3.4L RWD to FWD Starter drilling.

[v6h.o.]

So, a Fiero guy dropped off a bunch of stuff for me to do to his engine. 3.4L Fbody (RWD) short block that needs the top end assembled and his new cam installed ect ect ect.

So then he says after its all dropped off (I assumed this was already done for him by the way he was talking) That "oh I'll get you to drill the starter for the other side"

Looking at the bitch, god damn the starter bolt hole for the outer bolt is going to be going into hardly any block ear at all. Its got a slant cut on it at the end of the ear and thats exactly where the bolt has to go.

Who here has successfully gone and drilled and tapped the block themselves?
Untill now I've never actually gone and taken a good look at doing this.

Looks like I'll have to dissasemble his short block and get it sent out to a machine shop, I drill and tap shit all the time myself but for something like this I'm not fucking around and ruining a block. But before I do, Who else has done this? Got any pics of the end result of where the holes are?

[WhiteRaider]

A lot of the Isuzu guys have done this when swapping an F Body 3.4 into their Troopers. The Isuzu block has the starter on the D side too.

A guy who goes by Ed Mc from the Isuzu 4x4wire forums sent me a bunch of information on the 3.4 engine swap that he had collected a while back. This is how one of the writeups described it.

Next came the biggest perceived hurdle of the 3.4L swap... The starter is on the wrong side! Apparently on the S-10 crate engine, moving the starter to the left is not an option. On the "S" block there is plenty of room and the undrilled reinforcement boss is clearly on the block. I had the old 2.8 handy and took a piece of paper and traced the starter boltholes, the contour of the tab, rear main cap, and the oil pan holes. The contour of tab you bolt the starter to on the 2.8 is slightly different on the 3.4, so I found it best to reference the rear main cap and the oil pan holes to locate where to drill the new starter holes. Also, bolt up the flywheel and position the starter to see if they are going to line up. Remember what your dad told you...measure twice and cut once!!! Not much room for a second chance here. The outermost hole is somewhat tricky, because you have to drill into a 45-degree angle. Just start perpendicular to the flat, then rotate up. Tap out the holes. I bolted the starter & flywheel up on the stand and cranked it over (battery + jumper cables) to make sure it was going to work. It fit like a UAW worker did it himself, well actually a lot better than that (joke).

One guy posted a template for this over there, but the link isn't working now. If you go to http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/postli...t=&Board=UBB68 and post, I'm sure someone can pony up the template for you.

Cheers!
Rob

[RacerX11]

Rodney Dickman sells a jig for re-drilling the starter holes: http://www.rodneydickman.com/n101.html

Here is the jig being used: http://www.my-fiero.com/pictures/3.4...les/index.html

With your vast collection of FWD blocks, Colin, you should be able to come up with a template

Marty

[v6h.o.]

Thanks Marty! I'll have to see what I can make for a jig/template. or maybe just buy the damn jig off Rodney.

[Guest]

Just buy it off rodney. Or hunt someone down that has one. Prob sell for cheap. Its one of those things you pretty much only use once anyways.