Hi,
Well, here I go again. Over a year ago I renewed my interest in the Fiero by restoring a 88 coupe for my daughter.
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Archives/Archive-000002/HTML/20040223-1-028399.html
Once I got the motor replaced, (Thanks DZ) it was finished. I took it up to Daytona to the show. I had never been to a car show, much less shown my own car. I had a ball. Seeing all the great cars, meeting all the great people.
I did not win anything but that's not the point, it was fun.

I ran into DZ there, I got a chance to thank him again for the clean deal on a rebuilt 2.5 for what we now call around here "Fernando" "It's much better to look marvelous then to run marvelous" ;-) The name stuck, even after we got it running. http://www.informx.com/fiero

While talking to Dan, he mentioned he had a Formula for sale. He even drove it to the show. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum4/HTML/018337.html So I took a look. Yes it needed work, but if it didn't it would not have been fun. :-) I made sure I had his e-mail address since I did not have my check book with me.

All the way home all I could do was think about the new project, color, motor etc. Oh, and what fun it was to drive Fernando. I got home Sunday pretty early. I told my wife and daughter about the Formula, I was prepared to be sleeping in the garage. ;-) To my surprise, she said go for it! A few e-mails to Dan and it was done. I could not pick up
the car untill May. That was fine with Dan. So first Saturday in May, We headed up to Jax with a trailer to get the Formula. I forgot to bring the camera, so no pics on or off the trailer. We made it home with no problems.

I've been driving it since then, MAN what a ball. The air needed fixing, as Dan had told me. And a few other tweaks, but it ran great. Time to start the "project"

This time it was MINE! I was going to do everything I wanted in a Fiero. I'm not much into external mods, A stock looking Notchback is fine with me. But there are a few thing I did want. First on the list was T-Tops! As luck would have it I sat with Chester and Elvira at the Daytona dinner, so I heard about the Targa top being done to the "Dirty Rat" by Bill at B&B Spyder. I checked the site on the net, found they did convertable conversions. I did some checking here on the forum, great reviews of the work done there. I fired off a e-mail to see if they would be interested in a T-Top conversion. I did not feel I was ready to take a SawzAll to my car quite yet. But the conversion posts did help a lot.

After a few e-mails back and forth with Joyce and Bill, the deal was done. He had a donor car available. Since he is on the other side of the state from me, I had to come up with a easy way to get the car over, not hang out in Clearwater for a week, and get back home. My wife stepped up again! We are taking a vacation on the West coast of Fl, so why not drive it over and leave it while we are "at the beach" (Gawd I love this woman!)

Well the day has come. In 2 hours I head over to Clearwater to drop off the car. Thursday I'll pick it up and head back home. Yes I'll bring the camera, would not miss the chance to get first pics.

Once the T-Tops are installed I'll start the motor conversion. I've decided on a 4.9, so I'm looking for a donor car to start that part of the project. With some help from friends I'm going to try to do the swap myself. (wish me luck)

If all goes well, se will be in the same paint shop Fernando visited on Jan 1. I hope to bring it back to Daytona in March. This time we wil have both cars up there. My daughter is looking forward to showing off "her" baby next to mine.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to let people know that even if not all of us post all the time, we are reading and learning.

Steve

[This message has been edited by Tweaker (edited 07-25-2004).]

quote by: Tweaker:https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Archives/Archive-000002/HTML/20040223-1-028399.html

Hey My Fiero look's like that "Smoooooth GT's" Fiero..

Been awhile...

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Custom Built -- W I D E B O D Y-- GT!!
One of One!!

[This message has been edited by NotAFieroAnyLonger (edited 07-25-2004).]

Yep, you are infected with the bug. There is no cure. Surrender and enjoy the ride.

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Well, so far so good. Made it over to Clearwater. The car is in the hands of the "surgeons"
If all goes well I'll drive home Thursday with the tops off.

Steve

Well, it's been a while.
I made it home from Clearwater. 2 Hurricanes later, it's time to continue the project.
The goal for Dec 1 is to remove the 2.8 and start teardown for a complete rebuild.

Once the cradle is out and the engine campartment is cleaned I'll be putting in a 4.9.
I decided I did not want to borrow or purchase a engine hoist, so I decided I would build somthing.

And the teardown begins...

[This message has been edited by Tweaker (edited 11-14-2004).]

quote Originally posted by Tweaker: Well, it's been a while. I made it home from Clearwater. 2 Hurricanes later, it's time to continue the project. The goal for Dec 1 is to remove the 2.8 and start teardown for a complete rebuild. Once the cradle is out and the engine campartment is cleaned I'll be putting in a 4.9. I decided I did not want to borrow or purchase a engine hoist, so I decided I would build somthing.

What are you using for the hoist part of it?

Hi,
I would post the pic inline, but I can't remember the code
Ah yes...

Steve

[This message has been edited by Tweaker (edited 11-14-2004).]

quote Originally posted by Tweaker: Hi, I would post the pic inline, but I can't remember the code Ah yes... Steve

Ok you have my attention.
I saw the same hoist listed on Harborfreight.com and was thinking of getting it.
I will probably end up with the chain drive instead.
I’m working on my carport and after getting the car off the ground 38 inches I know that I will not have enough room to use a roll around hoist. The ceiling is not high enough to have enough chain to drop the cradle to the ground once I have the car up in the air.

quote Originally posted by Jake_Dragon: Ok you have my attention. I saw the same hoist listed on Harborfreight.com and was thinking of getting it. I will probably end up with the chain drive instead. I’m working on my carport and after getting the car off the ground 38 inches I know that I will not have enough room to use a roll around hoist. The ceiling is not high enough to have enough chain to drop the cradle to the ground once I have the car up in the air.

Yes, that is the one from Harbor Freight. I was concerned about how much room I had with a chain fall, that's why I went with the electric hoist. It's overkill for a one time project, but I would like to do more in the future.

I'll be building a mount for the hoist tonight and getting it installed before Saturday. I'll post some more pics then. I'll have to make sure I post the required pic of me standing in the engine bay.

quote Originally posted by Tweaker: I have access to a welder, and someone that knows how to use it. I would prefer to bolt something on and/or drill holes. It is a 88 cradle. Thanks, Steve

For the Firewall side you could bolt the mounting bracket but I would not trust it. You have to weld a sedtion of Angle Iron to bolt the motor mount to. I can send you Pic's of the last install we did here in Orlando. Also if you need any help at all visit the CFF club site and send a PM to the web master and I will get back with you. As of know there has been 2 complete 4.9 installs in town with 2 in progress and at least 1 more planned.

Nice t-tops BTW

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4.9 Caddy in Garage! Car in Driveway! ACK!

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http://home.cfl.rr.com/fierose
Central Florida Fieros
http://www.centralfloridafieros.org

Proud Member and founder of the DOWN SOUTH SUNNY WINTER PICK ON SNOW PEOPLE COALITION!

Thanks for the info. Ok, so weld it is. Please send the pics to: szingman@informx.com

Still in the planning stages as I said, but Been reading the build up threads for a while.

Thanks, Steve

quote Originally posted by Jake_Dragon: What are you using for the hoist part of it?

Man, that's a lot of bolts!

ever thought about getting a welder and some steel?

I can´t help but think disaster is around the corner, if you use that gantry as is...I am sorry, but the "feet" are way too short, and overbalancing is on the cards.And using short pine boards as feet is not very prudent..pine is much too prone to splitting along the grain.Please, rethink the bottom end before you lose something!!
Just my 0.02cents, but I had to say it.
fierofetish
PS just looked again, and I think you should run some diagonal struts of some strength across the top uprights to the crossbar...

[This message has been edited by fierofetish (edited 11-18-2004).]

quote Originally posted by fierofetish: Something like this... : fierofetish

Absolutely!!!!!!!!!! I can honestly see it now - you start loading it up, and the legs fold down to one side.

[This message has been edited by ryan.hess (edited 11-18-2004).]

Hi,
The picture is not the compleated frame. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the "inside" feet were temp to hold it upright while I attached the "outer" feet. The outer feet are 5' long. I also added knee braces at the bottom.

If we get ANY indication of it not holding, we will abort.

Thanks for the comments.

Steve

If I can make a suggestion..

respectfully,
fierofetish

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RESPONSIBILITY WILL SOLVE EVERYTHING.USE IT WISELY.

Everything went as planned.
The fun continues...

[This message has been edited by Tweaker (edited 11-21-2004).]

Well obviously the hoist works.
But how did it stand up to lifting the back end of the car?
Did it pick it right up or did it struggle?
I was looking at the same hoist for my garage/carport and was concerned that it would not have enough capacity to lift the back of a Fiero with the motor still in it, or did you just use it to lower the cradle?
I was looking at the chain hoists and for the same price or less you can get one for double the lifting capacity.
Thanks for sharing!

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Jake
Red 1986 GT 5 Speed
Gold1986 SE 4 Speed
Visit my Fiero Page

Jake,
I would say it was working hard, but did pretty well lifting the back end of the car, motor wheels and all.
Lifting the back end of the car off the cradle no problem. Hope that helps.

Steve

Thanks, still dont know but that helps.
Keep us posted I love these kind of threads!

quote Originally posted by Tweaker: Jake, I would say it was working hard, but did pretty well lifting the back end of the car, motor wheels and all. Lifting the back end of the car off the cradle no problem. Hope that helps. Steve

I spent the day cleaning..
Cleaned the old insulation out of the engine bay.
Cleaned the engine bay itself.
Started removing parts from the 2.8
Cleaned the garage (for the 10th time in 2 weeks)

I have most of the accesories removed, I'm keeping the AC Compressor (since it's new)
The alternator was also recently replaced, so I'm keeping it too.

I am considering building the wiring harness myself so I pulled the harness off the engine.
Can anyone tell me what if any parts I need to keep for the 4.9?
It's a 2.8 auto. If I don't need it, I'll be parting it out. See above pics for what's there.

Steve

Well,
Not much has happened. Still cleaning/removing.
I've gutted the interior, mounted new running/parking/turn signal lights.
Punched some holes in the front "firewall for more wires.

86000 mile 4.9 motor, 4T60E transmission, computer nad harness will be here on Dec 22.

The fun jut keeps on coming...

Bump
Its warm out and you should be working on your car

Ok need some inspiration

quote Originally posted by fierofetish: :

Looks like it needs a hangman's noose instead of a winch

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I am sick and tired of being sick and tired
Virgin 88 coupe in the process of losing its virginity