Thinking Northstar Conversion?

[stroker]

thanks aaron for all the gooooood data!
i'm actually dooing the tranny this winter
my 4.6 is standing next to me
and next winter will be headwork time.

marc from central qc.

[fiero308]

hi Aaron
what are your comments about the Holley Commander 950? do they update it or is it pretty much the same year over year?  What are the strengths and shortcomings (if any) that you see?  I don't know if you had it since day 1 in your swap or if it is a new addition.....
I notice that CHRfab uses them and I am get the impression they like them, which is a good endorsement I think. 
I guess one of the things I am thinking about is flexibility, esp in fuel table setup (and size) as I hope someday to do a turbo and so I am considering all the options.  The big complaint I see about reusing my stock ECM and chip is the limited size of the fuel table; it simply doesn't allow enough points to be entered when you get into boost situations.
Comments?  Opinions? Etc?
thx
GP

[aaron88]

this is beautiful , and perfect timing too. I will be drivingthe car for the first time monday.

All thats left is the shift cables and 1/2 of the exhaust.

Ohhhhh Baby!!!

thanks again!

Don't forget that you will still likely have to tune the throttle plate screw, to dial in the IAC position.

[aaron88]

Fiero 308;

I don’t like that the Northstar has only four coil packs, or that the Holley 950 has only 5 wires to control the fuel injectors.  But, other than that, the holley commander allows for all the adjustability that one might want with their engine.  I don’t know if it will work with your motor but one could always just ask holley about that.

If you’re worried about the limited fuel control of your current ECM then before going all out I would first attempt a re-program of your ECM and invest in a wide-band O2 sensor and gauge (about 300 US) to see if you do need to go any further.  Could save yourself a lot of money that way.

Aaron

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[Slammed Fiero]

I uploaded the maps on sat night , the car runs a lot better. my Ultra short 2.5" Mandrel bent exhaust Shoots flames out when you come off a load @ 4000rpm or higher..

Im 2 shifter bushings away from driving this thing!!

here's a quick Vid.. So much for the sleeper , that sound is through the ful exhaust except for the 1 exhaust turnout. My brother was alseep , woke up and thought it was the UPS guy.

http://www.shaun.saturnet.net/pics/jonbag/MVI_0131.AVI

[Slammed Fiero]

link fixed

http://www.shaun.saturnet.net/pics/Jonbag/MVI_0131.AVI

[dguy]

here's a quick Vid.. So much for the sleeper , that sound is through the ful exhaust except for the 1 exhaust turnout. My brother was alseep , woke up and thought it was the UPS guy.

Beauty!   

[GoFast88]

Now, all I need is a set of loudspeakers in the trunk and an amp and I can  have my 4 cyl sound off 

[aaron88]

Slammed Fiero;

So it looks like you aren’t going to have any trouble making it for that trip/show.

Aaron

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[Slammed Fiero]

Hopefully , I have one brake line that succombed to an open shoe grinder Ineed to fix.

The only issue right now is that the car overheats..but it hasn't been burped properly , so I will assume that is an easy fix. I have to finish wiring up my autometer gauges and I also have a vaccuum leak causing a high idle.

Now.. I have Plugged the vaccum port near the flapper door on the manifold and that cured an irratic idle. I have the brake booster hooked up and the other vaccuum line is plugged..but still a high idle. I followed your parameters exactly. The only thing it can be is the gasket between the two halfs of the throttle body which I seem to remember getting destroyed.

One thing that people doing this project may find easier than what you did is the throttle cable bracket. Your setup is ingenious but also requires some level of precision and machine work. What I did was take the stock Caddy Bracket and the stock Fiero bracket , Cut , Weld , Grind and paint..looks factory and took 20 minutes to do.

God Bless the man who invented the mig welder. I have found that a great deal of the cost in an engine install is tools and it really dictates the overall quality.  There are things I am going to be changing when I pull the motor this december for the heads / cam swap... and SP67 Turbo...

The Funn ever ends.  We should do a lapping day @ the new calabogie track.

[aaron88]

The only issue right now is that the car overheats..but it hasn't been burped properly , so I will assume that is an easy fix.

make sure you bleed the air out of the system from one of the indicated poinst.  Kind of depends on what setup you used bet the two poins are accutally the same line.

[aaron88]

One thing that people doing this project may find easier than what you did is the throttle cable bracket. Your setup is ingenious but also requires some level of precision and machine work. What I did was take the stock Caddy Bracket and the stock Fiero bracket , Cut , Weld , Grind and paint..looks factory and took 20 minutes to do.

I have actually thought of a much better way to do the same bracket.  Instead of making the aluminum hole square, just drill a large hole there and add an additional thin steel plate on the outside and punch a square hole in it.  It could be done with a hammer and chisel.  The whole bracket could be made in 15 min.  In the spring I'm going to make this bracket and take some photos.

The Funn ever ends.  We should do a lapping day @ the new calabogie track.

That's going to be so much fun, I'm salivating just thingking about it.

Aaron

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[Slammed Fiero]

I deleted the TB coolant lines , no need for them with a summer car. Should be worth 1hp (haha)  I have a friend who owns a midas, he said they have a machine that can vaccuum out the air. Hopefully that solves the problem. I was reading your car never went over 220F , mine will hit that in about 10 min of running from dead cold.

[aaron88]

I deleted the TB coolant lines , no need for them with a summer car.

That's probably why you still have air in the system.  Make sure the guy attaches his vacume line at the throttle body line indicated in the above pic.  This is the spot the motor is designed to bleed from.

Aaron

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[Slammed Fiero]

Aaron you running an inline filler neck?