Front drive GM question

I was told a while back that all front drive GM products share a common bellhousing bolt pattern. I was told this by a guy with a Caddy FWD motor bolted to an Isuzu transaxle which was residing in a Fiero. He said the only thing he had to do was come up with a flywheel which could be machined to fit the Caddy motor and would still fit inside the Fiero/Isuzu bellhousing.

Not that I plan to build anything along those lines, but I am wondering (like I am sure many other folks are) just how much truth is in this?

Not all front drives, but the "GM Metric" pattern is the same for tons of engines including the iron duke, 60° V6 including 2.8/3.1/3.4/3100/3400/3.4 TDC/3.4 DOHC, 3800/3300, Caddy 4.1/4.5/4.9, Northstar 4.6, Aurora 4.0, Shortstar 3.5, etc. The Cadillac 4.1/4.5/4.9 has been done tons of times, the Northstar has been done many times but is a bit more work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GM_bellhousing_patterns#GM_metric_pattern

It is a pretty straight forward swap. The flywheel is the hardest "custom" part for most Fiero swaps but even then it's well documented and some are available off the shelf. Then there's the dogbone and front engine mount, which need to be fabbed for the Caddy swaps since nobody makes off the shelf parts. After that is cooling system, which is pretty straight forward, and electronics which totally depending on what engine you're using and what you want to do with it.

I wouldn't use the Isuzu with the Caddy engine. The Isuzu was great when only having to put up with the wimpy Iron Duke. Triple the input torque and you're not going to be satisfied with the results. The Getrag is by far the stronger of the manual transmissions that came in the Fiero. If you want to learn more, spend an hour searching around over at Pennock's Fiero Forum (www.fiero.nl/forum) and/or RFT (www.realfierotech.com) ... I prefer the first one due to the sheer volume of information and bickering at the second one, but the first one does tend to give good info about 75% of the time, with about 25% disinformation, so you have to filter the BS.

Bryce

Huh. Ya learn something new every day. Mebbe a 3800 SC with a Getrag box sideways in the back of a Fiero...

I have a N* Fiero

It aligns almost perfectly , except 1 bolt hole needs an adapter , takes 2 secs to make with a steel sleeve and a piece of 1x1 alum.

You have to take the webs out of the Fiero's tranny (or any Getrag) , they interfere with the starter.

Chris moore (probably the most knowledgeable northstar guy , has built13 or so) Runs no dog bone. But all auto cars

I run a dog bone on mine

You need to cut the pass side decklid hinge to clear the valve cover , cut it just below the top bolt. Also have to toss the dumb decklid hinge system

My Flywheel is from Spec , custom in Aluminum ,Im sure they have some in stock. I think it was $300-$400..

Electronics... Uggghh , that is what plagues me

RFT is great for real info , but there is a lot of BS that drags down even the most arrogant (me) Fiero.nl is good for build threads..bad for teenagers who want to put a t3 turbo on a dumptruck motor and into a fiero.

Fiero.nl thinks the fiero is the greatest car ever made in existence period.. take it all with a grain of salt.

Hope this helps!

Nascho , you get any progress yet on your project?

JM

I've seen only one 3800 sc fiero living, and it was fast. Very quick.

AutoXR wrote: Nascho , you get any progress yet on your project?

Nothing to write home about, that's for sure.

Bryce

Mine too , sat in the back of the shop for 2 years now , smellin like burnt coolant and oil.

let the good times roll!

Jensenman wrote: Huh. Ya learn something new every day. Mebbe a 3800 SC with a Getrag box sideways in the back of a Fiero...

Yup, been done many many times. You can buy off the shelf mounts from a couple of different guys, modify a RWD flywheel to work IIRC, pick your poison for engine management (factory ECM is thoroughly hacked) and you're in bidness. There are even guys that make headers for that swap in the Fiero if you were so inclined. I think the fastest 3800 SC Fieros are in the 10s in the 1/4 now, no idea how they do on twisties with that huge lump of metal...cast block, cast heads, and a heavy supercharger don't make for a very lean powertrain. ;)

Bryce

I've been thinking the 5.3 Impala v-8 might be nice in the Cavalier.

On the Ford front, IIRC the 3.0 Aerostar/Ranger bellhousing can be used to make a RWD V6 SHO setup. How about the later SHO V8? Is there a readily available RWD bellhousing for that one?