Hello from North Carolina!

[Trinten]

I'm a Chicago native, currently in N.C., and likely moving to Austin soon. I've always been a big fan of the Firebirds, and I think like most geeks that were children/tweenagers in the 80's, one of my dreams is to eventually own/build a KITT repli-car.

I love high performance American engines, my current SBC is a 355 and puts out 455 Hp and 447 ft/lbs torque at the crank, naturally aspirated and - for the moment - running a four barrel carb.

Long term plans is to switch it up to the F.I.R.S.T. intake, and run it with a 411 PCM, so if I ever get the bug to put in the work, I can do the "Retrofit" to do Coil-near-plug. Once all that's done, just because I'm a nut, I'll probably toss on some giggle gas.

A quote I picked up someplace went something like "If dropping the hammer doesn't threaten instantaneous death, you're not fast enough."

Currently, this engine is being housed in my '86 Fiero GT. If the Fiero ever gets to be too much to maintain/fix, I'll probably find myself an 80's Firebird to do an engine transplant.

[meissen]

Sounds like fun! Welcome to the site!

[86sc5]

Welcome. My brother lives in Clemmons NC.

[Gregs_gsxr]

WELCOME ! soon were gonna have to change the site to a national name....with all the out of state'rs joining lately lol

[MP81]

Welcome!

[ktl711]

Welcome to MiFBody!

[Trinten]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes!

I think the upside of connecting from different states, especially for those of us who have cars for which parts are becoming more rare, is a greater chance of finding the things we need without getting put over a barrel for it!

Not to mention every forum has it's gurus of different aspects, so it's definitely good to diversify for technical knowledge!

My car is a lot of fun, in the next few weeks it'll be undergoing a transmission swap to something that I won't be so afraid to beat up on a little... and might actually get more than 16 MPG on the highway!

[FASHOOTER]

Welcome! The Fiero GT was one of my favorite cars to work on and drive back in my dealership days. Have never seen a V-8 swap it sounds very cool!

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

Welcome and enjoy the site!

I've got a couple of friends that moved down to Greensboro...SynTec Seating...

[MORNINGSTAR2101]

hi, and welcome!

[OVRKILL]

Lived in Greensboro for a few years! Love it down there.....welcome aboard!

[Trinten]

Welcome! The Fiero GT was one of my favorite cars to work on and drive back in my dealership days. Have never seen a V-8 swap it sounds very cool!

Thanks! There's a guy in Illinois who specializes in these types of swaps. Working on the V8 in there is often not fun. But as things progress and I get parts and work done on it, I hope it'll reach the point where I won't need to worry about anything except general maintenance.

Given that you used to work on these things... I might pick your brain now and then!! Or just stop by with it someday for help! ha!

81DaytonaPaceCar - SynTec Seating? I'll have to look them up, I'm in the market for some seats... unless it's not car seats that they do.

Thanks again for the kind welcome!

[Lucky SOB]

Welcome to the site! Post up some pictures - I want to see a 355 in a Fiero!

[97firehawk]

Welcome! The Fiero GT was one of my favorite cars to work on and drive back in my dealership days. Have never seen a V-8 swap it sounds very cool!

There's a bunch of v8 swap fieros in Jackson there usually at the downtown car show every month.

[Trinten]

I don't have any good "pulled back" pics. Mostly up close stuff from the build/install, or everything dismantled.

Here is a youtube of the engine idling during it's first start up (Before the carb was tuned and plugs were properly gapped - way too small at first).

And then this one is me puttering around the lot behind the shop where much of the work was done, checking the brakes.

And here's a video from the engine builder when he was testing my engine on his dyno. It achieved those numbers using only a 250 CFM 2 barrel carb that he uses for break-in/testing/checking when he does builds. Scott is an awesome guy, insanely meticulous in his work, and extremely inexpensive given the amount of detail he puts in, especially just balancing the engine! He weighs out each piece individually, matches them up to get the assembled rods/pistons/pins as close as possible, and then offsets the differences by cylinder placement. I was shocked at how little he charges for that level of service.