Let the madness begin

[NoMad]

So I purchased my 88 Formula with a fastback from the Georgia Fiero club a bit over a year ago. It had a hoped up 3.1 bored .060 over. It ran well and was quick. Had the five speed I wanted and all the right bones. Was primer grey and the interior was okay.

I tracked all of my tinkerings and upgrades on the Georgia Fiero forum. It only seemed right to share all of that with them as the car had a history with the club.

Somewhere along the way the car developed a terrible condition that made it undrivable. I trouble shot and worked through all the cuprits but couldn't ever get it right and it finally nearly got me killed on the highway so I parked it. That wasn't cause I was done with it, not even a little. I had already purchased the motor I always wanted for it, the LQ1.

Fast forward to now and I am in the process of getting her built out as my car, rather than the one I bought. I will still keep things up there but a good friend has been doing the bulk of his build tracking here and it seems a more fitting place for this type of build anyway.

So at present here is the sum of it:
1988 chassis

2x 1995 LQ1 factory service motors with zero miles. They were "new" when I bought them from some meth head hillbilly rednecks in the middle of nowhere Kentucky. I was 7 hours from home and the engines were stored outside under some trees. They were "sealed" by the sellers and I should have walked away but didn't. Now the better of the two has been bored .030 over to remove rust pitting in the number six cylinder. I now have tri-metal main and rod bearings on the way. The new pistons are sealed power units with new rings to match. All the gaskets for the engine are fel-pro. The top end is getting similar treatment with nitrided sbc cam bearings from WOT. There are stiffer valve springs, titanium retainers, and new seals to go in as well. I am porting and polishing the heads now and they will be fastened down with ARP studs from WOT. The exhaust studs will all be ARP 300 stainless that are on their way. I have ported and polished the upper and lower intakes some time ago and they are ready. The cam covers and upper intake have been powder coated a deep metallic bronze.

F23 Transmission

Short-throw shifter

Reinforced powder coated cradle

New shocks/struts/poly bushings all around when I rebuilt the suspension on first buying the car.

Brakes are C4 Vette rotors all around

Computer is a 7730 P4 Flash EBL that I installed in hopes of curing the mystery issues.

Stereo is all new minus the factory sub setup. Digital receiver and new speakers.

Custom Mr. MIkes seat covers. Newish carpet when I got her, and new mats and visors. I repaired the dash bits as best I could but I have other long term plans for that.....

Springs will be trimmed to lower and I have fieroguru correction brackets and solid rod setups ready to go in then.

I fully rebuilt a new rack with new bearings and brass bushing and new inner tie rods and new moog outers. I replaced all the ball joints as soon as I got the car.

Momo d cut steering wheel and hub.

Subaru BRZ wheels.

Ocelot exhaust (but that will likely change)

All new body panels for everything save the roof, hood, decklid, and fast back clip. I have the Fi512 front with lights and a set of ribbed IMSA scoops to go on. I have stock gt side skirts and rear bumper as well as all the trims. The decklid came with a nicely done mustang scoop bolted on. I went ahead and removed the spoiler and glassed over the holes. I added a hood vent that I need to do lots of clean up on as it isn't the nicest example ever and I did it no favors on original install. There are fiero fiberglass quarter window scoops but I have already pulled them and modified them for a window in them as they were solid type and had terrible blindspots. I will finish all the details and pull a mold from them so I can make a good set to use. Might even make them from carbon fiber.... I will be glassing in the scoop and likely wiring in an exhaust fan when I do.

Long term plans include a turbo for the LQ1 and a full custom dash with Dakota digital gauges. The paint will likely be done by me and in a metallic British racing green with an offset turbine bronze racing stripe.

Lots of things to be done but lots already done as well.

[Shaun41178(2)]

Nice man. Welcome. Sounds like You have done a lot already

[ericjon262]

Welcome aboard! be sure to post up lots of pictures! the EBL flash is an AWESOME piece isn't it? I had one on my 454 way back in the day!

[The Dark Side of Will]

I now have tri-metal main and rod bearings on the way.

Have you checked King? They have 270 degree grooved mains for the LQ1. Series 8217 uses those in the engine he built for his street/track car.

Welcome! Sounds like you're well on your way!

If you're amenable to rod end/spherical bearings in the suspension, check this out: http://www.realfierotech.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21745

[NoMad]

Already have my tri-metal clevit bearings in hand.

As for the spherical, I am not sure it's something I need right at the moment.

All my photos are being flagged as too large. Means I will have to hyperlink them in which means sitting down at the computer. Will be a lot more often I post words than photos I guess. Will try to keep up though.

[draven]

Good to see you on here chief.... been working with NoMad off and on for the last few months on my LF3.5 swap as he helped push me over the hump to finish my engine mounts....

He's a great addition to the board here, knows his stuff, and isn't afraid to journey into the unknown...

[pmbrunelle]

I saw that there's already a build thread on gafiero for this project. We have a lot of reading to do on that thread to get up to speed!

Hello!

[NoMad]

Ya, that is a long build out for phase one. Will keep a really simple version of this there but they tend to stick with OHV stuff and are very knowledgeable at keeping mostly stock fieros running great. The heavy technical end of high performance isn't their forte.

Getting ready to go start some porting in a few minutes. The full polish of the chambers turned out well. Took it to 400 grit cross-buffs but might go ahead and grab some compound and pads to take it all the way to a mirror.

[NoMad]

Been a couple good hours of porting. Intakes are cleaned up, port/gasket matched, and the short radius are now opened up a little bit. Will hit them a bit with the 80 grit cones before I am done but no more. I want to keep good tumble happening there. Also knife-edged the dividers.

The exhaust sides are all port matched and the bowls are all shaped. This is the one that is all done with the rotary files. Will get the other two matched to it before moving on to the cones and then buffs. Will be taking these out to 400 grit cross-buffs and possibly rouged out like the chambers if I get a wild hair.

Was hoping to avoid needing to get the valves touched up but t I got a bit close with the ferrule and now will be getting them done 5 angle. I also nicked the port edge the same way on the completed exhaust. Apparently my skill (none) doesn't hold up so we'll towards the end of a four hour straight porting session. Seeing as I already took one head the wrong way and now need to pull one from motor number two to complete the this build. Steep learning curve. Might be able to pull a replacement when head when I hit the pull-a-part in the morning.

[NoMad]

So I spent the last two days stripping a 95 LQ1 from a cutless supreme convertible at a pull a part. I must say I understand why mechanics hated working on these things! Had to take off the heads and remove the radiator and fans just to get the damn exhaust manifolds!

That said I got the coil packs, both exhaust manifolds, upper and lower intakes, fuel rail and injectors, tons of wiring and vacume lines, lots of the bolts clips and idlers I needed, and the cooling duct for the alternator. All for around $245 and a lot of cursing.

Will clean a bunch of it up on Sunday and hope to be putting this motor together again really soon.

[pmbrunelle]

Was hoping to avoid needing to get the valves touched up but t I got a bit close with the ferrule and now will be getting them done 5 angle. I also nicked the port edge the same way on the completed exhaust. Apparently my skill (none) doesn't hold up so we'll towards the end of a four hour straight porting session. Seeing as I already took one head the wrong way and now need to pull one from motor number two to complete the this build. Steep learning curve. Might be able to pull a replacement when head when I hit the pull-a-part in the morning.

I nicked the turbine flange of my turbo while porting the hole, and that was like a one hour job...

Porting seems to me like unprotected sex. You should plan for accidents.