Beretta.net

bonecrrusher wrote:Nice Beretta/Vette/Camaro/Mustang/G6/Neon/.......

Did I forget a parts donator in this one?

Yeah a couple lol..

Grand Am (spindles), Trailblazer (injectors), Pontiac Montana (the piece on the engine that the W-body dogbone is bolted to), Lumina Z34 dogbone and mount on the radiator support. I am probably forgetting a couple... oh, and Monte Carlo ecu lol

Looks great, I want to hear driving impressions.

My 3800 SC six-speed (same trans, but zero-miles when first installed, and with the stock 282 five-speed shifter assembly) does shift very nice, not quite notchy but a lot more 'positive' than the old rather worn 282 did. I haven't beaten on it at all, or driven it aggressively yet, because of the newness of the trans and a few other issues the car is working through right now, but it is a definite improvement to the 282. On the other hand, I don't know how it will feel in twenty years and 150k miles, either. It is a slightly noisy trans (especially without the dual-mass flywheel like Shawn is using), but considering the exhaust on my car, that isn't an issue for me. Ahhh, that sixth gear is very nice -I am looking forward to taking the car out for a nice long highway drive sometime -too bad bfest is so far away from me...

Shawn: I would love to compare notes with you at some point, especially considering the vast differences between our two builds... I am not sure we have the same ratios either -the F40 did have two different versions... Mine is the taller set (supposedly). Let me know what you think of first gear -most of the Fiero guys that have done this swap think it is useless, and I would rather have had an even taller FDR gear myself for highway cruising, but I really don't think first is all that bad...

The car was running on a stock 96 3100 ecu so I drove it extremely easy.. plus it needs an alignment and the rear brakes still need some work.

The car was still driving 100 times better than when I drove it home from the exhaust shop. Once again, I love the G6 shift assembly. No guessing direct shifts. Since it was on the 96 ecu the speedometer was wayy off so I dont know how the gearing is yet. I know first gear definitely isnt useless, it seemed sort of like the stock 5 speed did but I will get a video or something of that after the car is "complete"

I should get the ecu with the corrected tune tomorrow or Thursday hopefully.. its going in for an alignment on Thursday morning. James should be here in about an hour so we can the rear brakes bled and stuff real quick.

Hopefully the brakes go well today.. then the ecu shows up Thursday so I can drive it to work Thursday and Friday.

Finally got rid of the faded bulbs I bought my euro headlights with..




Old bulb in the background, talk about a difference!!



Done!

A bit bright for me, but a damn good idea for a car that blends into the shadows.
Those wheels help too. My shinny stockers saved my Cavy once at night. But I did have crusty somewhat fogged headlights too.

Money pit Beretta wrote:A bit bright for me, but a damn good idea for a car that blends into the shadows.
Those wheels help too. My shinny stockers saved my Cavy once at night. But I did have crusty somewhat fogged headlights too.

Actually they arent super bright. They are just a little brighter than factory but not much, its just my phone sucks at taking those pics with the lights on lol.

Last night my buddy and I were trying to get the rear brakes bled and one of the caliper banjo bolts broke in half..

so now I had to get it towed to the shop today to get an alignment and they are going to fix the rear brakes.

The damn powdercoat is built up where the banjo bolt needs to go and needs sanded and has been causing all kinds of issues....

I was going to do it myself last night but since the damn banjo bolt broke I said hell with it. I just want it done.

Hopefully the ecu with the right tuning shows up today..

I will post how this goes at the shop with everything going on..

Thats all for now lol

Here is a pic from after work last night.. I got foglight bulbs similar to the same color as the headlight bulbs on the way, cant wait to get them in!



The shop found a bad wheel bearing, ball joint and a couple other small things wrong. .so it didnt end up getting an alignment.

This weekend all that will be fixed and its going in for an alignment on Tuesday.

Still look too bright LOL.
Damn ball joints freak me out. Had a neighbor lose one on the street. The old guy was damn lucky to have it happen at 20mph.

Big day today!

Quick summary of today. I am disappointed after looking at the front bumper closer that the supports are broke.. also the mach 1 lip and the front bumper lip itself is scratched to hell. All from not knowing I didn't have brakes when I took it to the alignment shop Thursday and even only going 10 mph- the bump going to the road from my alley tore up my bumper cover/lip.

Thats the only bad from today. The rest went perfect. James and I got EVERYTHING done.

Now that the wheel bearing and ball joint are replaced, its going in to get an alignment on Tuesday.

I did get to drive it today. All I did was take it part way across town to fill it up with gas. The gearing is actually quite nice.

As expected, its not anywhere near the same car that I used to know it as.. drives completely different. The 3500 is awesome for the kind of driving I like to do with the car, easy cruising.

The clutch pedal is AWESOME!!! I tell you, the only easier manual trans car I ever drove was my buddys RSX Type S.. the clutch with the F40 master cylinder feels alot more modern like the RSX did. To me, the pedal travel is perfect.

Today I also got the center console in and put the shift plate,boot and knob on..

The shifter feel with the suede Corvette knob is great. I never liked the stock 5 speed knob I had before it was too bulky and didnt quite seem right. The 5 speed shifter was also sloppy and indirect. Now with the 6 speed shifter from the G6- its perfectly direct like I have said before. I am still getting used to where 1st gear is as its very easy to get reverse instead of 1st.

Here's a video of going 1st through 6th gear then reverse. I dont know why my phone wouldnt stay still.. my favorite part is how the shift lever goes to the center when in neutral, easily seen in the video.

Here are some pics of my quick drive and some interior progress..








My Z and Jame's 90 3400 5 speed GT (this car is about to meet its maker... the drivetrain is about to be swapped into his rust free shell after it gets paint soon)

All thats left is getting the E brake hooked up, figuring out why my turn signals are blinking fast even though there are no bad bulbs, changing the thermostat, and hopefully figuring out why its idling at 3k after you drive it.

Besides that all I got to do on the interior is get the e brake handle put together and snap the vents in place after the paint dries.

Nothing huh? Lol

The Z is getting an alignment right now, can't wait to take it for a nice drive afterwards.



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Just drove it around town for a little over an hour! Enjoyed every second of it!

There is a couple small issues.. It idles at 1400 some of the time and a little over 2k the rest of the time and the W body dogbone lets the motor move around some because of the worn bushings.

James said this winter that he wants to eliminate the W body mount on the radiator support.. he said Milzys sells a mount for 6 speed swap in Grand Ams that he might be able to make work in the Beretta.

Until then.. I might have to make a custom dogbone since those red poly bushings dont fit in the dogbone I have now.

Other than that... it drove PERFECT! I couldnt believe it.

Hopefully today I have enough time to take it on another drive to see how the gearing is on the highway.