Kathryn, you don't know how lucky you are to have a family that can teach you these things and guide you along the way. Hell I'm 20 and I've never touched a welder, sure I'd love to learn but I'm not exactly going to put down $500-700 for a good welder that I'll use just for the Fiero. Keep it up, you've accomplished a lot so far. Consider me jealous and impressed .
Woooo I own pg 7
[This message has been edited by nitroheadz28 (edited 07-13-2011).]
okay dad and i didn't buy the wielder it is my Uncles. thank you by the way uncle bob!!! and yes i used the wielder, but that doesn't mean that i'm good at it. i was petrified of the thing because all my life i've been told don't mess with electricity and if you see a spark shut everything off! and now they tell me hey let's go play with lightning and if you don't get a spark that's a bad thing! gee whiz sometimes i wonder at our sanity! lol thanks for checking out my thread and keeping up to date.
-kathryn p.s. now you're not the only one who owns page 7....lol...
Kathryn, wait until you try out TIG welding. It is a whole different art where you can control the lighting in your one hand and feed the welding wire in with the other. When you learn to TIG weld you will make very pretty puddles that hold the metal together tremendously well. You can do almost as good with a good MIG welder, but it is a lot harder to make it look great with the MIG, but it is faster.
While I am not good at doing wood working, since you have to start all over if you make a mistake, with steel or aluminum and a TIG welder you can just grind out any imperfections and weld in some more metal. When you are done no one will know the difference.
Whether you know it or not, that weld that you did was pretty good for a first attempt. Keep up the good work.
I am sure that Kathryn needs a bit more welding practice....but at least she got over some of her fear of "playing with lightning." Kinda fun once she realized she could get the parts to stick together...lol! Thanks again Bob for the quick lesson and letting her learn. We are to the point of removing the back clip next and dropping the cradle. Lots of work has been done, lots more still needs to be done.
hey everyone i'm still trying to keep up although i won't have any reports to give...shame but soon, well as soon as i get back any way i'm going to have alot of sanding and de-rusting to do so yeah but i have a huge whole in my car litteraly save me my poor fiero is falling apart from the inside out i suppose that it is just up to me to save/fix it but still it's sad. i'll get on sometime later thanks for all your support and help my project has been made so much more fun when i can read your thoughts and ideas! thank you for making me laugh and think and thank you to all of you who have given me better ways to do the things i'm trying to do! hope that you all can have just as succesful of projects as mine. -kathryn
Maybe you should find a nice Southern or Western rust free Fiero, and transfer all the good stuff you have done up till now to it. Getting rid of rust is a lot of work that you shouldn't have to do. This message is a hint to your dad.
no i will not just move all my good parts onto another car i am staying true to my car through and through no matter how much more work i have to do!!!!! i am just going to suffer through it and make MY car look good not just some other car plus i need enough work to last me three more years. so just to let everyone know i am sticking with my car and not a different one -kathryn
sorry i know you were trying to help it's just that this is the only way i have to learn and i want to be able to say i worked on my car through the good and easy times and the not so easy times. plus i don't need to have even more parts to get mom worked up about we've already taken up most of the downstairs and the shed so.... yeah sorry again when you're all trying to help sorry thanks for still coming and watching my progress!!!! sorry -kathryn
sorry i know you were trying to help it's just that this is the only way i have to learn and i want to be able to say i worked on my car through the good and easy times and the not so easy times.
-kathryn
As I've said before, You Go Girl! Don't be sorry, it's your project and you do it the way you wish.
lol, enough work for 3more years? youll have several engine swaps sitting on cradles ready to drop in by then at the rate your going!! you can start naming them "daily driver" "vette killer" "track only" :P
Just to show that I'm not completely heartless, we are talking about letting her 3.4 pr with a bigger cam, and a 50 horse shot. Her uncle is trying to talk her into turboing the 3.4 So we will let her have some fun....lol!
3.4pr is nice... but the 3400 (still pr) is alot better of an engine... and takes boost very well... its just more modern...its a little more work, but you wont be dealing with a 25year old engine tech, come forth to the 2011 unlike the 3800, the 3100 and 3400 will bolt right upto the trans with no special flywheel etc, and all the lower mounts stay the same, will just need to do the upper dogbone. feel free to PM me if you want more info on it...
i have no idea what half of these recent conversations are about can someone explain all this engine stuff please for my sake of trying to understand.? because i know and understand just about all of my car but you truly lose me at the engine stuff. help please -kathryn
They've also got a DOHC arrangement on there for comparison. There's a lot of options for each type of engine - the stock 2.8 uses pushrods, and most of the different engines that get swapped in use pushrods as well. There's a 3.4 DOHC and 4.6 DOHC (Northstar) that will bolt right up to the stock Fiero transmission as well.
Cool thread by the way, good to see you enjoying this project. Be careful though, Fieros tend to multiply when you're not looking...
There's a 3.4 DOHC and 4.6 DOHC (Northstar) that will bolt right up to the stock Fiero transmission as well.
Cool thread by the way, good to see you enjoying this project. Be careful though, Fieros tend to multiply when you're not looking...
Brad
Be careful what you ask for and get into, some of these engine swaps are a lot more work than others. Both the DOHC engines mentioned are fine but, they take up a huge amount of space in the engine compartment. I don't care what you choose but, bigger is not always better. It all depends on what you want to end up with. Of the six driving Fieros I currently have, I most enjoy these cars in this order. 3800SC, 3.4 TDC, 4.9, 3.4 P/R etc................. But, the 3.4 TDC is the hardest to work on due to it's width. Changing the spark plugs on the front next to the firewall is not an easy task. The 3.4 P/R is the easiest to work on, it's no different than a 2.8. Just something for you to consider.
Originally posted by blackrams: Be careful what you ask for and get into, some of these engine swaps are a lot more work than others. Both the DOHC engines mentioned are fine but, they take up a huge amount of space in the engine compartment. I don't care what you choose but, bigger is not always better. It all depends on what you want to end up with. Of the six driving Fieros I currently have, I most enjoy these cars in this order. 3800SC, 3.4 TDC, 4.9, 3.4 P/R etc................. But, the 3.4 TDC is the hardest to work on due to it's width. Changing the spark plugs on the front next to the firewall is not an easy task. The 3.4 P/R is the easiest to work on, it's no different than a 2.8. Just something for you to consider.
3400 is no worse to work on then the 3.4PR, just diffrent intake design... its like a 3800NA w/o needing special mounts or flywheel, i think someon even makes headers to matchup to the stock exhaust? (i looked and couldnt find, but i think its out there)
A comment on the engine swap discussion..............
Keep in mind as you consider the swap options that the stock Fiero 125 transmission is a 3 speed, and compared to the modern automatics, not efficient.
No matter what engine you end up with, it would be of great benefit to change to a more modern 4 speed automatic.
If you decide to keep the 2.8, or move up a bit to the 3.4, the 4T60 is a good choice - it runs with the Fiero OBD I ECM and will help performance as well as fuel economy.
If you step up to a 3800 or a 4.9 V-8, the 4T60-E is a good choice for the fuel injected 3800.
If eventually the engine choice is the 3800 S/C, the 4T65E-HD is your trans to upgrade to.
In a word - if you upgrade the drivetrain - dump the 125 auto.
On another note, we are looking forward to meeting you and your father this weekend in Jackson for the Capitol City Fiero Club's "Driving the Excitement" weekend!
Hey Baby K, You've got some sanding and welding to do first babe! Just messing with you. The 3.4 is probably the easiest to swap in but we can look at others too if you want. I'm sure we can put enough power in for you to have fun, without it getting you into trouble.
How's the trip going? You and J still kicking etc? Also, did you and Papa get to go look for a helmet yet?
I am so glad you are coming to the Driving the Excitement event, since we (all of the Capital City Fiero Club) will get a chance to meet you and your dad. I am truly looking forward to talking with your dad and you. If there is anything we can do to help you with your project just ask and I think between all of us we can help.
If you or your dad would like to take a ride in the various different Fiero's with drive train combinations I am sure we can arrange that. Joe will have his 4.9 Caddy engine with a 4T60E, I will be there with a 3800SC III with a 4T65E-HD, my wife will have her 2.5 with a TH125, Jack should be there with a LS3 Corvette engine and a 6 speed manual trans, Brian will be there with a 2.8 with a TH125, Robert should have a 3.1 or 3.4 with a 4T60 trans and he might bring his other one with a 3.4 with a 4 speed manual transmission. (sorry if I messed up which engine Robert has). There will be others there too with various combinations of engines and transmissions. So you should be able to get a feel for what you would like to do with your Fiero in the future.
Keep up the good work and keep us informed since it is one of the threads that I always go to, to see what you have been up to.
Get that girl some welding gloves...and something to cover her arms with. Two kinds of burns...one from the hot stuff that lands on you and the other is a sun burn from the light.
Tell uncle bob to pickup another helmet too.
Good to see you are wearing glasses with the project...safety first.
okay less confused. actually the reason behind my not getting anything done for a week is the fact that i have been visiting grandparents in ohio while my mom and dad are at home painting the interior of the house dad: yes we have been kicking and j and i plan to kick again tomorrow what scares me is that j has lost some of her aim and power in her punts. and i really need to work on footwork again oh and about the helmet we're going to stop by and see if the store has them after kicking but before leaving to detroit tomorrow. any way just to let all of you know i'm still here, and i don't plan on going anywhere where i can't write on my thread any time soon so both my dad and i will be on pretty much all year round so i hope you don't leave either and keep checking in i will have more car updates by the end of next week. although i'll probably just be sanding. any way totally off topic but the heat wave is supposed to slightly calm down soon!!!! yes! it is like roasting here in ohio. -kathryn
Exactly!!!!!!! it just goes on and on and on. it never ends, i'm telling you it is like a nightmare where you're working and you never get any where. -kathryn
I'll let you in on a secret for rust removal that I recently discovered- Klean Strip makes a product called "Prep and Etch". This stuff is GREAT! I was using a sand blaster to prep my suspension parts for powder coating, but this stuff is amazing. You spray (or soak) the part in this solution and it just brings it back to life. It destroys all the rust, and leaves the part etched and ready to paint or powder coat. I've been amazed at how some of my parts came out. It's also very inexpensive, about $15 a gallon at Home Depot. One issue is that with really heavy rust it leaves behind a bit of a sludge. I use a two tank system. I soak the parts first in a "dirty" tank, which removes the rust. Then I take the part out and wash off the sludge. Then I dip the part in a second "clean" tank, and let that dry. (you're supposed to let the solution dry on the part, it gives a small amount of rust protection and is suitable for painting or powder coating) I can't tell you how much work this stuff has saved me.
Thanks Taijiguy, We'll definitely check it out. Kathryn has been doing some sandblasting on the metal work, and sanding the body panels to prep for paint. She doesn't complain to much about blasting, it is more the body panels that get her down....lol! -MH
The sandblasting isn't bad, it just gets old being hunched over the thing for extended periods of time. Plus, I don't know about your setup, but mine clouds up so bad I can barely see what I'm doing. The nice thing about the Klean Strip stuff is you just drop it in and let it soak. There's no scrubbing or anything. I leave stuff in for a day or two, and seriously it comes out looking brand new (unless there's scarring from the rust of course). Let me know how it works for ya.
aw.. i'm not awesome and just a stubborn and determined girl that's doing something with her dad that's all believe me also i will be getting some stuff done soon -kathryn
aw.. i'm not awesome and just a stubborn and determined girl that's doing something with her dad that's all believe me also i will be getting some stuff done soon -kathryn
what they are trying to say is its nifty to see a girl interested in cars, and not afraid to get her hands dirty.. my daughters 7, and if im working on the car she stays far away from me as to not get any grease on her
Your doing Great work I just replaced my Org 4 cyl. with a "New Rebuilt" one for now. I will in the future be going with the 3.4 and 4T60 combo. It seams like the easiest and most affordable option And I have a few years to get all the parts I need..
aw.. i'm not awesome and just a stubborn and determined girl that's doing something with her dad that's all believe me also i will be getting some stuff done soon -kathryn
Having taught hundreds of kids your age in the past 6 years, I can honestly say that you're not giving yourself enough credit. Your initiative, determination, and the obvious respect you show to your dad (and I assume mom) put you way out in front of most of your peers. Keep after it!
Yeah Carnut, We're pretty proud of her! I'll try to get some more photos of her progress up soon. She's been pretty busy, but has been steadily working along.
don't lie dad i have been busy and NOT working for just under two weeks that's not steadily along at all!!! anyway i better get off since i just got home and go get some sanding done. in the hour and a half before you get home. i will just keep sanding dry right? or should i risk wet? hmmmm.... i guess i'll just have to figure it out -kathryn
last week i went to my grandparents and didn't even know i was supposed to be looking for a welding helmet until the day before i left so my grandpa and i went running into a store right before i left...yikes so we found one and here it is...
i got an auto darkening helmet and i was asking my dad but what if it fails once and i go blind?! well let's just say it won't when he got the pictures it went black and surprised me so much i told him to do it. so it will work just fine -kathryn
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