Here's another quick-n-dirty video. This one is cold start-up. Getting to the point where I could just turn the key and it goes *vroom* took some effort. But that's one of my pet peeves. I don't like to fiddle with the gas pedal or do any special procedure to start it up.
I think the cold idle needs just a little more tweaking, and then I can check that box.
Sounds pretty good! What RPM does it idle? I don't have an IAC and mine starts cold a about 950RPM and when fully warm at about 1000-1100RPM. Since most of the time it'll be on the track I really don't need a good idle speed.
On cold startup, it sputters a bit then idles around 1100-1200 RPM. After it warms up, the idle is around 900-1000 RPM. Cars typically idle faster when cold, to help the engine warm up. So I tuned the idle to do that.
I'm using the open-loop idle mode, because the closed-loop idle doesn't work very well with the new setup. Whenever I enable closed-loop idle, the engine sputters and dies. That sucks, because the closed-loop idle allows me to tell it what RPM I want, and the ECM makes the necessary adjustments. Open-loop idle can't do that. So the RPM fluctuates a bit. You can hear that in the video.
The car is perfectly driveable. But the fluctuating idle annoys me. I guess you can't have everything, right?
PS -- I performed a compression check the other day, and all cylinders came in between 145-150 PSI. That roughly equates to 10:1 compression ratio, which was my goal for the build. I'm pretty happy with that.
[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 04-28-2018).]
Great! One thing I learned was that idle is very responsive to timing. Look where the engine is at idle and make sure the timing is the same. Different timing equals hunting idle. With that bigger cam and more air volume at lower velocities you need higher timing at low to mid. At high rpm retard some and you'll have the best results.
The engine developed a slight miss recently. I noticed one of the coil packs had a crack in the housing. Plus the other two were pretty old. So I replaced all 3 with Delphi units. The two old ones can be used as spares.
Also, the big brown Fiero parts truck stopped by today:
Finally, the Freak is getting a proper racing harness. Yeah, I know... took long enough.
The lap belt uses the stock mounting points. The bolt for the floor belt goes through the driver side frame rail. And the shoulder belts attach to the firewall, with load spreading plates. The shoulder belts can also be wrapped around a roll bar, if I install one in the future.
I took the photo below, just for kicks. But you can see that I lined up the mounting points with the holes in the seat.
There's nothing exciting to report right now. I've been driving it around a bit, letting the autotune do its thing. Some of the results are surprising. For example, the VE table is in the triple-digits between 2000 and 5000 RPM (at WOT). I thought naturally aspirated engines didn't go above 100% VE? I should probably take a log of the injector duty cycle at WOT, to see if they're being overworked.
Anyway, I also had to renew the tags on my cars. The Fiero was eligible for an antique tag. So I got one.
Mine is in the triple digits from 2600 to 7300rpm. You'll have to fine tune it at a dyno to get the most out of it. The dyno must simulates road loads like a Mustang dyno.
This thread hasn't been updated for awhile, because I lost interest in the project. As a matter of fact, I'll be parting out the Freak very soon. Keep an eye on the Mall section for some deals on Fiero parts.
This thread is now going to switch from building to dismantling. If that bothers you, I suggest using the Back button on your browser. Also, sending its parts to good homes is a much better outcome than leaving it to rot in a salvage yard.
Some prominent members of the Fiero community have expressed interest in parts of this car. So the Freak will live on, in other people's projects. For example, the Hella headlights went to Fieroguru. Some of the bodywork and suspension are going to La Fiera. And a racing team has expressed interest in parts of the car. It'll be interesting to see what these guys do with those parts.
I'm already looking forward to the next project car, which is also going to be pretty cool, and a little crazy.
[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 05-05-2019).]
As mentioned above, Fieroguru bought the Hella headlights.
Also, La Fiera bought the Koni dampers, and coilover hardware.
The 7730 ECM and tuning hardware are sold. The shifter and cables went to a good home.
I also removed some things, to keep for the next project car. I'll be keeping the racing seats and harnesses, the MegaSquirt computer, and the Odyssey battery. I also put the tires on my daily driver. That was a nice upgrade!
There are still lots of good parts on this car, and I don't want to see anything go to waste. I should be posting some more stuff in The Mall soon.
I haven't been here for quite a while, seeing as how I also parted out my Fiero, but I did want to drop by and say "HI" to you Blacktree. Are you giving up on Fieros, or just culling the herd?? You've been a valuable member for many years, and I appreciate your input here. I recently got back into Fieros when I was hired to do a custom '88 GT engine build with the Camaro PR 3.4 V6, turbo, and Holley Super Sniper on an Edelbrock intake. WOW! I never knew it could be so good with that top end! Any way, just wondering if you'll still be around since there aren't many build threads on here any more. It's quite shocking really. I come from 23 years of ownership, and it's like the zeal for Fiero is fading away. Kind of depressing in a way. Hope all is going well with you. Best, Dave
Originally posted by DaveC: and it's like the zeal for Fiero is fading away. Kind of depressing in a way.
Maybe you got depressed and need some medicine. But for a lot of real Fiero enthusiasts including me, this is real. Fiero for ever!! Knowing Mike, he'll be back regardless of what project he has now. Middle age crisis thing! Lol!
Hey everybody, I just wanted to provide some closure to this thread. First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who followed this build and supported me along the way. You guys rock!
Also, I plan to remain a member of PFF. I see no reason to leave. There are a lot of really cool people here.
And last but not least, I have another project car. Ironically, it's following in the footsteps of the Fiero. When I bought the Fiero (which later became the Silver Freak), it had front end crash damage, and was bound for the salvage yard. I snagged it for a very reasonable price, and the rest is history. With the BMW, it's a similar story. It also has front end crash damage. And the previous owner just wanted to be rid of it. So I snagged it for cheap. I plan to turn it into a street legal race car, just like I did with the Fiero.
The new project car is a BMW 3-series. Specifically, it's a 2001 330i. It's a sedan, built on the E46 chassis. These cars have a lot of potential. So this should be fun.
sorry to be late to this thread...the title didn't give away the engine build so I never followed it...
Did you ever get this thing on the dyno?
Unfortunately, I never got it on a dyno with the racing intake and stuff. But it ran like a scalded dog! Because of how the engine was configured, it didn't "wake up" until around 3000 RPM. Then it pulled like a freight train, up to the rev limiter. I had it set to 6500 RPM, just to be safe.
That said, if I could do it all over again, I'd get rid of the fins in the intake ports. The fins are designed to increase efficiency at low RPM. But this is not a low RPM engine. Also, I think I would have tried to make the ITBs work. The dual throttle bodies were a work-around, but caused as many problems as they solved.
[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 09-18-2020).]
