More than likely, you sent it into shock!
Like an old man getting some "attention" after many years
Keep up, we all love restore/builds.

quote Originally posted by TennT: More than likely, you sent it into shock!

You're right...the #3 car doesn't get a lot of attention.

I have a list of things about 12 things long that I need to get done before this car is back on the road.

Question - This car was reported by the previous owner to be a belt eater and he blamed the alternator. I replaced the alternator, water pump and AC. I put on a new belt and it has already eaten the new one. What causes a 2.5 to eat V-belts? I don't have a clue.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Question - This car was reported by the previous owner to be a belt eater and he blamed the alternator. I replaced the alternator, water pump and AC. I put on a new belt and it has already eaten the new one. What causes a 2.5 to eat V-belts? I don't have a clue.

well, i'm sorry i can't answer your question but i can tell you that you're not alone. my 69 camaro has been throwing belts every time i get on it so i put it in the shop yesterday to get changeover to serpentine system. oh yea, also to change the gears frrom 4:10's to 3:73's so i can actually drive 70 mph.

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quote Originally posted by jscott1: I replaced the alternator, water pump and AC.

AC = AC Compressor?

-Does each accessory have 1 pulley?
-Is it routed correctly (1 belt for the crank, alternator and water pump, and another belt from the crank to the AC compressor)?
-Are the pulleys lined up right in relation to each other?

I've never had any belt troubles with mine, except the old belt would squeal on startup when it was wet. New one hasn't done it yet.

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1984 Fiero SE

quote Originally posted by RWDPLZ: Found this in the archived thread: All looks good, might just check the pulley alignment. I have the same belt on my daily driver with over 700 miles on it now and no problems. Where'd you get the compressor, and what model is it?

Yep, that's how it looked right after I was done.

I'd have to check and see what the compressor was, I got it rebuilt from ebay

But the AC compressor belt is fine. The water pump/alt belt is the one that disintegrated. How do I go about checking the alignment?

Have a wear pattern you could show us?
Wear on the sides, one side first???
I had a worn pulley that wore on both sides (not Fiero).
The sides were dished instead of a V. Also had slightly bent pulley
once. Just enough that you could find with a stick (engine running, I held
a stick until you could hear it rub one side of the pulley).
You know it's either a bad pully or misalignment.

Since I'm watching Indy...time for an update.

Other than my backyard, I haven't been able to find a larger tank anywhere, so I'm resigned to stick with the small tank.

I have the new fuel pump and I was hoping to have it intstalled by the two year anniversary but no joy. I have a new strainer/filter on order but it hasn't showed up yet, so I can't install it anyway. One of these days the Indy will be back on the road.

As a slight variation on TennT's suggestion, if you can get your hand down there without getting it caught in anything, use a piece of chalk instead of a stick and it will mark the side of any pulley that is bent or out-of-round. (you could also try taping the chalk to a stick to put down there rather than your hand)
I've had to use this method before to find pulleys that were not bent enough to see, but did tend to chew up belts.
Good luck and keep up an entertaining thread.
Egor.

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____________________________________________
"Of all the things I have lost during my lifetime, I miss
my mind the most."

quote Originally posted by Egor: As a slight variation on TennT's suggestion ... Egor.

Thanks for the suggestion. It's hard for me to believe I drove this car home from passing at the inspection station and within 20 miles I chewed up a fan belt, killed the fuel pump, lost all disengagement on the clutch, and nearly caught fire from all the oil leaking out of the block. It's going to be a long summer to get this running right.

i still have the same question. looks like a poly cog in that pic. i'm running a gatorback fight now. burnt up a belt last month and nearly cost me my engine.

i tried taking a square to the alt-water pump to see if it was in line. could not get it to fit right.

if ya have a solution let me know.

One more suggestion: If all the individual pulleys pass the chalk test and prove to be round and free of burrs, you can roughly check the alignment by using dental floss and a piece of tape.
Tape one end of the floss to the drive pulley so that it lies across it and the edges of the pump pullley (across the widest part you can reach). If the pulleys are out of alignment enough to chew up belts, it will show with the string. Do the same with the alternator and the A/C compressor.
It's still going to be hard to see, but it should be a little easier than using a framing square.
Egor.

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____________________________________________
"Of all the things I have lost during my lifetime, I miss
my mind the most."

I'm not sure if I should post here or in tech, but I finally got around to dropping my gas tank. I had been dreading that as I have heard how much of a pain it is...long story short it wasn't that bad. Almost everything went smoother than I expected. The 13mm bolts on the straps came right off, and the hoses popped off with no problems. I am pleased...

Now the bad news, should gas be brown? Funny it turns out my car may have just run out of gas and not have a bad pump, but my tank is so incredibly rusted a new pump is a good idea anyway. Should I replace the tank or is a rusty tank not going to hurt anything...

I know what the right answer is but getting a new tank is a pain.

Its going to be hard to find a tank that doesnt look like crap after 20 years or so. Mine was the same way on several car, I just swashed the old gas around and tryed to get out anything that was in there.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: I know what the right answer

------------------

Well here's what I got:




There are CHUNKs of something in there at least an inch long. I'm not sure what it is but it can't be good. And the walls are covered in rust. I'm not sure how much of that is normal, but I don't like the looks of it.

More troubling is the sender. It's toast.



What I've decided to do is harvest a new sender and tank from my field of dreams, hopefully the next tank and sender are in better condition. It can't hardly be any worse. Either way I have a new pump and screen to put on.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: What I've decided to do is harvest a new sender and tank from my field of dreams, hopefully the next tank and sender are in better condition.

The Harvest has been bountiful!!

After dropping two gas tanks in two days I can officially say it's no big deal. I read so many bad things. But I dropped this one in the middle of a thunderstorm, while being eaten by fire ants and mosquitos. I'm the slowest mechanic I know and it only took me about 30 minutes from start to finish. The donor is an 84 that I got on eBay for one US Dollar.


I hate getting underneath cars, so I always make sure I am two fault tolerant on supports. I always have two sets of jackstands and keep the jack in place as well. The hardest part of this job is that it's been raining in Texas everyday for over a week so the ground was very soft. I didn't want this "car" dropping on me. Funny thing, I guess Fieros are "male" cars...lol


So I crack open the tank and what do I see??? A perfectly pristine tank. This tank has been open to the elements for I don't know how many years but it's perfect inside...go figure.



And the sender? It's perfect. Notice that there is no fuel pump. This car obviously had an inline pump. One look at this and I was doing the happy dance.


Quick physics lesson, a lot of people think in-line pumps are so great, but unless you are running a Carb, forget it. In a vented tank the best an in-line pump can produce is 14.7 PSI, (on Earth anyway). The atmosphere can't push any harder. So for higher pressure either you need an in tank pump or presurize the tank with nitrogen or helium. On the space shuttle, all the tanks are pressurized that way...but I digress. Now to install the pump and get the tank in the Indy.

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 07-09-2006).]

Jscott,
Wish I would have read this a couple of days ago. I have a '88 parts car at my mom's house that you could have bought the tank from. I was there yesterday taking off a few parts and was already under the car. Day Late.....
Nice project, where did you get the Indy? Here in Houston? I owned one before but later sold it to Ray New. He picked it up for someone else. I wonder if I could track that car down? Let's see when we can meet, I want to see what you're doing to the Indy. i could show you the '88 I'm working on. If you're ever in Humble, LMK.
Later,
Pete

Thanks for the offer... I was " ---" this close to taking a tank off my 88 parts car but I decided I didn't want to mess with the expansion tank at this time. So I opted for a direct replacement.

I bought the Indy in Dallas. It's been almost two years, and I have only driven the Indy a total of about 35 miles in that time. This fuel system was totally rusted out. The Indy came from Florida, but it must have been right on the beach becuase it has surface rust everywhere.

I am in Humble every other weekend, (at least) PM me, maybe we can hook up.

Time for an update...

What's worse than dropping two tanks in two days? Three tanks in three days

I got the new fuel pump in and the tank reinstalled



And no start...no fuel pressure...the pump is running backwards. GRRRR.. stupid unmarked connector.

I think I set a record, I dropped the tank, reversed the polarity on the pump and reinstalled the tank in less than an hour.



And it fired right up!!

And best of all I have a working and calibrated gas gauge!!

quote Originally posted by jscott1:

lol... Jon, you are going to single handedly pay the salaries for the DMV plates dept!
Looks great!

Now, which one are you giving your son? The rare indy, the v8, or the movie star?

Hey, J&I are going to be in town Aug 12-14, were thinking about seeing the 'Stros and some other stuff. (Kemah, San Jacinto, NASA)... you intersted in meeting us somewhere's or going to the game?

quote Originally posted by jscott1: The donor is an 84 that I got on eBay for one US Dollar.

Wow, that car looks a lot like my Formula.

It must be nice having a backyard full of Fieros to 'harvest' part from.

-Greg

quote Originally posted by blakeinspace: Now, which one are you giving your son? The rare indy, the v8, or the movie star?

Blake - None of the above...Maybe the black 85. It's complete just needs a motor rebuild. That would be a good learning experience, (for both of us) I'll PM you with my number so we can maybe hook up while you are in town.

Formula350 - since I aquired a trailer they started multiplying. This silver 84 (wearing Formula panels) has paid for itself by dontating it's tank. I want to cut it up or have it hauled away.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Formula350 - since I aquired a trailer they started multiplying. This silver 84 (wearing Formula panels) has paid for itself by dontating it's tank. I want to cut it up or have it hauled away.

If you just want to get rid of the carcass, I might take it.

Formula350 - that carcass still has an 88 cradle on it, so I'm going to hold onto it for a little bit longer thanks.

My next task is to get the clutch from disengaging on the floor. I'm expecting that a new Fierostore clutch pedal and a Rodney Dickman adjustable banjo should do the trick



And it's "banjo up" right?



That's how I intend to install it...correct me if I'm wrong. This won't neccessarily give me more dis-engagement but if there is any slop in the system, os something isn't quite the right size, then this should help compensate.

Okay I want to shoot the person that designed the clutch/brake pedal assembly. I've got the pivot bolt removed but the clutch pedal won't come down. I can see the pivot spring offering some resistance, but the pedal feels like something else is holding it in. I tried to remove the bracket holding the clutch assy to the brake but it's got some odd sized square nut that doesn't fit any of my sockets and there is no room for a wrench. Anybody else run into this problem?

Finally got the old clutch pedal out... It pretty much took brute force. I got out the dremel and cut away the spring then pulled and twisted it until it came free.

It was definitely bent.



Between the new pedal and Rodney Dickman's adjustable banjo... I HAVE DISENGAGEMENT!!!

and it doesn't disengage right on the floor either.

Well I learned a lesson about those aluminum calipers...

I had a wicked pull to the right under braking, so I check the left caliper. The flexhose is shot. So I go to replace them with new rubber. There is a massive leak at the banjo bolt so I tighten it and strip it completely out. A caliper with less than 25 miles is runined. I learned to put a torque wrench on those banjo bolts at stop at the proper torque. If it's leaking then something is wrong.

I don't know if anyone cares, but I have my "new" front left caliper on. This time I babied the banjo bolt on and precisely torqued it to spec. And I would not have believed it but the bleeders and the bajo bolt are the same size. Someone in another thread had them mixed up and I didn't think it was possible but it is.

Anyway, I debating on painting my caliper hats and edges. I thought the ebay rotors I bought were nickel plated...



But they rusted bad before I could even get them on the car.



It's almost time for jack down and roll out and time for our annual cruise to get inspected. I was able to drive 25 miles this past year before nearly everything broke and I spent the last 9 months fixing it.

How do you do that? hook up a screen to the car so you can read stats

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Okay I was trying to figure out why the car was idling rough so I hooked up my new scan tool The only thing is the car is now purring like a kitten. Funny how just being in a garage makes a car more well behaved. But I did notice it was taking a long time to heat up, and it's in open loop. So I check the thermostat; there is none. A quick trip to the thermostat store, (also known as my backyard) and the car warmed up nicely to about 110C then it dropped to about 90C, the radiator got warm, the "new" thermostat works! But still no closed loop. Also the code for the MAP sensor is set. Tomorrow I'll go to the MAP sensor store and replace that and see if it helps. Where is JazzMan when you need him???

That is the Fiero Store ECM SCAN TOOLS Software running on a tablet PC. It was built by Oliver Scholz, but sold by the Fiero Store. It only works on the stock motors, (except the 87-88 4 cyl DIS motors) but it's cool.

http://www.secureleadercom.com/fsstore/default.asp?bodystyle=1&topdeptnumber=82&searchBit=3&dept=263

Did you Indy Fans feel the shudder in the Force?

Proud-3 jacked down and rolled out of the garage after about 10 months of repairs stemming from it's first drive a year ago. My clutch problems seem to be behind me finally. It shifts smooth, and the engine is purring nicely.

I still have a list of things too long to list that need fixing, but at least it can move under it's own power and didn't catch fire...again (yet)



Comment heard at the gas station, "You still got it running?" Me, "Just got it running" other person, "I remember those days, (the 80s) those were nice cars" Me, "yeah I like them.

Congratulations J,

Long time coming !

quote Originally posted by jscott1: I drove the car home from the shop today and it developed a problem where it didn't want to run unless the throttle was at least half open.

Thanks Tony. Yes it has been a long time.

10/6/2005- was when I drove it home from the inspection shop. The fuel pump/clutch/brakes, (you name it), all failed on the drive home.

Working in it on and off over the past year. The higher gas prices were motivating me to make this my daily driver, but I just filled it up at $2.049. Still it should get a lot better mileage than my truck.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Did you Indy Fans feel the shudder in the Force?

"Nah... just a migraine."
(Hardware Wars... download it if you haven't seen it!)

Congrats Jon! Woo-hoo!
And gas is $2.05?! Man it is still $2.25 here! (And I am GLAD to get that!)
So fill up in Houston, before driving to Waco!

I'm glad you finally got the car on the road.

Cool! Three running and only 4-5 more to go Where will you park them all once they are all running? LOL

quote Originally posted by 007: Where will you park them all once they are all running? LOL

Thanks, I'll be looking for one of these soon. I should have room to stack the chop tops in the garage

http://www.backyardbuddy.com/

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 09-21-2006).]

quote Originally posted by jscott1:

Glad to see you could make use of my old stripped Fiero

Its a whole bunch of different parts from other fiero's......I had a v8 small block and then a 454 big block in there (the reason for all the grinding and welding around the right side of the engine bay.

The fuel tank is corrosion free because it was pretty much always on the road since 1984.... except during engine swaps..... that plus it was in the desert southwest for most of its life.