Rickady, I've followed a lot of your builds/mods/conversions/everything else you've done to the best of my ability, and I finally have to announce that I have LS envy. Those brute V8s in the back of these little Pontiacs are an all-too perfect match, and you capture it flawlessly. I wish I had the skills and experience you have, as I'd be more than happy with an LS1 or LS2 rocketing me - well, not compared to your LS4 - away from the stoplight. On top of your brilliant motor swaps, inhuman attention to detail and curiously awesome styling, your power steering conversion (seems like you're real popular for this one, alone) is something I am -definitely- giving a shot, sometime next year or over this winter and early spring, whenever the L67 swap (or attempted swap...) is done. I know there's a difference in the '88 above all others, but I'll be using your work as a template, nonetheless.
Your Malibu dash, by the way, is beyond brilliant. Thanks for all the Fiero inspiration, and best wishes on your future projects !
Rickady, I've followed a lot of your builds/mods/conversions/everything else you've done to the best of my ability, and I finally have to announce that I have LS envy. Those brute V8s in the back of these little Pontiacs are an all-too perfect match, and you capture it flawlessly. I wish I had the skills and experience you have, as I'd be more than happy with an LS1 or LS2 rocketing me - well, not compared to your LS4 - away from the stoplight. On top of your brilliant motor swaps, inhuman attention to detail and curiously awesome styling, your power steering conversion (seems like you're real popular for this one, alone) is something I am -definitely- giving a shot, sometime next year or over this winter and early spring, whenever the L67 swap (or attempted swap...) is done. I know there's a difference in the '88 above all others, but I'll be using your work as a template, nonetheless.
Your Malibu dash, by the way, is beyond brilliant. Thanks for all the Fiero inspiration, and best wishes on your future projects !
Wow thanks. I appreciate all the comments, they help make this all worth doing. But I am also open to the constructive criticism because I have done MANY mods twice and some of the constructive criticism would of saved me some time in the past if I had listened
Sorry for the lack of progress, I have some other things going on at the same time. I have made all the custom AC lines and put a vacuum on it for about an hour at around 30in vac. It held with no measurable drop in vac. I used two cans of Freeze 12 and need to get more. I only have about 30psi so I guess I wont have AC for a few more days.
A/C line question. You said you had made custom hoses, but I didn't see in the thread (skimming through) on how you did it. My hoses in the engine compartment are a bit short, requiring alot of muscling to hook them up to the bracket that runs to the front of the car.
I'd love to get something a bit longer in there to release that tension when I swap out the A/C compressor, any info (at your leisure) would be greatly appreciated!!
A/C line question. You said you had made custom hoses, but I didn't see in the thread (skimming through) on how you did it. My hoses in the engine compartment are a bit short, requiring alot of muscling to hook them up to the bracket that runs to the front of the car.
I'd love to get something a bit longer in there to release that tension when I swap out the A/C compressor, any info (at your leisure) would be greatly appreciated!!
You could just add a spacer between the AC line bracket and frame rail, if you have the room. This could give you up to three inches of "extra" AC hose. On one car I did , I made a new mount and bolted this bracket to the rear bulkhead and not the side frame rail. That gave me all the hose I needed. But keep in mind that you will need to bend the aluminum AC lines that run under the car to accommodate the new location. They bend easily without kinks because they wont need that much "modification".
What I did to the stock Monte AC hoses was cut off the Monte Carlo ends that connect to the chassis (I kept the Monte rubber hose) and welded on the Fiero aluminum hose ends that bolted to the chassis. This gave me Monte Carlo hoses that bolt directly to the Fiero chassis. I had to weld the AC Pressure/temp sensor between the aluminum Fiero and Monte ends. That was the "easy" set of lines. The front was much more extensive. I will try to get some pics up some time soon, but the gist of this custom AC hoses was a mix match of Fiero and Monte aluminum lies that fit in the customized front trunk and connected the Fiero dryer to the Monte AC unit. Sounds easy, but was not.
I had to remove the AC compressor fuse to prevent the compressor from turning because the remote start function automatically turns on the climate control to heat or cool the car before I even get in. This was not good because the AC system is not ready yet.
I think I see what you're saying. I'll have to peek under my decklid/under the car to make sure before I comment/ask more questions- I don't want to open my mouth and insert foot just yet!
Well I took the car to a smog ref a week ago. He drove the car into his shop were I was not allowed to go and I heard the engine shut down, about 30-40 min later the car started up and he drove it out of his shop and told me he ran out of time and needs to do more research before he could continue? I was at a lose of words and angry that the person that the people of the State relies on to certify swaps and "troubled" cars, was befuddled by my swap. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut and be courteous to him for wasting my time. Not only that time but now I need to wait for him to make a new appointment with him for him to do a "more extensive examination" of the car. He asked for records notes and pictures of the swap in progress.
I NEVER thought that California cared about cleaning the air. I ALWAYS said they just want us to scrap our "crap" and buy new cars to stimulate the economy and "create" jobs. This only proves my theory. IF the State did care about the air, they would encourage us to do "clean swaps" and NOT give us a hard time and the runaround. I get better gas mileage with this V8 than the V6 ever got. And no doubt that it is a cleaner running engine than the V6.
I went out of my way to do EVERYTHING I could to retain the Monte smog equipment just for this certification and the guy did not even have the time to look at it? I would have posted about this sooner but I may have used words that PFF would not allow.
You're not alone, and it's not just with s/crap cars. A person I know from a Thunderbird forum had this same issue about a decade ago. He spent TONS of money and work on his late 90's bird, everything that went into the car was a Ford MoCo part, just not a T-Bird part. DOHC engine from a Mark VIII, modified-to-fit exhaust from a Cobra, etc. It had all the emissions control equipment that the Tbird came with, and it's emissions output was far-below the fail limits.
However they still failed him, repeatedly, for having unauthorized aftermarket parts (I don't remember the phrase he said they used, but that was close). After nearly a year of writing letters, making phone calls, and showing up with paperwork and photos... he finally just packed up and moved to Florida.
That's why I have my Fiero, my sisters ex-husband would have never been able to get it to pass there, so he sold it to me.
That really blows... I know how obnoxious the smog patrol can be... been there with the stock 85 and the GT.... I SWEATED my last (yes last..ever for the car due to age) smog check and of course it had be with the new LS4.. Washington adopted many of the CARB rules in 2009 so I emailed them, got a copy of the laws and prayed...
I lucked out as the manager of the main Spokane Smog Police Operation was a Pontiac buff... He saw the car and immediately came over and took over.. There were actually three employees that did it and after the engine "look over" and questions about the ECM/TCM tranny and engine they did a sniff and thank God it passed with flying colors... I know yours would too if they based it on actual emissions output.
I hope everything works out right... The engine in your car is probably ten times cleaner than the 2.8 on its best day.... Good luck my friend...
Having been through the various steps here in CA-I can tell you this. They're not interested in what comes out of the tail pipe & good fuel economy. For if they truely were concered they would've pass your car based soley upon what the emissions from your tail pipe. My N* get at least 32MPG and the emissions are right in line with current production Cadillacs.
Here's a thought. If most people did engine swaps-CA would loose plenty of revenue from car taxes and car registration. The mere fact CA has the one of the largest % of drivers who are (bye-the-way) keeping their 3-5 years cars is putting a hurt on revenue for the state. If you've noticed CA still has a limit on SB100 applications per year which is at 500. They were going to up the numbers to 1,000.
The air filter box is in the mail. I will see what I can do to it and take it to the reff. The shop that relearned the crank sensor for me noted on the repair order that the codes are all clear. But that was not good enough for the reff. He wanted specific language, "all monitors set" so the shop was cool and and said they can get that for me.
NOBODY ON EARTH can convince me that the California Air Resource Board is here to help clean up our air. They are ALL about MONEY$$$$$$$$ IFF they did care about the air, they would encourage people to do swaps like this, not just the LS4 and other "Hot Rod" engines but the smaller economical engines too. But they don't care. They just want people to throw away the "old junk" and just go buy a new one. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
More jobs and better economy from repairing old cars than from new crap. Cali is no place for car enthusiasts. If you're there for huge pay, buy a new ZR1 with your huge pay. Otherwise, there are 49 better states to be a car enthusiast in. Reno is a nice close place to live, easy commute, no emissions BS.
[This message has been edited by Isolde (edited 02-17-2011).]
More jobs and better economy from repairing old cars than from new crap. Cali is no place for car enthusiasts. If you're there for huge pay, buy a new ZR1 with your huge pay. Otherwise, there are 49 better states to be a car enthusiast in. Reno is a nice close place to live, easy commute, no emissions BS.
Just a little off topic here, but the State has realized that VERRRRY few State workers actually retire in CA. So They are trying to figure out how to "TAX" the people who move out, in an attempt to "keep the money in CA".
I am a State Worker and cant think of a single person that plans to retire in CA. I have done A LOT of talking to people about retirement.
I get some comments on You Tube about the swap that hosts my videos and one person asked for a specific video that I will try to get for him. IF anyone wants a video of a specific function or driving condition, pleas let me know and I will try to knock out all the videos in one day. LIKE: 0-60 1/4 mile from the seat drive by from the side walk what ever you would like to see as long as the law does not come for me and use the video as evidence
My suggestion is to name a ridiculously low price, put the car into an enclosed trailer, and ship it to the frozen wasteland of Canada. We have crap weather so your baby will get to sleep 6 months of the year.
then you can take the money and put it toward something that the Hollywood crowd will approve of, say a Prius??
I finally got started on the door panels and center console. I have a few pics, but they are not all that impressive. I am just not sure yet on how it should look?
Any ideas? I would love some pics of cool ideas that I can use as inspiration.
Have you not looked at using some of the pieces from the Malibu? Or using them for inspiration? Given you're using that dash, it seems like a fitting place to look for ideas.
Have you not looked at using some of the pieces from the Malibu? Or using them for inspiration? Given you're using that dash, it seems like a fitting place to look for ideas.
I looked into it a while back, but they are much taller than the Fiero and one of my goals is to make the doors a little "thinner" so I can have a bit moor elbow room. I also rest my knee on the door so I removed that pesky door handle to move it somewhere else.
Right now the center console is kicking my but. The rally gauge pod came out quick, but the center console is in its 4th or 5th application of fiberglass to get the right shape.
Got the AC working today I put it on the back burner for a LONG time, but now it works. I used the stock 06 Monte Carlo compressor in the stock LS4 locaion and 06 Monte Carlo HVAC unit under the dash. The rest of the system is a combination of stock Fiero stuff and custom lines. I had a problem with very high pressure on the high side and good pressure on the low side. The problem was a blockadge in the high side line caused by either a defective (new out of the bag) orface tube or the use of the tube. I did not know that the Monte has an expansion valve and the orface tube is not needed. But it works now.
I did some work to the car today. I ned to get the correct cat in for the smog ref, but the new cat for the 5.3 V8 is smaller than the S* cat? So I was a little woried that the sound could get louder and I needed to add a muffler of some kind.
(This is the short version of the mod, it was a little more complex than it sounds) I got a 12" glass pack and cut it in half, one for each side. I welded one end to the C6 tip and closed the open glass filled "gap" on the other end then added a 90* turn.
Also shows the smaller cat for the larger engine. This was a better install/fit than the larger cat.
The cats on new GM cars are tiny, and flow much better. The one on my Cruze is in front of the engine even, before the exhaust goes under. Between that and the turbo both being right there, the outdoor temp readings on it are a bit off sometimes, particularly in traffic.
Rick, I feel your pain when it comes to dealing with the Kali smog nazi's. in the late '80's to early '90's I worked for Exotic Dream machines building tube frame Lambo's. and somehow I got the task of taking the cars to the ref station (they really wern't paying nearly enough to do this!!!), IIRC I ran 8 cars through the station, every car was a total hassle, you'd think after the first couple of cars they'd have it figured out but NOOO. Thier Draconian policies are just one of many reasons that I left in late '91
I'm in total agreement w/ you on the fact that it's not about clean air!!!
I got the system in. It sounds more "mellow" and a slight bit of "whistle" or hiss from the glass packs. They did take out most of the "raspy" sound that most muflerless systems have.
[This message has been edited by Rickady88GT (edited 09-23-2011).]
Originally posted by exoticse: One of my favorite build threads, so many cool things.
Rick,.....what is next !?!
I would LOVE to get my hands on a Saturn Sky or Solstice for a V8 project but as far as this project goes....I am thinkng of the C4 rollback style headlights with the new Camaro halo headlights in them. I have wanted to do the C4 light setup for as long as I have had the Fiero. But the high cost and large size of the real C4 buckets put the project off for a long time. My plan is to make totaly custom rollback that better fits the Fiero than the C4 could. I also want LED lamps all around. The tail lamps will have to be modified so they just glow. I dont want to see the individual LEDs.
BTW I got the smog certification a little while back. ( the whole ordeal was so frustrating that I could not even bring my self up to brag about it) It only took 5 trips the the smog ref to get it done. Ca only has 6 of them. I had to drive a total of 700+ miles of driving back and forth to the ref. I almost broke my phone talking to a ref because the "bad news" he gave me during one of the few phone conversations I had with one of the two refs I delt with. I have to give credit where it is due, the second ref was a good dude and acually spent time with me explaining why some things are the way they are. Not that I agree with Ca smog laws, but I have a better understanding of them than I used to have.
So now I have a $3,000 sticker on the inside of my door jamb that says my Fiero is no longer a Fiero. It is now a 2006 Monte Carlo SS with a 5.3 LS4 V8 and is smog compliant in Ca.
So now I have a $3,000 sticker on the inside of my door jamb that says my Fiero is no longer a Fiero. It is now a 2006 Monte Carlo SS with a 5.3 LS4 V8 and is smog compliant in Ca.
Hehehe. Welcome to the club. I forgot how many time it took me.
