lol someday id like to do a rwd swap but i honestly dont know if i'd go V8 or just stick with a quad 4 but with a ton of boost. one of the only things i dont like is how big the tunnel is by your feet. seems like it'd be a bit crowded... is this the case? with doing a 4cyl you probably wouldnt have to go as wide on the tunnel but i get why you did. you want that motor set back into the car as much as possible to get the best weight transfer and hell, its not like the car has a full frame, so if you can get the weight more in the center, thats best.

i like v8's i think id just rather have a 4 in my rwd project is all. and if i did a v8, itd definitely have to be an LSX. i love fuel injection and they are aluminum blocks. but, with LSX dreams one needs big funds.



M45/OS crank/2.4 snout. It's nice to be injected but I love being blown!

Hey SpeedRacerZ,
You didn't like my quote??

I would love to help in any way I can. Let me know how.

lol, one project at a time! I do love your build!

I'm with you Brad.... I already have a V8 toy, I like my Sport Compacts to have 4 cylinders, maybe a turbo 6.


SPD RCR Z - '02 Z24 420whp
SLO GOAT - '04 GTO 305whp
W41 BOI - '78 Buick Opel Isuzu W41 Swap

Glad to see we all have our tasts and we all can respect that.

To all a great weekend

Exactly, as long as its not an EcoCrap that is.



SPD RCR Z - '02 Z24 420whp
SLO GOAT - '04 GTO 305whp
W41 BOI - '78 Buick Opel Isuzu W41 Swap

Does anyone recommend bracing between the rear shock towers?

I had front and rear strut bars at one point but took them off. Never noticed a difference with them on or off. Some say they prevent flex but I cant say that I felt it flex more or less with a strut bar. To each their own. Maybe with the RWD you might notice it more or less based upon having a solid mounted rear end on the car.

Maybe your car was just to slow to notice, Vince?


SPD RCR Z - '02 Z24 420whp
SLO GOAT - '04 GTO 305whp
W41 BOI - '78 Buick Opel Isuzu W41 Swap

That could be... I just never felt the effect of them. Took both off when I went turbo and sold them. Im sure I would most definitely notice a sway bar though on the rear...

thats weird vince. did you have them adjusted tight? i most definitely felt a difference on the front. the rear, however... not so much.

mikey, you made such a sexy brace for the front, go for it in the trunk, too man... if you make it out of aluminum it wont add a ton of weight but yea i believe that v8 is going to twist that cavalier like a pretzel.. lol



M45/OS crank/2.4 snout. It's nice to be injected but I love being blown!

Yep, everything was tight. Just never noticed a difference with or without them. A lot think they do because they know they put a part on the car.


Agreed... You should do it to try to handle the torque transfer.

I did do some flex testing in the front by jacking in the corners with full weight. There was some movement. A strut brace for a stock application would have hit the air cleaner. So I built one with a bow in it. The two downward bars look a bit crude, but I felt they were needed to assist with the sway bar loading. I may still need to add to this as road testing will prove. When I'm done with it, I will convert it to aluminum and snazzy it up too.

For the rear, I didn't measure any movement. I also did a string test. I taped strings in x patterns from front to back in the interior and jacked in various areas looking for torque roll. I didn't detect any of the strings getting limp. However, The front seemed to need help, so I was considering doing something for the rear. I was thinking of connecting the top area of the strut towers down to the opposite side of the HD cross member I installed for the diff upper A-arms. This won't interfere with the back seats or what ever is left in the trunk area.

What cha think guys?

i think more people should try that before buying tons of braces we obviously dont need LOL



M45/OS crank/2.4 snout. It's nice to be injected but I love being blown!

Hello All,

Managed to get all the fluids in place and bled the clutch. Still getting the wiring cleaned up some w to get it started up. Want to get things hot and look for issues. Will have to put this aside as I will be outa town for a couple of weeks. Paint is scheduled for the 2nd week of Aug. It's not much, but it's all I got so far.

MikeyG

awesome. what color you going with?



M45/OS crank/2.4 snout. Now with 5 speed! It's nice to be injected but I love being blown!

All one color, liquid silver metallic 38P. The engine compartment and inner fender areas are already painted this color. Very inconspicuous. Most people will overlook this car. Just the way I want it.

Good to hear. Keep up the good work.

Hello All,
Had some time to tinker. Although the engine was on a dyno, I took a small video of a start up. This was more to verify cooling capacity, leaks, wiring, etc. Not much to see. Milestone for me though. Off to York PA next week. Next photos will be from the paint shop.

sorry video didn't load ??

BuiltNBoosted wrote:Yep, everything was tight. Just never noticed a difference with or without them. A lot think they do because they know they put a part on the car.

I'm just curious, but did you happen to have the car jacked up when you put them on? I've read you bolt on strut bars with no weight on the suspension.


- Your not-so-local, untrained, uncertified, backyard mechanic. But my @!#$ runs

Here is the vid from Mikey G's first startup since dyno . .

Cool - thanks Tony
the sound in the video really sucks compared to what it really sounds like. next video will be the car running / driving outside....hopefully before winter..

MikeyG

Love it!

How comes no one ever puts an IRS in their v8 swaps? It would make the car sick. You could use a fiery cradle or the rear from a corvette. The fiero uses struts just like a jbody and are proven to hold v8s. Just a thought.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.

Rob Dotterer wrote:How comes no one ever puts an IRS in their v8 swaps? It would make the car sick. You could use a fiery cradle or the rear from a corvette. The fiero uses struts just like a jbody and are proven to hold v8s. Just a thought.

because IRS is not ideal for launching and it'd take more work to fabricate and dial in. the only way that would be better is if he was going to be drifting this car or doing tons of road course/auto x events. and you can set up a straight axle to do pretty well for those kinds of things to...

fiero is also mid engine.



RIP silver car. You will be missed.