Sure everything is accessible if you drop the engine to do it. You'd have to work on it yourself nobody would touch it and if they did labor costs would be insane.
I swapped a 94 sedan deville 4.9 into my 88 notchback. Nothing but smiles listening to that engine roar right behind you! An excellent swap with next to no aftermarket. Aroumd 225hp and 300ftlbs of torque around 4000 rpm with a modified chip amd custom exhaust. So much fun!
Its crazy how many people in this comment section are calling this a Northstar then hating on it. Please just stop. Caddy 4.9 and 4.5's were good engines, very reliable and made great low end torque. Wouldnt be my first choice for a fiero though.
@242bleek.. I used to get an 04 DTS loaner because my brand new 04 CTS-V was always at the dealer with electrical problems. The 4.9 moved that fwd land yacht quite well. That said, I've been selling internal engine parts since 92, and 4.5 parts were discontinued 25+yrs ago and 4.9 parts are pretty much done now. Good engines yes but, the fwd/transverse setup is only thing that made this viable. $9k is a good deal if the engine never blows up.
who cares.. What are we supposed to do.. We should all buy the same car and do the same mods and same crap.. That seems good for the car community.. Any real car person doesn't hate on anyones build.. No one ever said you had to love what someone else did.. Its better than it going to the junk yard.. If your over 25 talking crap, you should know better... Lets hate on people so we can discourage highschool kids from ever attempting.. And yall wonder why there are less kids doing mods and less motorcycle riders.. Then again these people think they are so cool because they bought a dodge charger..Same people that hate on girls in the car scence and then wonder why they stay away from all the guys..Build him a car since you hate this one so much.. make sure you post the video
The 4.9 is one of the easiest swaps to do in a Fiero, pretty much a direct bolt in. The Northstar is one of the most difficult. Mine is a series 3 3800. That is the most popular swap, NA, turbo'ed, or supercharged. Very fast. They have been swapped to everything including 455 Olds, VR6 VW, SBC including old school, LS, and 4.3, even the Quad 4. My favorite for fit & the appearance is the carbed 4.3. The 4.9 is one of the most pleasant to drive on the street.
A piece of history on the Fiero. Gm did put a V8 in a Fiero and tested it and it was so fast it started to take flight. Also , it wasn't the fire issues that killed the Fiero it was the Corvette division that shutdown the Fiero division. Badass car ❤ 🤘🤘
Of all their various experimental combinations... I liked the Northstar version best. It became a test bed for the smaller 4.0 Northstar, that eventually found its way into the Oldsmobile Aurora and the Indy project. There was also a combination of parts available for the 60° V6 platform, that could build a rev happy 400hp 3.4L.
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING I don't know which V8 it was. I was in Junior Achievement program and the volunteer for our class was a Executive for Pontiac Headquarters. He's the one who told us about the V8 and how they were fighting with the Executives with Chevrolet / Corvette division claims it was ruining the Corvette brand.
@@scubatrucker6806there’s a LOT of stories about Vett division crapping in Pontiac division. Stealing ideas, concepts, or outright suppressing Pontiac r&d stuff they saw as a threat to vett. Only reason Pontiac Firehawk was able to be sneak through it’s limited production was because it was under the firebird name and wasn’t TransAm. But sure enough, the vett boys got it cancelled too😂
everyone is entitled to there opinion, i think it looks better without the spoiler and you think is ok to tuck your Tshirt in your underware, to each their own I say!
@@iequit111 You must be a guy who likes the fashionable French Tuck! Lol. I had a 87 without a spoiler and it just looks odd and plain. Yeah to each their own
I owned a mint condition '85 Fiero SE 2M6 with a manual transmission, and was in the Inland Empire Fiero Club. A Member had a Fiero GT with a Cadillac Northstar V8 and Cadillac Allante Intake system which also tucked under the rear decklid. Many others had the Grand Prix 3.8 V6 Turbo. I've seen many performance modded Fieros, and really miss owning mine.
Go play with your model cars, leave the discussions here to enthusiasts that actually own real ones. There are many out there who do care and likely dont care about playing with toys@Floridaredwing25
Grand Prix never had a 3.8 turbo, but it did have a 3.1 found in the McLarens. If that one ended up in the production Fiero it would have been legendary.
I would have tried to install a Northstar. Before you say they blow head gasket. I found out why and I stopped my 2001 Deville from over heating. GM over torque one head bolt and stripped out the threads. You don't need to buy a $400 Northstar Performance kit. I bought a $150 kit off ebay. I drilled out one hole and replace the threads. I have video of me doing this.
@ It’s not a theory. Like I said I have a video of what I did and video of the car driving 170 miles. Before the fix. It would not go 30 miles without overheating.
Another issue was a coolant valve right at the coolant reservoir would get plugged causing excessive pressure in the system. All you had to do was remove it and literally blow it out with your mouth once or twice a year and done. Took two minutes. If I recall correctly you didn’t even need tools.
Okay, i have TWO firsts here. The best looking Fiero I've ever seen, and yeah... way better than the original, and the absolute best guitar pick holder I've ever seen.
I was 16 when these came out in 84. This is the 1st Cadillac 4.9 swap I have seen. It's either the supercharged 3800 Series II, Northstar, or LS with the occasional Honda K series turbo. What I would like to see is the GM Twin Dual Cam 3.4 V6 and manual trans swapped into a Fiero.
@Kevin6t8 Know. Finland also got turbo kits for those, but I was mainly thinking of a slightly more sensible and more customizable and efficient combination. For example, saab 2,3l turbo 5gm.there would not even be a need to turn the package. And power vastly more than some 50v GM v6 or v8 based on old technology. Even in contortions, that would be overwhelming.
@@rockrane1 I'm in 🇺🇸. The V6 engine I'm talking about is a DOHC V6 that came out in the early 90's and made 210 - 215 Hp. Much better than the 130 Hp from the original 2.8 OHV V6, and it will bolt right in with little fabrication because it's based on the same block architecture as the 2.8 V6 that came in the Fiero. The GM owned Saab? It's a dead brand and parts are getting expensive here. Honda K series engines are cheap and reliable as well. If I were to go Turbo 4 cylinder, It would be Honda, and Ford (Focus and Fiesta Turbo engines). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_60%C2%B0_V6_engine#:~:text=The%20LQ1%20(also%20called%20the,(2%2C837%20cc)%20LB6%20V6.
@@Kevin6t8 Then Isn't pontiac a dead brand? That is too. It may be German design, but Ford's engines as they stand are total crap. Honda is better, but when supercharging, it does not last without major changes, unlike the engines of Saabs and Volvos. I'm a car mechanic.
This is a great start because of the engine. For 9 grand, it's a good donor car for someone to purchase and then throw on a Ferrari body kit and interior together.
I attended the Thomasville Georgia, 21st Annual Rose City Show & Shine Car and Truck Show on Saturday April 27, 2024. They parked my 1991 ZR-1 next to a Fiero GT with an LS from a Corvette. Owner said it was over 400 HP and demoed the car several times during the show. It ran strong and looked like a factory job. Impressive ... ^v^
They originally were supposed to but they didn't do it because they were afraid that they would conquer their flagship car the corvette. The fierro was originally It was supposed to get a Northstar v8. But G.M Ditched the idea Because it would have been faster than the current corvette.
I miss my Fiero Se 1986 .... it was a notch back with the v6 and ground effects.... loved that car soooo much... I had a tune on it and big ratio rocker arms and no cat... fastest car around for a while... thanks for stirring up memories....
I took the GM ASEP course back in the early 2000s. Our instructor was preparing his 3800 swapped fiero to install a northstar. We swapped the 350 in his astro van.
Made of Endura flex which is just basically..... molded plastic. Those arent even cherry bombs anymore...sounds like hades wrong character for an automatic Northstar swap.... Runs a lot like I was expected to... These dudes sound like they're trying to sell each other on the idea of the car. neither one is quite really sure
I have owned a few fiero GTs, different years. Started out with an 87 (I think that one was an 87, not 100%) Fiero GT. It was black, with grey trim, but I really got a deal on that car, you'd never guess what was wrong and if you were standing with a driver side view of the car, it looked pristine, it was in perfect condition but it had been parked next to a building which caught fire. The car didn't cause the fire or anything like that but it got so hot on that passenger side of the car that it was melted. The rubber door panel was basically just a frame, ground effects were also toast, the fenders on that side were visible damaged, ect. Everything you would expect a Fiero GT to have if it were parked next to a structure which caught fire. Besides that whole passenger side being totalled, everything else was perfect. Every Fiero GT that I owned was standard shift except 1 so when I see a Fiero with an automatic transmission like the one in this video, beautiful Fiero GT btw, I recognize it as something alittle more rare. You know, my dad told me back in the 1990s that the fiero gt will become an extremely rare car, and it becoming just that, a must for the collector. They are fun cars, I loved the ones I was around, drove, owned, ect. Not many people know this but if you were to park a Delorean next to a Fiero GT, and started comparing things in common between the two, you would be shocked. Once past the distraction of the Delorean gull wing doors you'll quickly see an almost identical interior, they are extremely close. Ran into a lil' Italian guy, Daytona Florida, he had about the wildest Fiero GT I have ever seen. It was butchered, turned into a kit car (one factor of why the GTs will become even more rare is the popular use as a donor car for kit projects). It was a Fiero GT but with a Ferrari Testarossa body. And he had put a 305 V8 in the back. He had a cool car for sure, but the 305 was half assed, there was something else he said he was going to put in it.
Was a very common swap when using Fiero for Lamborghini kit cars..... would also bolt to Fiero manual transmission just needed to redrill a flywheel. It's been very well documented in the kit car forums.
Didn't the 4.9 have issues with the head studs pulling out the threads, and blowing head gaskets, because the engineer decided to use fine thread studs in an aluminum block? I seem to recall the fix involved drilling and tapping for oversize coarse thread head studs.
@@Miller_The_Cat those were the dual overhead cam engines that were bad. These 4.5 or 4.9 were good like he said. Caddy should have never stopped making them
I’m from Phoenix but I live in South America for the last 10 years man, it hurts my heart strings to see Phoenix neighborhoods. Thanks for the video way cool
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING The guy’s name was Ed Parks and he pioneered this swap at the Fiero Factory in Toney, AL. He and his wife Rosy took us to dinner after I bought Fiero from him. Great people.
This is so awesome! Love seeing other vehicles using a Cadillac driveline. This car I can see being so much fun driving around often no matter where. This is great and I hope it goes to the right person!
@@iequit111 I would be interested if I were a lot closer. I'm all the way on the East coast. I currently do have a project that I will be putting in a Cadillac driveline into a Pontiac. V8 engines from Cadillac is what should have been available during the late 80s and early 90s for the Fieros and Bonneville's. This car here does not disappoint by any means.
Great video, and a fantastic Fiero. The walking on the stones was really ear piercing though. If I had the extra money and space I'd be all over this car. Someone is going to be very happy with it.
Glad you enjoyed it thanks for commenting! I’ll avoid walking on those kinda rocks in my future videos I didn’t realize how loud it was till after I filmed everything
Too bad the 3.8 doesn't sound anywhere near as good as this engine. I'll take a good looking car with an amazing sounding exhaust note with some torque over being a rocket.
A buddy of mine that I used to work with owned a Fiero with a smal caddy V8 in it. It was an older Fiero tho. He said it was squirrelly as hell when he stepped on it. Lol
It's a fairly common swap. I've seen plenty of them. Not as popular as say a L67 Supercharged Buick 3800 V6. I have also seen some LS4's stuffed in them from a Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, Chevy Monte Carlo/Impala SS and the Buick LaCrosse Super. Hell, I know of a few that have been swapped with a Chevy 350.
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING Boost literally replaces displacement. They're not a heavy car so a K-swap (or EcoTec if you're a brand loyalist) would be suitable. That said, I'd rather K-swap a Vega.
Every single engine to date has issues and is not maintenance free. 🤦🏻♂️ I hate when people try to constantly bash northstars, especially when they don’t even make them anymore lol like let the engine rest geez
Probably one of the cleanest swaps I've seen on a Fiero yet! The 4.5 and 4.9 Caddy V8's were considerably better than the Northstar and the gutless HT-4100, BUT, due to the aluminum block and iron heads, they do require the GM 'coolant supplement tablets' and/or a can of 'Bars-Leaks' at regular intervals, to keep the coolant out of the oil. (This is a known issue with these engines).
Omg, 88 model is what i always wanted, especially thats the last year with all the options gm put into this, now. A v8 with a slight chop cam. Less than 10k. I gotta have this.
I was hoping it was a Northstar, but still very cool! The Northstar is all aluminum and makes an extra hundred horsepower right from the factory. Looks like a well built little car, actually a good deal at that price.
@@CarswithNash yeah but northstars are a lot more problematic and there’s not much room to work on the motor once it’s in the car so he went with something more reliable. For example to replace the starter on a northstar you have to pull the entire intake, repairs like that would be brutal in a fiero engine bay
@CAVEMANENGINEERING Yes, I totally understand why he went with the 4.9, I'm definitely not hating, it's still a sweet swap. The thing with the Northstar is all of the problems stem from the find threaded headbolts that pull out of the block. If you get the stud kit from Northstar Performance and install, those engines become bulletproof. I've always thought they'd make a cool swap for that reason, everyone would hate on it, but it would actually be amazing to anybody that knows the ins and outs of it, plus you can get them dirt cheap because everybody thinks they are garbage. Anyways I have a Ford 302 in my Mercedes and a Subaru boxer engine in my Dodge Neon... so i'm into the crazy engine swaps!
One evening in 1997 or 98 I was sitting at a stop light near 100 Oaks Mall in Nashville waiting for the light to change in my 1993 Z28. I heard someone yell at me from the next lane over. I turn my music down and hear him yelling that he has the same motor in his car, big smile on his face. I gave him a thumbs-up and the light changed so I took off. The guy apparently wasn't paying enough attention and as I took off he accelerated into the rearend of the car in front of him.
how else was he supposed to walk into someone elses yard to look at a car... post your address ill come walk in your yard and see if thats all you say..stay off the rocks
@@SpaceRanger187are you serious? You can't be THIS retarded right? And yet here we are . move that old shitty Nissan out of the drive way and walk in the drive way and shoot your video.. Simple fix, even a moron like you can understand..
Maintenance free my ass. Aluminum block with cast iron heads. Pain in the ass engine. I feel like the effort to do this would have at least afforded a better engine than that
Old friend of mine took my 355 torque monster that I had in my K5 Blazer and stuffed it in his Square Body S10. The radiator and fan almost touched each other.
I had a 1992 DeVille with the 300 cid (4.9L) engine. Everyone LOVED my car. Then when I stepped on it people were shocked that a grandpa car had a little bit of torque. LoL!
100k views and no ones bought it yet? HMMM. this car is a triple threat. Fun to drive, great to look at and amazing at car shows. Runs great and with your special touches, you could double your money in 25 years. Nuff said.
Well to begin this is my favorite youtube video I've seen in a long time, (my sons rock band videos, I'm leaving them out). I've had several Vettes, and love those cars, but always intrigued with the Fiero. The thought of a V-8 in one has always been on mind. The only things I'd like more about that car is a stick shift, but that would probably get old fast, and the main change I'd like it to be mine. Glad you checked out the Firebird too, I was looking at that hoping it would get noticed.
I used to have an '85 Gt and always wished it was a '87 or '88 instead. Saw folks do the Northstar swaps thru V8 Archie's. If I didn't have my Suzuki Cappucino, I'd jump on this.
Just picked up a clean 86 with Archie's kit, rebuilt 355 with 600 Edelbrock , headers, 4 speed manual & removable sunroof. $5,000 with a spare 4 speed trans included. Owner said it makes 330 hp. I had it carefully transported home in snow on flatbed towtruck & stashed it in the garage till spring. Drove a 225hp 3800 swap before, the power to weight ratio was ridiculously fast. Im sure my 330 hp at 2500 lb with most of the weight over the back wheels will slay C6 Corvettes all day. ( the one in this video with the Cadillac engine and automatic transmission is a good 200-300 lb heavier than mine)
If corporate hadn't kept Pontiac from developing this car the right way to begin with, the Corvette would be a 2nd tier sportscar. I worked for a Pontiac dealer during the full life of the model, and the '87-'88 got it right given the HP constraints that Chevy Imposed.
The basic design concept of having a space frame and plastic panels was ingenious. They couldn’t afford the 1 to 2 million dollars of tooling per fender panel, so they went with the plastic. They could have drastically redesigned the body each year with very little money.
All the off the shelf upgrades that Pontiac should have done at launch for the Fiero. It's like watching a description of any old holt rod. "Cadilac engine, corvette brakes, S10 master cylinder, etc."
That's an interesting idea. An OHV Caddy motor. Hmmm. I like unusual swaps like this. I helped a buddy put a Fiero body on a Ford Bronco II frame. The Fiero has a wheelbase of 93.5 inches, and the Bronco II's is 94 inches. In all honesty, it was bad. Really bad. The fact that the Bronco has the engine in the front and requires a transmission tunnel were the biggest hurdles. But, we did it, and it drove. It was silly and completely impractical. We ended up putting a Mustang II body on the Bronco frame. That actually went a LOT better. Thanks for the tour.
I think that's gotta be one of the cleanest v8 conversions I have seen on a fiero.
agreed!
have you not seen other swaps? most of them look like that.
The man clearly put a lot of time effort and love into this build.
definitely!
I think he oversold it a bit but he doesnt deserve some of the hate hes getting on the comments. Its a clean build.
Sure everything is accessible if you drop the engine to do it. You'd have to work on it yourself nobody would touch it and if they did labor costs would be insane.
@@j.f.l.7649 Nobody but the owner of a V8 swap EVER touches it to do maintenance. If you are not of that mindset do not attempt to own.
Definitely oversold, and not the gearbox to ever want. Otherwise seems pretty decent.
@@j.f.l.7649 what's wrong with that? Too many hacks to run into later on? Every home build is a hack... This is custom value here, not bluebook
@@jameshisself7375 I woulda tried to use the independent cv gear box from an older Vette and upgraded the rear knuckles
I swapped a 94 sedan deville 4.9 into my 88 notchback. Nothing but smiles listening to that engine roar right behind you! An excellent swap with next to no aftermarket. Aroumd 225hp and 300ftlbs of torque around 4000 rpm with a modified chip amd custom exhaust. So much fun!
Yeah it was a blast driving this one. Tons of torque
Notchback Fox body ?
@CarlosAlvarez-bv2fz notchback fiero, as opposed to the GT fiero sloped rear pillars.
@@billybowbob2071 ahhh ok ok cool !
Awesome combination ! EDIT : As a fellow musician I must say that is THE most unique pick holder I've ever seen. I love it. Rock on !
definitely unique!
Its crazy how many people in this comment section are calling this a Northstar then hating on it. Please just stop. Caddy 4.9 and 4.5's were good engines, very reliable and made great low end torque. Wouldnt be my first choice for a fiero though.
@242bleek.. I used to get an 04 DTS loaner because my brand new 04 CTS-V was always at the dealer with electrical problems. The 4.9 moved that fwd land yacht quite well. That said, I've been selling internal engine parts since 92, and 4.5 parts were discontinued 25+yrs ago and 4.9 parts are pretty much done now. Good engines yes but, the fwd/transverse setup is only thing that made this viable. $9k is a good deal if the engine never blows up.
hating ? You sure it’s not just you
Stupid as stupid does. People like regurgitating bullshit. The 4.5, 4.9 and the Northstars were good engines if maintained properly.
who cares.. What are we supposed to do.. We should all buy the same car and do the same mods and same crap.. That seems good for the car community.. Any real car person doesn't hate on anyones build.. No one ever said you had to love what someone else did.. Its better than it going to the junk yard.. If your over 25 talking crap, you should know better... Lets hate on people so we can discourage highschool kids from ever attempting.. And yall wonder why there are less kids doing mods and less motorcycle riders.. Then again these people think they are so cool because they bought a dodge charger..Same people that hate on girls in the car scence and then wonder why they stay away from all the guys..Build him a car since you hate this one so much.. make sure you post the video
The 4.9 is one of the easiest swaps to do in a Fiero, pretty much a direct bolt in. The Northstar is one of the most difficult. Mine is a series 3 3800. That is the most popular swap, NA, turbo'ed, or supercharged. Very fast. They have been swapped to everything including 455 Olds, VR6 VW, SBC including old school, LS, and 4.3, even the Quad 4. My favorite for fit & the appearance is the carbed 4.3. The 4.9 is one of the most pleasant to drive on the street.
A piece of history on the Fiero. Gm did put a V8 in a Fiero and tested it and it was so fast it started to take flight. Also , it wasn't the fire issues that killed the Fiero it was the Corvette division that shutdown the Fiero division. Badass car ❤ 🤘🤘
Of all their various experimental combinations... I liked the Northstar version best. It became a test bed for the smaller 4.0 Northstar, that eventually found its way into the Oldsmobile Aurora and the Indy project.
There was also a combination of parts available for the 60° V6 platform, that could build a rev happy 400hp 3.4L.
@scubatrucker6806 oh wow what size v8 was it? was it like an 80's 305 smog motor?
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING I don't know which V8 it was. I was in Junior Achievement program and the volunteer for our class was a Executive for Pontiac Headquarters. He's the one who told us about the V8 and how they were fighting with the Executives with Chevrolet / Corvette division claims it was ruining the Corvette brand.
@@scubatrucker6806there’s a LOT of stories about Vett division crapping in Pontiac division. Stealing ideas, concepts, or outright suppressing Pontiac r&d stuff they saw as a threat to vett. Only reason Pontiac Firehawk was able to be sneak through it’s limited production was because it was under the firebird name and wasn’t TransAm. But sure enough, the vett boys got it cancelled too😂
Nice just needs that huge factory spoiler! 88s were the best year! They always give ya the best version before they kill it!!
everyone is entitled to there opinion, i think it looks better without the spoiler and you think is ok to tuck your Tshirt in your underware, to each their own I say!
@@iequit111 You must be a guy who likes the fashionable French Tuck! Lol. I had a 87 without a spoiler and it just looks odd and plain. Yeah to each their own
@spencer - Yeah, it would look better with the spoiler.
This would be a gorgeous example of a Fiero if it were stock, but with the mods it is truly awesome and unique.
I had a blast driving it, really fun car
Really sharp-looking wrap. I like the Cadillac-swapped Fieros, and this one seems quite well-done.
definitely!
What a nice build. Affordable, driveable.
definitely!
It's obvious the builder took a lot of pride in building this car.
Definitely
I owned a mint condition '85 Fiero SE 2M6 with a manual transmission, and was in the Inland Empire Fiero Club. A Member had a Fiero GT with a Cadillac Northstar V8 and Cadillac Allante Intake system which also tucked under the rear decklid. Many others had the Grand Prix 3.8 V6 Turbo. I've seen many performance modded Fieros, and really miss owning mine.
N.B.C!
Go play with your model cars, leave the discussions here to enthusiasts that actually own real ones. There are many out there who do care and likely dont care about playing with toys@Floridaredwing25
Very VERY NICE
Grand Prix never had a 3.8 turbo, but it did have a 3.1 found in the McLarens. If that one ended up in the production Fiero it would have been legendary.
@1chumley1 I was mistaken it was the 3.8 SC supercharged, I thought they were out of the Grand Prix.
I would have tried to install a Northstar. Before you say they blow head gasket. I found out why and I stopped my 2001 Deville from over heating. GM over torque one head bolt and stripped out the threads. You don't need to buy a $400 Northstar Performance kit. I bought a $150 kit off ebay. I drilled out one hole and replace the threads. I have video of me doing this.
that's good info I've never heard that theory before
@ It’s not a theory. Like I said I have a video of what I did and video of the car driving 170 miles. Before the fix. It would not go 30 miles without overheating.
There's many reasons why north stars go sour. But if you know anything about them and maintain them thier wonderful.
@ Other than overheating. Name another?
Another issue was a coolant valve right at the coolant reservoir would get plugged causing excessive pressure in the system. All you had to do was remove it and literally blow it out with your mouth once or twice a year and done. Took two minutes. If I recall correctly you didn’t even need tools.
Okay, i have TWO firsts here. The best looking Fiero I've ever seen, and yeah... way better than the original, and the absolute best guitar pick holder I've ever seen.
I'm glad to hear thanks for commenting!
Im a ford guy, but do have a soft spot for pontiac. This thing is really sick, great job❤
glad you like it thanks for commenting!
I think that’s a very cool engine swap. Great idea.
yes and it drives just like a caddy
I was 16 when these came out in 84. This is the 1st Cadillac 4.9 swap I have seen. It's either the supercharged 3800 Series II, Northstar, or LS with the occasional Honda K series turbo.
What I would like to see is the GM Twin Dual Cam 3.4 V6 and manual trans swapped into a Fiero.
@@Kevin6t8 why not👍 But why not, say, a four-cylinderturbo manual transmission
@@rockrane1 Because that's already been done.
I haven't seen the Twin Dual Cam 3.4 V6 with either manual or auto in a Fiero.
@Kevin6t8 Know. Finland also got turbo kits for those, but I was mainly thinking of a slightly more sensible and more customizable and efficient combination. For example, saab 2,3l turbo 5gm.there would not even be a need to turn the package. And power vastly more than some 50v GM v6 or v8 based on old technology. Even in contortions, that would be overwhelming.
@@rockrane1 I'm in 🇺🇸. The V6 engine I'm talking about is a DOHC V6 that came out in the early 90's and made 210 - 215 Hp. Much better than the 130 Hp from the original 2.8 OHV V6, and it will bolt right in with little fabrication because it's based on the same block architecture as the 2.8 V6 that came in the Fiero.
The GM owned Saab? It's a dead brand and parts are getting expensive here. Honda K series engines are cheap and reliable as well. If I were to go Turbo 4 cylinder, It would be Honda, and Ford (Focus and Fiesta Turbo engines).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_60%C2%B0_V6_engine#:~:text=The%20LQ1%20(also%20called%20the,(2%2C837%20cc)%20LB6%20V6.
@@Kevin6t8 Then Isn't pontiac a dead brand? That is too. It may be German design, but Ford's engines as they stand are total crap. Honda is better, but when supercharging, it does not last without major changes, unlike the engines of Saabs and Volvos. I'm a car mechanic.
This is a great start because of the engine. For 9 grand, it's a good donor car for someone to purchase and then throw on a Ferrari body kit and interior together.
thats actually a great idea someone should do it
I attended the Thomasville Georgia, 21st Annual Rose City Show & Shine Car and Truck Show on Saturday April 27, 2024. They parked my 1991 ZR-1 next to a Fiero GT with an LS from a Corvette. Owner said it was over 400 HP and demoed the car several times during the show. It ran strong and looked like a factory job. Impressive ... ^v^
nice! I've heard the impala ls4 is a pretty common swap
That is soooo cool! I remember the Fiero from back in the day. Awesome. Thanks for posting. I am a new subscriber.
You're welcome thanks for subscribing!
@ Sure thing
Great looking car!! He did us car fans a service by keeping her on the road!!
definitely!
If GM had put a V8 in those they would have sold a bunch of them.
Agreed! It was super fun driving this one
If they put the Quad-four in they would have sold more. The Iron Duke wasn't credible as a sporty engine.
Or if they would’ve put turbocharged 3.8 like the grand national I think they were sold a lot!
@@billycloudy9078 didn't want them challenging the Corvette or the Firebirds
They originally were supposed to but they didn't do it because they were afraid that they would conquer their flagship car the corvette. The fierro was originally It was supposed to get a Northstar v8. But G.M Ditched the idea Because it would have been faster than the current corvette.
I miss my Fiero Se 1986 .... it was a notch back with the v6 and ground effects.... loved that car soooo much... I had a tune on it and big ratio rocker arms and no cat... fastest car around for a while... thanks for stirring up memories....
you're welcome!
Nice car!!!!! Very nice!!! I had a Fero GT of a few decades ago and I really really enjoyed it.
Very nice!
its so much fun to take to car shows and the color gets a lot of looks
I took the GM ASEP course back in the early 2000s. Our instructor was preparing his 3800 swapped fiero to install a northstar. We swapped the 350 in his astro van.
Man is giving him the FULL sales pitch!😅😅😅
Haha yeah I need to hire this guy to sell some of my stuff!
He knows what he has 😂
"Easter Eggs" 🤣
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING He just knows the value of his car. It's a great build.
Made of Endura flex which is just basically..... molded plastic.
Those arent even cherry bombs anymore...sounds like hades wrong character for an automatic Northstar swap.... Runs a lot like I was expected to... These dudes sound like they're trying to sell each other on the idea of the car. neither one is quite really sure
I have owned a few fiero GTs, different years. Started out with an 87 (I think that one was an 87, not 100%) Fiero GT. It was black, with grey trim, but I really got a deal on that car, you'd never guess what was wrong and if you were standing with a driver side view of the car, it looked pristine, it was in perfect condition but it had been parked next to a building which caught fire. The car didn't cause the fire or anything like that but it got so hot on that passenger side of the car that it was melted. The rubber door panel was basically just a frame, ground effects were also toast, the fenders on that side were visible damaged, ect. Everything you would expect a Fiero GT to have if it were parked next to a structure which caught fire. Besides that whole passenger side being totalled, everything else was perfect. Every Fiero GT that I owned was standard shift except 1 so when I see a Fiero with an automatic transmission like the one in this video, beautiful Fiero GT btw, I recognize it as something alittle more rare.
You know, my dad told me back in the 1990s that the fiero gt will become an extremely rare car, and it becoming just that, a must for the collector.
They are fun cars, I loved the ones I was around, drove, owned, ect.
Not many people know this but if you were to park a Delorean next to a Fiero GT, and started comparing things in common between the two, you would be shocked. Once past the distraction of the Delorean gull wing doors you'll quickly see an almost identical interior, they are extremely close.
Ran into a lil' Italian guy, Daytona Florida, he had about the wildest Fiero GT I have ever seen. It was butchered, turned into a kit car (one factor of why the GTs will become even more rare is the popular use as a donor car for kit projects). It was a Fiero GT but with a Ferrari Testarossa body. And he had put a 305 V8 in the back. He had a cool car for sure, but the 305 was half assed, there was something else he said he was going to put in it.
You need to make more of these. Never wanted a Fiero before now.
I had an 88 Fiero. I had the iron duke. It was slow but the suspension was excellent. I bought it used and enjoyed it for 5 years.
Yeah definitely underpowered from the factory but a lot of fun to drive they handle well
This is a very common swap they make kits with pre engineered parts to make the swap simple.
Was a very common swap when using Fiero for Lamborghini kit cars..... would also bolt to Fiero manual transmission just needed to redrill a flywheel. It's been very well documented in the kit car forums.
good to know!
I've got a 4.9 swapped V8 Fiero in my garage. It's not the fastest car out there but a lot of fun.
definitely torquey and tons of traction so it launches pretty good
Cadillac 4.9 V8 is a great dependable motor. One of GMs best.
Didn't the 4.9 have issues with the head studs pulling out the threads, and blowing head gaskets, because the engineer decided to use fine thread studs in an aluminum block?
I seem to recall the fix involved drilling and tapping for oversize coarse thread head studs.
@@Miller_The_Cat those were the dual overhead cam engines that were bad. These 4.5 or 4.9 were good like he said. Caddy should have never stopped making them
@miller_the_cat Your probably thinking of the 4.1
I’m from Phoenix but I live in South America for the last 10 years man, it hurts my heart strings to see Phoenix neighborhoods. Thanks for the video way cool
no problem man thanks for commenting!
There was a place in Alabama called The Fiero Factory. They had a whole bunch of junkyard Caddys with those 4.5 and 4.9 engines waiting to be swapped.
oh that's interesting, thanks for commenting!
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING The guy’s name was Ed Parks and he pioneered this swap at the Fiero Factory in Toney, AL. He and his wife Rosy took us to dinner after I bought Fiero from him. Great people.
I love it when people build what the manufacturer should have.
me too lol
This enthusiast knows what He's doing.
thank you
That's a pretty unique swap. Looks like it was well done. Sweet little ride!
It sure is!
That’s a cool car but I’m amazed at how well your phone mic picks up on that crunching from the yard pebbles! 😂
lol yeah it's got a great mic apparently
And looks like the neighbor has a nice 2nd gen f body too. Can’t tell if it’s a Camaro or poncho….
I love Fieros. Had 2 of them back in the 1990’s. Thought they were just very cool design. Nice car!
Glad you like it thanks for commenting!
This is so awesome! Love seeing other vehicles using a Cadillac driveline. This car I can see being so much fun driving around often no matter where. This is great and I hope it goes to the right person!
it is so much fun that you should buy it, id love to see the look on your face when you mash the loud pedal peace
@starxlr7863 glad you enjoyed it!
@@iequit111 I would be interested if I were a lot closer. I'm all the way on the East coast. I currently do have a project that I will be putting in a Cadillac driveline into a Pontiac. V8 engines from Cadillac is what should have been available during the late 80s and early 90s for the Fieros and Bonneville's. This car here does not disappoint by any means.
I had one in the 90's. Mine never sounded that good lol. Cool car! Only down side, to me anyway, is that it's not a manual Tranmission.
That's killing me also. It's not a commuter car
@blahblah4125 if it was my personal car I'd convert it to stick but even being an auto it was still a blast to drive
WOW that is one of the cleanest builds I've ever seen. And it looks stock even when you open the engine compartment!
Glad you like it! Thanks for commenting
Great video, and a fantastic Fiero. The walking on the stones was really ear piercing though. If I had the extra money and space I'd be all over this car. Someone is going to be very happy with it.
Glad you enjoyed it thanks for commenting! I’ll avoid walking on those kinda rocks in my future videos I didn’t realize how loud it was till after I filmed everything
ok for you ill take payments
$50 down
$50 a day
for 50 years
it's cool because it spins around corners like a top. tail happy legend.
Supercharged 3800 Series II is the primo swap.
Too bad the 3.8 doesn't sound anywhere near as good as this engine. I'll take a good looking car with an amazing sounding exhaust note with some torque over being a rocket.
That almost sounds like the DeLorean from Back to the Future! Super awesome Fiero, thanks for sharing!!!
Pretty damned cool!
A buddy of mine that I used to work with owned a Fiero with a smal caddy V8 in it. It was an older Fiero tho. He said it was squirrelly as hell when he stepped on it. Lol
was it the 4.1 from an allure?
When a supposed car guy says maintenance free engine, I run backwards very fast.
Cause running backwards isn't dangerous at all 🙄
The 4.9 is really maintenance free aside from tune ups
Real car guys know exactly what he meant.
I had an 86. Loved that car. It goes through snow better than front wheel drive. Done it. There a beast n snow.
haha wow you're the only guy I know that's driven a mid engine car through the snow, I like your style!
It's a fairly common swap. I've seen plenty of them. Not as popular as say a L67 Supercharged Buick 3800 V6. I have also seen some LS4's stuffed in them from a Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, Chevy Monte Carlo/Impala SS and the Buick LaCrosse Super. Hell, I know of a few that have been swapped with a Chevy 350.
I'd toss that boat anker out and throw a 4 banger in it with a lil 10 to 12 pounds of boost and she will be a ripper no doubtttt.
I prefer V8 swaps for cars like this. You know what they say, there’s no substitution for cubic inches!
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING "No replacement for displacement"
@@332ARA I know buddy that's the joke
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING Boost literally replaces displacement. They're not a heavy car so a K-swap (or EcoTec if you're a brand loyalist) would be suitable.
That said, I'd rather K-swap a Vega.
A buddy of mine had one around 1985 or 86. It handled very well and his had speakers in the headrest.
fieros were the only car ever made with speakers in the headrest, I think it's so cool I wish other car companies would do it
That’s not a maintenance free engine they have head gasket problems, and oil leaks everywhere
Oil leaks. I worked for Cadillac dealership as a mechanic....
Oil leaks yes, but the 4.9 was way better than the 4.6 Northstar on reliability
There's head stud kits that correct that issue.
So it's a normal V8 engine 🙄🤷
Every single engine to date has issues and is not maintenance free. 🤦🏻♂️ I hate when people try to constantly bash northstars, especially when they don’t even make them anymore lol like let the engine rest geez
Probably one of the cleanest swaps I've seen on a Fiero yet! The 4.5 and 4.9 Caddy V8's were considerably better than the Northstar and the gutless HT-4100, BUT, due to the aluminum block and iron heads, they do require the GM 'coolant supplement tablets' and/or a can of 'Bars-Leaks' at regular intervals, to keep the coolant out of the oil. (This is a known issue with these engines).
good to know thanks for commenting!
The 4.9 is probably the most common fiero swap ..3.8 sc motor and the northstar are probably 2nd
Interesting, this is the first one I've ever seen the others were either stock or they had a chevy engine in them
The supercharged 3.8 is a very common swap in these I've seen dozens with that swap and probably my favorite those 3.8s have balls
You have it backwards 🥴🤭
3.8 is number one swap for fieros 4.9 is number 3 or 4.
Omg, 88 model is what i always wanted, especially thats the last year with all the options gm put into this, now. A v8 with a slight chop cam. Less than 10k. I gotta have this.
buy it!
Bad azz Pontiac! 9000$ is a good price for this unique machine!
agreed!
Sounded GOOD!! I dig it!! A guy in my city has one with lambo doors and an LT1 V8 like 93sh fuel injection
this car has more smiles per mile than any car ive owned
@iequit111 how many smiles per gallon?
I was hoping it was a Northstar, but still very cool! The Northstar is all aluminum and makes an extra hundred horsepower right from the factory. Looks like a well built little car, actually a good deal at that price.
@@CarswithNash yeah but northstars are a lot more problematic and there’s not much room to work on the motor once it’s in the car so he went with something more reliable. For example to replace the starter on a northstar you have to pull the entire intake, repairs like that would be brutal in a fiero engine bay
@CAVEMANENGINEERING Yes, I totally understand why he went with the 4.9, I'm definitely not hating, it's still a sweet swap. The thing with the Northstar is all of the problems stem from the find threaded headbolts that pull out of the block. If you get the stud kit from Northstar Performance and install, those engines become bulletproof. I've always thought they'd make a cool swap for that reason, everyone would hate on it, but it would actually be amazing to anybody that knows the ins and outs of it, plus you can get them dirt cheap because everybody thinks they are garbage. Anyways I have a Ford 302 in my Mercedes and a Subaru boxer engine in my Dodge Neon... so i'm into the crazy engine swaps!
4.9 L is one of my favorite engines. It shares the bell housing of the 2.8, 3.1, 3.4, 3.4 DOHC ,3.5, and 3.9 V6.
that's good info thanks!
One evening in 1997 or 98 I was sitting at a stop light near 100 Oaks Mall in Nashville waiting for the light to change in my 1993 Z28. I heard someone yell at me from the next lane over. I turn my music down and hear him yelling that he has the same motor in his car, big smile on his face. I gave him a thumbs-up and the light changed so I took off. The guy apparently wasn't paying enough attention and as I took off he accelerated into the rearend of the car in front of him.
was it a fiero?
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING Yeah, dumbass me left that part out of the story. My bad.
armstrong steering.. CALL ME LANCE!!
@@sophielord8223 livestrong 💪🏻
Any car you love is worth building,very clean
Dude get off the effin rocks man.. all you hear is crunch crunch crunch
Shut up and watch dafukin film
how else was he supposed to walk into someone elses yard to look at a car... post your address ill come walk in your yard and see if thats all you say..stay off the rocks
@@SpaceRanger187are you serious? You can't be THIS retarded right? And yet here we are . move that old shitty Nissan out of the drive way and walk in the drive way and shoot your video.. Simple fix, even a moron like you can understand..
@SpaceRanger187 I responded to your stupid comment but TH-cam does what TH-cam does and censors comments so fuk them
It's definitely a super build. Not very fast but it's all there for the right guy to make it a beast.
No doubt!
Maintenance free my ass. Aluminum block with cast iron heads. Pain in the ass engine. I feel like the effort to do this would have at least afforded a better engine than that
to each his own
Strange you didn't / won't specify which engine you think is better... that will fit and has a common conversation into that frame 🤔🙄
Holy moly. That is a smokin ride!
glad you like it thanks for commenting!
It doesn't sound very aggressive at all basically sounds like a worn out farm truck ........needs alot of help I'm the exhaust department
still faster than 80% of cars on the road
@CAVEMANENGINEERING I highly doubt that those engines are notorious for being gutless turds
saw one with a northstar in the early 2000's in MA
it's probably at everett's now those northstar engines are junk
Thats such a clean colour.
yeah I really like the color too
fits nicely not wedged in there looks easy to work on
for sure!
I had a 1985 2M4. Loved it!
noice!
I did similar with a 1993 Toyota MR2. Engine from a Lexus. Turned out lighter than the original iron 4.
oh wow was it a lexus v6 or v8? I'm assuming it wasn't a 2j I cant imagine an i6 would fit
Nice build, i bet a LS4 would be a good swap for a fiero
yeah it's been done
Old friend of mine took my 355 torque monster that I had in my K5 Blazer and stuffed it in his Square Body S10. The radiator and fan almost touched each other.
tight fit!
I had a 1992 DeVille with the 300 cid (4.9L) engine. Everyone LOVED my car. Then when I stepped on it people were shocked that a grandpa car had a little bit of torque. LoL!
yeah this thing was super torquey I had a blast driving it!
The Fiero that Pontiac should have made ! But I guess they didnt want to take away from their Firebird/Trans-Am sales.
GM was more worried about their corvette sales, same reason they stopped making the grand national
Epic! Absolutley awesome!
glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent job with the new engine.
Glad you like it!
That is the engine that this car should have had from the factory!
agreed!
The car should have had. Had a dream as a teen of an electric blue Fiero GT. The plate had the initials of my childhood nickname.
Worth every penny. Great engen choice too
i agree, great engine, the power to weight ratio is spot on.
I agree it was a lot of fun to drive
The owner sounds like a salesman who really wants a bonus. 😂😂😂
This is what a Fiero should've been from the beginning.
apparently there was one v8 fiero concept car made but it posed to threat to corvette sales so GM shut it down
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING Are you kidding me? I had three of them and never ever heard of a GM V8 Fiero. Wow, amazing!
100k views and no ones bought it yet? HMMM. this car is a triple threat. Fun to drive, great to look at and amazing at car shows. Runs great and with your special touches, you could double your money in 25 years. Nuff said.
you should buy it
This swap makes sense
I agree
I understand a small block Chevy is a relatively easy install; and has much more potential for modification at reasonable cost vs Cadillac.
Great work
agreed!
Well to begin this is my favorite youtube video I've seen in a long time, (my sons rock band videos, I'm leaving them out). I've had several Vettes, and love those cars, but always intrigued with the Fiero. The thought of a V-8 in one has always been on mind. The only things I'd like more about that car is a stick shift, but that would probably get old fast, and the main change I'd like it to be mine. Glad you checked out the Firebird too, I was looking at that hoping it would get noticed.
Thanks for commenting I'm always happy to hear from other car enthusiasts!
I used to have an '85 Gt and always wished it was a '87 or '88 instead. Saw folks do the Northstar swaps thru V8 Archie's. If I didn't have my Suzuki Cappucino, I'd jump on this.
what's so special about the 87 and 88?
@@CAVEMANENGINEERING the 'fastback' rear of the cabin. '84-86 had a steeper back rear window area.
Just picked up a clean 86 with Archie's kit, rebuilt 355 with 600 Edelbrock , headers, 4 speed manual & removable sunroof. $5,000 with a spare 4 speed trans included. Owner said it makes 330 hp. I had it carefully transported home in snow on flatbed towtruck & stashed it in the garage till spring. Drove a 225hp 3800 swap before, the power to weight ratio was ridiculously fast. Im sure my 330 hp at 2500 lb with most of the weight over the back wheels will slay C6 Corvettes all day. ( the one in this video with the Cadillac engine and automatic transmission is a good 200-300 lb heavier than mine)
Clean build nothing over the edge
agreed!
If corporate hadn't kept Pontiac from developing this car the right way to begin with, the Corvette would be a 2nd tier sportscar. I worked for a Pontiac dealer during the full life of the model, and the '87-'88 got it right given the HP constraints that Chevy Imposed.
the c4 corvettes were slow and are basically worthless nowadays, it's too bad GM killed the fiero and the grand national to protect the c4 sales
Always caught my attention when would see one on the road back in the day. I love my 90s 00s Japanese inports too much to evey get one. Deff cool.
🤔 and the headlights pop up at ninety miles an hour on there own, love the v8 in it.
glad you like it!
The basic design concept of having a space frame and plastic panels was ingenious. They couldn’t afford the 1 to 2 million dollars of tooling per fender panel, so they went with the plastic. They could have drastically redesigned the body each year with very little money.
Yeah cool concept and it was the first car to have CNC drilled holes for the body panels
All the off the shelf upgrades that Pontiac should have done at launch for the Fiero. It's like watching a description of any old holt rod. "Cadilac engine, corvette brakes, S10 master cylinder, etc."
agree this car could have been better from the factory but pontiac had to be careful not to step on the corvette division's toes
Long ago there was an early Fiero on the cover of Hot Rod magazine. Yellow with black jaggy strips. Big block Chevy in the back for power.
wow I can only imagine how back heavy that must've been, it was probably a rocket ship tho
This was Awesome!
glad you like it!
That's an interesting idea. An OHV Caddy motor. Hmmm. I like unusual swaps like this. I helped a buddy put a Fiero body on a Ford Bronco II frame. The Fiero has a wheelbase of 93.5 inches, and the Bronco II's is 94 inches. In all honesty, it was bad. Really bad. The fact that the Bronco has the engine in the front and requires a transmission tunnel were the biggest hurdles.
But, we did it, and it drove. It was silly and completely impractical. We ended up putting a Mustang II body on the Bronco frame. That actually went a LOT better. Thanks for the tour.
Thanks for the story, it's great to hear people taking on unique builds, even if they're not always successful!