I dont think a Honda will ever find its way in there...Especially any of their junk open deck engines. If I ever went to turn to a import for power it would have to be a Supra Inline-6....It would be sweet in a mid engine car. But unfortunately I think its way to long front to rear to fit. So it would interfere with the frame rails.
I know with a SBC engine the balancer has to double as the crank pulley as well. It's a half thickness balancer with a v-groove around the outside. Thats how tight a fit it is.

I'm going to buy the V8 Archies kit to small block it. Its a proven fit kit. I also have proof that the TH125 3 speed auto will hold up well. Its rated higher in torque capacity as a matter of fact than the Getrag 5 speed and the "Muncie" 4 speed that was available in those cars. I have a reputable guy to beef the trans up. I guess the newer "Grand-Prix FWD" trannies are a decendant from the TH125 and with the right treatment they are handling 1,000 boosted Horsepower. And Mark Williams builds beefier half shafts with Porsche 930 CV joints.

I bought a new Rack and got new Moog Boots and Moog tie rod ends, So the steering will be fixed. I passed on the Chinese made boots & tie rod ends...(Ever Seen Chinese Valve stems disentegrate?) And bought the USA made stuff. I am trying to find drilled and slotted rotors for the car. And brake pad upgrades. I am going to remove the lugage rack from the deck lid and put a SE or GT wing on the back. and tint the windows real dark. Later I may replace the 14" wheels with some 17" or 18" wheels.
Between that and the SBC I think its all the car will be. I will add the turbo to the SBC after I get the V8 Combo working well in the car.

I have found a couple V8 turbo setups and one is mouth watering! www.fieroaddiction.com is one.....383 Turbo SBC

 

If you click on the fiero addiction link, Go to the right hand side, Click on Fiero Addiction information, Then on that page click on the Transverse Small block button, You will be rewarded with a fully built cradle with 383 turbo SBC attached to a 4 speed auto with the half shafts that are upgraded by Mark Williams.

Pretty awesome!

 

Awesome site, but I didn't make it past the LS4 page. No doubt that is how I would go.

 

March 10th was the latest post on this thread


little update on my "grenade" style turbo buick...

total stock bottom end no girdle or caps, 204/214 tappet cam with a te44 turbo and home ported heads went 118 mph so far, with 20 pounds of boost pump gas/meth... I appear to be hitting a back pressure problem with the small turbo with the wastegate tied shut it still would only make 26psi

Im putting on a te62 turbo currently to see what it will do with that should be well into the 10s hopefully I dont break it right away

total investment in the motor is about 850-950 and that includes a extra set of head gaskets after I blew one within 300 miles of getting it running

 

Sweet, I cant wait until I see that kind of MPH!

 

Nice MPH so far! The TE 44 is what i run two of on my firebird. The compressor map techincally lays over at 20-21 lbs but all the GN guys say they run strong to 25 lbs and they are right.
Mine have never made over 25 no matter how hard i pushed em so its time for you to go bigger. Plus the thrust likes to go out a LOT at 25 lbs.

 

we hit a wall also around 25 psi..

Like I posted the other night its a simple combo... I have not been able to get the car to 60 foot yet as its set up for a 67mm turbo I can leave with almost no boost and within 10 foot it is at full boost and spinning lol


at the track we tried to wire my wastegate shut... it made 26 psi down low but would fall down to around 23-24psi. I did take the out when it was about 30 degrees out and I popped a head gasket lol the boost shot up to above 30 psi almost instantly and it popped lol. I think I am just about maxing out the turbo but I am unsure on that.

Im putting a te62 on it now which is the biggest small shaft style buick turbo they make it also has a 360 thrust so hopefully it will take boost alittle better.

Here is a video of it on a slower pass wise mph pay no attention to the ET I never got it to 60 better then 1 67

http://vimeo.com/9972508

 

Re: How long till it grenades? ( It never did! Go figure.) Grenade part 2 to com

I love these little cars. But how come anytime u mention an engine swap everyone wants it to be grossly oversized. A northstar or 3.4 dohc these are the biggest little engines there is . U wouldn't catch me putting anything bigger than a sbc in one. Remember u will have to change spark plugs at some point . Will a sbf trim down enough or are the accessories always to bulky . I like a 3.4 ohv turbo personally and it could be a bolt in from a 2.8

 

Yeah, I think I am done dreaming about various swaps and may just stick to the SBC since its a good proven fit and the assc. off the front of the engine are simple. I want to keep it carbureted so that rules out many late model engines to me.

I worked all day on the car yesterday. More I work on it the more I like it, EXCEPT when 3 of the 4 bolts that holds the steering rack in broke off on me The car didn't like turning left. I found the boot torn on the rack had allowed rust to mess up the steering shaft. I put a good used rack in it with new Moog Boots & Tie rod ends. Now the car steers very nice.

I ended up putting a drill bit in my die grinder and I had to drill out and retap the rack mounts on the front subframe. Wasn't enough room for my drill in there. I went from whatever metric size it was to a bigger 3/8-16 thread and put grade 8 bolts in it. I dont think those will snap off in the future. The worst part about a steering rack in the Fiero is hooking up the steering column and fighting that huge condom that seals the weather away from the swivel joint.

I got my Turbo Monte Running good again now this weekend and went out and terrorized some little imports. at one point I had about 15-20 people trying to crowd a look under my hood. Funny not one of them could have been over 21 years old. They were impressed and I felt like I might have done some good converting some front drive import kids to V8 american power with a turbo. HeHeHe.

 

bring em on oh brother turbo show ehm the way towarth the light

 

Re: How long till it grenades? ( It never did! Go figure.) Grenade part 2 to com

Actually if it was me I would find an 84-87 FWD with the 3.8L. The reason is simple; If you pull the pan off they will have 2 dot rods and they use the same heads a TTA does. They are also 8:1 stock and 86-87 is a roller cam. You can also use the EFI intake that is on it and it is very similar in style to a GN intake except it doesn't come apart at the plenum. The other thing is that it has the GM FWD pattern on it so that would allow you to bolt it right up. You can even get a standard Buick carb intake and a distributors came on the 84-85s so you could put one on it if you wanted to. Hell they even used a Grand National ECU so getting a chip cut for it would probably be super easy.

 

Re: How long till it grenades? ( It never did! Go figure.) Grenade part 2 to com

I would personally put a dizzy in it and runa 749 ecu then you could use code 59

 

Well been awhile since I last seen this thread, but always love to come back to see what everyone is up to.
Anyhow still looking for a cheap gm4 turbo to add to my collection, ie one that aint trashed but dont require mortgage to buy. My 95 TA has pretty much rusted beyond repair in the body, so my 85 TA is getting an LT1 upgrade, but I bet my 5 speed is gonna be puking long before the motor goes. Sale of of the 4l60 and and good body parts should get me the flywheel and hopefully maybe a few upgrades?Love to find that elusive turbo.

 

Man i havent been up to anything turbo related lately. Been working on my big impala convertible doing body work and 1/4 panel replacement. On a good note, my roommate started tearing the heads off the caddy turbo project yesterday so hopefully that thing will be breathing fire again soon! All it did was piss a head gasket so its an easy fix. Hope you find your GM4 turbo man!

 

Yeah wanting to try 2 of them together as a rear mount setup. Still working out the details, gotta get the lil 305 pulled and sold. Cool to see the Caddy is still kicking after all this time. I wanna see more of your TA though, what is going on with it, still having funny boost spikes like before?

 

305? Cheap? I have a pair of GN turbos, a TPI intake, Megasquirt and some 39s now. Should be a fun little project. I am working on getting the thing over here after that it will be a decent bit easier I think. I have to pull the 350 out I put in and figure out if the engine got trashed or the pump broke in the trans. not really sure which tbh. I have a T400 waiting in the wings so I'm really debating which I'd rather it be.

 

The T/A has been doing more sitting than anything. No more weird boost spikes with the new 383 engine. I still have no idea why it used to do that. Boy i tell ya a few more cubic inches sure makes a big difference with power. Last year i launched it soft, had a fouled plug and dumped a cylinder sporadically all the way down the track and no NOS and still went 9.82! The midrange torque a 383 makes compared to a 350 is pretty killer!
Somehow its just not as fun anymore without the Grenade underhood. I guess the thrill of a motor making WAY too much power on junk parts is too damn fun. I still have the GRENADE laying around in perfect condition. What should i do with it?

 

eeehm put it in a 4 door clunker and run 9's again on street tires
dont forget the factory reject bumpersticker

 

Wow - 9.80's on a soft tune.

I am building a 406 with a couple of smallish turbos for my 55'. I would be very happy with a high ten with my setup!

I second throwing the grenade into a cheap four door malibu or something, with a set of ebay t3/t4 hybrids, ebay headers, and see if you can get that into the 10's.

 

Hey Marty,bring it back to life,your the reason i built mie..