Greg; I said it many times walking through your yard, looking at the Fieros and the Maserati, I HATE YOU!!!!!!
Great looking truck man.
Rolland
LOL, Yeah, I may have heard that a time or two from different people. But you know everyone is always welcome to come play with me and my toys!!! ? LOL
------------------ 91 NSX 99 TT C5 89 ESPRIT SE 96 IMPALA SS 383 76mm 84 INDY FIERO 94 INDY GMC S10BLZ 02 MUSTANG built w/KB 86 PORSCHE 928 S
Great project I hope you're still planning to bring it to the 25th, I'ld love to see it in person. I looked at the door panel pics an thought a set of the grey vinyl Indy Fiero door map pockets might look cool on those doors. I'm really glad you stuck with the project to see it through, it's a testament to the fortitude of Fiero owners!
Never give up Greg. It is trying times like these that seperate the true Fiero owners from the wannabes.
I have put my Fiero on the back burner so many times it ain't funny. I never really gave up on it, I just got bored with it. But once a month or so, I'll get a wild hair and go tackle something that had really stumped me in the past and kick its a$$.
You don't need to quit, you just need to quit for a while.
why the "for sale" zone? after all the work you've put into it, i know your not happy with the paint, but you still built it into what you want it to be, it's too bad there's shotty painters in your area that like to rip people off when they finally have something nice they wanna do...
why the "for sale" zone? after all the work you've put into it, i know your not happy with the paint, but you still built it into what you want it to be, it's too bad there's shotty painters in your area that like to rip people off when they finally have something nice they wanna do...
I know. I am sad but I must get rid of everything I own to save my marriage. I listed this truck for 4K so it will disappear fast with the hopes it will hurt less. Its only listed on this Forum so far, and out in front of my house with a for sale sign.
I fail to see how selling vehicles will save a marriage, basically if your wife's unhappy and threatening divorce, she's going to do it if you have 1 car or 50 cars.
Now if your jobless or nearly broke, selling vehicles will definatly help with stress from being broke
Here's an update for everybody, here's what's happening.
I have agreed to buy the truck, deposit has been sent, flight has been booked.
I'm flying down to Greg's place on the 28th of this month to pick up the hauler and drive it to it's new home in Colorado . I'm looking forward to meeting Greg and seeing the truck in person.
This fits very nicely with what I have in mind for my 88 coupe aka the Grin Reaper. (did I just let the cat out of the bag?) I've got some big plans for the truck, first up is to drop it by at least 3", latter (read sometime after I finish the N* swap on the Reaper} the truck will get an LT-1 that I just happen to have lying around, and once the Firestone Indy tires are worn out I'll step up to the 16" Firebird wheels of the same style.
It is my intention to continue this thread in much the same way as Fiero2m8 has done with the Bubbajoe's project, have ho fear everybody, this truck is going to a good home.
You might be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or latter you'll dance with the reaper. Joe
I fail to see how selling vehicles will save a marriage, basically if your wife's unhappy and threatening divorce, she's going to do it if you have 1 car or 50 cars.
Now if your jobless or nearly broke, selling vehicles will definatly help with stress from being broke
matthew
Thnx for the marriage counseling. I'm sure it will help out.
Here's an update for everybody, here's what's happening.
I have agreed to buy the truck, deposit has been sent, flight has been booked.
I'm flying down to Greg's place on the 28th of this month to pick up the hauler and drive it to it's new home in Colorado . I'm looking forward to meeting Greg and seeing the truck in person.
This fits very nicely with what I have in mind for my 88 coupe aka the Grin Reaper. (did I just let the cat out of the bag?) I've got some big plans for the truck, first up is to drop it by at least 3", latter (read sometime after I finish the N* swap on the Reaper} the truck will get an LT-1 that I just happen to have lying around, and once the Firestone Indy tires are worn out I'll step up to the 16" Firebird wheels of the same style.
It is my intention to continue this thread in much the same way as Fiero2m8 has done with the Bubbajoe's project, have ho fear everybody, this truck is going to a good home.
You might be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or latter you'll dance with the reaper. Joe
It was good meeting you. I'm glad you had a safe drive back to Denver. How about some pics of the truck in its new home?
Update I hate this freakin' thing, more to the point, I hate the 4.3 cpi vortec thats in this thing, it runs good, gets over 20 mpg on the highway and can't pass an IM240 smog check to save it's life, I suspect that the injector is bad ( a common problem on these engines ).
the plan was to drive it 'till I had time to do the LT-1 swap, looks like plans have changed since I refuse to spend money that could be used on the swap to make an engine that I don't want to drive run.
Life is what happens, while your making plans for the future. Joe
[This message has been edited by motoracer838 (edited 10-29-2009).]
After doing a bunch of research and talking to the Colorado emissions tech center (these are the people that approve swaps before you can get the truck smog tested), I have decided that the LT-1 will go into another project that I have coming up.(frankly the LT-1 was going to be a big PITA and the tbi 350 will be plenty of engine for the Hauler) I will be using a tbi 350 in the Hauler, here's what it'll take to wire it.
1 ecm and chip out of a '95 Suburban with a tbi 350 and a 4L60e 2 delete 3 pins at the ecm connector that were used on the vortec 4.3 and not on the tbi 350 3 reuse 2 of wires at other locations on the ecm for circuits needed for the tbi 350 4 change a couple of plugs for things like the iac and tps, shorten some wires and lengthen some
This will be the easiest fuel injection swap I've ever done!!! Usualy the swaps I do involve basicly building a harness form scratch like I have coming up on the Grin Reaper.
I currently have the engine dissasembled and will be doing a stock rebuild on it then the fun starts, this isn't my first V-8 S-10, I built a p-u back in the early '90's. It had an 84 Corvette crossfire 350 and a 700r4 run by a latter tbi ecm, a very fun truck. performance wise, I've always felt that the 2 V-8 Dakota's that I've had since don't stand up.
Update time, I found the 16" T/A wheels I wanted, I just need to get them cleaned up and paint the centers white, and mount tires, probably Nitto 450's, I've used these on my Dakota R/T in the past and have found them to be a very good tire for the price.
today I listed the boat anchor (did I just say that?) I mean the 4.3 Vortec on Craigs list and sold it in less than three hours!!! I really would have loved to blow up that pos of an engine, but I'll take the money and not have to get rid of the scrap!!!
I'll be starting on disassembly later this week, as soon as I get a usb cable for my camera, I'll start posting some pics.
body man swears that he can make the 84 grille work without changing the radiator support. i don't believe him but we'll see. no, i'm still debating the wheels. the LMC catolog does not offer parts for the blazer unless it is a part that cross-references with the pick-up.
You were right to not believe him!!! wait 'till I post pics of how he buchered the core support, the headlights were held in with drywall screws, this gave no provision for adjusting the headlights. (no wonder they were shooting at the tree tops)
A lot is happening now, the 4.3 is out (now I remember why I used to remove the front clip when I was working on my old V8 S-10 p-u) and gone, (good riddance), I'm also working the brakes and suspension, one of the cool things I'm doing is adapting C-4 Corvette front spindles to the truck, it's going to take some work but I get a couple of things out of the conversion, bigger front brakes (the S-10's suffer from the same problem that the Fiero's do, marginal brakes and it becomes an issue when you add power) and a two inch drop because the axle location is two inches higher in the Corvette spindle and it gets leftover parts off of my shelf's.
You might be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or latter you'll dance with the reaper. Joe
This, is what happens when you let a hillbilly with a cutoff wheel modify your car, he didn't even bother to shoot a little spray paint to keep it from rusting!!!
not only was the headlight held in with drywall screws, it was also upside down. I've spent the morning at the wrecking yard, got a replacement core support and a really nice pair of power mirrors.
old
new.
While I'm working on the swap I'm also modifying the suspension and brakes, here's what I'm working on,
adapting Corvette spindles,
and brakes,
one of the side benifits is a two inch drop because the axle location is 2 inches higher in the Corvette spindle, above is the stock,
well, its looks like i need a painter. i took it back to him right away and pointed out the obvious 2 or 3 weeks ago. i'm thinking a couple of days or so and he will have it fixed. it was a monday now that i think about it and i said "just please have it done by friday" he said no prob.. needless to say it wasn't done and every time i called it was excuse after excuse. today i went but before i got out of the car i removed all accessories off of me(watch, keys,sunglassses, phone, etc). i went straight to the truck and looked it over. there had definitly been work done on most of the area's but it still looked like CRAP! his co-painter came over and said it was done, and i said, yea right. hedlights not touched(still pointed down even though truck never been wrecked) hood still down i can see gray has been painted inside the cracks but there is still white on very edge of fender all the way around. wheelwells barely started but not complted. paint sprayed around quarter glasses but still looks like CRAP. He starts to walk away and says briggs will have to take care of this. that moment briggs comes over and i say surely the trucks not done, he says it is, whats wrong? ok, for starters look at the headlamps and i mention to him the trucks never been wrecked and he starts talking about how much time he has in the truck and such. so i pipe in, what the hell does that have to do with anything, ITS NOT DONE RIGHT! few more things were said and then we were nose to nose bowed up. neither wanted the ramifications of swing first so thats pretty much where it ended. i'm thinking i'm on his property, deep in the country, and they have 3 generations of briggs there, that wouldn't help me when the cops come. he starts screaming i better get my truck of his property or he'll charge 14.00 a day. he says this a few times like he has me by the balls or something. i'm like well then give my my keys, i get them and drive off leaving my porsche there and his mouth drops. i drive accross the highway to my buds business and get a ride back, and thats that! sorry for the language and the rambling. pics coming later.
Greg, given the level of the hack job done on the truck, I was wondering if you heard dueling banjos coming from the nearby woods back when you were at Briggs's place???
up for the S10 anybody.... is that an s10? sorry photo from before my time im only 19 lol
The support trucks were GMC S-15's, S-10's with different badges. When Greg started the project, he was trying to build an accurate looking replica, since this is going to be my three season daily driver, I'm going a little more freestyle with it, giving it a hot rod twist.
Ladies & Gentleman, I present a preview of the Indy Hauler in all it's reborn badass hotness!!!
And this is the billet grill insert.
This gives me a new problem, with as cool as the truck looks now, the paint looks all that much more hidieous, words can't describe how awful this paint job really is!!! The thing looks like it was masked by a blind man sleepwalking, and shot in a sandstorm!!! It's truly that bad. I'm starting to think that I may have to do something about the paint before I put it on the road.
It seems that I have a decision to make, with as cool as the truck is turning out, it's crying out for something cooler than the TBI 350 that I 'm planing on. (nevermind that I have the engine, the rebuild kit and it's the easiest of the choices to wire up. I do have another use for this engine.).
Here are the other choices.
1 98 Vortec 350, pros, I can get it at a good price, good power. cons I have to spend my time to pull it out of a 4X4 p-u, more work to wire and integrate into the truck and a fuel injection system that has some relability issues. ( to the point that gm came up with a retrofit system that does away with the cmpi injector and spider assembly and replaces it with 8 tiny injectors that fit in the manifold where the popet valves went.) If I go with this engine, I'll add a Ramjet intake to get away from the stock Vortec intake and to enhance performance and the cool factor$$$
2 LS-1 350, pros, I have it, even more power and weighs about what the 4.3 did and I'll probably spend less than I will on the vortec. cons, it's damaged (kicked a rod out the block, it was like that when I got it. The block will need to be welded), about the same amount of work to wire as the Vortec, I don't have any brackets for the accsesories, even though it has a cool factor, I don't think it looks as good as a Ramjet equiped Vortec.
In spite of the looks, I'm leaning towards the LS-1, what do you guys think??? Oh btw both of these engines will have me dropping the tank to upgrade the fuel pump. (something I needed to do to fix the fuel sending unit anyway)
I am partial to the RamJet... because It has been my intake of choice since 2005 and I have one currently sitting on the shelf waiting for a new engine to go onto.
If you need to pass emissions, the Ramjet does not have an EGR provision, but some of the solutions being kicked around are using an EGR plate right behind the throttle body (like from a N*) or welding on an EGR boss on the side (like TPIS now does for the miniram). You can run the Ramjet intake with the stock vortec ecm, but it will shut off at 5700-5800 rpm and there is no known way past this (most swap to the 411 ecm to get past this issue). Lastly, you will need to slightly modify the driver side fuel rail to clear the vortec crab dist (or go coil on plug).
But, if I was in your shoes, I would just go LSx and not look back. The 6.2L with DOD would be very nice!
Reality check time, jeez I can be my own worst enemy. By the time I've done either the Ramjet Vortec or the LS-1 the cost and complexity have gotten totally out of control, this is to be a daily driver, and needs to be done in a reasonable amount of time. So, back to the TBI 350, I really do have enough to do on the truck with what it'll take to get the truck at the ride height shown above without killing off suspension travel and ride quality.
So getting back to the job at hand, here's what I've run into with lowering the truck, in their infinite wisdom, it seems that GM decided that the 2wd blazer needed to set at the same nosebleed height that the 4wd blazer's set. To do this they designed the frame with a lower position for the crossmember and suspension mounting points than they did with the 2wd p-u
2wd P-U frame rail
2wd blazer frame rail, notice the difference where the bumper brace is in relation to the top of the frame rail. What happens is that by the time I have the truck at the ride height that I want, in spite of the 2" drop that the Corvette spindles give me, I have almost no suspension travel left!!!
To solve this problem, the truck is going to have to "go under the knife", I'm going to graft in a 2wd S-10 P-U front frame section from just behind the front cab mounts forward. (Yeah I know that it's a lot of work, it's that or cutting the existing frame behind the core support mounts and in front of the front cab mounts and moving the section up and gusseting everything up, even more work that doing the 2wd P-U frame section) What was I saying about being my own worst enemy?!?
Moving on to the frame work. here's the frame section from the victim, err ah I mean doner '86 S-10 p-u
I started buy building a fixture to locate the mounting points for the core support
Before I continue, I want to take a moment to talk about safety. It is critical that in a project like this, that you make absolutly sure that you go out of your way to properly support what your working on!!! To this end I built some screw jacks to support the body.
Getting ready to bring the frame back up to the fixture.
Leftside
And rightside ready for weldout.
A perfect fit in the fixture, the patient looks to be coming out of sedation soon. I expect to be done with the welding by the end of the weekend.
Has anybody out there got a 15' GT wheel they can measure the diameter of the center cap for me, the Fiero store has smooth center caps that would be perfect for my wheels, if they are the right diameter.
Umm, where was I, oh yeah that's right, I was working on the hauler, wow where did the last 3 1/2 months go???
It's about time that I got back to work on this, now on to the latest update.
The Corvette spindles that I'm using on the front, created a unique problem that I don't think I've seen before, every other spindle that I've seen has the axle centerline based on the steering axis inclination. (that's a line drawn through the upper and lower ball joints, when viewed from the side, represents the caster angle.) On the C-4 Corvette spindle it is back more than 3/4", this was really noticeable when I mocked up the truck at ride height and set the wheels straight ahead, with the wheels set way back in the wheel opening. to fix this I had to move the balljoints forward relative to the wheel opening, the lower was easy modifying the lower mount holes to swing the a-arm forward a bit, the upper was another story, I thought I would be able to cut and reweld the a-arm, but that wasn't to be, before I could do anything I needed to determine where the balljoint needed to be, that led me to build this.
The turnbuckles allowed me to dial in the caster and camber using my digital level. Once I found what I felt was the sweet spot. I built another fixture off it.
This picks up the cross shaft and balljoint locations, from there I could determine how to build the a-arms
I had the machine shop that I use from time to time make the ends that the bushings will go into, a local race car shop bent the 1"X1/8" dom tubing to patterns that I provided and combined the with the balljoint mounts that I fabed up.
Almost done, I need to add another cross bar to mount the top out bumpstop.
Other progress, I scored a set of Vortec heads at a local wecking yard for cheap, then won a GM performance parts Vortec/tbi manifold with a bored 50mm throttle body, on ebay as well as getting a chip for the combo from TBI chips.com, all that's left for the engine ,is to order the Comp Cams 12-402 cam. It won't be a Ramjet or an LS, but it'll run strong.
Awesome job
... I had wondered what happened to this rig. And the thread looks like it was coming along so nicely too. 
