u/73VW-Todd

Hey guys,

I have a 2009 Ford Explorer Sport, and I'm pretty sentimentally attached to it. I love the color, the interior, etc. It has the 4.0 SOHC, which is a great engine, mind you... but I really want to swap in the V8. More than that, I actually kind of want to put the 4.6 DOHC V8 in there... which brings me to my question.

If I was going to swap the DOHC V8 into this car, what all would I need? Can I purchase a really, really clapped out ~2009 Lincoln Aviator... I mean one that's really clapped out and headed for the crusher, strip it, and basically just move everything over from there to the Explorer?

I'm not averse to the work, I've restored tons of cars, and this wouldn't be the first time I've taken a $5,000 car and dumped $30 thousand dollars into it, only to make it be worth $5,100. Haha...

I just love this car, love this body style, and really want some extra power. What I'm looking for from the Aviator is the motor mounts, all the accessory brackets and components, and all the "things" that attach to the motor and transmission that I likely just can't buy. I'd rebuild the engine myself... probably buy a rebuilt transmission though.

What is the performance difference between say, a 2009 Explorer XLT and the 2009 Lincoln Navigator? I also have a 2002 Crown Victoria LX-P74 (has like 48k miles on it), and it's barely pushing 230hp. Hopefully the DOHC motor they put in the Lincoln is a little bit peppier.

This is the car...

Thank you!

Hey guys, wanted to share my daughter's latest video. She got back from Strings camp (like 3 weeks ago, actually), but wanted to do a video of the top-10 rarest Fiero options, so she made a list while she was in the dorm using her phone, and I looked up some images for her. Thanks for the pictures I stole, and the ones you gave me (thanks for the fresh air vent pictures Patrick, those were the hardest to get!).

Once again, thank you for allowing me to post these videos here, I really appreciate it!

Top 10 Rarest Pontiac Fiero Features Ever Made – Gen Z Garage Episode 67

... also, she only has her front suspension left to rebuild, and then remove and refurbish the doors (seals, motors, etc.,) and her Fiero will be 100% totally... I mean totally restored, which is crazy. She's going to make a video covering expenses, and what she would or wouldn't do differently.

(Note, I'd accidentally screwed up the original, had to re-upload the video. Thank you!)

Hey guys, new to this sub reddit. I do not currently have a TransAm (though I've had several in the past). My daughter and I just purchased a Pontiac 350 engine with a set of 6X heads. It's from a 1973 Firebird Formula.

I've purchased a whole host of things from Butler Performance, and I'll be building it out to a fairly stout, but stock configuration with a newer higher performance roller cam, new pistons, bearings, roller rockers, all the things. One of the things that I want to do is get a 1980-1981 Turbo TransAm, and swap this motor into it in place of the 301 V8. Compression for this motor will end up being around 8.5:1, which is mid (as the kids say), but ideal for a Turbo.

I want to build out the motor first before I buy the car, and wanted to ask some questions since I've never owned a Turbo TransAm before. As I build out the motor, I was going to use the stock intake manifold, and stock turbo configuration. I am not expecting insane horsepower, but just looking for something that won't get beaten by the new EV Amazon trucks.

Is the stock turbo intake incredibly restrictive (is there an aftermarket alternative to that intake)? Can the stock turbo be upgraded to a slightly larger turbo without too much modification?

I'd originally thought to use a rebuilt Rochester QuadraJet, but I'm thinking I might upgrade entirely to a FAST EZ-EFI system to help alleviate any tuning issues. They sell a square-bore TBI system that will drop right in place of the QuadraJet, and eliminate the need for ThermAC, EGR, choke, and an AC / Idle Stop solenoid.

Thoughts?

I realize this is a lot of money spent for probably not a huge amount of horsepower, but just looking at some of my options. My goal really is to end up with a nice looking 1979-1981 TransAm that... on the surface, looks totally stock, but can get out of it's own way.

I do have a totally built 1969 Oldsmobile 455 big block in storage that I spent like $7 rebuilding with all Joe Mondello parts (from back in the day). I put it on a 4-post engine dolly, wrapped it in a bag, and put it in a storage unit when I took a new job, haha. It was rated for 430hp and 600 ft-lbs of torque according to Joe Mondello's specs for that engine build. Kills me... but I got this Pontiac 350 and looking to have my daughter rebuild it for her channel: Iron Duke 2.5 Engine Assembly (Short Block) - Gen Z Garage - Ep 20

Thanks everyone! I am a die-hard Pontiac fan, and looking to get back into a 2nd Gen again. I previously had an 81 TransAm with rare C&C T-Tops (not Hurst or Fischer), and also had a 1982 TransAm with Cross-Fire Injection. For Pontiacs, I've had two Solstices, like 10 Fieros, and a bunch of Grand Ams.

Ok, there are probably not a whole lot of people who care about this, but I wanted to share this anyway since my daughter and I went through a lot of effort to upgrade. Anyone who has an original-ish 84-86 Fiero knows that the belt and pulley system is basically crap. Nothing against it... but it was 70s tech in an 80s world.

The 87+ serpentine belt system is amazing... best belt system of the entire Fiero, and obviously better than the one on the V6. So here's what we did...

So, everyone I assume knows that the 1984-1986 engine block is totally different than the 87-88 engine block. So, the bolt holes where the belt tensioner would normally line up (for the 87-88) simply do not exist on the 84-86. There are different holes, different sizes, etc.

On the 84-86, there is a black plate which is used to block off a huge hole in the front (side) of the engine block. This hole is actually where a water pump would be located if this motor had been installed in a Chevy S-10, for example (in a longitudinally mounted location). In our Fieros, there's merely a block-off plate, and it's held in place using four bolts / studs. Attached to the block-off plate is also the timing indicator.

On our 84-86 Fiero, there's a plastic conduit that holds the A/C wiring which runs across the front of the motor. When my daughter rebuilt the engine, we re-routed this wiring to behind the exhaust manifold heat shield, in a heat wrap tube along with the other wiring that runs on that side, so we no longer needed that.

This leaves us with the blockoff plate, and four studs sticking off of it. I bought another block-off plate from a junkyard 84-86 Fiero Iron Duke, and had the timing indicator cut off of it at a local machine shop. I then drilled a hole in the center, and mounted a belt tensioner from some GM car (I'll look it up and try to figure out which one I bought). I drilled a hole for the notch, and then drilled a hole for the bolt, installed the bolt upside down, welded it to the underside of the block-off plate, put a series of washers, and then used crush-nuts to tighten the extra block-off plate onto the front of the existing block-off plate and studs.

I used a 59" (60" would be better), and was able to properly route the belt up and around in a nearly similar fashion to the factory belt of the 87-88 Iron Dukes.

Some other things worth mentioning:
- We upgraded to the 1991+ General Motors harmonic balancer from the Grand Am
- We swapped over to the V5 Compressor (which has 60% less parasitic drive-train loss)
- We swapped over the water pump pulley from an 87-88
- We also installed a "decoupler" pulley on the C130S alternator to smooth out the belt

I got everything back together, and the engine just purs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gngFCdZTLtQ

It's a combination of a LITTLE bit of fabrication that someone can do in a garage, and a bit of buying some unobtanium parts (harmonic balancer, water pump pulley), but well worth it if you want to keep the original motor and want the upgrades and benefits of the newer motor (minus DIS).

I saw this article: https://retirement.media/sergey-brin-just-gave-mamdanis-new-york-a-vote-of-no-confidence/

It's a very slanted article of course... but I wanted to ask honestly. So, the private capital investors are leaving, or at least some of them are. I realize this is bad for new investment and new construction. But in the end, does this not achieve the goal the mayor was looking for?

Likely, there will be new companies who purchase these properties for pennies on the dollar (as the article suggested), and then, they likely have significantly less overhead as they no longer have the sunk cost fallacy to worry about. They're essentially starting new. The expenses would still be the same, but they may not have the same debt load.

Can someone tell me if this is actually a really bad thing (for the people who rent), or would this not actually result in slightly lower rents over time? Assuming most of these buildings didn't require significant overhaul, and the city was willing to work on easing some restrictions and existing liabilities?

Just curious... hope this isn't scratching the no politics... I'm really just looking at this from a real estate perspective and have no dog in this fight. Thanks!

Hey guys, I really hope you can help me... I'm going nuts. Normally I'm answering questions and not asking them (not really in here, but mostly in the Fiero one). I'm just at a loss...

1984 Corvette, 350 V8, Cross Fire Injection... 52k miles.

My daughter and I have basically reconditioned the engine... completely went through everything. Not going to share those videos because my focus is on getting it running and not sharing her channel. But we replaced the timing chain and nylon gears (they're aligned, and good), new gaskets... new harmonic balancer, set the timing to TDC, did all the things. The engine looks and runs pretty amazing, at least for a few seconds... and then it chokes.

Here's a video of what's happening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztKvPg7piJE

Worth mentioning that I've tried disconnecting the timing adjust lead, doing it with or without, and as you can see in the video, the fuel pressure gauge shows full fuel pressure until the engine dies, and then I hear a click, and only seconds later, the fuel pressure drops quickly (part of a safety feature in the cross-fire injection system).

I'm getting a good cone fuel spray from both throttle bodies, and again, everything is basically new or replaced or rebuilt. The TBIs are both actually brand new... I bought one of the "service kits" that was left over from GM where it was a top plate with dual TBIs ready to go. I still replaced the gaskets in them, injectors are good, etc.

I'm getting spark, and fuel... and I think timing is decent.

I'm just kind of at a loss as to what's going on... really appreciate any help.

I've checked the codes, I get codes 34 and 42. I changed out the MAP sensor... pretty sure that's not the problem.

Any thoughts? Thank you!