89 Firebird Turbo 3500 Build

[caffeine]

Not enough room. I'll be going to the 1/4 in Port Alberni in August though.

[Superdave]

why in the world is the track so short?

[caffeine]

Prop valve spring received!

Finally got some runs in at the 1/16th mile (384' actually). Mixed results, but one half decent run. Hardest part was trying to figure out the best way to launch. My 2nd to last run was the best and I launched with the 2-step at 2400 rpm and had just a bit of wheelspin off the line.

Last run I did a bigger burnout with the 2-step still at 2400 and it hooked and stalled right away. I'm thinking I just need to get my burnouts right and then raise the 2-step to 2800 or so. A slight amount of wheelspin seems to be what I want.

Then again the rear gears are probably holding me back as well. Hooking at launch with no wheelspin might be ok if I had 4.11s, but with 3.23s it just stalls. I'm dumping the clutch of course .

Anyways the numbers on my best run were
2.251 60-ft.
5.871 330-ft.
6.384 384-ft. @ 70 MPH

Speed seems pretty good IMO but launch is really holding me back right now. I'm just shifting into 2nd at about 3/4 down the track.

[Mars]

Hi Blair, I shipped that prop. valve spring sometime last week. text me your # again when u have a moment, I just got a new phone.

Have a good one.

[caffeine]

Just thought I'd update here since it's been a while. Still DDing this with the 3.23 10-bolt, haven't been able to get to a track yet (been rained out every time so far). Finished installing the STI seats with some 1/4" steel for more strength than my original "brackets". Also moved them about 1" away from the doors and now they sit mostly like factory.

Tune is almost to the point of me being satisfied enough to burn a chip.

Also ordered an OBX 3" cat-back with quad 4" tips that arrived this morning. Hopefully will have it installed on Wednesday. The muffler may be a bit of a restriction but I really have no idea yet. The turbo outlet is only 80mm so 3" back should be fine.

Also was looking at T56 gearing tonight and I was actually surprised that when you put T56 gearing with a 4.11 rear gear ratio, the final gearing is almost identical to the Getrag v160 for 1-5th. 6th is longer in the T56 by quite a bit.

[ericjon262]

eventually, I would like to make a custom cradle for mine, and redo the rear suspension entirely, then hit the front. I need to really start digging into suspension theory before I start tackling anything that extensive though...

[caffeine]

I think the fiero could handle great but there's only a few options for it. I have KYBs on the front and some stock-replacement struts on the rear and I actually find the KYBs softer than the stock replacements.

Firebird has the factory 36mm front/24mm rear sway bar package, along with quick ratio steering box, solid bushings everywhere, tokico illumina struts and QA-1 shocks. Very tight handling car but not harsh either. It actually surprised me how smooth it rides on bumpy roads.

[ericjon262]

yeah, I used to rock a turd gen, it was a fun car, parts of me wish I still had it, as far as I can remember, it handled better then the Fiero, but neither really had enough power for it to make an appreciable difference in the fun factor...

[caffeine]

Judging from the noise coming from the rear end I went from one broken tooth to 3+ within probably 3-5 km of very gentle driving. I'm just glad I was still able to drive it home haha.

Fiero feels painfully slow now.... And the suspension is just awful in comparison .

[ericjon262]

Ring gear carnage


Haven't taken the diff out yet to check for further damage.

there's only parts of the teeth missing, it'll be fine.

[caffeine]

Ring gear carnage


Haven't taken the diff out yet to check for further damage.

[ericjon262]

don't lie, you just don't feel like driving it. we all know V6's can't break ring gears.

[caffeine]

Shredded a few teeth off the ring gear the other day so its off the road again for now. I picked up a cheap 10-bolt though so hopefully ill still be able to track it on Sunday.

[ericjon262]

good to know!

[caffeine]

STI seat installed (borrowing from a friend). Better yet, they're nearly a bolt-in for the firechicken's seat rails . Two bolt holes actually line up perfectly, and I made simple adapters for the other two.

These seats completely changed my driving experience! 3rd gen seats are just atrocious in comparison haha. Plus they can be used with a 4 point harness. These ones came out of a '95 STI RA edition (my friend imported it from Japan, then blew the motor recently).

I see these seats for sale around $150-$250 per set here and there. They should bolt in to quite a few GM cars (I know the fiero uses the same bolt pattern).

The only downside so far is that they sit a bit high; I'm hoping fiero seat rails will cure that though since they sit a bit lower.