Which to do first?

[teamlseep13]

Well after measuring and racking my brain on trying to fit a Subaru engine in my Fiero, I've decided to just buy a 04 2.2L Ecotec and be done with it.
But before I do that, I should ask you all, which would you do first?
Engine Swap- Get my power lust under control, but that leaves me with stock chassis and suspension, and we all know power is nothing without control.
Suspension/Chassis Mods- Get it all dialed in and when the time is right, add the power.

Lemme know what you guys think. Thanks

Hunter

[crzyone]

Well, a stock ecotec won't be super fast to begin with. I say do your suspension mods now. Making the car handle better is always a plus, and its good to get all those old bushings out of the suspension.

Why did you choose to go with an ecotec? It will be fairly pricey to build a turbocharged ecotec for a fiero, let alone you will be one of the very few to start on an ecotec swap. You won't have much technical support with that motor. It does not bolt up to any fiero transmission, you are looking at alot of custom fabrication. Probibly why there arn't that many people attempting that swap.

An nice swap that is 100% better than a stock 2.8 is a 3.4dohc. Super easy to install, probibly the easiest motor swap of all. 210/220 isn't bad either.

[Kohburn]

do the suspension and brakes first

and build up an ecotec SC or turbo on a stand then drop it in and wire it up

[The Dark Side of Will]

Do you have 2.8 or Iron Duck?

If you have the 2.8, do the suspension/brake mods first
If you have the Iron Duck, do the engine swap first.

Just going by what I think will be the most satisfying return on investment.

What year is your car?

[Pyrthian]

yup - dont need to actually mod, but at least get fresh brakes, struts & rear a-arm bushings. first thing anyone does with a strong motor is hit the freeway - and a sloppy rear end is VERY scary at even 60 MPH. takes all the fun out of a strong motor, knowing you cant even do the speed limit.

[p8ntman442]

Why the ecotec? I know it has great potential, but a quad 4 or even a twin cam 2.4 with a supercharger ( www.mantapart.com ) would give you lots of power. A 3.4 tdc would be better. I do understand If your going for originality though. Either way, do the engine swap first if your car is in decent shape, that way you can tune the suspension to the new weight. (or do it all at once when the cradle is out).

[TurboGT]

I have been looking at the eco swap and it dosnt look bad. This guy Ceticars@aol.com makes adapters to bolt a eco up to a fiero tranny he quoted me $325 for just the adapter I have also heard he sells the flywheel and clutch. If you go with a turbo the stock internals they are good to around 300hp little less. Here is the GM eco build book, it also has some good stuff on the tranny they use and a lot of part numbers
Very Large File will take a while to load
http://www.gm.com/company/gmtunersource ... d_book.pdf
The eco has a lot going for it but it will cost you to get going with it.

[teamlseep13]

Thanks for all the replies. I have a 88 Iron Duke.
As for the reason for the Ecotec. I can get a 04 2.2L with the 5 speed transaxle for $900. The motor will almost drop right in with the exsisting mounts, cept for one of the motor mounts needs modification. So its not to difficult to do, just hasn't been done before. Plus, a mild turbo Eco will push 250-280 and it weighs less than the fatty I have now.
Sure I could go with a Quad, but I would like a newer and all aluminum engine.
I think that doing suspension before the engine is what I will do. That will allow me to feel more comfortable before I get myself into more trouble with more power.
bushings will probably be first, unless I decide I want rod ends....then who knows what I will do. Thanks again
Ciao
Hunter

[The Dark Side of Will]

'88's have significantly fewer problems with bushings, especially in the rear, than the early cars.

The best street option for the 88 rear is poly, but I would install Gerald Storvik's ( www.8shark.com ) UHMW bushings in the front suspension.

Koni shocks all around (I think they're available for '88 front...)
and DIY coil overs in back. With a rear sway bar upgrade you should have a very nice handling car for under $1K in the suspension.

Don't forget to spend money on tires!
Keep a significant stagger between front and rear tires. Ideally, designing for the lightweight Ecotec engine nad manual trans in the back, keep about an 85% tire stagger (front tire 85% of the width of rear tire). With reasonably priced aftermarket wheels to suit you can have a slot car for about another grand on top of suspension mods.

[teamlseep13]

I plan on either SSR Comp or Motegi Trak Lites 16x7.5 in front and 16x9 in back with 215/45/16 in front and 245/45/16 in back for tires. But that may change depending on how creative I get. I may just use some road racing spindles with a differnet bolt pattern so I can get some real light BBS wheels on but who knows.

What tires do you guys like? I have always ran Michelen Pilot Sports on the cars I have built with my friends and somtimes Pirellies if we couldn't find the sizes we liked. Pricey yes, has anyone had good expeirence with Kuhmo's?

As for bushings, those delrin bushings are looking mighty good if I keep stock control arms. How do you guys feel about tubular control arms up front? I am thinking that if I go that route I will just use rod ends on the control arms, a road racing spindle and hub which will get my eningeering student brain trying to design a tubular front with differnt geometry and all. Lets hope thats not the case for the sake of my wallet:)

Koni shocks are in my plan, as wells as coilovers. I am going to try if at all possible to keep away from a rear sway bar until I absolutly need it just do I can keep as much traction in back as possible.

Thanks for being so helpful, handling and cars aren't new to me, but the Fiero is and its nice to have people with experience.
Hunter

[The Dark Side of Will]

I plan on either SSR Comp or Motegi Trak Lites 16x7.5 in front and 16x9 in back with 215/45/16 in front and 245/45/16 in back for tires.

That's about the first GOOD combo I've seen someone come up with for a Fiero without any prompting.

What do want this car to do? It sounds like you're intent on going all the way.

Stay away from eBearing front hubs. They're absolute junk as far as hard driving and competition use goes.

[teamlseep13]

My plan is to autocross for fun in the car, but do some competition everyone and a while. Plus, if I am gonna spend money on something, I might as well do it right the first time.
Anyway, the SSR's are probably what I will go with since they are 12 lbs each.
I have helped build two heavy duty road race SCCA gt1 cars in the past few years with friends of mine. One was a c5 vette and the other was a ls1 camaro.
I wil most likely be sourcing parts from people like www.hrpworld.com and the like.
Anyway, once it all starts I will keep eveyrone posted with pics as much as possible. Gotta go to work, later
Hunter

[Doug Chase]

How do you guys feel about tubular control arms up front? I am thinking that if I go that route I will just use rod ends on the control arms, a road racing spindle and hub which will get my eningeering student brain trying to design a tubular front with differnt geometry and all.

Here's what I think about tubular control arms:

They look prettier than the stock stamped steel pieces.
They might save some weight. The '88 lowers are reasonably heavy.
From a pure performance standpoint, your time and money is probably better spent elsewhere.
The '88 front geometry is already pretty good.