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  • 1985 Fiero build

    Ahh yes, quite possibly the most loved and hated car of the 80's, the Fiero. I've owned my Red 1985 SE 2M6 (2 seat, Mid Engine, 6 cylinder) for about 10 years, over the course of the years, the car has had the stock 2.8 and automatic trans, and 2 different 2006 Pontiac G6 3.5l V6's(RPO LX9). and an F23 5 speed manual out of a 2001 Pontiac sunfire. this car has been my long running engineering training platform that never runs... lol, I hope to change that by years end though.

    a Picture of the car in a more or less as purchased state:



    after owning the car for about 4 months, daily driving, it developed a misfire, that very quickly made the car undriveable. I refuse to admit this misfire developed do to my repeated abuse of a 140000 mile engine and transmission(jumped timing?). lol... so, I decided to install a new engine, and a five speed manual. hindsight being 20/20, I should have installed the stock fiero 4 speed manual I had instead of the 5 speed, but what's the fun in something bolting together like it was made to? I did some research, and found that later models of the stock 2.8 existed, and could be swapped in, so I found myself ordering a $250 engine and bolting the stock Fiero passenger side engine mount on, then "fabricating" the other mounts out of some 3/16 plate I had. originally, I was going to install the stock engine in the car, which would works out to over 50% more power, with a much broader torque curve, but, whats the fun in that? so I bought a bunch of expensive parts, including a custom upper intake manifold, and a turbo. I never really got the car running until about 3 years later. I drove the car intermittently, but had cooling system problems that lead to the car overheating, and running like crap, along with a tune that was way off.



    no matter what I seemed to do, the car wouldn't run right, I decided it had something to do with the engine management (very poor troubleshooting techniques used... ) so I then installed a MS3x, a 1988 Fiero rear subframe, and C5 corvette brakes on all four corners using some custom adapters I designed.



    I got to the point of testing the MS3, but never fired the engine with it. around this time, work required me to move across the country twice, so the car sat for over a year at my dads house. after about 2 years of the car sitting, I finally got it back in my possession, this past January.



    which brings us almost up to the here and now. I removed the "built" engine, and have since begun building a new one, to correct numerous small details that you only learn from doing it not right. when the engine was built, the windage tray didn't fit, I was ok with this for some reason. the car was very hard to work on due to the numerous "good ideas" a younger me had, things like the turbo oil drain being way oversized, and in the middle of the oil pan, the poor routing of the turbo hotside, the shift linkage for the trans, ect. I decided that I am now older, and therefore wiser, so I must be able to do it all better, and I hope I'm right this time.

    upon removal of the built engine, I noticed my "custom" upper intake wasn't sealing around one of the ports at all, which leads me to believe that almost all of this issues I was having were stemming from this one flaw, something I wish I had noticed years ago. but I wasn't as detail oriented, or as well trained. I decided not to re-use the existing short block, with the exception of the camshaft. I picked up a new engine, had it tanked, decked, and honed, and went to town. some of the stuff I did is kinda cringeworthy, but I "did the wrong thing the right way" like cutting valve reliefs in the pistons myself with sandpaper and a drill...













    while my work was sloppy, I put the effort into making it pretty good, I ended up with 6 almost identical reliefs which should provide plenty of clearance into the stock pistons. I also traded up my MS3x for an MS3 Pro Ultimate, and am planning to convert the car to DBW throttle control. I also modified the oil pan for a better oil return layout, entering the pan behind the starter instead of the middle of the pan.

    I started by flaring the aluminum tube



    Made a hole



    Applied heat evenly across the whole pan inside and out there must have been some interference with the thermal camera, the whole thing was about the same temp, but from some angles, it didn't look it at all.







    I guess the anodizing doesn't like getting hot...



    it's got about 1/16"-1/8" clearance to the starter motor, which I think should be more than adequate.



    the engine now sits on the stand, I'm waiting on parts to complete the new upper intake/plenum, and a few valvetrain parts to do final assembly. I have a ton of plans for this heap, and would love for it to be the fastest 5 speed Fiero powered by a GM 60 degree V6, something that shouldn't be too terribly hard, I'll post continued updates as they happen, but unfortunately, I will be out of contact with work soon for a spell, so if you're sitting on the edge of your seat, delays will probably happen.




    Cheers-

    Eric
    "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."

    1985 Pontiac Fiero, 3.5 V6 turbo, 5 speed
    1988 Suburban, 350 TBI 700r4, 4x4
    2006 2500 HD 6.0 4x4

  • #2
    Neat project. I've had a few Fieros over the years. They were mostly just stock drivers and they were all 4-cyl cars.
    Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
    74 Nova Project
    66 Mustang GT Project

    92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
    79 Chevy Truck Project
    1956 Cadillac Project

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    • #3
      fun stuff
      Doing it all wrong since 1966

      Comment


      • #4
        Back in '80's high school my buddy had a 2M4 manual shift with the large sunroof. Those cars are way more fun than they should be.

        Can't wait to see more, thanks for sharing.

        Of all the paths you take in life - make sure a few of them are dirt.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by 74NovaMan View Post
          Neat project. I've had a few Fieros over the years. They were mostly just stock drivers and they were all 4-cyl cars.
          Thanks, it's been a very long term project, my goal is to have it move under it's own power before years end, which I think should be a reasonable goal as long as I don't spend the rest of the year underwater. I don't know if I would be able to drive one with a 4 banger though, the V6 was painfully slow... lol! I have seen a couple of quad 4 swaps though, they looked pretty clean, and should perform above the level of a stock V6 Fiero.

          Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post
          fun stuff
          it really has been a ton of fun, hopefully driving it will be fun as well.

          Originally posted by STINEY View Post
          Back in '80's high school my buddy had a 2M4 manual shift with the large sunroof. Those cars are way more fun than they should be.

          Can't wait to see more, thanks for sharing.
          mine has a crumby aftermarket sunroof. thankfully, I can find a roof from a hardtop and swap it over and no longer have a leaky roof. mine was painfully slow with the stock V6. with the 3.5, it's pretty crazy, it got sideways on me once, scared the tar out of me! hopefully I can make some serious progress on the intake and exhaust before I go back to sea, but it might have to wait until I come back.
          "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."

          1985 Pontiac Fiero, 3.5 V6 turbo, 5 speed
          1988 Suburban, 350 TBI 700r4, 4x4
          2006 2500 HD 6.0 4x4

          Comment


          • #6
            If we ever get my son's vette dependable , he wants to do a fiero project .
            Previously HoosierL98GTA

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            • #7
              Rode in 2 Fieros with 4 cylinders. They are the "iron duke" 151 ci.. Torquey and peppy..
              Have had 2 Bronco II and the 4 cyl flat out kicked the small v-6's butt. 4 cylinder would lug down better.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Dan Barlow View Post
                If we ever get my son's vette dependable , he wants to do a fiero project .
                it's best to find an 88, they got an updated suspension, and new brakes that are way better than the 84-87, the downside, is that it's a one year car, so some parts just don't exist, like left rear brake calipers. I still have to fabricate some kind of parking brake for mine since I am no longer using factory parts. there's a guy named Paul who goes by Fieroguru on the Fiero Forums who makes all sorts of neat stuff specifically for 88's.

                there's really only 2 Fiero specific forums left, Pennocks Fiero Forum, and Real Fiero Tech. I very much prefer RFT to PFF, because the content quality is usually way higher, unfortunately, there's only about 3-5 regular posters there, whereas PFF has some volume still. the forums just aren't what they were 5 years ago...

                Originally posted by Deaf Bob View Post
                Rode in 2 Fieros with 4 cylinders. They are the "iron duke" 151 ci.. Torquey and peppy..
                Have had 2 Bronco II and the 4 cyl flat out kicked the small v-6's butt. 4 cylinder would lug down better.
                the 'dukes made a whopping 90 hp, I can't imagine how painful a 0-60 pull must have been, my 140 hp V6's 0-60 time could be measured with a calendar...

                "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."

                1985 Pontiac Fiero, 3.5 V6 turbo, 5 speed
                1988 Suburban, 350 TBI 700r4, 4x4
                2006 2500 HD 6.0 4x4

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by ejs262 View Post
                  the 'dukes made a whopping 90 hp, I can't imagine how painful a 0-60 pull must have been, my 140 hp V6's 0-60 time could be measured with a calendar...
                  I can’t speak for the autos, but the manual version with the iron dude was no slouch at all. This was with a pair of “ exuberant” young drivers, so there was nothing left on the table, but nothing short of a true old school muscle car got the best of it.

                  Would like to see the torque numbers on those two engines. I bet the Duke has torque all over the smaller standard v6.

                  Of all the paths you take in life - make sure a few of them are dirt.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by STINEY View Post

                    I can’t speak for the autos, but the manual version with the iron dude was no slouch at all. This was with a pair of “ exuberant” young drivers, so there was nothing left on the table, but nothing short of a true old school muscle car got the best of it.

                    Would like to see the torque numbers on those two engines. I bet the Duke has torque all over the smaller standard v6.
                    78 Monza with Spyder suspension transfered was a fun car with the Saginaw 4 speed behind the duke

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Yeah if we ever do one it will have to be the last year . One crazy thing is he wants the motor in north - south style so we'll need a toronado / eldorado trans axle setup or a porsche 944 trans axle .
                      Previously HoosierL98GTA

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Don't forget the Honda/Acura units found in the Vigor, 1st Gen TL and RL's.
                        Central TEXAS Sleeper
                        USAF Physicist

                        ROA# 9790

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          At one time the aluminum Caddy Northstar was thought to be the hot setup. Given that hot rodders have found ways to fix the foibles of that engine it might be a good choice. No clue how many $$ it takes to make a stout Northstar but it CAN be done.

                          Dan

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Dan Barlow View Post
                            Yeah if we ever do one it will have to be the last year . One crazy thing is he wants the motor in north - south style so we'll need a toronado / eldorado trans axle setup or a porsche 944 trans axle .
                            personally, I think longitudinal swaps are a little too form over function for my tastes. the toronado parts are heavy, and starting to get kinda hard to find too. AUDI also has a transaxle that can be adapted to work.

                            Originally posted by CTX-SLPR View Post
                            Don't forget the Honda/Acura units found in the Vigor, 1st Gen TL and RL's.
                            Maybe, I have no real experience to say how viable that would be or not.

                            Originally posted by DanStokes View Post
                            At one time the aluminum Caddy Northstar was thought to be the hot setup. Given that hot rodders have found ways to fix the foibles of that engine it might be a good choice. No clue how many $$ it takes to make a stout Northstar but it CAN be done.

                            Dan
                            a ton of people hate on N*'s bad, me, I think they're pretty good. the block and heads are die cast, and VERY light given their size, and in stock form make 300 HP. they can also be controlled by an LS1 PCM using programming from the Shelby Series 1. there's a ton of info N*'s in my buddy will's thread on RFT. if linking to other forums isn't cool, I'll remove the link...



                            "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."

                            1985 Pontiac Fiero, 3.5 V6 turbo, 5 speed
                            1988 Suburban, 350 TBI 700r4, 4x4
                            2006 2500 HD 6.0 4x4

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I drew up an adapter to adapt a GM LS4 throttle body to a 3" aluminum pipe, and had it cut out of 6061 aluminum.





                              then I ordered some pipe, which got here yesterday, the plan is to cut the stock throttle body neck out of the plenum, and weld this in it's place, the pipe fit perfectly and I'm very happy with the results thus far.



                              Unfortunately, I won't be able to make any real progress on the car for at least the next month and a half, but probably more like 3 months, gotta earn my Submarine pay...
                              "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."

                              1985 Pontiac Fiero, 3.5 V6 turbo, 5 speed
                              1988 Suburban, 350 TBI 700r4, 4x4
                              2006 2500 HD 6.0 4x4

                              Comment

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