You WILL have to use a neutrally balanced flexplate for a 2.8L-3.1L, only the 88 fiero v6 had this as far as fiero's go, you cant use a 4cyl flexplate on a v6 either.
you CAN use the 1988 and up cavalier, beretta, corsica, and any other 3.1L v6 flexplate, should be dirt cheap really, its a common part.
You WILL have to use a neutrally balanced flexplate for a 2.8L-3.1L, only the 88 fiero v6 had this as far as fiero's go, you cant use a 4cyl flexplate on a v6 either.
you CAN use the 1988 and up cavalier, beretta, corsica, and any other 3.1L v6 flexplate, should be dirt cheap really, its a common part.
matthew
nah not that common over here i guess i need to order a new plate
ok , yesterdays work :
felt the urgent need to polish something ( i think you know what i mean )
ok checked my "Valve Test " some Minutes ago and after 1 and a half day little amount of oil reached the intake and exhaustchannels but didnt ran out of the head.( intake was better than exhaust )
so i will give both valves some more round with the finishing creme then ill retest the Valves . If they hold the complete amount of Oil / or Petroleum i know how to treat the other Valves , i mean ill get to know what "Valve-face" is needed
Great thread. I have read this entire thread 3 times since it was started. I really admire your "old school" approach to your rebuild. Years ago (like 30 plus) I needed to rebuild a straight six in an old Chevy truck. My Grandfather owned a service station for years but was retired at the time I started the rebuild. Being a teenager, I did not have the money to just pull the motor and drop it off at the machine shop. He and my Dad and I did it the "old school" way. Honed and then ball honed the cylinders, hand lapped the valves, hand polished the Rod journals with emory cloth, etc. Did all the work with the block still bolted to the trans. Installed new rod bearings, valve seals, piston rings, oil pump and seals. I drove that truck for 5 years and never had one problem with the motor - never used a drop of oil. Keep up the great work.....
I love this thread, it shows the youngins' how we used to do an engine rebuild with little to no money. I remember doing my first engine rebuild in my dad's shed to a VW pancake 4 cyl.
Now I did not read the whole thing so this may be moot: I hope you tanked that block and those heads and also pulled your freez-out plugs and oil passage allens out and cleaned the oil bores. The yuk on the outside is not as big a problem as the crud build up in your water jackets/passages and oil passages etc. Replay that water pump and oil pump too while your at it, cheep and easy to do now.
Now I did not read the whole thing so this may be moot: I hope you tanked that block and those heads and also pulled your freez-out plugs and oil passage allens out and cleaned the oil bores. The yuk on the outside is not as big a problem as the crud build up in your water jackets/passages and oil passages etc. Replay that water pump and oil pump too while your at it, cheep and easy to do now.
the machineshop that bored my block had it around 10 times in a special bath to get the old oil and other stuff out. oilpump is already overhauled , waterpump will be a new one or maybe refreshed. The shop also installed new cam bearings and they alligned my new cam and polished it.
When I did my rebuild, I got a lil paraniod with my oil pump -new high vol- pickup tube and welded a small bracket to fit under one of the mounting bolts for the pump just to be sure it never works it's way out. Probably never happens, but I'm just not comfy with a force-fit for something so important.
Die richtige Wort ist BLING, nicht blink. Gerne helfen, wenn ich kann. Cover der Aluminum mit Glanz transparente Farbe. Später wird es schlecht aussehen, wenn Sie nicht
Wärme-und Sauerstoff wird der Angriff nackt Aluminum so muss sie mit klaren Farben
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 11-30-2008).]
I always weld the pickup tube to the oil pump. that way it can never come off. Lots of hootrodders and racers do that as well. just a couple of seconds with the tig or small mig and it's done.
What brand of paint did you use on the covers? Is it high temp? Every time I see polished aluminum painted in clear, it really dulls the look and yours did not.
[This message has been edited by timgray (edited 12-01-2008).]
I always weld the pickup tube to the oil pump. that way it can never come off. Lots of hootrodders and racers do that as well. just a couple of seconds with the tig or small mig and it's done.
What brand of paint did you use on the covers? Is it high temp? Every time I see polished aluminum painted in clear, it really dulls the look and yours did not.
i do the same, after you've had one fall off on a 2.8L you never leave them alone again.
with the tube off, when you make hard turns, it will NOT suck oil up and oil pressure will drop scarry when your oil pressure gauge bottoms out in turns but works fine in normal driving.
I always weld the pickup tube to the oil pump. that way it can never come off. Lots of hootrodders and racers do that as well. just a couple of seconds with the tig or small mig and it's done.
What brand of paint did you use on the covers? Is it high temp? Every time I see polished aluminum painted in clear, it really dulls the look and yours did not.
these rims are done with same clearcoat 350° Temperature and ultra scratchresistant
did also engineroom things( dogbone and others ) with it and brake calipers . The rims and the other Things still look good brand is from A.T.U but iam afraid you wont get it over there .
I've done the 3.1 conversion, and hopefully can give you some insight on the rebuild. Interstingly enough, I performed most of these upgrades and changes in phases, so I can tell you what works and what doesn't. On the port-matching, I did the 1.52:1 Crane Roller Rockers, and the port-matching of all the intake pieces all at the same time, it made a huge difference... huge as in, it was clearly noticeable on the V6 engine (it was still a 2.8 at the time). I do not have dynoed results, but the performance difference was like that of going to a set of headers on an ecotec motor.
Honestly, when you look at the way the intakes are matched up, there is at LEAST a 1/8th restriction on one side of each intake. When you add the total blockage (if you will) in the intakes, you've got as much as 2 to 3/8ths of an inch of restriction in some of the intake ports between the intake manifold and the runners (the middle section). I honestly believe that ANYONE that has a V6 Fiero, this should be their first improvement.
I don't know if you're planning on going with headers or performance manifolds, but going with hogged out stock exhaust manifolds will also greatly improve the performance.
As far as cam selections, the ARI Racing Phase-2 cam was pretty decent, that's what I went with. Directly from off-idle, it would smoke the rear tires at least 20 feet with my Th-125 and 235/60/15 Firestone Firehawk tires (that's what I have in the rear). It's strange that I could get so much wheel spin from a chinsy 3.1? I wasn't that happy with the Phase-2 cam though because all the power was focused in the lower RPM range. The engine would basically die after 4,000 rpms. Even with the restrictive intake neck, the Fiero's engine should still perform well at least to 5,000 rpms. My advice is to go with either the 2030 Crane Cam, or the H272 Cam. I chose the H272 personally along with the 1.52:1 Crane Rollers that I already had.
I went with .040 overbore Hyperutectic pistons for a total compression of 9.1:1 (also from ARI Racing).
Although somewhat unnecessary, I figure if you're going to do it, you might as well make it as reliable as you can and build it as best as you can. Ask the machine shop to knife-edge the counterweights on your new 3.1 crank, and balance the rotating assembly (crank, rods, pistons, rings, etc). It's been proven to GREATLY improve the overall reliability, fuel economy, and efficiency of an engine when the entire rotating assembly has been professionally balanced.
Also make sure you have your spring thickness and height properly adjusted for the cam you select.
You'll also want to go with 17lb injectors. You'll want to keep the "pintle" style injectors (like what's factory). Accel sells a set of nearly identical injectors that are 17 pounds. They sell them in sets of 4, 6 or 8 from Summit Racing.
As you may have realized already, going with the 3.1 crank will make your car neutrally balanced, so you'll want to make sure you get the 88 flywheel.
Also, are you keeping the Th-125 or switching to a 4-Speed automatic? Either way, you'll want to get a torque converter that's got a slightly higher stall speed. I ended up going with an FZ (I believe?) torque converter from an 87 4-Cyl Th-125 which apparently has a 150 higher stall speed (as recommended by Ed Parks). It definitely made the car feel more snappy. The old torque converter was such a slug.
Also, make sure that your temperature sensors, intake air temperature, etc... are new when you put it all back together.
Also, Rodney Dickman sells an air intake kit which allows you to keep the stock canister, but gives you a much improved passage through the water seperator area. Basically connecting directly from the scoop to the air filter canister without any sharp bends. I think it was like $21 bucks or something.
Good luck, FEEL FREE to e-mail me if you have any questions about my setup:
I've done the 3.1 conversion, and hopefully can give you some insight on the rebuild. Interstingly enough, I performed most of these upgrades and changes in phases, so I can tell you what works and what doesn't. On the port-matching, I did the 1.52:1 Crane Roller Rockers, and the port-matching of all the intake pieces all at the same time, it made a huge difference... huge as in, it was clearly noticeable on the V6 engine (it was still a 2.8 at the time). I do not have dynoed results, but the performance difference was like that of going to a set of headers on an ecotec motor.
Honestly, when you look at the way the intakes are matched up, there is at LEAST a 1/8th restriction on one side of each intake. When you add the total blockage (if you will) in the intakes, you've got as much as 2 to 3/8ths of an inch of restriction in some of the intake ports between the intake manifold and the runners (the middle section). I honestly believe that ANYONE that has a V6 Fiero, this should be their first improvement.
I don't know if you're planning on going with headers or performance manifolds, but going with hogged out stock exhaust manifolds will also greatly improve the performance.
As far as cam selections, the ARI Racing Phase-2 cam was pretty decent, that's what I went with. Directly from off-idle, it would smoke the rear tires at least 20 feet with my Th-125 and 235/60/15 Firestone Firehawk tires (that's what I have in the rear). It's strange that I could get so much wheel spin from a chinsy 3.1? I wasn't that happy with the Phase-2 cam though because all the power was focused in the lower RPM range. The engine would basically die after 4,000 rpms. Even with the restrictive intake neck, the Fiero's engine should still perform well at least to 5,000 rpms. My advice is to go with either the 2030 Crane Cam, or the H272 Cam. I chose the H272 personally along with the 1.52:1 Crane Rollers that I already had.
I went with .040 overbore Hyperutectic pistons for a total compression of 9.1:1 (also from ARI Racing).
Although somewhat unnecessary, I figure if you're going to do it, you might as well make it as reliable as you can and build it as best as you can. Ask the machine shop to knife-edge the counterweights on your new 3.1 crank, and balance the rotating assembly (crank, rods, pistons, rings, etc). It's been proven to GREATLY improve the overall reliability, fuel economy, and efficiency of an engine when the entire rotating assembly has been professionally balanced.
Also make sure you have your spring thickness and height properly adjusted for the cam you select.
You'll also want to go with 17lb injectors. You'll want to keep the "pintle" style injectors (like what's factory). Accel sells a set of nearly identical injectors that are 17 pounds. They sell them in sets of 4, 6 or 8 from Summit Racing.
As you may have realized already, going with the 3.1 crank will make your car neutrally balanced, so you'll want to make sure you get the 88 flywheel.
Also, are you keeping the Th-125 or switching to a 4-Speed automatic? Either way, you'll want to get a torque converter that's got a slightly higher stall speed. I ended up going with an FZ (I believe?) torque converter from an 87 4-Cyl Th-125 which apparently has a 150 higher stall speed (as recommended by Ed Parks). It definitely made the car feel more snappy. The old torque converter was such a slug.
Also, make sure that your temperature sensors, intake air temperature, etc... are new when you put it all back together.
Also, Rodney Dickman sells an air intake kit which allows you to keep the stock canister, but gives you a much improved passage through the water seperator area. Basically connecting directly from the scoop to the air filter canister without any sharp bends. I think it was like $21 bucks or something.
Good luck, FEEL FREE to e-mail me if you have any questions about my setup:
jasperst@dolphins.nfl.com
EDIT: There is a much newer (and better) distributor that is an OEM replacement for the one that came with our cars originally. It's identical in every way but has a more advanced "rotator"??? assembly. Fewer chances for a misfire, etc. I would look into getting that instead.
Hi, - i would have ordered at ARI but they dont answer Mails !! i simply asked if they ship to germany but nothing ( some other people tried too ) - i start with ported stock exhaust system but ill build me an own true 2 tube system - camshaft is crane 2030 - rockers will be 1:1.52
- i dont need other fuelinjectors than the stock V6 because the car will run on propane/buthane and this system has its own injectors - have already an cold air intake fitted - have performance valve springs and iam waiting for the Fierostore Stainless Valve set - i like to stay with the TH125 because its a 87 duke TH125 with the longest final drive of all th125 ( 1:2.81 )
i guess i need to order a new plate 
)
