Well, my previous silver 87 GT was Sheila...she was a fun ride...kind of a fling, nothing too serious. Vanessa is a Red 88 GT with some serious mods...She is the kind of car that wears me out!
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09:44 PM
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
shes a 1985 model, 115 pnds, 5'3, 34-24-35, single and incredibly hot, no known defects ...lol
Whats sad is the first thing I thought of when I saw this pic was I sure hope there are no buttons or anything on that skirt scratching the paint. <hangs head in shame>
Yeah I'm married goin on 6 yrs. I'll blame it on that. And my pet peeve is someone who leans against someone elses car....LOL
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11:50 AM
Fierobsessed Member
Posts: 4782 From: Las Vegas, NV Registered: Dec 2001
Spelling! Please check your spelling and capitalization! The proper use of diction reflects your intellegence, attention to detail and mastery of the English language. Do not be tempted by laziness. Would you sand your Fiero only one time before painting? Or, would you take the time to do it correctly the first time? I enjoy reading your insights, but hate it it when I can't decipher what a particular mis-spelling is supposed to mean or convey. Can't read or write? Go back to remedial English class. Just a heads up.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Sullivan 916-600-6482 kevinsullivan@frontiernet.net
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02:39 PM
PFF
System Bot
naskie18 Member
Posts: 6258 From: Commerce Twp, MI, USA Registered: Jun 2002
Spelling! Please check your spelling and capitalization! The proper use of diction reflects your intellegence, attention to detail and mastery of the English language. Do not be tempted by laziness. Would you sand your Fiero only one time before painting? Or, would you take the time to do it correctly the first time? I enjoy reading your insights, but hate it it when I can't decipher what a particular mis-spelling is supposed to mean or convey. Can't read or write? Go back to remedial English class. Just a heads up.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Sullivan 916-600-6482 kevinsullivan@frontiernet.net
You resurrected a 2 month old post for that?
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02:43 PM
Gokart Mozart Member
Posts: 12143 From: Metro Detroit Registered: Mar 2003
Spelling! Please check your spelling and capitalization! The proper use of diction reflects your intellegence, attention to detail and mastery of the English language. Do not be tempted by laziness. Would you sand your Fiero only one time before painting? Or, would you take the time to do it correctly the first time? I enjoy reading your insights, but hate it it when I can't decipher what a particular mis-spelling is supposed to mean or convey. Can't read or write? Go back to remedial English class. Just a heads up.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Sullivan 916-600-6482 kevinsullivan@frontiernet.net
hahaha... "i enjoy reading your insights, but hate [it it] when i can't "
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01:01 PM
Bigfieroman Member
Posts: 2416 From: Pleasant Hills, PA, near Pittsburgh Registered: Nov 2000
Those are Fierostore turbo window scoops, and they have been a nightmare. I needed new quarter windows, and I could not find NOS originals for less than 7 figures each. I have seen some reproductions, but the ones I have seen have looked terrible and been kinda cloudy...I think they were fierowarehouse's original repros.
I liked the looks of the turbo window scoops, but I always thought that they looked terrible when painted body color, as most people do. I decided to try something new, and paint them gloss black with custom GT decals from Paul McRibben to replicate the look of the stock windows. I also wanted clear windows instead of tinted. So, I called up the owner of Webb Lamination works, the place that makes the scoops for the fiero store, and had him make me some clear windows. He told me it would take a month to arrive from his supplier, it took 5 months. The scoops themselves were pretty rough and required a lot of fitting and gelcoat repair.
The passenger side scoop is too short front to back. there is about 1/8th inch of body showing at the back of the scoop. On the driver's side, the opening for the window was cut too large, such that there is a gap at the top and bottom of the window. I had to use wide black double sided tape to cover the gap and attach the window securely. The front of the drivers side scoop also has an angle that is off a few degrees. The angle would not let the front of the scoop sit flush and had to be trimmed quite a bit, allowing some of the underbody to show.
I called the owner Webb Lamination works back and complained. I sent him pictures and showed him all of the problems with the scoops. I also told him that it had cost me nearly $500 to get the scoops on, with finishing cost and everything. He was appaled that the fierostore is charging $230 for the scoops, he said that if he was selling them to the public, he would sell them for $100. He also said that the mold has gotten old an probably needs redone to solve the problems. He considered just stopping production, but he told me a month ago that he was planning to redo the mold. As for me, he is not sure if he is going to give me a new set of scoops or monetary compensation. I am going to push for both, so I can have a new set of scoops finished without any additional cost. New scoops alone would still leave me with another bill for finishing, and money would still leave me with scoops that look like poo close up. We'll see what comes of this.
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02:17 PM
madcurl Member
Posts: 21401 From: In a Van down by the Kern River Registered: Jul 2003
I just replaced the rear KYBs with Konis, and the front springs with 1" shorter springs of the same rate. Now I can drop the car down to a lower level, about 1.5" lower than it was. Pics to follow.
Some highlights: the rear was beginning to bounce lice crazy of certain road ripples, and would take like 10 seconds to stop. On top of that, the KYBs were leaking oil like a sieve. I knew they were shot, but damn...they were gone! There was some oil left, but the shaft would move real easy and then "hit" the oil, creating uneven damping. The nitrogen charge was LONG gone. These struts are 3 years and 30,000 miles old! They were rusty and generally destroyed. Add me to the list of people who say that only Konis should be used on handling-oriented fieros.
A quick lesson on why quality springs make a huge difference:
My original front coil-over springs came with the HMS kit. The 8" long no-name springs sagged 1/2", meaning when I removed them, their free height was 7.5", and they were almost completely rust-covered after 1.5 years.
The QA1 front springs were of medium quality/reputation, and they sagged 1/8" over 9" total length, meaning they were 8.875" when removed, and got small spots of rust over 9 months.
The Eibach rear springs I still have, (twice the price of the QA1s), each sagged 1/16" over 12"!! Also, after a year and 16k miles, they look as new as the day I got them. Amazing.
All togather, including replacing the rear e-brake cables, repairing the upper strut mount, and grinding/fitting the Konis, it took me 17 hours this past weekend. Unfortunately, from all of the movement, one of my new Fierostore DOT brake lines let go, so I lost my brakes when I tried to pull out for a test drive. I guess I can wait a couple more days to drive it...
[This message has been edited by Bigfieroman (edited 09-19-2005).]
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09:17 PM
Sep 29th, 2005
2000RagTop Member
Posts: 3999 From: Sussex, (Milwaukee) Wi. USA, Earth Registered: Jun 2003
I have had a ridiculously large signature for far too long, and I apologize. So, in a move "inspired" by 2000RagTop, I have decided to go with a thread with information about my car and include the link in my signature.
Well, I read this when you first posted this, but I never did say thank you.........An over due "Thank you" This is nice to hear
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11:26 PM
exoticse Member
Posts: 8654 From: Orlando, Fl Registered: Jun 2003
Ok, I got some pics. It looks great, I really like the lowered stance. It is probably 1.25" lower in the rear and maybe 1.75" lower in the front. Camber is a beautiful thing...the camber increases as the ride height drops, I decided not to get it aligned because the camber is not too extreme...but wow, the limits are higher. The 1.5" lower center of gravity doesn't hurt either. I still have not been able to find the limits fully; I am actually starting to scare myself. Can anyone make me a new sig with one of the updated pics?
[This message has been edited by Bigfieroman (edited 09-30-2005).]
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01:21 PM
Jan 7th, 2006
Bigfieroman Member
Posts: 2416 From: Pleasant Hills, PA, near Pittsburgh Registered: Nov 2000
Lots of fun stuff has happened recently. I am just going to copy-past from another thread for simplicity's sake.
At the end of October, I broke my car at Milan drag way on a 5500 RPM launch. Something in the drive train between the axles and engine broke, probably due to wide tires, lots of traction, and a grippy clutch.
After some research on the forum, I found it likely that I had stripped out the splines on the axle, so all I had to do was remove the axles, pull out the chunks of spline, and put in a new set. I picked up a new (used) pair of axles and finally got a good weekend just before thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I found this:
The stub of the axle was wedged in the transmission, and we could not find any good way to get it out. Tina had this same problem, and she had someone stick a welding rod to the exposed face of the stub, and was able to remove it that way...but I was already committed to change out the tranny at that point.
So I set out to find a transmission for the car. I wanted a freshly rebuilt getrag, and went to Will, but he did not have time to rebuild one by when I needed it, (Dec. 9th). So, he pointed me to www.mantrans.com where I ordered one on Dec. 1st; $900 including shipping to and back for the core. Here is the tread detailing how that went:
Basically, the salesman did not know how to use the maps on the UPS website, and shipped it a day late. I had a place, friends, and all the tools lined up for that weekend, (weekend of the 9th), but the tranny did not arrive until Monday of the following week, which was finals week. Finals extend into the next weekend and then all of my friends leave the state, so I had to find a new place, assistance, everything to do it the week after finals.
Here are some pics of the transmission when it arrived:
Luckily, KurtAKX was willing to help, and since his father is a Fiero guy as well, his father volunteered his garage to the cause. The first day we worked on it, we thrashed pretty hard and got the old transmission out and the clutch off. And so, we came to the only really good point of the whole job. The clutch, a SPEC stage 2, was in amazingly good condition. It was in there for 1.5 years and 15xxx miles, but it really showed no wear at all, not even any heat checking. Even the machining marks on the flywheel did not look worn down at all (compared with the marks where the clutch didn't touch), and the disk didn't look like it had even finished breaking in yet. Anyway, on with the pictures:
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10:31 AM
Bigfieroman Member
Posts: 2416 From: Pleasant Hills, PA, near Pittsburgh Registered: Nov 2000
We took it slow on reassembly, since the only requirement was that I get back by Christmas Eve. On the second day of working, we found something kind of aggravating. All of the tapped holes in the transmission were full of sandblasting gunk, and then painted over. We tapped out all of the holes again, and then found that the brass shifter piece on the shift shaft was installed upside down:
Old: New:
We spent over three hours prepping the transmission for install, tapping the aforementioned holes, transferring brackets, installing the throwout bearing, transferring the reverse switch, VSS, and dipstick, all that cool stuff. That day was completed after we reinstalled the clutch and bolted the tranny back to the engine. Let me tell you, getting those two to mate up is a NIGHTMARE!
Now, some pics and info about the old getrag. There is a complex mystery surrounding this transmission: It is not the original. The previous owner had the car from 25xxx to 637xx, and he had the clutch changed but said he never had the transmission changed. The odd part is that the transmission has an 87 style screw-in dipstick, (the car is an 88), but it also has some weird add-on sheet metal dipstick tube. In other words, it has 2 dipsticks. I have never seen the sheet metal style, and I know it is not from an 88. Also, the transmission had the add-on bearings on the sides, (no wonder it was leaking at the axles). Here are some pics:
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10:32 AM
Bigfieroman Member
Posts: 2416 From: Pleasant Hills, PA, near Pittsburgh Registered: Nov 2000
In the last two pics, you can see the dipstick I am talking about. If anyone has any idea what is up with that thing, please let me know.
The next day was kind of slow; we reattached all of the mounts and reattached everything that is done from the bottom. We finished by swinging the cradle back up.
The fourth day, we reassembled everything else, except the wheel well liners. We had some trouble getting the slave to give full throw. Even though the system was not opened and the slave was less than a year old, there was lots of air in the system. We bled it some, but we were having issues with the slave, it was leaking air somewhere.
On the fifth day, the wheel well liners were reinstalled and the car was dropped back on its wheels. We got a decent bleed eventually, but the pedal kept getting spongy over time, so I called the Fiero Store and had a new slave overnighted; time was getting thin.
The sixth day, the day before Christmas Eve, was lots of fun. The package was tracking that it had been "rescheduled" for delivery on the 27th. UPS said I could drive to the hub to pick it up, but only after the hub called me to let me know it was ok to pick up. I waited for 2 hours, and UPS corporate kept telling me to keep waiting for the call, but I got pissed and eventually just went to the hub. When I got there, they told me that it had come in late and was out on a special truck, aka, not at the hub. We went back to Kurt's house and waited another 2 hours for the slave to arrive. We were having lots of trouble getting full release, but after I bought a vacuum bleeder, things were going well. We put the bleeder on the system one last time to try to get that last bit of pedal, but Kurt suffered from a temporary mental lapse and let the reservoir go dry. (Don't worry; I had a much bigger bonehead moment, to be described further down) There was air trapped in the master and we could no longer get full release. We bled for 3 hours, putting about a gallon of fluid through, but we could not get full release. I decided to take it out for a test drive at the end of the night to test everything else (starting it in gear). It drove fine, except for some squealing noises coming from the tranny...
It turns out that the clutch hub was installed backwards on the disk, as was common with some early SPEC clutches. It protrudes on the tranny side and contacts the throwout bearing sleeve. I paid $550 to have everything torn apart again and a new SPEC clutch installed. Spec is still determining if I will be getting a refund for the new one or not.
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10:37 AM
Bigfieroman Member
Posts: 2416 From: Pleasant Hills, PA, near Pittsburgh Registered: Nov 2000
One last fun fact: the new transmission's gearing is different. It has the quad 4 gearing, with a 3.94 final drive, a 1.04 4th gear, and a 0.81 fifth gear.
It turns 3000 rpm at 70 mph with 25" tires. It is hurting my mileage, but it it peppier. It pisses me off because I wanted to swap in a LS1 in the next 5 years and this transmission won't do.
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10:40 AM
PFF
System Bot
Jan 9th, 2006
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
Believe it or not, mint, never been driven. Shes now engaged to her first and only ever bf. She really is one of the few 'good' girls...if your into that kind of thing........LOL.
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07:11 PM
Feb 17th, 2006
darkhorizon Member
Posts: 12279 From: Flint Michigan Registered: Jan 2006
Just installed a Hurst pistol-grip shift knob, which really feels great and is very easy to use.
Also installed my new Grant wheel, only 12" in diameter (REALLY SMALL! Stock is 14.5"), with 1" spacer adapter!
I think they look ok, the wheel is very small, but I will get used to it, and the shift knob looks a little tacky but the ergonomics are just spectacular.
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08:05 PM
darkhorizon Member
Posts: 12279 From: Flint Michigan Registered: Jan 2006
Yeah, it is a little tacky, but it is just so much nicer than any knob I have used in the past. As expected, it gets a little warm (aka thermonuclear hot) in the sun, but I can forgive it's faults. I like the nice weight it added to the shifts...the old knob was thin plastic wrapped in leather, this one is CNCed billet aluminum.
It is a lot longer than my old knob, so the added leverage prompted me to install Rodney's Ultimate Getrag Shift kit (replacing "Quick Shift Arm". I also installed the V6 idler pulley, so my belt doesn't squeal anymore (soooooooo embarassing), bled the clutch, adjusted the shift cable to center the shifter, and cleaned/reset the IAC to clean up the idle. Next set of upgrades include a new subwoofer, windshield washer nozzle, pass. side door weatherstrip, a part in the column, and HVAC mode acutator, prolly next weekend.
[This message has been edited by Bigfieroman (edited 08-08-2006).]
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10:28 AM
Erik Member
Posts: 5625 From: Des Moines, Iowa Registered: Jul 2002
The hubs are not HMS modified, they are stock 88, aka $180 each...hence, damnit.
The wheels are the Beretta GTZ wheels from my old car...I love them. I am going to be refinishing them with actual polyurethane wheel paint so they won't chip the moment they hit the pavement.
Here is a nice pic of my old car I found...the last before the accident, and I think the most beautiful.
Holy Crap! I totally forgot, thank you so much for the signature, Ausfiero! My post was so long, I completely forgot to referance/thank/credit you! Thank you so very much!
that looks kind of familiar ------------------ Soon to be a Northstar
[This message has been edited by Erik (edited 08-08-2006).]
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11:38 AM
Bigfieroman Member
Posts: 2416 From: Pleasant Hills, PA, near Pittsburgh Registered: Nov 2000
Why drop the 3.4 DOHC? Not enough power/upgradability? As nice as the Northstar is, it is a big, heavy engine with a high center of gravity, and it is $$$$$ to upgrade. I myself am looking at an LS-series engine after I graduate college.
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Soon to be a Northstar
