perpetually getting blasted under the car.
Apart from the mounting location there's nothing too noteworthy, sandwich plate, AN lines, and thermostat
I am happy with how I ended up mounting the cooler itself. I drilled and tapped into the old rivet locations to get some mounting points, had a buddy weld on some tabs, and tossed on some rubber washers for good luck. It actually seems pretty solid, but my biggest concern is the threads in the vent. Whatever aluminum GM went with on this one is not very confidence inspiring, granted it was never supposed to hold any weight but still
One little sidebar that I learned while doing this, is there's an advantage to having a more unique car when it comes to sponsorship. When I reached out to Mishimoto they claimed I was there first Fiero and actually gave me a pretty solid discount as a "partner" (slap a sticker somewhere on the car and give them a shoutout online). Defenetly something to keep in mind for the future...
------------------ Black 88 GT, a 19 year old here about 20 years to late - Running(?) LQ1 Swap-
I have my engine oil cooler/fan in the same location, but I mounted mine to the body of the car via some homemade brackets. Very secure mounting, if you have issues with your current mounting, this may be worth investigating, dont have any pictures available at the moment, will be able to get some in late April if you need them.
------------------ 84SE, aero body, 4 speed and an injected 355 V8
Thanks for the tips! It didn't even cross my mind that the vents could Magnesium lol. Well everything got a trial by fire this weekend, I drove down to LA to meet with Steven Snyder (5.5-6 hours each way) and back this weekend with no issues! I kinda see it as a pretty large milestone that I can now consider the car "Reliable" *Knock on wood*. Got to geek out on fieros for a while, take a spirited run on Angels Crest Hwy, and snagged some parts before heading home
Hoping to get back into consistent-ish updates again as this winter I would like to get the car switched over to a standalone in preparation for a little bit of a project I've been mulling over in the old nuggin. But for the time being I'll spill some big hitting items I've done since my last post. The biggest item on the list is I actually drove the car at Laguna Seca on an open track day and the car KILLED IT!! I did have to watch oil temps near the end of the sessions, but apart from that there was no red flags to speak of. And even better, since then the car is now in daily mode while the truck is being torn down for an engine rebuild/front end overhaul. I've got ~5k miles on the swap and have only one real issue to speak of, and it's hot starts.
Trouble with hot starts and only hot starts are really leading me to believe it's a tuning issue as to HOW it's having trouble with hot starts. It's cranking and firing ok, but the idle drops down to (what the tach claims) ~450-500 rpm then idles very rough and dies. After one or two failed cranks it'll "catch" itself and smooth out and idle up to 1500 then down to 1100ish. One note is cold starts are FLAWLESS. Everytime.
The other reason for standalone? We are goin ITBs baby! Why ITBs? Because having V6 ITB sounds coming from behind your head has been an experience hoarded by the Porsche peeps for far to long. So I will be making a set of ITBs for my V6 out of 2 sets of triumph motorcycle ITBs in due time. Eventually. Hopefully.
If you have any questions about megasquirt, ITBs, TDC stuff feel free to message me and I'll get you my email or phone number. I have had my hands on a TDC micro squirt track fiero(I did the wiring and tuning), lots of gen 3 and gen 4 60v6 megasquirt fieros(start to finish builds NA and turbo), and even an ITB 3900 I built running on micro squirt. Would love to help with the project anyway I can
We have seen just a very few LQ1 swaps over the years so I must congratulate you on completing this project. You've got 215 HP and that is far better than 140 HP. I believe the 3.4TDC engine was only manufactured for 4 years so its quite rare to see one still on the road.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, 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 "
Thanks! Hopefully under my care she'll stay on the road while being LQ1 powered for years to come. As well as getting some new improvements along the way
That high revving 3.4TDC driving experience may be best suited to a stick like the F40. BTW, I would not say that you are 25 years too late. Your engine swap choice may be one seldom used but you did a great job on this swap and on the mods. . This past June there was one 3.4TDC Fiero at Carlisle. The owner said that he was able to locate a brand new crate engine. He liked it. The engine looks like a tight fit and my only concern was that changing spark plugs may be difficult. Anyway keep tuning, enjoy it and many thanks for sharing your build thread,
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, 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 "
Alright Guys in topical project fashion it has tripled in size more than I originally anticipated. So here's the plan.
1. Gotta get the car on the microsquirt standalone. This may unfortunately be the only thing that happens this year and possibly for the next year as well while I'm off living the FULL broke days in college. While it's ambitious, I think having a built harness (that I'll be making a harness board out of) will make this project a little more digestible. So hopefully that will start soon because.....well the fieros down again. Runs great! does not drive straight :/. More to come!
Waiting for parts until next month on the car so once my trucks back to being roadworthy (getting every bit of TLC I neglected while building the car, and its A LOT) then the cars going back under the scalpel.
2. Start Acquiring parts! My current shopping list is just some ideas pinging around in the old noggin but here's what I got so far. -two sets of triumph 1050cc speed triple throttle bodies (06-12 ish) and the mounting boots to go with them. The throttle body size is actually a pretty good for the LQ1 and the are a 3 cylinder motor. Plus their cheap -A solid scan of a 2nd gen lower intake manifold -A better computer to start playing with CAD -A 3D printer - everything to make a working "throttle by wire" system (more later) - and an ASTRONOMICAL amount of knowledge and practice with CAD That's right, I'm skipping strait to the final exam of cad and 3d printing by making and printing custom port matched intake runners to go from head to ITBs and trumpets all out of a carbon something or other filament that is known for being difficult to print! Can't be that hard right? A. I've been dying to get into 3d printing B. I'll be acquiring a better computer for college already C. I will be taking classes relating to CAD while in college D. 3d printers seem to have gotten to a point where I can comfortably get into it for a reasonable cost
So why 3d print the manifolds over literally ANY other form of manufacturing? Because somehow it'll almost be cheaper...Almost. Almost all the other options revolved modding the stock lower plenum to the ITB plenum. And the ports aren't exactly shaped similarly. Forming an aluminum tube to the correct shape would be extremely difficult, I thought of having custom runners CNC'd and welded on but money, trying to backyard cast a new plenum seemed fun but beyond what my skill set may ever be, and making a whole new plenum out of steel also came to the same difficult position of forming the runners properly. So that really only left me a full CNC plenum made or 3d printing, and unfortunately the shiny custom cnc lower plenum would probably cost more than the car.
3. Actually put my money where my mouth is and get a working manifold. Luckily I won't actually have been the first to do something like this, I've seen stories of some factory teams using a 3d printed part with brass inserts anywhere a fastener is involved without to much of an issue (the extent of the abuse i'm unsure of). There are also tidbits of info out there in regards to this process. The two main concerns of mine at the moment is full interacting with the print and the longevity of the part(s). The injector will be basically in the flange to print (leaving fuel delivery stock to the best of my ability, but may need to change fuel rails), so fuel shouldn't be a major concern. But I would still like to find some way to coat the inside of the print to prevent corrosion. As for longevity I may only learn the true limits of these parts as time goes on, especially with what I've got planned out.
4. Getting everything to work around the ITB's. Say I somehow beat the odds and get the ITB's mounted to the engine, I gotta move em. Luckily I thought up the most difficult method to do so. Convert to throttle by wire. I found a product listed here: https://wtmtronics.com/product/dbw2/ that is able to run two throttle by wire motors off of a single pedal input. The dual motor output solves the issue of "splitting" throttle cable or making linkage to join the two banks. The reason this product is so special is it is almost a standalone for the DBW system, with the only thing the system needs is power to operate and only giving out a clean and simple TPS signal that microsquirt can manage. No other control modules of input output from a nicer ECU needed. So hopefully I can gut a couple of electronic TBs and repurpose the motors to work on the triumph ITBs.
5. If by some act of god I can pull off everything listed above and still have any interest in ever picking up a wrench, I gotta get some fresh air to the motor. So the plan would be to build a air box around the open trumpets probably out of plexiglass and have it "mate" to the top of the decklid where a functional decklid scoop will be installed. It's hard to describe but I'll make a box like this (replace the air filter with the ITBs on top of the motor): and use a scoop like this: Along with a piece of very breathable foam somewhere in there to have some filtration. Then when the decklid is popped there are the open trumpets clear as day while also hopefully help dropping the IATs a couple of degrees.
I know this is a MASSIVE endeavour likely riveling the engine swap itself but pulling it off would be phenomenal. At some point in the near future I'll be starting the harness board for the Microsquirt and get the writeup started again. In the meantime if anyone has any feedback on the shotty game plan I have laid out feel free to shoot me a PM or reply here, my reply notifications are on. Oh, and the suspension break was extremely lucky and should be back and beefed up in less than a month. Gn everyone!!
------------------ Black 88 GT, a 19 year old here about 20 years to late - Running(?) LQ1 Swap-
. One of the few quality of life changes I'm doing along with this swap is completely re-doing the wires going through the firewall for convenience at a later date. I have a good buddy of mine who got some decent experience with re-pinning connectors so he is helping me create three twist on connectors right on the fire wall to help with pulling the engine (hopefully no time soon) and testing sensors right at those connectors. Fingers crossed I don't lose the pin-out sheet 
) and a slow drive back to the house. Found out that I built the calipers wrong (pass side on driver and vise versa) and the bleed port is on the bottom of the caliper so when I bleed it it was just dumping whatever fluid going in strait back out. So there goes a couple more hours tomorrow and it should be completely derivable. I would do it tonight but I've been staying up until 2 for the past few nights trying to get the car all back together and I feel like the living dead :sleep:
While I can't TIG i have a good friend who can, so a little design, an order for materials placed, and hours later he came up with this
