I Can Make One Of Those From a Budweiser Can!

"Where have all the lightweights gone?" (sniderjadam09) 09/08/2013 at 15:49 • Filed to: FIERORAMA, CARBAGE

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I stumbled across this little "festival"not too far from my girlfriend's house in St. Charles, IL. It's called Fierorama, a gathering of Fiero enthusiasts. As a sign of good taste, I chose not to go closer than this in far off laughing in their faces.

The title was shouted by an old man at these questionable enthusiasts as I was leaving. Can anyone else top his trolling?

Where have all the lightweights gone? > Where have all the lightweights gone? 09/08/2013 at 15:54

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Nibbles doesn't like my pic post (apparently he likes Fieros).

Blondude > Where have all the lightweights gone? 09/08/2013 at 15:58

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Whoa, awesome.

Sparf > Where have all the lightweights gone? 09/08/2013 at 16:07

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I actually like Fieros.

I say screw you, my good sir!

Where have all the lightweights gone? > Sparf 09/08/2013 at 16:13

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...But can you see yourself sitting/walking around a parking lot of nothing but Fiero owners?

itsnothere > Where have all the lightweights gone? 09/08/2013 at 16:13

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wasn't the Fiero made of the front clip and partial frame (front of the car) of a Chevy Chevette (T-Body) and the partial front clip of the Chevy Citation (rear of the car).

Just something I remember about "right sourcing parts" that GM was doing back in the day.

TheLOUDMUSIC- Put it in H! > Sparf 09/08/2013 at 16:14

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Like I've said before, I love me some lowered 88 Fiero fastback.

Sparf > Where have all the lightweights gone? 09/08/2013 at 16:17

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If I can exclusively talk to owners of '88 GTs then yes, yes I can.

The Swedish Bandit > Sparf 09/08/2013 at 16:24

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So you wouldn't talk to my friend who happens to own this '88 Formula then? ( http://www.garaget.org/?car=249422 ) Funny little bugger, feels really tight. But then again, I think all cars that lack power steering feel "really tight".

Sparf > The Swedish Bandit 09/08/2013 at 16:29

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I'm unsure if the Formula got the vastly improved suspension that the '88 GT got (which is why it's the only Fiero worth owning).

Even so, really nice car!

The Swedish Bandit > Sparf 09/08/2013 at 16:34

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Don't know, I've always assumed that a "Formula" (any model) is a top of the line speced car with all the go fast bits but without all the luxury.

But really though, the car is a slushbox, which even I'll agree on, ain't cool on a mid engine "sports car".

Sparf > The Swedish Bandit 09/08/2013 at 16:40

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Yeah I just saw that it was a slushbox, and a 3-speed at that! Boo!

I found this on Wikipedia:

With the 1988 model year came a completely new front and rear suspension with vented disc brakes at all four corners- what Pontiac's engineers had planned for the car to have from the beginning. The front suspension geometry was changed to decrease the scrub radius thus decreasing steering effort without adding a bulky power steering system. The camber curve was also much improved, the dampers are moved inside the coil springs, and new sealed bearing/hub units were used in 1988. The rear suspension featured multi-link (two lateral links and one trailing arm) Chapman strut suspension, and the tie-rod related bump steer experienced with the earlier suspension design was fixed. The brakes were also upgraded to 10.5 in (26.7 cm) vented rotors on the front and rear with an improved slide caliper design having larger diameter slides. The Fiero Formula (new for 1988) and Fiero GT models also received a rear anti-sway bar to compliment non-progressive rate springs.

So yeah it's a GT without the bodykit, just like the 3rd gen Firebird Formula was more-or-less a Trans Am without the bodykit (although I believe the Trans Am GTA's WS6 suspension package was unavailable for the Formula).

The Swedish Bandit > Sparf 09/08/2013 at 16:53

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Yup, would you look at that. Same thing goes for the 2nd gen Firebirds. A fully speced Formula was just as-, if not even faster than a Trans Am, due to being more lightweight.

Anyways my friend is doing some crazy talk about putting the bigger Firebird V6 in it, that he's gonna mate with a 5-speed Fiero manual. CRAAAZY!

Sparf > The Swedish Bandit 09/08/2013 at 17:16

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Sounds good, although most people swap in FWD V6 due to them being better designed for transversal mounting and also being easier to source motor mounts for. There's also the possible issue of the engine having the oil injectors in spots that don't work terribly well in a transversal setup (leading to oil gathering on one side of the engine and starving the other).

I've seen a lot of supercharged 3.8 liter swaps, and that seems like rather easy swap.

Here's one drag racing!

The Swedish Bandit > Sparf 09/08/2013 at 17:40

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You've been studying this for 10 minutes and you already know more than my friend who has had the car for 3 years! I knew he was in way over his head when he told me this, because according to him the Firebird V6 would just bolt right in with no modification need at all. Time to go crush his dreams and then maybe point him in the right direction with the help of your wise words.

Sparf > The Swedish Bandit 09/08/2013 at 17:51

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Actually, I studied Fiero swaps when I was hunting for my first car, since it was on the list of cars I wanted.

Don't quote me on the oil starvation thing though, but it's a very common issue when putting FWD engines in RWD cars so I figure it's the same when you do the opposite.

If he wants to go a bit nuts he could get an LS4, which was designed to be FWD.

The Swedish Bandit > Sparf 09/08/2013 at 17:59

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Aah I see. But the oil starvation issue you name definitely makes a lot of sense in my mind,

LS4? Nah, I'm selling him my 350 poncho to him when I'm done with it (as in when I get my 455). I really don't see any issues with shoving that giant piece of cast iron engine in that tiny engine bay + he gets to keep it in the Pontiac family.

Sparf > The Swedish Bandit 09/08/2013 at 18:12

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How about absolutely awful weight distribution? It'll be so ass-heavy it'll be scary as fuck to drive fast (similar to the early 911s, notably the turbos). Once a mid/rear-engined car with a heavy rear like that looses rear traction, almost no amount of skill will be able to keep it from spinning out of control into the nearest tree (which is usually lethal, hence why the 911 earned the nickname "Widowmaker").

And there's the oil starvation issue to deal with, since it was never designed to be FWD and AFAIK nobody has attempted to use it as such yet. Plus, you're going to have one hell of a hard time trying to find motor mounts and a transmission that fits.

The Swedish Bandit > Sparf 09/08/2013 at 18:23

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It'll be so ass heavy that it will be impossible for the rear end to slide! Problem solved! And I'm thinking doing it Zonda style by keeping it in it's normal direction, who cares if the engine might be intruding a bit in the coupe area?! Shifting will be solved by getting a M20 Muncie with an extremely long shifter. Might not be the most exact thing in the world, but it'll certainly be challengelly fun.

See?! I've practically already got it all figured out.

Sparf > The Swedish Bandit 09/08/2013 at 18:32

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