Lifting a Fiero high enough to slide cradle out

[Pronto]

I have a friend that is doing a Supercharged 3800 swap into a Fiero. He needs to lift the back of the car high enough to slide the cradle out. We have no access to a lift but he's got a nice large multi car garage to work in. We're looking for ideas on how to get it lifted enough as well as support it for several months while he works on it. The garage does have a strong beam to hang it by if that can be done. Thanks for your input.

 

[tjthorson]

I have done this - its easy. See my website and go to the pics of the 84 fiero. Use jackstands in front of the rear wheels, take off the front tires and put a brick under each lower control arm. Be careful of the coolant tubes when jacking/supporting if you don't know fieros!

84 Pontiac Fiero SE 2m4

 

[Pronto]

Did you use an engine lift and lift bar bolted to the strut towers to get it that high?

 

[tjthorson]

Nope - all I had was a floor jack. I brought each side up a little at a time and kept extending the jackstands. The key is to have the jack stands far enough forward of the rear wheels to get the back end up high. I did have 2 people to help steady it on the floor jack. I used a piece of plywood with a floor jack under it. Then - before you can get it out from under the car, you have to slide out the floor jack until the plywood is on the ground - jack up the car all the way, then slide the plywood out.

Oh - I almost forgot - I didnt have it that high with the cradle in it. I only had it a little off the ground, enough to loosen the cradle bolts and such - then jacked up the car off the cradle (and plywood) that was already on the ground. Installation was the reverse - get the plywood back on the jack (a PIA, the more guys the better), then lower the car down until you can bolt the cradle bolts back in. The car moves easy with no weight in the back. The real key was removing the front tires to get the back end high enough.

 

[BandAid]

Todd can lift that out of there without a lift,,,he's the man... Dennis

 

[tjthorson]

heh - thanks.... I did lift the iron duke short block off the cradle and on to the engine stand with my bare hands.... Of course, I did that with a Chevy 350 short block too - complete with crank, rods, pistons, oil pan, flywheel.....

Picking up a few hundred pounds when you weight 350 aint much unfortunately. Like when my wife says she has to lose 10 lbs.

I just hit the bathroom and I can drop 10 like nothing...

 

[Lhorn]

That's pretty impressive. I put a disassembled SBC in the trunk of my Honda Accord by myself. The bare block was a bit heavy, but then again, I'm a skinny guy.:biggrin: