Aluminum 2.9 V6 Turbo "Porsche-Eater"

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:19 pm

I got my Gary Witzenburg book today and wanted to share what it had to say about this motor.

"Then came a wild fire-breathing aluminum 2.9 V-6 turbo that Tim Petersen took on after he left Callie's group. This was a special development project based on the Chevy-built 2.8 V-6, but with the block cast in aluminum and punched out to 2.9 liters. That engine could deliver around 220 bhp.

Pontiac built two Fieros with 2.9 in them. Petersenâ€™s team painted one car red and the other black, and put over-roof scoops on them. â€œwe were looking at how far we could take the Fiero; what was the ultimate,â€

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:19 pm

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:37 pm

well, it helps and hinders a little. First off, Its not a twin turbo setup, unlike what has been posted on the net in other places. The placement of the alternator in the last pic is confusing, why its there and how it fit are makingme think this may have been in the A body car. Will, could you imagine driving your STE with 235 BHP?

The car Gm brought to the 2005 fiero rama was not converted to a GT as I have read in other places. The car in that pic is a fastback, with different side scoop (stock) and t-tops.

Shaun41178(2) · Post by **Shaun41178(2)** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:43 pm

awww look at that tiny turbo. Isn't it so cute?

I guess 220 hp was a lot back then and made the car fun. I am on par with that number + and I dont' think my car is all that fast. But i guess back then with most cars being high 14's and slower, a mid 14 sec car was pretty quick.

Cool to read though.

I think the blocks were the proto blocks and using smaller main cranks which is why they broke.

Dirty Sanchez · Post by **Dirty Sanchez** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:51 pm

If they did that 5.8 second 0-60 time with that auto tranny, that car was pretty quick. :thumbleft:

The Dark Side of Will · Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:55 pm

p8ntman442 wrote:Will, could you imagine driving your STE with 235 BHP?

Easily, but mine's an AWD.

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 9:29 pm

arn't all STE's AWD? I thought thats what STE meant.

The Dark Side of Will · Wed Feb 07, 2007 9:32 pm

STE's came out in '83 or '84 as FWD. AWD's were only 88 (128 made), 89 (~1300 made) and 90 (unknown prod #'s).

The '90 cars weren't even STE's. They were SE's and didn't have all the electronic gadgets that the STE's had. My car is a '90.

Fast88Fiero · Post by **Fast88Fiero** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 1:34 am

The Dark Side of Will wrote:STE's came out in '83 or '84 as FWD. AWD's were only 88 (128 made), 89 (~1300 made) and 90 (unknown prod #'s).

The '90 cars weren't even STE's. They were SE's and didn't have all the electronic gadgets that the STE's had. My car is a '90.

And I'm still jealous. I wish I could find one of those cars. :thumbleft:

The Dark Side of Will · Thu Feb 08, 2007 1:35 am

www.a-body.net

Just keep your eyes peeled on ebay & autotrader (I got my car on autotrader).

A 5 speed FWD STE (VERY rare) recently went through Ebay.

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 11:37 am

OK, Ive been dying to post this and the forum has been down for 3 days. You guys are killing me. I dug up an adress for Tim Petersen, the one who put these cars together, and sent him a letter. I didnt know If I found the right guy, and the adress was 4 years old, so I crossed my fingers and Waited. Snail mail rules! Anyways, I got an email back.

Jamison, you have the right Tim Petersen. That was a great project and would have made production if it wasnâ€™t faster than a Corvette (4.9 sec 0-60 if I remember) and our president hadnâ€™t spun out a Fiero on a corner during a throttle tip in ( the cg of a Fiero being in the center makes it difficult for the car to decided which way it wants to go in any low mu surfaces). The STE version made it a real car, but the nose of a crank broke while the Pontiac general manager was coming to work one morning so he started to cool on the idea as well (he called me first thing one morning to pick up the car along side of the road, he said it thru a belt, which it did, which is common when the nose of the crank is dangling). What would you like to know? tim

I fired off a whole bunch of questions, and Now I check my email every 5 minutes.

Shaun41178(2) · Post by **Shaun41178(2)** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 12:45 pm

damn can't wait to hear more about this. Good find mang!

The Dark Side of Will · Sat Mar 24, 2007 1:17 pm

Yeah, curiosity is piqued.

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 10:32 pm

Edit: OK latest email gave me the ok to post everything.

The good news, the bores are not coated and they dont wear out. Thousands were cast.
390 aluminum-silicone, damaged bores can be machined with diamond tools and then etched with an acid and electricity to stand the crystals back up. Pistons must have steel coated skirts so they dont wear out.

This motor had an RPO of LA9 which was picked for aluminum (la) and 2.9 (9) but a quick google search shows that rpo as being a 2.2l dohc gm 4cyl, so it was recycled as the project never made it to production.