Aaron's other 3.4 DOHC 88GT Build Thread

GM-TPI · Post by **GM-TPI** » Thu May 11, 2006 1:09 pm

Your car's black right? I think painted white would look pretty good. Hit it up with zinc primer and clear over the white paint :thumbleft: . I like the polished look but it's such a pain to keep clean.

Kohburn · Post by **Kohburn** » Thu May 11, 2006 1:22 pm

aaron can do white if he wants - I had white before and went to red

Chase Race · Post by **Chase Race** » Thu May 11, 2006 2:27 pm

bryson wrote:I would probably prime them and put a nice coat of paint that actually looks like aluminum, then leave it. I love a nice cast look.

Ditto on that.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Thu May 11, 2006 3:31 pm

GM-TPI wrote:Your car's black right? I think painted white would look pretty good. Hit it up with zinc primer and clear over the white paint :thumbleft: . I like the polished look but it's such a pain to keep clean.

No this one is maroon :puke:

What do you guys mean by the "paint that actually looks liek aluminum?"

GM-TPI · Post by **GM-TPI** » Thu May 11, 2006 4:21 pm

Aaron wrote:
GM-TPI wrote:Your car's black right? I think painted white would look pretty good. Hit it up with zinc primer and clear over the white paint :thumbleft: . I like the polished look but it's such a pain to keep clean.
No this one is maroon :puke:

What do you guys mean by the "paint that actually looks liek aluminum?"

http://paradiseroadspeedandcustom.com/vht-sp995_w.jpg

So you have two cars, maroon is gross, paint it white :afrocool:

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Thu May 11, 2006 5:37 pm

Yah I've got the black 88GT in my sig that will be getting a 3.4 DOHC sometime in the next yer, maybe 2. And we have the maroon 88GT, which came with a poorly done 3.4 DOHC swap, and I'm redoing it. Thanks for the link.

Update: I made the cam hold down tool today. Behold Aaron, aka, Masta Welda Fabricata:

And here are some close up pics of the Power Steering idler, of which was done well IMHO:

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Fri May 12, 2006 12:57 pm

Update: I still havn't gotten the cam gears off, so the timing belt is on hold for now. Hopefully I'll get that done later today. I went ahead and dove in to change the intake manifold gaskets. That was a good idea, they were old, torn up, crushed to about 1/2 the new height, and looked all around like they were from 1992. And you all can't imagine the dirt/grudge beneath the lower intake. It was awful, dirt was caked there 1" thick! And with the dirt was your normal array of cut wires, plastic wire shielding in millions of pieces, and a few pieces of rubber hose. SO I grabbed the vacuum and sucked like Paris Hilton. I then cleaned some more, and finally took a wire brush to the head surface. I would have liked to change the oil distribution cover gasket and such, but I didn't have the time, the gasket, etc. I also would have liked to change the distributor plug O-ring, but couldn't for the same reasons above. I also changed the fuel rail/injectors to the ones from my old Z34, the rail that came with the Fero had 4 of the stock injectors, then 2 which weren't like the rest. I figure I'll play it safe and go with a rail that I know is good.

Right after I took the LIM off:

After an hour of cleaning:

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Fri May 12, 2006 6:03 pm

Spent the rest of the day doing the lower intake manifold gaskets. I decided I am going to do the distributor O-ring, as the motor has a few miles, and it is a very common problem. So while I can still get to it, I may as well do it.

I also did the cam timing, and yes, it does feel awesome once you've finished and you know it's right. It feels like a big accomplishment, whereas all this other stuff was just commonplace maintenance stuff I do all the time.

And Steven, my hold down tool worked fine, my socket just cleared it :thumbleft: Thanks again for all the help dude.

Tomorrow I want to figure out what I'm doing as far as valve covers/oil fill goes, and paint the valve covers/UIM.

The Dark Side of Will · Sat May 13, 2006 2:21 pm

If you think that's bad, you've never had to clean up after a fluid filled engine mount has become a fluid covered engine mount and gotten 50-100K miles of road grime imbedded in it. ick.

How do you change the dizzy plug o-ring without pulling the head?

If you want to change the distribution cover gasket, now's the time.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Sat May 13, 2006 2:53 pm

The Dark Side of Will wrote: How do you change the dizzy plug o-ring without pulling the head?

If you want to change the distribution cover gasket, now's the time.

Technically, you don't.

But realistically, you ghetto-rig it MTA style yo. Unbolt it and lift the plug up, put a diaganol cut through a small block dizzy gasket, slip that around, and cover it in gasket sealer. Seems to work great for everyone that's done it.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Sat May 20, 2006 2:47 am

Update:

I got a bit of work done in the past few days. I painted and installed the rear valve cover, upper intake manifold, and the exhaust manifolds and crossover. I also cut off the 3.4 DOHC V6 injector cover, turned it around, and glued it back on so that it can be read when looking from the back of the car. Sucks though, I totally forgot about the wiring when I put the UIM on, so now I have to take it off again, but I have a bunch of extra gaskets so no big deal. I also ordered new oil cooler lines ($26 from GM), and ordered an oil fill cap with weld-in bung from Summit.

How it sits:

Series8217 · Post by **Series8217** » Sat May 20, 2006 3:42 am

That looks really f'in good!

Post by **eHoward** » Sat May 20, 2006 9:54 am

those struts look original.

swap 'em out!

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Sat May 27, 2006 1:02 pm

Well I am long since overdue for an update, I havn't had much time to work on it.

I finished the front valve cover. You can see the JB Weld line and such, but overall the oil fill looks pretty good. I also added in the breather lines and PCV line. I took off the upper intake after forgetting to run the injection wiring. I cleaned up the ignition and coils, put those on. Then i cleaned the oil cooler and put that on with brand new lines from the GM dealer (~$26). Lastly I put back on the starter. As she sits:

Today is the day for wiring. It is the next step, and Steven said he would help me along whenever I snag myself. I think I can do it, and he is good at explaining things correctly, and in the perfect amount of detail to where I understand them. So instead of spending ~$300 on Erik, I am having a friend come down who is decent at wiring, and together, with Steven pn call, I think I'll get it. I don't expect to have to do much besides testing, rerouting, and cleaning though, as I think this is one part the original owner got mostly correct. So I pulled out the harness, and here it is. This shit is scary.

Shaun41178(2) · Post by **Shaun41178(2)** » Sat May 27, 2006 3:52 pm

Wiring is easy. Just time consuming. Check, recheck and double check again.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Sat May 27, 2006 6:33 pm

Well after spending the majority of the day on it, I was surprised. He actually had most of the wiring correct.

There are a few parts that I need to change/add in, but it should have run the way it was just fine. Thus I firmly believe cam timing was the sole reason for it not running.

I need to change/add in:
-VSS wires (They were left unplug from the C203, and according to Steven, need to splice into the VSS wries from the ECU to the VSS)
-Canister Purge (He had not wired this in or included it, so I have to find one and wire it in)
-Alternator wiring (Ripped out in tow)
-Backup lamp/swtich wiring (Also ripped out in tow)
-ESC Knock sensor wiring (Also ripped out in tow)

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Sun May 28, 2006 1:06 am

Did a bit more with the wiring, got the VSS all hooked up, though I'm pretty unconfident that it will work.

Things I still need to do:
-Purge canister
-Kncok sensor (I can't even find the wire after the firewall pass-through)
-Reverse switch wiring (Wires pulled right out of the connector at the trans)
-Alternator wiring (Again, no connectors)
-Re hook up the njection harness that I cut off when taking the motor out (Damn my impatience and over-hapiness with with dykes)

Other than that, it is pretty much done. Should have wiring done by tomorrow. I need to run to the junkyard to get a purge thingy. Ironic, last time I was down there I didn't grab it, thinking, I doubt I'll need this, My dad was standing there saying grab it just in case. But no, I was sure it didn't do shit.

One thing that sucks is that I have no prayer of having cruise control. There is no wiring for it, no module, no cable, no nothing. Which is odd, considering all 88GTs IIRC had CC, and it has the CC controls on the turn signal stalk..

I also will not have the clutch switch hooked up.

Chip goes out tomorrow for Ryan with Gmtuners to "fix" it.

product1620 · Post by **product1620** » Sun May 28, 2006 1:56 am

One thing that sucks is that I have no prayer of having cruise control. There is no wiring for it, no module, no cable, no nothing. Which is odd, considering all 88GTs IIRC had CC, and it has the CC controls on the turn signal stalk..

Oh, come on, who needs CC? it adds weight; ok, like 5#, but any weight savings is good weight savings. I just recently took the CC off my GT.

The Dark Side of Will · Sun May 28, 2006 9:15 am

Aaron wrote:Today is the day for wiring. It is the next step, and Steven said he would help me along whenever I snag myself. I think I can do it, and he is good at explaining things correctly, and in the perfect amount of detail to where I understand them. So instead of spending ~$300 on Erik, I am having a friend come down who is decent at wiring, and together, with Steven pn call, I think I'll get it. I don't expect to have to do much besides testing, rerouting, and cleaning though, as I think this is one part the original owner got mostly correct. So I pulled out the harness, and here it is. This shit is scary.

I hope you wrapped it up and made it look decent. Why does it seem like no one can do wiring worth a shit?

The Dark Side of Will · Sun May 28, 2006 9:19 am

Aaron wrote:-VSS wires (They were left unplug from the C203, and according to Steven, need to splice into the VSS wries from the ECU to the VSS)
-Canister Purge (He had not wired this in or included it, so I have to find one and wire it in)

What kind of VSS signal does the 3.4 ECM want to see? The Fiero VSS sends a 4,000 pulse per mile signal to the Fiero dash via the C203, then the dash divides by two and sends a 2,000 ppm signal back to the ECM via a different C203 pin.

Will the 3.4 ECM throw a code if the EECS solenoid isn't connected? The Fiero has a vacuum operated cannister purge that requires no ECM oversight.