Can a mild build 3800 Supercharged swap Fiero Pull a Wheelie? Lets find out!

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OP
OP
Kenneth L Nielsen

Kenneth L Nielsen

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2019
Posts
187
Reaction score
267
Trim the snout, and put a smaller pulley on her.. Should be down near low 11's

Do you have the aluminum W-Body sub frame under it? Or still running the stock A/X/Fiero subframe?

Could always do a LS4 swap, but I think they loose their daily drivability doing that. 3800sc is the way to go in my book.
I have thought about trimming and going smaller pulley - Have you personally gone smaller than 2.8 and what were the results? I have the steel fiero cradle and arms. They don't weigh much and they are surprisingly strong. Too much more power (SC3800 or turbo LS4) will break the tranny and the vendors have stopped supporting the 4t65e-hd so the stronger chain is scarce and $$$. Thinking a little nitrous shot to get it to 11.50 in the 1/4.
 

TollKeeper

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Posts
2,681
Reaction score
5,120
Location
Brighton, CO
I have thought about trimming and going smaller pulley - Have you personally gone smaller than 2.8 and what were the results? I have the steel fiero cradle and arms. They don't weigh much and they are surprisingly strong. Too much more power (SC3800 or turbo LS4) will break the tranny and the vendors have stopped supporting the 4t65e-hd so the stronger chain is scarce and $$$. Thinking a little nitrous shot to get it to 11.50 in the 1/4.
I will be honest, I have only ever owned a NA 3800, Toronado Trofeo.. But have lots of time with the 3.1 Turbo LH0. Did lots of research on the L67 for a Fiero build I was gonna do, but after I got injured, working on "dream" cars became a thing of luxury I no longer had. The W-Body guys have had a lot of time with the L67.

Their biggest downfall was the cars they were working on, W-bodys, they were a LOT of the -fat- side, Fiero although not a skinny gal, is still a lot lighter then those. After that it was keeping axles, and as you mentioned, the 4T65 from imploding. Most have found the comfort zone around 3.2 or 3.0, depending on supporting mods. Some ventured over to a 282/284 manual trans, but they ended up being weaker than the 4T65, and parts are 10x worse to find, plus the custom axles needed.

Last I knew someone was working on a Custom 6T80 standalone kit, but the package would require mods to frame rails, never heard what ever happened on that.

I started doing research on trying out a Aisen TF-80SC, but gave up after my injury. Nice compact 6 speed tranny, and there is a aftermarket for it to make them nearly bulletproof. They were used in A LOT of cars, GM, FoMoCo, Volvo, Fiat, etc. They can be built up to reliably handle 500hp easily, and with certain rebuild parts, 700hp. It does have one downfall thou.. One axle would need to be hugely long, and the other short. As you know this creates torque management issues for the FWD crowd. On a Fiero Application... It raises a bunch of interesting ideas. For those that didnt know about the TF-80SC, their next argument was that it was a AWD tranny.. Which is true.. Except the AWD was a externally mounted PTO, so its no longer an issue. Take the PTO off, find a matching axle spline..
 
OP
OP
Kenneth L Nielsen

Kenneth L Nielsen

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2019
Posts
187
Reaction score
267
I will be honest, I have only ever owned a NA 3800, Toronado Trofeo.. But have lots of time with the 3.1 Turbo LH0. Did lots of research on the L67 for a Fiero build I was gonna do, but after I got injured, working on "dream" cars became a thing of luxury I no longer had. The W-Body guys have had a lot of time with the L67.

Their biggest downfall was the cars they were working on, W-bodys, they were a LOT of the -fat- side, Fiero although not a skinny gal, is still a lot lighter then those. After that it was keeping axles, and as you mentioned, the 4T65 from imploding. Most have found the comfort zone around 3.2 or 3.0, depending on supporting mods. Some ventured over to a 282/284 manual trans, but they ended up being weaker than the 4T65, and parts are 10x worse to find, plus the custom axles needed.

Last I knew someone was working on a Custom 6T80 standalone kit, but the package would require mods to frame rails, never heard what ever happened on that.

I started doing research on trying out a Aisen TF-80SC, but gave up after my injury. Nice compact 6 speed tranny, and there is a aftermarket for it to make them nearly bulletproof. They were used in A LOT of cars, GM, FoMoCo, Volvo, Fiat, etc. They can be built up to reliably handle 500hp easily, and with certain rebuild parts, 700hp. It does have one downfall thou.. One axle would need to be hugely long, and the other short. As you know this creates torque management issues for the FWD crowd. On a Fiero Application... It raises a bunch of interesting ideas. For those that didnt know about the TF-80SC, their next argument was that it was a AWD tranny.. Which is true.. Except the AWD was a externally mounted PTO, so its no longer an issue. Take the PTO off, find a matching axle spline..
Interesting. I will have do do some research this transmission.
 

bigdog9191999

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2020
Posts
825
Reaction score
955
Location
sw michigan
the 4t80e is becoming more common swap for strength, but isnt much aftermarket for them.


i have had a 2.8 on one and it runs hard ( till lack of fuel chips pistons) if you dont have a gen V then that would be an easy why to gain a bit of boost on the same pully as they are more efficient.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
128,781
Posts
1,805,301
Members
91,760
Latest member
MyCleftNut

Latest posts

Top