newbie

Hey hows it going ... i'm new on the fiero seen and i've got a shitload of ideas jus no experiance with the car ... i jus bought it last night it's an '84 se. the engine has a knocking in it and i'm not sure if it's worth fixin it or jus replace it .... any way any information would be greatly apprecated. pluse i was told by a buddy that you can put a 305 or 350 in to it ... if anyone knows how it's done or what has to be done to put it in ... please let me in on the secret.
thanks Jay

http://www.v8archie.com/

You can put pretty much any engine GM makes into the fiero. Some engines are a little more difficult to do, but the quad 4, 3.1, 3.4, and 3.8 supercharged engines are also common.

http://pisafierohq.com/ this is a pretty cool place also, it might give you some idea of the versatility of the fiero.

now i'm told that the s10 engine is about the same and will basicly be a plug and play is this true

No, the S-10 is NOT "plug and play". FWD blocks are different than RWD blocks. There are two basic flavors of FWD. Vin code "R" and "U". Fieros are "R". Many of the parts that fit one, fit all, but the heads and gaskets are diffrerent, as well. Be sure to stay within your codes.

ok i have a 2.5 engine on the way from chevy s10 i 'm hoping it will fit because the engine thaqts in it has a loud knocking noise ... pluse the one thats in is a carb engine and the one i'm getting is a fuel injected ... am i gonna run in to a lot of problems that i don't want to deal with ?

In terms of the 2.5 L 4 cylinder, there are a few minor differences between the front engine rear drive S10 and it's transverse mounted front engine front drive/mid engine rear drive cousins.

1. The starter is on the wrong side. To put an S10 2.5 into a Fiero, holes need to be drilled and tapped on the opposite side of the block. The only trick here is to measure twice and drill once.

2. The water pump is in the wrong place. The S10's water pump has a mechanical fan and is mounted on the front of the block with the impeller inside the cast water jacket. remove the water pump, transfer the thermostat housing, hose flanges and block-off plates from the Fiero engine and mount the external side mount pump.

There are some design differences between ignitions. (at least that's the case when i compared an 86 s10 engine with an 86 Fiero engine) The wiring for the coil and distributor were different and the distributors and caps were different. To remedy this, just put the Fiero distributor and coil on the S10 engine.

The 84SE you have was not factory carbureted, but came stock with throttle body fuel injection. If it was switched at some point, you may need to buy a wiring harness and ECM to get back EFI depending on how much was removed.