yesterday i was able to fix the coolent leak and some of the problems with the brakes. the coolents line were leaking becuase i must not have put the hose on far enough so i moved it farther on and tighten it. i checked today to see if it leaked but it seemed dry so it must be fixed. also yesterday i checked the brakes to see why one was chirping and it didn't seemed to be stoping as well as it should so i put more brake fluid in and check both the rear brakes. i found out that one of the calipers wasn't working. i found this out by using the emergency brake lever on the caliper to move it which the one didn't intil i open the bleeder and aperntly there was an air bubble in the caliper so it started working after i did that. it seems to stop better and the chirping seemed to stop but there is still some chirping noise on a ocasion. the brakes all need replaced and rebleed which i hope to do over the weekend.

i wasn't able to post anything for awhile because of some things that happen over the weeken. well i was able to figure out why my trans was acting up [the problem with the knock sound when coming to a stop and the bad mpg]. i found that the electrical conector on the trans [the one with the 4 prong plug] was put on roung. i must have put it on roung becuase i was thinking of the original trans and how it went on but the new trans is diffrent. i also found that the vacuum line that went to the trans was split so i fixed with a new hose. i also repostion some ground wires that i had on the trans that were supposed to go to the engine block. with these fixes, the car trans seems to work better. it doesn't knock anymore and it seems to shift better. it goes into over drive sooner [around 40 now, was 45 or 50] and it seems to down shift when accelerating while in over drive. so its seems to work well and hopfully it fixed the bad mpg because it was worse then it was when i had the 3 speed.

also, while over the weekend, i received my brake parts[rebuild kits for the rear brakes, rotor and pads for all the brakes, stainless steel brake lines, and red brake caliper paint]. i might start replacing these parts over the weekend if i take my car down to my grandparents. and if i had time, i would also like to see if i could fix my gas gauge but im not sure what im going to do with it becuase i already tried fixing it when i replaced my fuel pump but it didn't do much. im most likely going to replace the sensor unit if i can just find the part i need.

[This message has been edited by fiero al (edited 09-20-2010).]

as you know, i been wanting to fix or replace my fuel gauge sensor unit in the tank but i don't know where to get one with out replacing the whole unit. all i want is the sensor not the arm or the rest of the unit. napa doesn't even sell the sending unit except for a 1986 pontiac 6000. its close but the lines are diffrent. i looked at the fiero stores unit but all they have is the whole unit and i don't want to pay that much to replace it. if i have to, i can see if i can fix the old one but as i said before, i have tried to fix it and it didn't seem to do much. i will try again but im not sure what good it will do.

by the way, ever since i did those fixes to the trans, it seems to work better now, the mpg is holding now [unlike before when it was basicly dropping off gas as if it was leaking the gas out of the tank]. i will have to see how much better it is now when i see how many miles i get on my next fill up. also, even though the trans is working i would like to have someone look at it and see if it is working right only becuase i don't know how it is supposed to work or how it is supposed to be setup because im not sure how the vacuum unit on the trans is setup. reason i say this is because since i got it working i have been tweaking the setting on it to see if i could get it back to were it was before because it was adjusted by matt before when he had it. for all i know it is working fine but since i don't know how it works, i can't tell.

and another note, today i got my new stainless steel brake lines. i now have every thing i need to replace the brakes. i will hopfully be replacing them this week depending on what happens.

note: sry about not posting any pic lately but when i start working on the car with the brakes, i will take more pics.

[This message has been edited by fiero al (edited 09-21-2010).]

Glad to hear you received all parts for your brakes. It will make the car stop on a dime when you have it finished.

as i was looking around the forum, i noticed that many people have done body mods to thier fiero. this made me think of what i would do to mine and then i thought of a car that kinda made me think of the fiero before i ever had one. the car is a DeTomaso Pantera [but it was also called the sparrow hawk in the game flatout for the xbox]. to me, it looks like the fiero but heavily modified. here is a pic of it.

above is a drawing of it and below is a pic of it from the game.

here is a pic of it as a real car.[its not the same one but its close]

just parts of the car would be a nice touch to my fiero like the spoiler, some of the side panels, and the hood.

[This message has been edited by fiero al (edited 09-22-2010).]

Add fender flares, put a solid vented sail panel with a scoop in it, custom hood, bumper, and front fenders, headlights like those, remove the belt-line, big spoiler, and your nearly there!

today, me and my dad started working on my brakes. we started with the front ones. we were able to get every thing off [the brake calipers, rotors, brake lines]. right now, i have the 4 calipers painted, 2 of the 4 stainless steel brake lines on, and 2 of the 4 rotors on with new bearings [front]. i will be putting the calipers back together tomorrow and hopfully i will be getting my remanufactured master cylinder from auto zone. i will also be filling and bleeding the brakes with the new brake fluid. here are some pics of the new parts and progress of what has happen.

new rotor [rear]

new stainless steel lines

old front rotor


front with new rotor and brake line

by the way, i noticed that one of the front calipers was diffrent then the other. not sure if it has any effect with the braking but i will have to see if it works. [the black pistion is the one i think is oringinal and the silver one is the after market]


all 4 calipers painted

front calipers painted

also front. [notice the fins are diffrent on the calipers]

well my brakes are done but they are not working right. the pedle is easy to move and i have to push it down far to get it to work. i think it might be ether an air bobble in the line or not enough fluid. i will have to take a look at it to see what is roung. also, here are some pics of what i did yesterday.

here is my new master cylinder.

here are the brake calipers on the car.

well i think i found out what was the problem with the brakes. the problem could be two things. one, i didn't bench bleed the master cylinder before putting it on and the other problem could be air in the lines from not bleeding it completely. plus it was alittle low on fluid so i put some more in which kinda helped. i also gravity bleed the brakes becuase i didn't have anyone else to help bleed them so i had to do it like that. the way i did it work some what becuase some air did come out in bubbles in the fluid. it still needs rebleed because i only got what was in the calipers not what was in the lines. even still from what i did so far seems to have done some diffrence to how they work. i will be doing the complete bleeding down at my grandparents this week and hopfully it will work better then.

well today i got my new trans vacuum pressure regulator and put it on. it seemed to work and it fixed some of the problems like the knock sound that would happen when slowing to a stop and it seems to shift better. it still has some problems like not always shifting down when in overdrive intil you really hit the gas or let off of it but im not sure if the regulator can cause that or something else. but other than that it seems to work. ill have to see if it fixed the high idle which i believe to be caused be the old regulator leaking or not being set right, which compared to the new one, was way off. the new one adjustment screw was farther out then the old one. i wish i could have got the one regulator that went with the trans but the orignal one would not fit becuase of the coolent line from the engine would be in the way.

by the way i tried to adjust my head lights becuase they were way off [ one was to high and the other was going to far in toward the other light]. but for some odd reason, now that i did this, my one light motor decides to crap out so now it is stuck up. i think the gear went bad because it keeps trying to get it to move but it doesn't move. so now i have to fix them too with the reapair kits [might as well replace both of them] i would move them up to the 88 style but at 100 dollars each i just can't aford them right now. so now i got the winking car intil i fix it.

sry about it being so dark but when i took the picture it was already dark out.

[This message has been edited by fiero al (edited 10-08-2010).]

pantera looks like a late 70s mustang / a 80s camaro to me personally. I mean if you were going to mod a body to look similar to it.

by the way i don't think i ever posted a pic of the rims that came with the car when i bought it. the reason im thinking this is that i notced the rims sitting on the shelf and i realized that i never put a pic of these on the form.



i might put these back on the car to see how it handles with the bigger tires and rims[which are 16's]

[This message has been edited by fiero al (edited 10-08-2010).]

Alex, you can manually put that headlight down if you want to. Just turn the knob on top of the headlight motor. It will work. Or if you want you can turn on headlights disconnect power to the motors and they both will be up until you fix them.

quote Originally posted by Ridgelandbaseball: Alex, you can manually put that headlight down if you want to. Just turn the knob on top of the headlight motor. It will work. Or if you want you can turn on headlights disconnect power to the motors and they both will be up until you fix them.

Yes, please do one of these, we can't have a winking fiero around here!

Being that you're a Pantera fan, have you seen this: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum3/HTML/000081.html ?

Have fun with the project...

Bob

i got both head lights up now so it doesn't look wierd. also thanks for the link RCR, i like the fact that someone else has an intrest in the pantera and that they have a mold that fits the fiero. i will have to look more into this. my plan was to make it look close to the pantera with things like the spolier wing, the side flares, hood vents. i would still like to have the fiero look to it but the body molds could also look good. but this is a project that will have to wait till im done with school.

PM sent

got the pm. might call him if i have time over the weekend. also yesterday i decided to change out the tv cable with the one that came with my 3 speed trans. the seemed to be the same cable so i put the other one on. the reason i changed it was that i noticed that the cable going to the throtle body look warped and didn't seem to pull easy when taken off. the old one also seemed to have a little slack to it because of the kinck in the cable. the one im putting on has no kinck and has a no slack. the one i put on seemed to make a diffrence but it needs to be adjusted becuase it seems to take long to shift so i think i need to adjust it the cable but im not sure which way to adjust it. same with the vacuum regulator on the trans. if i can figure out how they work and how to adjust them, i can figure out what needs to be done in order to get the trans working right.

here are pics of the old cable and the new one [new one is already in car]

old cable end were it is bent and twisted

well recently i was able to buy me a 7730 computer for my car. this is the project i wanted to do along with the trans to help get the 2.8 running better [ till i get the 3.4]. i don't plan on doing the computer swap intil around christmas when i have more time to work on it. i also seem to be getting closer to getting my trans work perfectly but it still needs adjustment. i think i need to turn the vacuum regulator down a turn because it is still shifting a little hard and the high idle is still there [not as bad as before, almost back to were its supposed to be but it still runs high] im also going to adjust the cable a little more because its still having a hard time getting out of overdrive unless i ether hit the gas or release the gas. it seems to be getting better as i adjust it so im going to keep trying till i get it right.

also with trying to adjust the tv cable, the book says that, if done right, the cable should re-adjust itself but i can't seem to get it to do it. does anyone know how to do this or can some one tell me were the cable is suppose to be adjusted to.

quote Originally posted by fiero al: well recently i was able to buy me a 7730 computer for my car. this is the project i wanted to do along with the trans to help get the 2.8 running better [ till i get the 3.4]. i don't plan on doing the computer swap intil around christmas when i have more time to work on it. i also seem to be getting closer to getting my trans work perfectly but it still needs adjustment. i think i need to turn the vacuum regulator down a turn because it is still shifting a little hard and the high idle is still there [not as bad as before, almost back to were its supposed to be but it still runs high] im also going to adjust the cable a little more because its still having a hard time getting out of overdrive unless i ether hit the gas or release the gas. it seems to be getting better as i adjust it so im going to keep trying till i get it right. also with trying to adjust the tv cable, the book says that, if done right, the cable should re-adjust itself but i can't seem to get it to do it. does anyone know how to do this or can some one tell me were the cable is suppose to be adjusted to.

I honestly don't see what the problem is. You do need to hit the gas to get it to kick down, and when you release the gas, the torque convertor un-locks (if it is locked in the first place). You should feel a slight drop in RPM after 4th, or sometimes even in 3rd, that's the torque convertor locking up.

the problem is that it takes to long to get it to kick down. i have to push the gas half way to the floor and as i push it down, it seems to have a hard time excelerating intil i hit the kick down point. it also seems to be shifting into overdrive before it needs to [ around 35 to 38] so thats why i thought the tv cable needed to be adjusted. if i knew where the factory setting was on the tv cable for the 4 speed auto trans to the 2.8 engine, i would be able to get it were i want it and maybe get it to work right.

over the week end I figured out how to reset the tv cable. aperently I was not putting enough effort on the throtle to get it to move the adjustment. but what ever i did got it back to were it is supposed to be and it seems to work alot better. it shifts quicker and doesn't seem to have a hard time with over drive. it also seems to have gained some perk to it but i can't seem to explain why but it might be becuase of the better shifting. i still need to change the fluid to make sure its clean but i can do that later.

also along with this i was able to rebuild my headlight motor but it doesn't seem to work well. it has a hard time going up and down and when fully up it keeps on clicking like its trying to go up still. so im going to have to take it apart again and see if i put some thing on roung. here are some pic of what i did over the weekend.



gear with smasked end


also decided to post a pic of my new computer.

something i found while at the pull a part last week. [kinda creepy] it was in the engine compartment

[This message has been edited by fiero al (edited 11-01-2010).]

well i took my head light back out and took the motor apart to see if i could find out what is roung with it. i couldn't find anything roung with it so i put it back together. i tried turning it before puting it back on the head light assembly and it seemed to turn better. i even tried it with the power from the car and it seemed to work fine. so i put it back together and put it back in the car. it goes up and down for the most part but it does get stuck once in awhile and when ether fully up or down, it clicks. as if it's trying to keep on running. so im guessing it isn't set right and that im going to have to take it apart again. if anyone has pics of the internal parts of the motor and how they are supposed to go, they would be helpful. also does anyone know how the lever arm on the motor is supposed go? i think i have it right but i like to make sure.

quote Originally posted by fiero al: well i took my head light back out and took the motor apart to see if i could find out what is roung with it. i couldn't find anything roung with it so i put it back together. i tried turning it before puting it back on the head light assembly and it seemed to turn better. i even tried it with the power from the car and it seemed to work fine. so i put it back together and put it back in the car. it goes up and down for the most part but it does get stuck once in awhile and when ether fully up or down, it clicks. as if it's trying to keep on running. so im guessing it isn't set right and that im going to have to take it apart again. if anyone has pics of the internal parts of the motor and how they are supposed to go, they would be helpful. also does anyone know how the lever arm on the motor is supposed go? i think i have it right but i like to make sure.

Did you put the limit switches in the motor back together correctly?

from what i could tell, it seemed like one was off a little but since i have no refrence other than the other head light motor, i really can't say if they are in the right spot or not. thats why i need the pics of the internal parts and were they are supposed to be set at.

quote Originally posted by fiero al: well i aparently fixed the head light motor after the third time of taking it apart [second time it was apart fixed the sticking part but it was going in reverse and still had the clicking]. aparently the rubber gasket ring up by the manual lift knob wasn't put in right so i fixed that and it seems to work fine now. it goes up and down and doesn't click anymore. now all i have to do is replace the other head light motors gear so i don't have to worry about it crapping out latter.

Yep, you really got to watch that rubber gasket at the top, its a PITA to seat right when putting things back together.

sry about not posting anything for awhile but with winter here and christmas coming, i haven't been doing anything with my car. since it seems to be working so well right now i really have nothing to do with it. the only thing i might do is put better tires on it for winter since i need it to go to school with but other than that i really can't do much else. so intil winter is over i might not be posting on this unless something come up.

well its almost summer time and the weather is already getting somewhat better. with school almost out [ 7 or so weeks left] i can start doing some things to my car. one thing i need to do at this time is get my alignment redone becuase for some reason it wasn't done right the first time and now both of my rear tires are mising tread on the out side of the tire. so i need to get new set of tires for the back and get the alignment checked again. i would have pics of the tires but i just got a new phone and don't have the cable to hook it up to the computer [ that and i don't a cammera other than my phone]. other than that this is the only thing i can do to my car until im out of school since the other projects require the car to be out for some time. the other projects i plan on doing is fixing the fuel gauge which will require me to replace the sensor in the tank. by the way does anyone know were i can get the senor for that without having to buy the whole unit that goes into the tank? the other projects that i plan to do to the car would be to do my usual clean up of the car and engine. i probably have more projects to do but i can't think of them at this point so i will come back to it later when summer back is here. by the way my car has survived the winter and is running fine.

Nothing needs to be replaced in your Fiero as far as I know that has to do with the sending unit, what happens is the contacts on the sending unit become corroded over time, because the fuel gauge is basically an ohm meter, with 90 ohms at full and 0 ohms at empty. With corrosion on the contacts, it adds resistance, which adds to the ohms, which makes the needle go past full and run out before it hits empty. Cleaning the copper contacts should solve that issue.

that was the first thing i tried when i had the tank off to replace the fuel pump. i tried to clean the contacts but it didn't seem to do much but make it worse. the contacts might be to far gone to be fixed since it was sitting for so long before i bought the car. i might take another look at it when i take the tank back of and see if i can do anything else to it but more likely i will just replace it.

quote Originally posted by fiero al: that was the first thing i tried when i had the tank off to replace the fuel pump. i tried to clean the contacts but it didn't seem to do much but make it worse. the contacts might be to far gone to be fixed since it was sitting for so long before i bought the car. i might take another look at it when i take the tank back of and see if i can do anything else to it but more likely i will just replace it.

Oh ok. Makes sense.

EDIT: I still have that idler pulley if you want it.

[This message has been edited by mattwa (edited 03-23-2011).]

yea i still want the pully but im not sure when im going to be able to get it.

well today i went to visted matt over at his house. while i was over there a friend of his came over to pick up a motor that came out of matts dad's car. most of you guys know him as Andy from the forum. we talked alittle bit over matts house about each others car and afterwards pick up some parts like the engine and some steering parts. after that they had t go to dinner so i went home and put on the new idler pully that i bought from matt. it seems to work nicely for now but i need to go back in and tighten up the belt becuase it came loose after its first run but no sqeaks. i would have picsof the pully on but i still don't have any form of camera other than my phone and i still don't have the cable so when i get the cable i will take some pics.

kinda late on the post but i recently bought a 88 fuel tank with expansion tank from matt. the tank is in good shape and i plan on swapping it with the 86 tank on my car along with fixing or replacing the fuel gauge sending unit. i plan on doing this swap when im on my summer vaction sometime in late may.

recently i was able to get a 88 oil pressure sender and a ac pump from Matt. i plan on wiring up the oil pressure sender sometime this week and getting it in the car but the ac pump will have to wait till my summer brake so that i will have some time to work on it. also recently i was of at Matt's house helping him put his v8 in. we were able to get it and and running by the end of the day. it had some minor problems with a small coolant leak by the thermostat but can be fixed with a new gasket and the o2 sensor needs to be replaced since one of the wires got smashed in the install but should be fixed soon. other than that the engine run really good and strong. just need to see what it does when it is finished and on the road.

quote Originally posted by fiero al: just need to see what it does when it is finished and on the road.

Most likely piss off neighbors. It rumbles like crazy when revved up, and I wasn't even revving it that high because it got too loud. And melt off the rear tires.

[This message has been edited by mattwa (edited 04-24-2011).]

well Tuesday i got my alignment redone and got 2 new tires for the back because with the alignment so bad it made the tires bald. it seems to handle better but i wont be able to tell till i get it on an open road. i also got the 88 oil pressure gauge sender wired up and it seems to be working. it reads about the same as the old ones did so it seems to be reading right. might be getting a cable for my phone so that i can start putting pics on here again so once i get the cable i'll post the pics that were taken awhile ago.

just recently updated my to-do list for my car the list below shows all that i have done to my car and what i plan on doing [ it is a long list ]


A=not started or being thought about B= in progress C= almost done D= done

LIST OF THINGS NEEDED REPLACED OR CHANGED ON MY FIERO

1. Replace battery= [replaced in 2010] {D}

2. Replace sensors= [in progress {started in 2008-?}replaced so far was the MAP, air temp, radiator fan temp switch, O2, idle air. theses were replaced in 2009] {B}

3. Replace vacuum lines= [didn’t replace but cleaned up in 2009] {B}

4. Replace shocks {and anything else dealing with suspension, steering and handling}= [replaced steering damper in 2009. in progress of changing suspension. Changed to original rims and got new tires for those in 2009] [changed shocks and struts in 2010 along with some bushings]{D}

5. Take off gas tank and replace fuel pump= [fuel pump done in January 2009, checked again later in 2010] {D}

6. Replace radio= [done in 2009 with a DUAL radio] {D}

7. Replace speakers {including subwoofer}= [sub replaced in 2009 and other speakers in 2010{all speakers are PYLE brand and are 3 way speakers except the sub] {D}

8. Fix windshield wiper function= [fixed in 2009 with new motor and lever switch] {D}

9. Replace turn single lever switch= [replaced in 2009] {D}

10. Fix gas gauge= [must take tank off to get to gauge sending unit. Will fix it when I take tank off to upgrade to bigger tank] {B}

11. Clean engine area= [in progress] {B}

12. Find out why trunk gets wet and fix it= [use RTV and sealed trunk which supposedly fix it] {D}

13. Cheek to see if AC work and if not find out why= [found out why and in progress of fixing may need to replace, got replacement form matt on April 2011 and plan on changing it in June of 2011.will need to be converted to new gas because new pump has been converted] {B}

14. Fix bumper= [haven’t started jean must look at it] {A}

15. Get seat covers and steering wheel cover= [got steering wheel cover in 2010.got seat covers in 2010 {July}] {D}

16. Change oil {and any other fluids needed changed}= [changed oil and anti-freeze in 2008 around 89,000 miles][changed again around 93000 miles in 2010. Plan on changing again in May of 2011around 97,000 miles] {D}

17. Find out why passenger door is not closing right and fix it= [found out why haven’t fixed it yet. Must have Jean look at it] {B}

18. Fix electronic door locking mechanism on passenger door= [has been temp. fixed in {2009}, will fix permanently once door is off] {B}

19. Find out why passenger window moves slowly and fix it= [found out why haven’t fixed yet] {B}

20. Replace any other part that needs to be replaced= [in progress] {B}

21. Paint car= [must have jean do this] {B}

22. Fix timing= [distributor timing fixed in 2009] {D}

23. take off intake manifold and clean inside area= [gaskets replaced and upper and middle manifolds cleaned in 2009. Lower manifold still needs cleaned.] {B}

24. replace gauge cluster light bulbs with LEDs=[bought 8 LEDs from matt in April 2011]{D}

25. remove PCV system= [removed in 2010 because it was putting oil in the intake so replaced it with filters that went in place of it might change to a drip tank that will remove the oil and send it back to the oil pan. Will also allow the gases to be burned like they are supposed to] {D}

26. replace air filter= [replaced with K&N filter in 2009] {D}

27. replace coil= [replaced with MSD coil in 2009] {D}

28. paint valve covers and intake= [valve covers and intake were painted by jean in 2010. Painted candy apple red] {D}

29. put 4 speed auto trans in car= [changed in 2010 still needs some fixing to be perfect] {D}

30. put in bigger gas tank “12 gallons”=[got the tank in April 2011 but still need to put it in ]{B}

31. get alignment redone and new set of back tires=[ done in April 2011]{D}

32. put in new computer(7730) and the parts that went with the change like the new digital EGR and some other sensors= [haven’t put it in or programed it yet but I have the computer. I may try to put it in June of 2011]{B}

33. put on extra ground wire=[done in 2010]{D}

34. replace oil pump=[ done in 2010]{D}

35. bore out exhaust manifolds and fix exhaust leak on rear manifold= [done in 2010]{D}

36. fix brakes and replace pads, rotors and the master cylinder=[rotors, pads and master cylinder replaced in 2010. Brakes were also rebuilt in 2010. Brake fluid was also flushed and replaced with bleeding of the lines. Brake lines were also upgraded to stainless steel lines]{D}

37. replace heater core= [replaced in 2010]{D}

38. replace the distributor and upgrade the ignition system to MSD ignition= [plan on changing June 2011]{B}

39. make ether a dual throttle body intake or make the fiero intake less restrictive= [have middle intake to make dual intake but not sure if I will do it. Also might be getting a spare upper intake so I could go either way and Jean or Brett can weld it so it depends on what I am willing to do]{B}

40. do an engine swap= [not sure if I will or not and if i do i'm not sure when or what i'm going to swap, depends on money and time. Choices are 3.4, 3800, LSx or some sort of v8. The 3.4 is probably my best chance to a engine swap since I can bolt on all the original parts from the old engine but with more power and customization, or i could do the 3800 but may take more time and money to do]{A}