World's slowest Fiero/Quad 4 Swap (Page 3/49)
Quad Raider JUL 25, 09:53 PM
I've been working an evening shift for the last week, so my mornings have been free to work on the car. I put off removing the door skins as long as I possibly could, but the time finally came as I prepare to paint. I found some surprises.

The driver's side door handle has always been loose. Here's why:



I think the previous owner had someone try to fix the door handle for her and whoever it was may have gotten carried away. This brace looks like it was deliberately cut.




Since my dew wipes were in bad shape, the doors were full of crap, including a giant wasp nest.




Three or four years ago I ordered raw dew wipe material, planning to drill out the rivets on the old ones and move the flanges and felts to the new stuff. Well, to continue the theme of this build, that plan has been scrapped. The felts on my wipes are horrible.





I'll be ordering new dew wipes as soon as I can afford it.

[This message has been edited by Quad Raider (edited 07-25-2017).]

Quad Raider JUL 31, 08:24 PM
On Saturday we had a family get-together to celebrate my older brother's birthday. I took advantage of all the manpower and got my two brothers and a nephew to help me roll the car out of the shop, turn it around and put it back in the shop nose out. It's funny how a simple change can provide such a big lift. Aside from the times when it had to sit outside, it's been in the shop, "nose in," since early 2011.

I'm still sanding and priming body panels and hoping to paint in a couple of weeks. My wife and I are taking a trip next week so i won't make much progress for a while.

[This message has been edited by Quad Raider (edited 07-31-2017).]

Quad Raider AUG 01, 10:39 PM
Found some more old photos. These are pictures of one of my spare Quads. This came out of an '89 Grand Am.

The car was in decent shape, so I figured it probably had a blown head gasket, which caused the owner to junk the car. When I pulled the oil pan, I found the infamous chocolate milk.



I didn't see any other issues with the motor, so it's kind of sad that the car was sent to the salvage just because of a blown head gasket. I bought this engine during one of the salvage yard's sales for $115.

I was surprised to discover that it had an 086 head, the same as the HO Quad out of my GTZ. GM put several different heads on Quads, but everything I've read says the 086 is the best mix of strength, power and performance.

[This message has been edited by Quad Raider (edited 08-01-2017).]

Quad Raider AUG 01, 10:44 PM
I came across some old threads about deleting the radio antenna. Since I have all the body panels off the car, now is the perfect time to make this modification. I will run the antenna up the A pillar, because I think it makes more sense than setting the antenna horizontally under the fender.

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...110502-1-079886.html



I cut a circle out of a piece of seat trim from my old Silverado pickup and used panel cement on both sides of the hole.


I then used filler to smooth it out and it looks great now with primer on it.

[This message has been edited by Quad Raider (edited 08-01-2017).]

Quad Raider AUG 01, 10:55 PM
I've been looking for a set of seats in decent condition but haven't had any luck yet. I have three sets now, but they're all different and there aren't two seats in good condition. Then I came across this post from 78_elky about using 4th generation Camaro seats.


quote
Originally posted by 78_elky:

So I still have yet to work on the cruise control but I did get some good stuff done on the car.
I robbed the 4th gen Camaro seats from my El Camino and threw them in the car.
I really like the seats but I never liked that they were grey in my El Camino's black interior so this was perfect.
I'm going to pick up another set for the El Camino this weekend (for $40!) and I'll throw some aftermarket black leather skins on them.

I really love them and they work great in the Fiero. I know this has been done before but its still great to me :-D
Jessica



I think her seats look great, plus 4th gen Camaros and Firebirds are very common at my favorite salvage. In fact, I found this set.



These seats are in good shape, but not perfect, so I think I'll wait for a better set. Seats from 4th gen Firebirds will also work, but they have a separate head rest that I don't like.
Quad Raider SEP 19, 10:23 PM
I haven't done much work on the car lately. My wife and I took a trip for a week in early August. Plus, I'm a youth soccer referee so when the fall season starts my weekends get pretty full.

I've bought some more extra parts from an '88 coupe in my favorite salvage, as well as some more bodyworking tools. The weather is supposed to cool off significantly next week so I'll be more likely to get back to work.
Quad Raider OCT 10, 09:33 PM
Today I stumbled across the photos I took when I first laid eyes on my Fiero. It was January 1st, 2011. My brother and I had taken our two sons to Fayetteville, Arkansas to see the car. It was pretty tired but it was all there and it was a 5-speed car.







The woman on the left side of the photo is the original owner. She still loved the car and was happy to know it was going to someone who'd love it, too.






I'm thrilled to see the pictures of the car, but they bring back the grief over the loss of my brother.

I'd forgotten what a redneck experience it was to find the car.

[This message has been edited by Quad Raider (edited 06-27-2018).]

Quad Raider OCT 18, 01:59 PM
I've been busy with work and soccer, so I haven't had much time to work on the car. When I do get an hour here or there to get over to the shop, I sand body parts. I saved the two most challenging pieces for last: the front and rear fascias.

They have such weird shapes, sanding them was difficult until I came up with a jig. I found the legs of a desk in a dumpster at my local high school. Some 2x4s screwed to it make a decent platform to hold the fascias at waist level while I sand.

When I first removed the stock front fascia years ago, I noticed it had a serious sag problem in the center. Part of this was caused by the fact that the car was missing the metal bracket that runs from the space frame down to the center of the fascia. I bought three other fascias looking for a good one, but they all have issues. I then took a closer look at the stock one and decided I could fix the sag.

These photos show a piece of wood clamped to the back side of the sag. I'm thinking I could fiberglass a piece of aluminum plate where the wood is, extending it to the sides for a few inches.





Anyone have a different way to solve this problem?

Quad Raider NOV 22, 05:23 PM
Not much progress to report. I tried to using fiberglass to fix the sag in the front fascia but I mixed it wrong and it never hardened. I'll try again. I've also been sanding and wet sanding body parts to get them ready for paint. I have a lot of time off in December so I'm hoping to make major progress on all fronts.

I replaced the tang that holds the center bracket for the front fascia. I wish I would've taken photos of the salvage yard car to get a better idea of where it needed to be.


Quad Raider NOV 25, 08:50 AM
My favorite salvage yard is having a 40-percent off sale this weekend, so I spent yesterday afternoon there. I scored these seats out of a '99 Camaro for $15 a piece. The upholstery is in great shape, but I found a problem with the driver's seat.



One of the springs is missing and parts are broken.



Another trip to the salvage is in order, but I haven't decided yet whether to just get the parts to fix this seat, or exchange the seats. Yesterday I saw a nice set in a '99 Cavalier so I'll look them over carefully and decide then.

[This message has been edited by Quad Raider (edited 11-25-2017).]