G.T. Fieros

Greater Toronto Fieros
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PostPosted: Mon May 19, 2014 8:29 am 
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Single again

Joined: Sun Nov 10, 2013 11:26 am
Posts: 292
Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
This construction zone thread is for anyone interested in swapping the 88 front suspension into the 84-87 chassis. This is not quite a bolt-in affair but it's pretty easy to do. Some frame notching, welding, elongation of a few holes and a little patience is all it takes. As you can see, at this point of the build, I have the cradle bolted into place using all eight bolt hole locations. (Six were stock while the two rear mounting locations were fabricated). I left the locating stud intact and measured side to side and fore & aft.
Note: Before you begin, you'll need to find a complete 88 front cross member assembly. The control arm's, steering rack (and intermediate shaft), sway bar, spindle's, caliper's, etc are 88 specific and are different than the 84-87 parts.

Start by removing all the old parts. Steering rack, sway bar, brake lines, etc. No pics, you get the idea.

Here's the notch of the frame rail that has to be cut in order to clear the 88 front cross member.
Note: Leave additional clearance for the coolant tubes! I had to go in later on and notch for this additional clearance!
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Here are the elongated holes that I had made to the crossmember. Notice the locating pin?
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Here you can see the 88 cross member in place after notching.
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Now, the gap is a little large. This is due because the offending area on the 84-87 frame. Remember, the back portion of the lower control arm mounts to the bracketry associated in that area. I wanted to fill in the gap and make it look nicer, almost factory. So, I created "caps" for both sides using 14 gauge metal.
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Here's the passenger side cap installed. Notice the smaller gap(s) and the control arm clearance.
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There are a few more area's that must be addressed. After removing the factory bracketry, you can clearly see the back two mounting locations are floating in the air.
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I simply took some 10 gauge steel and formed up a "U" channel, then welded it in. It's around 3" long, and 2" tall. Now, you can also see the step the 88 cross member has. I just added a small plate, of the appropriate thickness, to take up the extra gap. I then drilled a 1/2" hole through the "U" channel and secured the assembly with a 1/2"-13 x 1 1/2" bolt, nut and washers.
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Don't mind the corroded and ugly looking coolant lines! They'll be addressed.
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The front mounting locations line up almost perfectly with the rear factory lower rad saddle bolt holes! A little slotting with the die grinder, and voila.
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That's it, that's all. Reinstall all the 88 specific parts and you're good to go.
Note: The 88 coolant tubes are a little different than the 84-87 units. I will use the 88 tubes as that's what I have. (After I repair the kink from the previous owner first).

Okay, lets try to protect the coolant tubes and raise them higher within the frame.
Here's the offending area.
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Now, if you look at this view, you can see there is a semi-circle relief in the factory crossmember. Let us use this as a reference point and make a notch to match this.
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Without showing you all the cutting, grinding and welding, I ended up with this.
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Add a little primer.
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After some paint and undercoat, we have this.
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Here's the additional clearance with the crossmember installed.
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I can still push the coolant tubes and have them almost touch the inner wheel well. They are slightly pulled out for the photos.
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