94Blackbird
06-25-2014, 09:46 PM
1 thing first before I start
1st, my trans am isn't on the chopping block, it's just on the back burner for now. I saw a chance to make some money and get a fun daily driver out of the deal, so I jumped on it like a fat kid on ice cream. and if things work out well, I should be able to keep making money. Making more money means the TA gets finished faster.
The beginning of this tale isn't fiero related at all, it starts about 4 months ago when my truck (2001 Ram 3500 24 valve) **** it's clutch on a haul out to indianapolis for work. I'm very glad that I chose a stick shift over and automatic or else I would have been SCA_REEEWED!!! Drove from columbus ohio to indianapolis and back to eastlake ohio with no clutch pedal. Truck was down for about 2 months trying to diagnose the issue and also due to the fact that it was february and this year was a colder than average winter, which ultimately lead to a full clutch replacement. Almost needed new undies, a 400 pound transmission trying to turn turtle on the trans jack just above your head is not a fun experience!
During this time, I couldn't just take 2 months off of work, so I purchased this:
http://i.imgur.com/xL9lfmHl.jpg
That green blob you are looking at is a 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora with the 4.0 Northstar V8. This car has been nothing but a headache, began throwing codes shortly after I got it home and I finally gave up on it when it sat for 5 days while I was hauling back and forth from eastlake ohio to ft wayne indiana helping a client move a large hoard of old pontiac superduty parts. (worked 50 + hours and drove 1000 miles in 5 days. Payed good though) Got home, tried to start the car and nothing. . The engine still starts and runs fine (have to put the charger too it to get it going though), just a little stumble at idle and no white smoke/coolant smell coming from the tail pipes. Just a big electrical gremlin hiding somewhere, and the car isn't worth the effort in my opinion, as it's all ready half rotted out. So for now it sits in the yard, but will still be a part of this tale
Fast forward 2 months, and with the truck back up and running and a perfectly good 4.0 northstar sitting there doing nothing, I thought it was time to find another vehicle to drive so I could keep the miles off my truck (cars are much, much cheaper to fix than my 1 ton). So I started looking into fieros since I know 3 guys who have or had engine swapped GT's, 2 are 3800 supercharged swaps (1 auto, 1 getrag) and the other is a fuel injected 355 with a G6 6speed swap.
Well, 2 saturdays ago, I had a line on a clean 88 roller in michigan, but the guy sold it on me at the last minute, so instead I looked around and picked up these 2 Gems for 300 a piece. No way were either of these cars going to fit the bill, but I saved a lot of good parts from the crusher, even though the cars are in pretty rough shape. I almost passed on them for the simple fact that, despite what the previous owners told me, the first car loaded (the 86 SE) did not roll. At all. All 4 wheels were locked up when we started, and silly me, I didn't have a winch in the trailer at the time. So 4-4.5 hours later, the 86 is finally loaded, and the 87 didn't take all that long because it did infact roll. Still not winch though, so another 1.5-2 hours with chains and a come along and both cars where finally loaded.
A couple pics of my tow rig
http://i.imgur.com/ozk8OR9l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/eOyA5aVl.jpg
The 87 GT under the silver tarp (front clip missing and interior is trashed. Some parts are salvagable, but not much)
http://i.imgur.com/HDsu8anl.jpg (http://imgur.com/HDsu8an)
The 86 SE.
http://i.imgur.com/bQjSJ1cl.jpg (http://imgur.com/bQjSJ1c)
But wait, you say, this is a tail of 4 fieros, not 2! And how does the oldsmobile factor into all of this!
Well, if you have a little more patience, I was just getting to that part. This past sunday I hoofed out from cleveland ohio to a town about a half hour north of louisville KY, and picked up the other 2, well, really 1.5 fieros, both 88 GT's. I had a winch this time, and you will see why it came in handy that I forced myself to work all afternoon on saturday and late into the night to get this thing mounted and wired up. The .5 would have had to stay had I not had that sucker.
Get on with it you say, I'm here for the cars, not to watch some guy have diarrhia of the mouth. Alright, alright, here are the newest additions to my flock of fieros.
The running driving 88GT #7532 off the line. It's rough, but it's mostly there.
http://i.imgur.com/xtsg6mLl.jpg
This car is going to be my daily driver for awhile. When the other car is finished, then this one will be restored/restomoded and will likely have to find a new home so it doesn't become a poor neglected yard ornament. You will understand why I say this once you have made it through the next part.
The other 88 (#21426 of the line) is in pretty sorry shape. This part of the story is a little heart breaking, the previous owner had just finished putting the car together, then 2 weeks go by and he is rear ended buy a drugged up chick in a bottom of the line saturn (you know the ones, look like they have a heavily slopped caveman brow), ripping the rear half of the car completely off. But there are enough good parts left on the front half of the car and the back half of the 87 to resurrect this car and make it most of the way right again.
http://i.imgur.com/fJ2Z3X9l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WAE3IQMl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QirWflbl.jpg
But wait, you say, what's that green blob at the beginning got to do with any of this? Well, since you've been patient enough with my rambling to read this far, I'll tell you. If you haven't guessed the logical conclusion that is. Which if you have, good on you! You win an internets!
The car that is being resurrected will receive the 4.0 V8 after a thorough rebuild and a few small mods to increase power output and improve reliability. I'm going to be building a carburetor manifold for the engine and I'm pretty sure I have the distributor figured out (saw some pics of a blown northstar that had a distributor on it) This will be mated to a Getrag 5 speed, and the car will be tastefully modified to my liking. There is also a possibility that the car may be turbocharged in the future, but that has yet to be determined. This one needs reliability over power, at least for the moment (I know, I know, a NORTHSTAR? Reliable? Well, yes, if you follow the proper maintenance procedures. The one in the donor car has over 250,000 miles on it and has definitely never been opened up before so there! :P Plus, if this one shits on me, there are plenty more out there for decent prices. Rinse and repeat.)
1st, my trans am isn't on the chopping block, it's just on the back burner for now. I saw a chance to make some money and get a fun daily driver out of the deal, so I jumped on it like a fat kid on ice cream. and if things work out well, I should be able to keep making money. Making more money means the TA gets finished faster.
The beginning of this tale isn't fiero related at all, it starts about 4 months ago when my truck (2001 Ram 3500 24 valve) **** it's clutch on a haul out to indianapolis for work. I'm very glad that I chose a stick shift over and automatic or else I would have been SCA_REEEWED!!! Drove from columbus ohio to indianapolis and back to eastlake ohio with no clutch pedal. Truck was down for about 2 months trying to diagnose the issue and also due to the fact that it was february and this year was a colder than average winter, which ultimately lead to a full clutch replacement. Almost needed new undies, a 400 pound transmission trying to turn turtle on the trans jack just above your head is not a fun experience!
During this time, I couldn't just take 2 months off of work, so I purchased this:
http://i.imgur.com/xL9lfmHl.jpg
That green blob you are looking at is a 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora with the 4.0 Northstar V8. This car has been nothing but a headache, began throwing codes shortly after I got it home and I finally gave up on it when it sat for 5 days while I was hauling back and forth from eastlake ohio to ft wayne indiana helping a client move a large hoard of old pontiac superduty parts. (worked 50 + hours and drove 1000 miles in 5 days. Payed good though) Got home, tried to start the car and nothing. . The engine still starts and runs fine (have to put the charger too it to get it going though), just a little stumble at idle and no white smoke/coolant smell coming from the tail pipes. Just a big electrical gremlin hiding somewhere, and the car isn't worth the effort in my opinion, as it's all ready half rotted out. So for now it sits in the yard, but will still be a part of this tale
Fast forward 2 months, and with the truck back up and running and a perfectly good 4.0 northstar sitting there doing nothing, I thought it was time to find another vehicle to drive so I could keep the miles off my truck (cars are much, much cheaper to fix than my 1 ton). So I started looking into fieros since I know 3 guys who have or had engine swapped GT's, 2 are 3800 supercharged swaps (1 auto, 1 getrag) and the other is a fuel injected 355 with a G6 6speed swap.
Well, 2 saturdays ago, I had a line on a clean 88 roller in michigan, but the guy sold it on me at the last minute, so instead I looked around and picked up these 2 Gems for 300 a piece. No way were either of these cars going to fit the bill, but I saved a lot of good parts from the crusher, even though the cars are in pretty rough shape. I almost passed on them for the simple fact that, despite what the previous owners told me, the first car loaded (the 86 SE) did not roll. At all. All 4 wheels were locked up when we started, and silly me, I didn't have a winch in the trailer at the time. So 4-4.5 hours later, the 86 is finally loaded, and the 87 didn't take all that long because it did infact roll. Still not winch though, so another 1.5-2 hours with chains and a come along and both cars where finally loaded.
A couple pics of my tow rig
http://i.imgur.com/ozk8OR9l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/eOyA5aVl.jpg
The 87 GT under the silver tarp (front clip missing and interior is trashed. Some parts are salvagable, but not much)
http://i.imgur.com/HDsu8anl.jpg (http://imgur.com/HDsu8an)
The 86 SE.
http://i.imgur.com/bQjSJ1cl.jpg (http://imgur.com/bQjSJ1c)
But wait, you say, this is a tail of 4 fieros, not 2! And how does the oldsmobile factor into all of this!
Well, if you have a little more patience, I was just getting to that part. This past sunday I hoofed out from cleveland ohio to a town about a half hour north of louisville KY, and picked up the other 2, well, really 1.5 fieros, both 88 GT's. I had a winch this time, and you will see why it came in handy that I forced myself to work all afternoon on saturday and late into the night to get this thing mounted and wired up. The .5 would have had to stay had I not had that sucker.
Get on with it you say, I'm here for the cars, not to watch some guy have diarrhia of the mouth. Alright, alright, here are the newest additions to my flock of fieros.
The running driving 88GT #7532 off the line. It's rough, but it's mostly there.
http://i.imgur.com/xtsg6mLl.jpg
This car is going to be my daily driver for awhile. When the other car is finished, then this one will be restored/restomoded and will likely have to find a new home so it doesn't become a poor neglected yard ornament. You will understand why I say this once you have made it through the next part.
The other 88 (#21426 of the line) is in pretty sorry shape. This part of the story is a little heart breaking, the previous owner had just finished putting the car together, then 2 weeks go by and he is rear ended buy a drugged up chick in a bottom of the line saturn (you know the ones, look like they have a heavily slopped caveman brow), ripping the rear half of the car completely off. But there are enough good parts left on the front half of the car and the back half of the 87 to resurrect this car and make it most of the way right again.
http://i.imgur.com/fJ2Z3X9l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WAE3IQMl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QirWflbl.jpg
But wait, you say, what's that green blob at the beginning got to do with any of this? Well, since you've been patient enough with my rambling to read this far, I'll tell you. If you haven't guessed the logical conclusion that is. Which if you have, good on you! You win an internets!
The car that is being resurrected will receive the 4.0 V8 after a thorough rebuild and a few small mods to increase power output and improve reliability. I'm going to be building a carburetor manifold for the engine and I'm pretty sure I have the distributor figured out (saw some pics of a blown northstar that had a distributor on it) This will be mated to a Getrag 5 speed, and the car will be tastefully modified to my liking. There is also a possibility that the car may be turbocharged in the future, but that has yet to be determined. This one needs reliability over power, at least for the moment (I know, I know, a NORTHSTAR? Reliable? Well, yes, if you follow the proper maintenance procedures. The one in the donor car has over 250,000 miles on it and has definitely never been opened up before so there! :P Plus, if this one shits on me, there are plenty more out there for decent prices. Rinse and repeat.)