Thanks, yeah and if you went with the simpler 12 valve motor the intake manifold actually fits since the head is a fair bit skinnier. I have I have no regrets with the 24 valve, but I would recommend others go the easier route :p Alfa would be cool too, but finding them in the states really would be tricky!

Sadly I don’t know if anybody makes wider front fenders currently, and the rear bumper is actually a factory 88 fiero Coupe or Formula bumper :)

The VR6 is actually a very common engine starting production in the early 90s and only recently stop being sold in the states recently. Just about every Volkswagen car has been offered with them as well. Mine specifically is the 2.8l 24 valve model out of a 2004 GTI.

@@schwamotorsports7792 gotcha, so what other engine will it fit, if this one is not available?

Thank you, it really does :)

There is a more in-depth video of the build if you have some time :) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hd6morqJu6_Nips.html

Thank you :)

Sadly I never ran the virtual dyno on any of the datalogs, but the full turbo kit got moved over to a locals Formula with a hybrid 3.1l block with 3400 heads and a mild cam. He managed 270whp and 380wtrq on e85.

So lots to unpack here :) the color is Lotus Elise Laser Blue, and I love it too :) I would love to go twin or even triple turbo, I have a way to do it in my head with it being twin with a third to come in at higher loads, but not in the fiero :p A smaller turbo would definitely remove the need for cutting the trunk, and I am questioning going smaller for a little more response and torque down low, we will see what happens and I’ll keep everybody updated :)

Thank you, I will totally credit the Fiero community for the ability to get to do an engine swap with no automotive background at 17, they gave all the info needed it was more of a game of researching forum threads to learn everything I could :)

Here is a link to my build blog of the car, it gives quite a few pictures. Sadly the motor is no longer set up like that in a Fiero, I will be using the ITB set up on Brunton Stalker(Lotus Seven Replica) in the future though :) schwamotorsports.com/blogs/previous-builds/1988-pontiac-fiero-coupe-3900-swap

Thank you, its been a roller coaster in person, but I wouldn't have it any other way :) I wish I could claim the title to first vr6 Fiero but there is a 12 valve 5 speed NA build in New Jersey done years before I was able to get mine on the road, but hey 1 of 2 isn't too bad :p

Thank you, its been a journey and I love how the car has turned out :)

Not sure on the stock ECU, but once you go with Megasquirt you can lock the timing and adjust it wherever and however you want :)

Huh the instructions on the plug and play microsquirt say to lock the timing so you can correctly measure the base timing. So any adjustment you make via the ecu are off the correct base timing

Oh, in Microsquirt you will want to lock the timing, its part of the ignition settings page. One you have the Microsquirt outputting a locked timing(say 10 degrees), when you check the timing marker with a timing light you will see how much offset is needed in Microsquirt to have the commanded timing and actual timing be the same :)

@@christopherhusta9915 any links to that part of the manual?

In the SX306 service manual from the SCORE website, page 6F-7 under ignition timing step 5 and 6 state "5) Remove monitor coupler cap. 6) Connect D and E terminals of monitor coupler or E to body by using service wire so that ignition timing is fixed on initial one". Step 7 is to check the timing with light and check that it is within spec. That spec coming after step 7 in the manual specifically states "Initial ignition timing (Test switch terminal grounded): 5+/- 1 degree at BTDC (at idle speed)" the Kei Sport pnp instructions on their website say "Ensure that base timing is 5 degrees Jumper pins D and E on the diagnostics connector." That's why I brought it up, that's how I checked my base timing. @@jayboiee7054

Thank you, I love it, good sounds and great power and you can't argue with the nice gearing spread for the fiero and the little bits of modern-ness that work their way through are a nice bonus :)

I am sorry about that, I am still learning the KZfaq world and finding ways to get good outside shots, need to get some friends to help with rolling shots :)

Thank you! Thats my goal :) I don't feel I'm over the top and honestly I feel Im a bit too technical and boring, but I know people like my builds, so I love showing them off :)

@schwamotorsports7792 in my opinion? Your spot on. Keep doing as you are.

Thats cool that you were working there at the time, and yeah its crazy that the VR motors came out only 3 years after the Fiero ended, and were in the works during production of the Fieros. I do have a vr5 on the shelf to go into a rabbit if I can ever find the time :)

So the molding is actually 100% stock pieces from the Fiero Store. I think technically the wheel arches are large now than they were shortening the needed length of molding.

@@schwamotorsports7792 I see, thank you for the reply. For my purposes I'm thinking I need to bend them, but they have an aluminum insert. Soooooo, I'll figure it out somehow lol

I don’t think the factory molding has any aluminum inserts. They should just be solid plastic and honestly quite flexible. Now the marker lights are a harder plastic and not bendable, but still plastic, so you might be able to get creative with heat.

@@schwamotorsports7792 I removed the molding I will need to modify thinking they were just plastic. But they had aluminum plates inside of them, I have an 85 non GT. However, I doubt they changed how they made their molding. Do you know if maybe the Fiero Store's moldings are purely plastic?

Oh! You have a ribbed molding car, the smooth molding must be different. All the 84s (base and indy) and the 85s (GTs and base) and the 86 and 87 Sesames and the 86 Base cars had the ribbed molding, I bet thats where the aluminum comes into play.

Thank you so much for checking in, so sorry I haven't made any progreso just past the 3-4000 mile mark on the swap and on the coldest day of winter popped another head gaskets. I am think the old heads got a little damaged on the first head gasket blowing, and I really should have had them checked out. So right now Im waiting on getting the motor out and heads refreshed before putting it back together, hopefully with a new short block from Subaru :)

Thank you, I love it too :p

It is, not many inline 6 motors that fit in the bay of a Fiero that are American :p

I do, just a small shop on my property but I do builds out of it, and work with a few other local shops out of their locations for wiring and tuning :)

@@schwamotorsports7792 where are you located? Im interested in a fierro build

Yeah, I love a well done GT, but I just really love the tucked under almost Pantera shape to the bottom half of a coupe, but its hard to argue with the fastback, so we have best of both worlds here :)

Thats so cool! I knew about the Toyota 3.5l V6 swapped Fiero but I didn't know about a Hyundai swapped one, I need more info! :) are there any videos of the car?

Thank you, I'll do my best :)

Are you referring to me calling it a "Pontiac Mera"? Who would you say the automotive manufacturer of the Mera is? Pontiac was the one who got the Cease and Desist from Ferrari about the Mera. And to be honest even though Cars and Concepts built and installed the bodies for Pontiac, its easier to just say "Pontiac Mera" :)

@@schwamotorsports7792 Vehicles that had this bodykit were known as the ‘Fiero Mera’. A company called Corporate Concepts completed the conversion, and none were sold as kits; all Feiro Meras were converted by Corporate Concepts and sold through dealers

Not too bad actually, Microsquirt outputs a standard tach signal and I’m using a v6 motor and a v6 tach, then I add gm sensors, so it’s a gm coolant temp sensor and if you wanted oil pressure you would use one of those too. As for speedo I am using a full GPS speedometer from Speedhut.

Thanks, I have to say I do too :)

Are you talking about the few 84s that actually caught fire? This is an 88, from my understanding there are very few 88 Fieros that caught fire. But you have a point, if you love fire, a car in flames would be pretty :)

I’ll get to it one of these days and I’ll have atleast a couple videos on it :)

I guess the short answer is kinda :p I got it working well enough to drive it a few hundred miles but I kept having intake backfires. I removed the manifold and sold that fiero. I now have a Brunton Stalker I am putting a 3900 in and using this intake and I found a seam that wasn’t welded on the intake, so it’s getting a second chance at life and should work much better this time :)

That’s awesome, I know the vr6 can get up there power wise as well, but if I was going to push that I would want to get me some stronger axles, and drop the compression a bit. All I’m hoping for is around 400whp with 15 pounds of boost and I’ll have it on the dyno at the 40th anniversary fiero show coming up July 2023 :)

If you’re up for a northstar swap a vr6 swap isn’t too crazy out of your capacity. Coming up with good working shift cables is a bit of a pain, but still very achievable and once done simplifies most of the other unique parts into being “just an engine swap” shoot me an email, [email protected], and I would be happy to talk over any details I didn’t cover in the video :)

Having had a turbo 2zz in my Elise, it’s just not enough torque for the weight of a fiero, there are ways to get high rpm motors into Fieros, but the 2zz I fear is just lacking(without a ton of internals work to support good power). Then again, maybe the supercharged set up would be nice, but at 1000lbs heavier than an Elise it’s gonna be a tall order with that little of motor :(

@@schwamotorsports7792 Thanks man. I honestly never realized that. I thought the Fiero was around 2400lb

Yeah, for how much of a pain Missouri can be on your daily driver licensing the year of manufacturer plates are pretty awesome :)

Hehe we are, but sometimes good ideas are worthy and somebody else already having them doesn’t make them any less good :p

VR6 makes tunes easier than a traditional V6

Thank you, I try and keep all my builds interesting, can’t just be cookie cutter swaps all the time :p

Sadly don’t know where you can get a plug and play harness but if you could get the car to me I can build a harness for you on the car :)

Eventually will have more than the Fieros and the Elise, the Isetta is technically mid engine too :p

Sadly the only one I have has the front end cut off of it and it’s just for parts.

We were so happy you joined us, looking forward to next year and even more Fieros on the trip :)

So it depends on if you are willing to do the tuning yourself or not. If you can't tune, or don't have a tuner but you are really good with a wrench, I would swap the wiring harnesses and ecu and drivetrain from an XT over to the XS, otherwise there are just some frustrating hurtles with the XS when it comes to tuning.

@@schwamotorsports7792 I heard you don't have to swap the wiring harness only have to add a jumper guess that's not true on the 2.5turbo motor swap

@@HypedOUT maybe it has to do with which 2.5 you use, the XT motor has variable intake cams and I don’t know if that can be integrated into the harness, but the XT motors also have the wiring disconnects in a slightly different location than the XS cars but I’m not quite sure how much that effects things :p

So its kinda a mixed bag depending on which direction you want to take :p So It depends on how you want to go about tuning. For mine I got lucky and was able to flash an Impreza tune onto my ECU which allowed me to actually tune this ECU in this chassis. Then the next crucial part is keeping the SOHC motor and building all the parts :p Rather than rewiring for the DOHC with the variable cams I kept all of the heads original and ECU original. Then Im keeping the boost within reason and using a wideband to keep my motor happy :)

So I can use my 2.5 motor just got to build it for boost . And I can use my same ecu. I heard the Subaru ecu are able to be tuned no chip need to tune

No chip is needed, but the forester ECU is kinda tricky, I got lucky flashing a 2.5rs tune onto my ecu, but you might play it safe and just swap to an RS ecu of the same year and see if you can get into it with Romraider, otherwise first fine a local tuner who is willing to do some tricks to get it take care of, then yes if you build it for boost you should be able to have some fun in your SOHC NA car :p

I feel the boost is a bit crucial, Fieros weigh a bit more than most vw’s but with all the bits together it’s amazing :)

Haven't actually tested anything on speeds or track times but the math suggests it should crack into the 10s in the 1/4 mile and pull off 0-60 in 3.5 seconds or less :p As for MPG, on our last big club cruise the portion where it was all highway speeds, but averaging 75-80mph, a 3800sc 4 speed, 3500 5 speed turbo, a 3800sc 5 speed, and my vr6 6 speed all got around 26-28mpg. On a previous cruise at closer to 65mph average the same cars got over 30mpg, so I would assume mine would do the same :) But with aggressive city driving and highway mix I average 18mpg :)