First I heard of LD9's running hot, or burning oil.
I hope mine wiht 131k has not gotten to hot.
FU Tuning
Progress!
Interior mostly stripped down.
Front end pulled off.
Tail lights out, bumper off, rear fastback panels ready to come off.
Dash is going to be coming out next and as soon as I get somebody to help me the roof and fastback sections will be off too.
omg the ls4 fiero is amazing.
I love all the crazy swaps that go into these cars, the worst part about most of them is the added weight in the back. I want it to turn as well as it goes in a straight line. With my weight reduction, battery relocation, and motor swap the car should be almost exactly 50/50 weight split. Plus I already have everything needed for swap motor and transmission wise out of my 01 z24.
The car is really solid for its age, only bad spots are on the back portion of the spaceframe rails. They will get ground down or cut out and replaced. Everything will be coated in paint or truck bed coating. All underbody components will be black ( as well as body paint most likely), suspension and other small pieces going to be red, and some small accents and engine parts will be a gunmetal color. Thats the plan for now anyway, guess we will see where the wind takes my ideas as I get closer to that point...
Jookycola wrote:I could be wrong but the LD9 runs incredibly hot and burns through a lot of oil in just the Z24 therefore causing spun bearings & rod knock and then engine failure. And the Fieros were from what I remember infamous for having the worst air flow/engine cooling setup, and were known for overheating. I'm not so sure putting in a motor known for running too hot in a car known for not being to good at motor cooling is such a great idea.
um what? idk where that information came from but its false. maybe ur thinking of the old quad 4's? and even then the only reason they ran hot was due to the head cracking. the LD9 doesnt have cooling issues.
and most of the oil problems stem from the in-adequate stock oil pump assembly and lack of maintenence from their owners.
Well I DID say in the first sentence "I could be wrong" I was under the impression that spun bearings and rod knock were traced to abnormal oil consumption from heat. And if that was the case putting a motor like that in a car infamously known for having poor ventilation wouldn't be a great idea. But if my info is wrong then I say go for it. It's a plenty potent motor and WAS the motor GM was planning to put in Fiero's in '89 anyway.
Quote:
A prototype of the never-produced 1990 Fiero was displayed at the 20th Anniversary show in July 2003, at Fierorama 2005, at the Michigan show in 2006 and most recently at the 25th Anniversary Show in Pontiac, Michigan in 2008. Continued showing of the prototype may no longer be an option in the near future, as GM has taken to cutting funding to relieve the pressure of its financial woes. As of 2011, the GM Heritage Center and the GM Archive do not have any record of the any 1989/1990 Fiero still being in GM's possesion. Many of the 89/90 prototypes have been demolished in a scrap yard in Australia.
Much of its design influence is apparent in the Fourth Generation Firebird. New engines were proposed for the 1990 model year, from the then new DOHC 190 bhp (142 kW) "Quad 4" 4 cylinder as a base engine to replace the 2.5 Iron Duke to a new 200+ bhp DOHC V-6 for the GT models. Even a 231 CID (3.8 L) Buick Turbo V6 powered Fiero is rumored to have been seen at a test track.[citation needed] The single 1990 Fiero GT prototype had an early version of the upcoming DOHC V-6 that would be put into production in the Grand Prix and Lumina Z34 in the early 90's. This engine developed more than 200 bhp (150 kW).
GM cited slumping and unprofitable sales of the Fiero as the reason for its demise following its 5th model year.
"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net
Jookycola wrote:Well I DID say in the first sentence "I could be wrong" I was under the impression that spun bearings and rod knock were traced to abnormal oil consumption from heat. And if that was the case putting a motor like that in a car infamously known for having poor ventilation wouldn't be a great idea. But if my info is wrong then I say go for it. It's a plenty potent motor and WAS the motor GM was planning to put in Fiero's in '89 anyway.
Quote:
A prototype of the never-produced 1990 Fiero was displayed at the 20th Anniversary show in July 2003, at Fierorama 2005, at the Michigan show in 2006 and most recently at the 25th Anniversary Show in Pontiac, Michigan in 2008. Continued showing of the prototype may no longer be an option in the near future, as GM has taken to cutting funding to relieve the pressure of its financial woes. As of 2011, the GM Heritage Center and the GM Archive do not have any record of the any 1989/1990 Fiero still being in GM's possesion. Many of the 89/90 prototypes have been demolished in a scrap yard in Australia.
Much of its design influence is apparent in the Fourth Generation Firebird. New engines were proposed for the 1990 model year, from the then new DOHC 190 bhp (142 kW) "Quad 4" 4 cylinder as a base engine to replace the 2.5 Iron Duke to a new 200+ bhp DOHC V-6 for the GT models. Even a 231 CID (3.8 L) Buick Turbo V6 powered Fiero is rumored to have been seen at a test track.[citation needed] The single 1990 Fiero GT prototype had an early version of the upcoming DOHC V-6 that would be put into production in the Grand Prix and Lumina Z34 in the early 90's. This engine developed more than 200 bhp (150 kW).
GM cited slumping and unprofitable sales of the Fiero as the reason for its demise following its 5th model year.
That might be partially true but the other main reason was the 2nd gen Fiero prototype smoked the Corvette and the guys in charge of Chevy & Corvette didn't want the Corvette to be outshined by another GM division's car.
RedCavalac wrote: Everything will be coated in paint or truck bed coating.
Por 15
More crappy rust filled pics.
Pulled the front brakes off so I can get the rotor/hub modified for the grand am brake upgrade.
Fastback section off the car.
Upper frame rails I will have to replace.
Driver.
Passenger.
Thats all for now.
OMG those frame rails look terrible, Imagine if you got rear ended.......
Ryan1
Yeah they are pretty rough and will be replaced. Keep in mind they are not the main frame rails, these are upper supports for the rear strut tower and fastback section.
Once the body of the car is cleaned and repaired then it will be onto suspension and brakes. Motor swap will be the last task I undertake on this project so the rest of the car will be ready for some power.
Edward Trainor wrote:MY Fav Fiero so far. +LINK+
That thing is just beautiful...
Progress looks good man. Gotta start somewhere.
Front rotor/hubs were dropped off yesterday to be cut down so I can do my brake swap. Going from 3/8" solid disc to about a 1" vented disc of the same diameter. Then to fit the wider disc it gets new calipers which have bigger pistons as well, everything is off of an 88 grand am.
I will be doing the rears with the same setup when I start the cradle and rear suspension revamp. I will also be putting on a full size blazer master cylinder after the new calipers are on all around.
Pics once I get the brake stuff back.
Mr.Goodwrench-G.T. wrote:-Z Yaaaa- wrote:Jookycola wrote:I could be wrong but the LD9 runs incredibly hot and burns through a lot of oil in just the Z24 therefore causing spun bearings & rod knock and then engine failure. And the Fieros were from what I remember infamous for having the worst air flow/engine cooling setup, and were known for overheating. I'm not so sure putting in a motor known for running too hot in a car known for not being to good at motor cooling is such a great idea.
um what? idk where that information came from but its false. maybe ur thinking of the old quad 4's? and even then the only reason they ran hot was due to the head cracking. the LD9 doesnt have cooling issues.
and most of the oil problems stem from the fact the stock oil pump sucks ass even if its only a mere pint low and lack of maintenence from their owners. most LD9's meet there fates due to burned up rod bearings. the 2.3 oil pump swap fixes any issue with pre-mature bearing failures.
Fixed for accuracy.
fixed for actual accuracy.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Monday, September 12, 2011 6:26 PM
No pics yet, til I get my hubs back from machining.
Interior is completely gutted and now mouse nest free. All carpeting and components cleaned up pretty well.
I need to clean the floor pan, grind down any rust then its truck bed coating time. Picked up a gallon of duplicolor bed armor that Im gonna try on the floor.
Today removed a bunch of extra stuff out of the engine bay like cruise control and a ton of vacuum lines. Removed all the ac stuff from front to back other than the compressor(its a pita to get off). I also removed the spare tire well so I can build my battery relocation tray.
Thats all for now, pics with Z wheels soon I hope.
Finally pics of some clean non rusted parts lol.
Brake swap stuff. Hubs are factory fiero solid rotors with the disc portion machined off.
Thats all for now.
Get some boost in this thing already! Haha. Keep up the good work. Did you ever have any luck finding a quarter window?
I might be picking one of these up for an Eco swap project over the winter.
No luck on the quarter windows, I keep hunting for a set for "cheap" but no luck. Im not pressed to get them so I can wait. Might just buy a set with scoops built into them since they make fiberglass ones that wont go to junk like the stock ones.
You should totally get one. Lots of available parts, forum support, and tons of creativity in the fiero crowd.
Its funny to me the newest fiero is 23 years old and their forums are way more active than the jbody sites.
Painted up the rotor hats because it looks nice and will help keep away the rust.
I also have a new set of door pins on the way.
This build receives my full approval.
Want hub spacers rear disk brackets or trailing arm bushings? Shoot me a PM.
Now that is tearing into your build.Neat stuff and your devotion to make it much better.
RedCavalac, what is your name on pff? Also, I am not quite sure why everyone is overplaying the lack of engine ventalation. with a few minor items kept in mind, there isn't any problem with swapping out l67s, quad 4s, 3.4 DOHC, northstar, or sbc into Fieros and it has been done thousands of times without issue.
87 Fiero (DD)
88 Fiero GT L67/F23
94 Dodge Shadow (winter rat)
95 F-150 (car hauler)
