SkinnyG's V8 Pontiac Firefly

The DIY gods are not satisfied until they receive their blood sacrifice.

Yep, those angle grinders love human flesh. Ouch.

Be glad it was a cut off wheel. I got my index finger with a 40 grit flap wheel. The glove didn't slow it down any more than my finger did. I'll have that scar for a while.

Very cool project. You've convinced me that I NEED a tig machine ASAP.

I just went through and read the entire build.

I retract my previous statement. This is isn't just a cool build. It's awesome. Wow!

I now have a dilemma.

I just picked up a '96 Chevy 305 with tappet noise (so saith the seller) for free. Cool. Except it turned out to be a 350 Vortec instead.

Do I rebuild it, cam it, put it in the daily driver Crusty Chevy, and put the old-school "hot rod" 350 into the Firefly? Or rebuild the Vortec and put ~it~ in the Firefly instead? Or put the heads on the "hot rod" 350 in the Chevy and store the block for another time, and leave the stock 305 TBI alone in the Firefly?

Doing anything other than nothing is so going to blow my budget. But something would be so much more fun than nothing.

Vortex+ firefly. You got this far.

After challenge? Turbo hot rod 350.

Leave the truck alone, build turbo vortec 350 after completion of car.

I visualized a more modern oem-style radiator mount, and fabricated stand-off thingies to make that happen, using the rubber bitties stolen off cars we stripped at the school.

Only I didn't think that all the way through, and it all ended up hanging to low in front. So I cut them off. Instead, I came up with a simple rad mount using 1/4" rod, some 3/4" flat bar, some washers and some rubber stand-offs I bought for the Hideous Hardbody, but never used.

Probably too flimsy to last. Something's going to break...

Held in by carriage bolts, because I seem to be out of regular bolts. Go figure. Need to see what I have in the way of electric fans in my junk pile.

The Vortec is on an engine stand until the fall. When my Level-1 mechanics students go through their "dead" engines, I will go through mine as well. Good "real life" example for them to see.

Pick-N-Pull had a 50% off sale, and I went off to get (among other things) a better gearset for the narrowed 10-bolt 7.5" in the Firefly (currently has 2.73's).

Found a 4-cyl S10 with 4.11's in it. SWEET. Then I did some quick math. With my 22.6" tires, I'd be pulling 3800 rpm cruising at 100km/h (62.5mph). Um.....

Found another S10 with 3.42's. Did some math - they'd be 3200rpm at cruise.

If I'm going to turbo the V8 eventually, these gears might not be a good idea.

Did some more math, and guess what - the 2.73's I already have would have me cruising at 2500rpm. Probably better for boost later on, too.

Turns out I had a 3.42 axle at the school. Just sitting there. Waiting. Patiently. Pulled 5 years ago. Cruising rpm be darned. This is the same gearing as 4.11's would be in my '77 Chevy C10. I want the acceleration to make all my four letter words have five syllables.

Freshening up a "free" TH350 with new seals, an extra direct clutch, extra sun bushings, a hardened intermediate sprag race, along with a home-brewed shift kit. Trans case is home for the weekend for a thorough cleaning.

Oh fun... lots you can do with the turbo 350

Cooling system is pretty much done. Also picked up an alternator and brackets since I am not using the serpentine system from the '88 Firebird donor.

Yep - it all fits under the hood

Pick-N-Pull trans cooler, still to hook up

I don't remember what the fan is out of - maybe a Lumina van we cut up at school? Some trimming and creative mounting made it work. I'm thinking or adding the defroster back in, so the cooling system might not be done after all......

Im sorry but you said lumina van? What kinda crazy canadian contraption is that

chiodos wrote: Im sorry but you said lumina van? What kinda crazy canadian contraption is that

Canadian? They were one of the Dustbuster vans, the Lumina APV.

Looks good.. except you'll want to get the push threw pins holding the fan out and make your own brackets..

those pins over time wear threw the rad from the vibrations...

I got pictures I can show you from my old Toyota 4x4

Not doubting that at all.

Even yesterday, I took a look at the fan trying to decide how best to make my own brackets.

Look for an upgraded mounting in the future.

Nope. You're right. I need to change it.

Got half of a proper fan mount fabricated. Then ran out of MIG wire.....

In reply to SkinnyG:

bummer I hate when that happens and I am in the middle of a project. .

Doesn't fit.

Ok, so the intercooler isn't mine. Just picking it up for a friend.

I'm almost done rebuiding a TH350 for the car. Have to machine the direct clutch piston down to run 5 clutches and dual-feed it. Also have stripped and cleaned a 12-bolt axle for The Crusty Chevy.

And finally got a better rad fan mount happening. Not quite finished, as I will add some bracing. Kinda dumb design - the fan is so close to the pulleys, the fan has to be removed to replace the V-belt. But to remove the fan, you need to remove the water pump. Who's stupid design is this??

Fan mount made out of real metal

So easy making things attach with ends like this

And painted!

In reply to EvanR:

When I worked at a GM dealer, we referred to the Lumina APV's and Pontiac Transports as Space Shuttles