The lsf pan is smooth on the bottom and holds an extra quart of oil. I had to notch the frame a little to allow room for the engine to wiggle a bit with out fear of rubbing a hole in the cover.
I really want to get it done and on the road before summer, if I can justclone myself now.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
Let me tell ya that first drive is amazing . I had compliments saying mine sounded like a tamed verison of a porsche carrera, now thats the sound I want and i think your already alot closer than me lol.
No man. it's cold as crap today, it's only supposed to get up to 62 F. It nearly FROSTED last night. I mowed my lawn on Sunday, it was in the low 80's though.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
No man. it's cold as crap today, it's only supposed to get up to 62 F. It nearly FROSTED last night. I mowed my lawn on Sunday, it was in the low 80's though.
Jeez, quite complaining, I wish it was 62, i could actually DO work. We still got like 2+ feet of snow, and the temp drops below zero at nights. I don't even remeber my lawn.
That's one of my problems, I'm working on the notchie outside in the driveway and the short days make it even tougher to get things done and I hate to work on cars in the rain.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
Took the day off and spent some time with my honey in the driveway.
I scraped out like 3 lbs. of sealer from the two wheel well seams. It was an inch thick in some places.
I made a X-brace from 3/4" sqr. tubing .06 wall. Pretty light wieght stuff for the thirty something pounds for just the vertical trunk wall. There will be two braces, one vertcal to replace the trunk wall, and one horizontal tower brace to be made next.
The X-brace will be bolted in top & bottom. I still have to weld in the bracket ears on the horizontal tube on the subframe and gussets around the X. This will allow me to still drop the subframe and have the most direct transfer of forces to the key suspension points.
For the top I'll use the angle bracket to a mount the tube to this vertical wall on the back of the strut tower. I was going to weld it in place but got to thinking how nice it was to have all that clear access to the motor & transmission I decided to do a bolt thru with 6, 1/4-20 bolts .
Hopefully I can get some more time with her tomorrow and post some more.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
I got another free pass and got to work a little more on the old girl and made a strut bar.
I started off with some 1/4 plate from an old coilover kit I found in a bone yard. I plasma cut the center out and removed the welded in bolts and ground smooth.
I used some more of the scrap 3/4" sq. tubing and baloney cut the ends to match the slope of the strut towers. The 2x4 made a perfect spacer to keep the bars square while I tack them in place.
You can see the angle here a bit.
I still need the put some stiffeners in the middle but you can see how it's coming along. I'll need to put longer bolts to clear the thickness of the rings. Also to be added are the tabs for the grill thumb screws.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
Sorry I have not posted in a while, work has been more then expected in the last few months. Things have moved along a little bit. It's a wide body now. I will post a differant thread on that when I get the images orginized and edited.
BTW there is a LSJ with 5 speed on Ebay now for $1250.
Thanks
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
It's been a while, work has been brutal for the last few months and I have not been able to play in the drive way much. Mechanically I have have not progessed at all but I have bought some parts cars to get some IMSA panels. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/093715.html
The track car is now calico.
The next task is to fix the rear clip and re-do the exhaust.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
I have spent the last handful of weekends putting the parts cars back together enough to sell them. The new owner is picking up the last one today. It's was the 86 GT auto, now with an 88 yellow GT body panels. My wife is very pleased.
My 88 GT now is a IMSA wide body. It's an interesting body kit. The rear clip is one piece and so are the door panels. I have no idea who made it or when.
The 88 Notchie will be getting a special Norm's front clip in a couple of months and I will be getting the rear IMSA clip in shape to match.
There is a little more fab work on the rear and then I'll switch to the front.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
[This message has been edited by ccfiero350 (edited 10-09-2008).]
I ordered them from Racer's Edge. If I had to do it again I would order them about 1 1/2" shorter then the factory 88 strut length. The car is lowered about two inches and the 2.5" x 12 (300 lbs) springs that I ordered with it would be better if they were 10" long. http://www.racersedge-inc.c...004DD0CB?open&id=5.3
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
That's a loaded question is it not? It depends on your skill sets. Replacing the oem motor with a rebuild is simple r&r (remove & replace). It is fun and satisfying to get it all back together and run better then when you started.
It's a real kick in the pants to make something new and push your comfort zone out a little.
The swap is not that hard and using the SS axles as they are simplify things a bunch. If you have access to a welder and can cut your own parts, it's not much harder then doing an Archie kit. (I have one too).
If you have gone through this thread and looked at all the images as it has progressed and thought to yourself "That looks easy enough, I can do that" then you got what it takes to do the job.
this setup is going to be rewarding in the long run and will definitely be an interesting thing to talk about when its done man i wish i had this much money to get a motor like that
The exhaust system pretty much determines how much you have left of your trunk. I started out with the cast iron manifold that came with the motor and had to remove the bottom. I Then got a had a set of those tsudo headers but they touched the vertical wall of the trunk and about that time I made the decision to make a track car out of this one, so out came the sawsall. Roger Thelin makes a header that leaves the trunk alone and uses the factory muffler. So you do have all the options.
These LSJ motors are now more common and about half to one third the price I paid for this one. The new kid on the block will be the turbo direct injection version in the 2009 cobolt ss and HHR. Same block, different head, 260 hp stock. I've already seen one on Ebay from a soltice GXP, went for around $2300.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
mine was a NA motor srry but when i say i dont have a plasma cutter i do have a oxy acettline and the ablity to use one i dont have a tig but i am a pretty good mig welder
It's been a while but I had to make some room in the drive way. I spent some time putting back together the yellow parts car and sold it.
I had a little time today to start on the front end.
I'm setting it up with a ZR1 corvette rack with Rickady88GT kit. I'm looking forward to the 2.0 turns lock to lock on the autocross course. The bad part is that the rack I got from the rebuilders is not the 2.0 turn unit, it's the regular so I'll be looking for another rack before it all goes back under the car.
Also in view is HHP splined adjustable sway bar. More on that when I get the a-arms on.
Not much else today other then getting the inner tie rods off the vette rack and mocking it up.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
WOW what a difficult swap. Any updates? I must say after reading this post, now that's fabricating!! The PCM control aspect is bound to prove interesting.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, 3.4" Pulley, N* TB, LS1 MAF, Flotech Exhaust Autolite 104's Custom CAI 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. 87GT - 3.4L Turbocharged engine, modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
My regular year end work blitz is over and currently under-employed, I now have some good garage time coming up. I just yesterday welded the steering rack bracket to the front frame after sitting for a couple of months.
I'm going to focus on the front end some more once I get some more parts in to fab adjustable upper A-rms.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
I want the rack to be mounted as rigid as possible so I replaced the rubber bushing with a poly.
The rubber bushing core is on the right. It's mostly aluminum on the inside. It's a toss as which one is more compliant in my book, the rubber is about an 1/8" thick.
All clean with a divit ground out for clearance.
Tacked in place. Looking in the cavity you can see how water would find it's way down in there and collect in the bottom. I welded up the gap and drilled two 1/4" holes in the corner at the front of the cross member edge to allow drainage.
Welded up and ready to paint.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
After welding up the rack mount I went back to finishing up the strut tower brace. I wanted something light and stiff so I got some flanging dies.
They come in male and female dies. The bigger male die is on the stack of plates.
The 2" holes were cut with a hole saw and is slipped over the male die. The sheet metal is 22 g steel. The dies can do to about 1/8" thick.
Sandwich the sheetmetal and make sure it's level on the male die. It can get cocked and you get a slighly oblong flange.
Give it a good squeeze. This is a 10 ton bench press. Also be sure the dies are clean and oiled and the sheetmetal is clean. I got a few slivers of filings in one and it embossed the flange with the trash.
Nice flange!
Finished 1/2 panel
The 1/2 panels were welded together at the flanges, then where tacked to the brace and then fully welded in. This made it very stiff
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
Lots of fine work here. While you apparently have the Ecotec braced and mounted well; I believe that its possible to get this engine installed without losing the trunk. Roger Thalin of Gainesville Fl did one of the first Ecotec swaps and I believe his trunk is intact. IMO the Ecotec is a great swap choice. Its modern, lightweight, and has tons of upgrade potential. Don Nase Jr. of NJ built an Ecotec engine that powers his pro extreme dragster to consistent mid 6 second 1/4 mile times at 215 MPH.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, 3.4" Pulley, N* TB, LS1 MAF, Flotech Exhaust Autolite 104's Custom CAI 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. 87GT - 3.4L Turbocharged engine, modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
[This message has been edited by Dennis LaGrua (edited 01-18-2009).]
The trunk issue comes down to what exhaust you use. The OEM cast iron for the cobalt aimed right at the bottom of the trunk. Those tsudo headers actually touched the upper trunk wall at the brace. Roger Thelin did it the best way and made a header to clear everything and tied back in to the original muffler system. I have wondered if the stock solstice exhuast manifold would work with out cutting the bottom of the trunk off.
I do like the ecotec, It will be around for a long time and it's the base engine in a lot of cars.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
i ran with the stock solstice manifold and you could probably save the trunk with it .but it needs a tight bend to clear the axle .the problem with all rear facing manifolds is where to put the cat if you want to keep the trunk .i used the stock cavalier manifold when i first ran the car and put the cat where the stock muffler was and put the muffler where the cat was and ran a simple side outlet in front of the rear drivers side tire . this worked well but did not look like much .much easier to lose the bottom of the trunk . this is my latest setup using a turbo bolted to the stock cavalier manifold and solstice cat with a camaro style muffler and dual exhaust .love this build thread .i think this cars performance is going to amaze more than a few people .
Could I get the turbo LNF engine and save the trunk? Either from the Solstice/Sky, or from the Cobalt SS/ HHR SS? I guess Thelin's kit wouldn't work with a turbo engine, since the exhaust bolts to the turbo, but would the rest fit?
I'm not sure of the fit with the turbo. I have one here from a GXP, I would have to measure and see. But I know it hangs out there a good bit. The big differance between the 2.0 L motors and the rest is the oil pan. Thelin uses the two bolts on the bottom of the pan of the normally asperated versions. The 2.0L supercharged version have a smooth bottom pan that holds an extra quart of oil, and does not have any bolts coming out of the bottom. So they mount differantly on the belt side of the motor. Also the transmissions are way differant so none of those brackets fit either.
It may be easer and cheaper to get the engine/tranny combo that works with Thelins kit and go with one of the numerous turbo kits for that engine. I know they run about 1/2 to 1/3 of what the LSJ combos go for.
------------------ yellow 88 GT, not stock white 88 notchie, 4 banger
you (austrian import ) posted some pictures of the turbo motors in another thread and these show that the solstice / sky turbos should be avoided unless picked up cheap .the power steering pump is in the way of the axles and so is the stock downpipe and cat .most people wont need the pump but if you could use the stock downpipe and cat it would save some coin .there was not a picture of the turbo side of the cobalt / HHR motor so i dont know if you could save the trunk or not with that setup .but with all the room in the engine bay it wouldnt be that hard to save the trunk .there are lots of ways to run the exhaust , i have allready done it 3 different ways myself .
It may be easer and cheaper to get the engine/tranny combo that works with Thelins kit and go with one of the numerous turbo kits for that engine. I know they run about 1/2 to 1/3 of what the LSJ combos go for.
Any chance Thelin would offer these mounts for the 2.0l in the future?
I wish I could do that, but I live in Cali and Smog laws don't allow us to modify the engine in any way. Especially aftermarket turbo/superchargers. Heck, we can't even put an intake on if it's not C.A.R.B. approved. (and even if it is, it's probably not approved for engine swaps - bureaucracy. )
quote
Originally posted by wftb:
you (austrian import ) posted some pictures of the turbo motors in another thread and these show that the solstice / sky turbos should be avoided unless picked up cheap .the power steering pump is in the way of the axles and so is the stock downpipe and cat .most people wont need the pump but if you could use the stock downpipe and cat it would save some coin .there was not a picture of the turbo side of the cobalt / HHR motor so i dont know if you could save the trunk or not with that setup .but with all the room in the engine bay it wouldnt be that hard to save the trunk .there are lots of ways to run the exhaust , i have allready done it 3 different ways myself .
Yea, I couldn't find any pictures of the other side of the engine. I much rather use a Cobalt / HHR motor, but if they're harder to find I was hoping I could just use a Solstice / Sky motor and modify it to look like a Cobalt / HHR motor. I understand the motors are identical. (unless the devil lives in the details, that I can't see in pictures) I would just remove the PS pump and use the pulley system from the Cobalt / HHR. (no clue if I could get away with that at C.A.R.B. - I'm guessing yes, because a lot of power steering delete's get approved.)
These engines are getting much cheaper on eBay now, they're slowly getting into the territory of being an affordable (for me) swap. (I'm sure in a few more years I could find a rollover / rear ended car that I could just take everything headlight harness to taillight harness off and have most of the parts for the swap)
my plan for my next ecotec swap is to buy a used 2005 cavalier that has the works on it .these cars were available with ABS , traction cotrol and lots of other goodies that would be great in a fiero .right now i can buy one for about 8000 up here but prices are dropping fast .i will stick with the 2.2 and turbo it like my present setup .i know the 2.2's are HP limited but i dont know what i would do with another 60 HP anyway .i can shred the tires anytime i want to now with the setup i have .
. I had compliments saying mine sounded like a tamed verison of a porsche carrera, now thats the sound I want and i think your already alot closer than me lol. 
)
