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FAQ Technical

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#1 WHAT IS A STRUT TOWER BRACE? WILL THE STRUT TOWER BRACE FIT ANY BERETTA AND WHAT DOES IT DO?

-A strut tower brace is a piece of metal that bolts to your strut towers in your engine bay. Yes as long as you get the right one. 92+ cavilers got them for extra support, and they match the Beretta perfectly. It will give your front end more support and decrease body flex. The Part Number is located here

#2 MY ALTERNATOR DIED WHAT DO I DO NOW?

-You have 2 choices, one get a stock gm unit, or go with the more dependable ICEBERG alternator.. available in 104, and 140 amps. Here’s the ordering info:

Southwest Truck & Auto
1261 Chicago Drive SW
Wyoming, MI 49509
(616) 452-5728

#3 WHAT TYPE OF OIL SHOULD I USE?

-Well Chevy recommends that you use 5w-30, but that is mainly for winter use. It is a thinner oil that will get into your engine faster in cold weather, but 10w-30 works also, more for summer use..

#4 WHAT’S THE INFORMATION FOR GETTING A 3800SC INSTALLED IN MY CAR?

-Some time somebody posted a message where someone swapped a 3800 into their Cavalier. They also posted the address/phone number of the company. This company is Racetech, and it’s located in Toronto. Here’s the information: The 3800 Series engine will fit our Berettas WITHOUT any body modifications. Hood will not need to be changed, neither fender, frames, nor anything else. That stays the same. The engine compartment needs no modifications. For those of you with 5-speed manual transmissions, those can be reused. Racetech bolts them in for you. What you need is aluminum flywheel, and a performance clutch, which all comes in the kit from Racetech. What you need to provide yourself is the engine, and a computer. The costs for these vary, as you know, depending on the engine, mileage, and a few other factors. 3800 Series II engine with a computer will run about $2200 to $3000 Canadian dollars (or, $1500 – $2000 US) here, in Canada from yards here. Racetech does everything else – wiring harness, computer hook up, engine installation, provide brackets, labor everything you need to have done. They test every aspect of the new car to make sure everything is working properly. Now, as for the price. The price is $6,000 Canadian dollars. It’s $4,000 in US. No hidden costs, other than that you have to provide your own engine/computer.This project takes 6-8 weeks, and they recommend that you do it during the winter, because winter is the time you will miss you car the least 🙂 The woman I was speaking to is Miriam, you might want to contact her. It’s either her, or Joe. Here’s the phone number: 1-416-747-5728

#5 HOW DO YOU DO THE IDLE RELEARN PROCEDURE? WHEN DO I NEED TO DO IT? WILL IT WORK ON MY BERETTA?

-The Idle relearn is done by starting your car, and leaving it idle until the fans turns on, and turns off. After that first *cycle*, turn the car off and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Start the car again, and let it go through another *cycle*, turn the car off again.Now you should have done 2 full fan cycles and the ECM should have relearned the idle. Start your car again and it’s done.You need to do an Idle relearn anytime you disconnect the battery, and/or for some odd reason your ECM loses power for more then 20 seconds.It works on ALL Berettas.

#6 WHY WON’T MY HIGH BEAMS OR BLINKERS WORK ANYMORE?

-Your turn signal stalk is bad, and you need to remove the steering wheel to get at it. If your a do-it-yourself-er, you could probably accomplish it with the right kind of tools and a good manual (Haynes, Chilton’s, GM, etc) but other wise any repair shop can do it for under $50(US) You should also be sure that it is your problem before you spend money on it by checking your fuses, flashers, and bulbs just to be sure.

#7 WHAT SIZE TIRES CAN I FIT ON MY BERETTA?

14″ rims: 235/60/14

15″ rims: 215/60/15

16″ rims: 225/50/16

17″ rims: 235/45/17

For more info and a listing of rims you can use, click here
(*note that some upgraded tire sizes will affect speedometer results, please look here)

#8 HOW DO I ADJUST CAMBER ON A FWD CAR?

-Camber gains (-negative ) can be gained on these cars with these methods- The factory recommends slotting the lower strut hole /to knuckle/ to the outside, and you can then pull the bottom of the knuckle out farther to gain more negative camber.You can also slot the upper hole to the inside, but the knuckle contacts the strut housing when you move it in at the top and may also cause a tire clearance problem to the upper strut area if you are using larger wheels and tires.Anytime you change the camber of the front. end of these cars you should recheck your toe setting. If doing this on a 95+ j-car (Cavalier or Sunfire) you will change the toe since the steering arm is on the knuckle- so realignment is a must. For competition use it is recommended you set toe toward zero and even toe out for full track usage (makes car want to turn in easier), but this leads to twitchiness of handling on street driven cars, so if car is dual purpose, do not get carried away with this adjustment. For a picture of what your looking at and some more info about camber.

#9 WHAT ARE OFFSET AND BACKSPACING?

-Offset & backspacing are not the same thing. Offset is measured from the centerline of the rim to the mounting pad. Backspacing is measured from the backside of the weight flange to the mounting pad. This is much easier for most people to figure out, without cutting their rims in half or doing a lot of math. That’s also the reason it’s usuallygiven in inches, easier for most people to do at home. Quick example: a 7.00 wide rim with zero offset would have over 3.50 inches backspacing. Any positive offset would add to the backspacing, negative offset would subtract from backspacing. This information should also be spelled out in any decent wheel manufacturers catalog.

#10 WHAT IS THE INFO ON A TURBO FOR 2.8/3.1 (not 3100)

-The TURBO kit, parts and labor, which includes a decent engine upgrade, better bolts, lower compression cylinder and some other goodies, cost…$6500. That’s for an ’88 2.8V6 5-spd. The auto will be almost a grand more. This turbo is only for the 1988 models, and won’t work on any other models. Their shop, Top-Tech, is in Mississauga off of Dixie. That’s about an hour drive from downtown Toronto. For more info call Dino @ 905-564-6619. (*Note, this is in Canadian Funds)

#11 HOW DO I SWAP A DIGITAL DASH FOR MY STOCK ANALOG CLUSTER?

-This is a very simple swap, all you need to change is the dash cluster itself, AND the inside wiring harness from the donor car.. that’s it, no new digital senders, or new computer, etc.One bolt on the engine bay holds the wires together, take that out, and pull on the inside to separate the harnesses, that’s it. This will not work in 91+ Berettas because there wasn’t a digital dash option after 1990.

#12 HOW CAN I CHANGE THE PARKING LIGHTS ON A GTZ/Z26 FRONT BUMPER?

-Check out this pic I scanned from the GM Service Manual
Click Here for Picture

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