3800 Guy Fiero

[LaFuriaRoja01]

It's been a while since I've been on here. I've come a helluva long way and I wanted to give an update by making a thread about one of my current projects. I have six cars currently, but I'm not gonna go out on a limb and throw each one on a thread at the moment So here's the current list:

2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS - this is the one that started it all. T04e turbo, G4JS DOHC swap. The "Demon Eclipse" I popularized in my book and used to attract a lot of my Instragram following.

2000 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am - now up for sale. Following a series of small but annoying failures that put it out of commission for months at a time, I lost motivation to modify it and I'm currently cleaning it out from sitting. LS1, 6-speed T56. All stock.

1987 Pontiac Fiero SE - notchback, super 80's. I got this guy in 2017 as a basket case - interior was shot, exterior wasn't (and still isn't) much better. Spent 32 years powered by a 2.8 V6 and a 5-speed manual trans. Remember my 2002 Grand Prix GTP that got wrecked? That'll be relevant soon.

2012 Cadillac CTS-V - the paradoxically most reliable and fastest of the stable. Bought it in early 2018 when the Firebird broke again. Headers, throttle body and intake is all it's got. Ran a best of 11.86 both before and after headers. Put down nearly 500whp before headers. Stock tune.

2002 Honda Integra Type-R - the oddball. Ok, so it's a clone. But it's a damn good one. RHD converted. RHD radio. Reproduction door jamb stickers, build plate, every single thing except the original VIN plates, which give it away as an RSX. It took me months to hunt down every bit and piece for this car from five difference countries (Japan, UK, Netherlands, Canada, Australia) and I'm still only ~80% done.

2016 Ford Fiesta ST - and here we get to the most recent purchase. My ex, the one who crashed my Grand Prix, she bought this back in 2016 brand new. We broke up about a year ago and I recently found that she traded it in. Got in touch with a buddy who worked at the same dealer and scooped it back up. Tune, downpipe, intake, charge piping and that's pretty much it. Runs consistent 14.8, only put down 191whp but nearly 260wtq. Also gets 40mpg highway.



Things change fast. It's pretty strange to think how I'd see myself driving some of these cars when I first started bugging Voodoo to tell me how to turbo my 3G back in 2011.. But now the one I started this thread for - Guy Fiero. I have an actual badge that I shopped and had printed that says "Guy Fiero" by the way. In the original Fiero font and all.

The story of Guy Fiero started back in 2015. I was starting school full time (I had been part time for the two years before that) and got a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. Supercharged, about 240hp/280tq stock. Took a lot of cars to gapplebee's that I didn't think I would. It was pretty impressive, and even more so once I continued to modify it. At the track it only really ran a best of 14.3 but I found it was seriously heat-dependent. The 4T65 transmission in those is also garbage; has zero torque steer due to equal length axles but I was still in second gear by the end of the track. Super long, super slushy, awful garbage auto. Especially in a car tipping the scales around 3600lbs. It'd be so much nicer if it were manual, and in a lighter car that engine would kick ass. Hell, RWD would be nice too, and maybe some better traction. Oh wait, there's a simple solution for all of this - a chassis swap. I dreamt it for a while but when my ex wrecked the GTP it only seemed the logical thing to do. It was a long process - accident happened summer 2016, pulled the motor that fall, finally found my ideal Fiero spring 2017, drove it until the clutch finally went out, did the lion's share of motor building in my backyard throughout 2018, then finally a local buddy of mine offered to do the swap for me back in May.

The motor is far from stock. Since I have limited room and can't fit headers, I used "powerlogs" from ZZP - stainless steel large-diameter log manifolds which vastly outflow stockers and have stock fitment but don't flow as well as headers. I went with the biggest cam I could without major valvetrain work - a Comp Cams XP grind. Powerband should extend well beyond 6000 RPMs, which is impressive on this dinosaur of a motor. 105# springs to complement it. Supercharger was upgraded to a Gen V M90 - same size blower but from an 04-08 Grand Prix. Much more efficient, bolt-on and looks prettier. Silencing ports are blocked off and snout is machined. Pullied down from a 3.8" to a 3.0". Typically the smallest pulley used is around a 2.8" when you hit the efficiency limit, but I'm about at that ratio since I also used a 5% OD lower pulley with an 8-rib belt conversion. To help control slip I also used a belt wrap and had Stiegemeier machine the upper pulley. There's also a 2.25" phenolic intercooler wedged in there and a wide-bore Northstar throttle body. I connected the intake directly to the side vent with an inline filter, making the truest of true ram air setups. The exhaust is almost done but consists of a Flowtech Terminator F-body muffler, 6" bullet muffler, two glasspacks and a set of resonated tips. Hoping it'll control noise pretty well. I also have a custom set of fuel rails made specifically for the 3800S/C Fiero and 42.5# injectors. As for accessories, the Fiero is manual steering so PS is gone, and I deleted A/C as it never worked on the Fiero anyway and converting would require changing the system to R134. The interior is tan and tinted so it never gets unbearable even on the worst summer days.

The transmission is the stock 5-speed Getrag unit that came in the Fiero. Same bellhousing, freshly rebuilt internals and a Spec Stage 2 clutch. The flywheel is a 3800 Camaro/Firebird flywheel machined down for clearance and balanced to the L67 I'm using. The transmission is still for sure the weak link on this build. Only time will tell how it holds.

All together, similar setups on remote tunes have made north of 350whp on a manual (much less if on the 4T65). In a notchback like mine, curb weight should end up right around the 2800lbs mark. I don't expect it to be a track slayer due to its limitations (durability of the drivetrain, finding stickier tires/making wider wheels fit, I don't want to die) but it'll for sure be one hell of a fun car.

And now I'm sure you want pictures. Enjoy!!

[repforenzo]

Very cool.

[Chad]

Love it

[Bri01Spyder]

Very exciting. Always liked those small 2 seaters. Keep us updated regarding how it eventually turns out!