The muffler has been cut in half and re-welded back together. I would assume by the sound of the car that the muffler is hollow. This picture reveals the only area that has any rust issues. I think that the rust is a result of some damage to this area from who knows what. The rest of the bottom of the car is relatively rust free. I come to find that what appeared to be rust turned out to be mold and tree sap. When removed, shiny black paint comes through.
The battery is located in the right rear trunk well. Originally the car was equipped with two Gel Cells and were individually isolated with solenoids controlled by two switches on the consule under where the radio would normally be. Luckily I have the original battery frame, but the solenoids are gone.
Just out of curiosity, When the intake is in the trunk, doesn't that cause the trunk lid to suck down and seal up and become a vacuum chamber? Or is there an air inlet I'm missing?
A little history on the drivetrain in these cars. I was told by the school in Cleveland that the six cars were mechanically prepared by John Lingefelters shop. I have not confirmed this, but I am researching my leads to verify. The few people that I have been in contact with have indicated that this could very possibly be true. The engine definately does not have a stock cam. My impression of the throttle response is similiar to the performance of the 3.4 DOHC. The engine wakes up after about 2800 rpm. I have been a little hesitant to take the engine past 6,000 rpm, but it seems to want to rev past that rpm. It will be interesting to get specs on the internal engine parts during restoration. What I do know is that the engine was still pulling fairly hard at 120mph when we were on MIS.
The Number 1 car was the only one out of the six that received the turbo. Whomever was developing the turbo set-up was short on development time and funding. The turbo car has a small Mitsubishi TD-05 on it. During development, the engineers had trouble controlling the heat in the turbo and engine bay. The end result would be that the oil would burn out and the turbo would seize. The managers of the Pace Car team decided that it would be best to have one turbo car for exhibition and leave the other five naturally aspirated for the purpose of reliability. I understand that the turbo car was a nightmare for maintenance and upkeep while out on the CART circuit. When the car would run correctly, a team driver would make a 150mph pass during the Pace Car on track manuvers. But I understand that this did not happen very frequently. I was lucky enough to see the turbo car perform at Mid-Ohio in 86.
I was able to find the person who had the contract with PPG from 1974- 2002 to assemble and paint the bodies for all the PPG Pace Cars. He still has the original paint cans and paint formulations for all six of the Fieros. He also has the door skins that was used as prototype paint schemes presented to PPG for approval. He also has the original body panels from the cars which were all 85 GT's in storage. Also, he told me that there are numerous build photos that he had to present to PPG for progress reports. On a sad note, he has both door skins from the Pearl Green and Pearl White cars. He removed them prior to taking the two cars to the scrap yard in spring 1988. And, yes, he witnessed them being destroyed by the crusher. So, I have confirmation that GM owned the blue, green and white cars and only retained the blue one. That means that the Pearl red car is the only car that I have not found out where it might have ended up. PPG donated the Red Turbo, the Pearl Yellow and Pearl Red cars to vocational schools, so who knows, the missing car could be hiding at some school in the midwest undiscovered. I am currently working on negotiations to obtain the items that this paint man has.
Just out of curiosity, When the intake is in the trunk, doesn't that cause the trunk lid to suck down and seal up and become a vacuum chamber? Or is there an air inlet I'm missing?
The three inspection plates in the trunk pan are removed. So there are two, two inch holes on each side of the trunk pan and the large inspection plate in the bottom that are open. In my mind, this is not the best set-up, but evidently it worked as they used the car for high speed manuvers on track.
That means that the Pearl red car is the only car that I have not found out where it might have ended up. PPG donated the Red Turbo, the Pearl Yellow and Pearl Red cars to vocational schools, so who knows, the missing car could be hiding at some school in the midwest undiscovered. The research continues...........
The post you refer to is the Number 1 Red Turbo. The paint on the car is a solid red similiar to the dark red used on the 84 Fiero. If you read the post carefully, you will see that I posted some of the pictures in that post. I have 112 pictures of the that specific car and spent pretty close to 4 hours with the car and the people involved at the school. The Pearl Red car that is un-accounted for is the one that I am looking for.
On page one of this post, Skybax posted a picture of the six cars together showing that there were two red cars.
Outstanding job on all the information you are finding on these awesome cars! I am very excited to see all that you have done to this car. I'm looking foraward to seeing it at our show in July.
I was able to find the person who had the contract with PPG from 1974- 2002 to assemble and paint the bodies for all the PPG Pace Cars. He still has the original paint cans and paint formulations for all six of the Fieros. He also has the door skins that was used as prototype paint schemes presented to PPG for approval. He also has the original body panels from the cars which were all 85 GT's in storage. Also, he told me that there are numerous build photos that he had to present to PPG for progress reports. On a sad note, he has both door skins from the Pearl Green and Pearl White cars. He removed them prior to taking the two cars to the scrap yard in spring 1988. And, yes, he witnessed them being destroyed by the crusher. So, I have confirmation that GM owned the blue, green and white cars and only retained the blue one. That means that the Pearl red car is the only car that I have not found out where it might have ended up. PPG donated the Red Turbo, the Pearl Yellow and Pearl Red cars to vocational schools, so who knows, the missing car could be hiding at some school in the midwest undiscovered. I am currently working on negotiations to obtain the items that this paint man has.
Fred - that paragraph gave me chills... I'd really love to see that Green Door Looking forward to seeing your yellow gem at Dells soon!
. I am the one who actually found the doors and some other parts of the green PPG , and the white PPG. It is a friend of mine who had the PPG contract for PPG cars . Fred and I are in the process of getting what ever items he has. I seen some of the photos he had taken, but did not have all items at the shop. He would have to locate where his PPG material was at this time. It was only by accident this find came about. I had visited his shope to purchase some Fiero scoops when we were talking, and this info came about during our conversations about Fiero.
Ron 1984 Indy (full strobe lighting system)
[This message has been edited by paced84 (edited 05-23-2005).]
Fred, The wait is killing me, show us some pictures of the interior. I remember in the post for the PPG car the high school had that there were LED's that someone thought were shift lights, I was wondering since it was turboed could it have been one of the first air/fuel guages? Does your car have those same LED's?
Great find you lucky SOB. =)
NOW POST MORE PICS!!!!!!!!
Anthony
------------------ www.centralohfiero.org In loving memory of Harold Hummel (PFF 4WHEEL) 1936-2004
Here are some pictures of the engine and related components:
The intake mainifold is modified to eliminate the runners and provide one large plenum. A plate is welded straight across the bottom of the intake increasing the volume significantly. It will be interesting to see what is inside when I have time.
Couple of questions for you. How does the car drive with the modded intake? and was the TB upgraded as well or is it stock?
BUMP, as I never got a answer to my question...... Fred, The wait is killing me, show us some PICTURES OF THE INTERIOR. I remember in the post for the PPG car the high school had that there were LED's that someone thought were shift lights, I was wondering since it was turboed could it have been one of the first air/fuel guages? Does your car have those same LED's?
NOW POST MORE PICS!!!!!!!!
Anthony
------------------ www.centralohfiero.org In loving memory of Harold Hummel (PFF 4WHEEL) 1936-2004
I would love to see the interior too! I also want to see the picture of the six cars that was supposed to be posted on the front page. I can't seem to see it just those stupid "X" things....
I like the fieros that were actually owned/created by real race teams because you get so see their aerodynamic and cooling mods. I see they don't have wings or even whale tails they have small lip spoilers. And someone mentioned earlier that the ppg team had these cars up to about 150mph that is awesome. The only thing that surpises me is the lack of a hood vent/extractor scoop. Guess we are still evolving too.
Rare will you be making replica body parts? I just want a front fascia?
Nice buy
[This message has been edited by goatnipples2002 (edited 09-27-2005).]
I have completely "color sanded" the car so that it presents itself well. I airbrushed the huge knicks and scratches with some of the correct base color with about 15% white tint to compensate for the fade. Most of the Pearl is gone off the horizontal surfaces due to the poor condtions that the car was stored. I wanted the car to look respectable for it's day with the blue car at Fierorama. I found that after sanding the dead paint off, the cracks which I thought were body stress cracks are merely paint cracks from very thick paint. It appears that the base body prep work will be very minimal before applying a new paint job. The Gold Pearl used on the car was prototype for PPG, so I am currently negotiating the possibility of having a batch made. A "batch" to PPG is 1000 gallons. Luckily, the base yellow is a standard fleet color called Lemon Ice. The six cars were painted with PPG Deltron Urethane, which was still in it's experimental state in spring of 86. The reason the paint had chalked so bad was that the new urethane binders had not been perfected for UV protection yet. The wheels have been stripped of the clearcoat and polished. They look good, but I will have them machined to take the imperfections out of them. Now if I could only find a new set of NOS Goodyear Eagle VR's......
I tried to have the Red #1 Turbo car in attendance for Fierorama. Up until two weeks before Fierorama, I was about 90% sure that the three remaining cars were going to be rejoined. But, the school board and superintendent decided at the last minute that there was to much hassle and liability to transport the car from Cleveland to Chicago. Even after I offered free transportation and insurance. Now, I am told that after a policy review, it has been determined that the car will never leave the school grounds unless it is disposed of as per the donation contract. But, I have them really scratching their heads over the fact that I own a car that was subject to the very same agreement. All we can hope for is that there is a regime change in the school before the decision to dispose of the car is made. BTW, the students decided to paint the car Cadillac Diamond White this year.
The most significant event of Fierorama was that Sean (Purple Reign) drove his flatbed tow recovery vehicle to the show. His wreck truck has the same design light bar on it as I had been searching for to match what was originally on the cars. After obtaining the make and model, I come to find that the exact lightbar that was originally used in 1986 is still available brand new today. So a Whelen Mini-Edge lightbar with a custom amber lense arrangement and custom strobe and flasher configuration is on it's way. I will need to make the low profile mounts, but that is no big deal. I have decided to add strobes to the park lights and back-up lights to match the Real Indy Pace Car minus the four scoop strobes.
The most significant event of Fierorama was that Sean (Purple Reign) drove his flatbed tow recovery vehicle to the show. His wreck truck has the same design light bar on it as I had been searching for to match what was originally on the cars. After obtaining the make and model, I come to find that the exact lightbar that was originally used in 1986 is still available brand new today. So a Whelen Mini-Edge lightbar with a custom amber lense arrangement and custom strobe and flasher configuration is on it's way. I will need to make the low profile mounts, but that is no big deal. I have decided to add strobes to the park lights and back-up lights to match the Real Indy Pace Car minus the four scoop strobes.
Wow! That's a cool coincidence - it'll make for a great addition to the car's restoration process!
Fred, can you please remember my stuff or my money? Thanks
quote
Originally posted by RAREW66:
Here are some current pictures of the car: ......
------------------ www.yellowfiero.com/fiero.html 17" DEZENT T wheels with 215/40 tires front and 235/45 rear, KONI shocks, EIBACH lowering springs, drilled/slotted rotors, SS brake hoses. PU dog bone, all bushings and engine mounts, K&N air and oil filters, OZELOT exhaust, Mercedes SLK yellow paintjob, Mr. Mikes leather seats, door skins, shift and e-brake boots. MP3 deck and custom subwoofer behind passenger seat, F355 style front. Fiero Store rear swaybar, strut tower brace, black carpet, air intake. Rodney Dickman's competition short shifter, SS vacuum lines and deck lid strut. Billet aluminum dash kit from Kitcarman.
Here are some pictures of the engine and related components:
The intake mainifold is modified to eliminate the runners and provide one large plenum. A plate is welded straight across the bottom of the intake increasing the volume significantly. It will be interesting to see what is inside when I have time.
did you ever find out what it looks likes inside and maybe a pic of the bottom thanks
Looking forward to seeing your yellow gem at Dells soon!
