LZ4/Fiero Swap

[ericjon262]

Phaser pics.

[Guest]

I think the plan for the cam sounds good, and I prefer the 3 bolt pattern over the single bolt. I'm just not a fan of the double roller timing sets that have been available. It seems that the gen3 chains are better for less stretch than the gen1/2 chains, but there's no compatible cam gear to mix and match the two AFAIK.

The cloyes double roller are proven to be excellent quality

the TCE double rollers required crank and timing cover clearance work to fit. I highly doubt you'll fit the cloyes unit without at least a gen 1 timing cover

Not my problem. you can't satisfy everyone. However, I am sure the inside of the fwd housing can be machined or a dremel taken to it if the cloyes is too thick. Not only that but the 3 bolt cam might have been positioned a smidge closer to the block from the factory vs the gen 3. So its possible no modification to a fwd cover would be necessary. I am sure someone here has used a Cloyes double roller on a gen 2 cavalier motor before. chime in if so.

I know it's speculation at this point but any idea what the earliest timeline would be for the new cam blank?

I hope to have something to share within 2-3 weeks. Its not up to me though.

[caffeine]

I would definitely be interested in such a cam

[neophile_17]

Many thanks to Eric for posting those pictures!

So I did an initial round of cleaning after pulling the valves on one of the cylinder heads. The intake ports are huge but the exhaust not so much. Has anyone put these on a flow bench? I'm imagining the exhaust is a little weaker than ideal. I may try a little porting to remove some of the shelf around the valve stem. Below are pictures of the port:



Any opinions on a valvespring upgrade? This motor will be going into an endurance car so it'll be seeing extended RPM but not huge lift. I'm partially tempted to see if the stock springs are up to it but I've got it apart... Anyone have good or bad things to say about spring buckets?

[neophile_17]

It's been awhile and this motor hasn't seen much activity but now that my LeMons season is over and the craziness of summer has subsided I'm ready to get back to it. There's been one important change since my last post. Thanks to bigcheese I have a set of cam spacers that will allow me to use a non-VVT cam. Eliminating VVT from the equation will make initial setup of the MS3 easier. I may go back and explore that further once everything is up and running and all the other variables are pinned down. For now I'm going to get it together with the stock 3500 cam I have laying around and build a MS3. So this will end up being more of a budget proof of concept build.

So the next step is swapping out the cam. I'd like to go with SBC cam bearings (slightly wider) if possible but I'm concerned that the spacers will place the oil feed holes in the wrong spot. Has anyone done this with spacers? If that's a no go what is everyone's favorite 3400 cam bearing manufacturer? The GM stuff is over $100 and more than I want to spend if there's a quality alternative. Thanks!

[Guest]

happy to see this swap moving forward

[neophile_17]

Not a huge update but I am getting somewhere as parts start to trickle in. It always bugged me that GM sent out valve covers with different textures. This time I found an easy way to hide this- wrinkle finish. I'm pretty happy with how they came out.

I'm thinking about a brushed or even polished finish for the manifold. We'll see how fast sanding gets old.

[neophile_17]

So I thought I'd share my experience with gmpartsgiant.com so that just maybe it will save someone a little hassle.

I need a cam bolt since the LZ4 attaches the cam sprocket to the cam with 3 smaller bolts instead of one big bolt like the earlier motors. I looked up the part number for the bolt and picked the cheapest source which was gmpartsgiant.com. The part I got was nowhere near the right size so I checked that I had the right number and begun the process of trying to correct the issue. Their system is pretty obnoxious but eventually I had an email that they were sending the right part. What I got was the same incorrect part. At this point I'd rather get one from the JY or buy from another source than try to correct it with them.

Also the first round of intake sanding should be tonight.

[Guest]

Anymore update to this? I re-read the thread since you started off by mentioning the use of VVT and MS3X, I had hoped you got somewhere with that. :/ oh well.

Also if you still need a cam bolt (gen3 type) I found that I have an abundance of them for some reason, I can send you one.

[neophile_17]

Unfortunately this is my only car project with no deadline so progress is slow. Realistically it will July before I can spare time for it, unless my LX9 isn't salvageable.

The VVT part doesn't really scare me nearly as much as getting all the sensors reading reliably.

I picked up that bolt a couple weeks ago. Thanks though!

[Guest]

Alright, just thought I'd offer in case you hadn't found one yet.

[neophile_17]

Wow! It's been more than two and a half years since the last update on this thread. Other life things have gotten in the way like new job, new house (much better garage!) but I'm looking to get back to this guy. The engine did get torn down to the block in that time and some cleaning got done, but the big news is that I ordered and received the MS3. So I will be moving forward this winter with a running this spring plan.

[neophile_17]

Is there a recommended sequence to install the cam spacers into the block. It would be nice to line up and install the bearing into the spacers and then install the assembly into the block. I can't think of a reason not to do it this way but I figure it's worth asking.

Thanks!

[Guest]

Yes you can do it that way. That's how my machinist did it I think

[neophile_17]

Thanks!

New soldering iron and opto-isolator are arriving tomorrow so hopefully I can make some good progress this Sunday on the MS3. I'm going to be wiring the MS3 similar to what Jonpro03 did for his MS2 in this thread:

http://www.60degreev6.com/vb5/forum/pushrod-engines/pushrod-general/23648-lx9-crank-relcutor-megasquirt-coil-near-plug

With crank sensor, cam senor, ignition triggers, electric fan and the Evap solenoid I'll be out of I/O but I can upgrade to the X part of the MS3X at any time.