Did a little tinkering on the V8 Coupe this afternoon. When I got the car, there were no windshield wipers and the cowl/windshield piece was in bad shape. I went to the pick and pull and got a set of arms and a cowl piece. Then stopped by AZ and picked up some new wiper blades. After a good cleaning and some fresh paint, the cowl and the wiper arms were ready to install.
When that was done, I gave it it's first bath under my ownership! Spent a lot of time on the Baretta wheels, cleaned all the glass and then did some work on the rockers and lower doors - plastic rivets were broken and pieces were just hanging on the car. Ran out of the long plastic rivets so I did not get that little project done. I will be tackling the outer dew wipes this weekend and I have a little exhaust work left to do. After that it's pretty much ready to go for inspection and registration. Bought collector car insurance from Hagerty's today - inlcuding 150 mile radius towing for 145.31 a year.
Once I start driving it, I'll start the cosmetics - paint the mirrors, engine grates, etc. Still have to build an extractor scoop in the hood and replace the lower valance on the front nose. It will never be "done" but at least I can start driving it. I did take it for a spin around the neighborhood this evening. This is going to be a fun car!
One more thing - and I know this will piss off the Northern Fiero Folks - but I had to give in and get the garage swamp cooler going to day. It was pushing 90 here today and the thermometer in the garage was @ 95*.
Let the cooling begin!
Chirs started a rehab on some 88 gold wheels - he wants to put them on the Formula - he has a lot of work to do!
But really? A/C outside in March?? 90F!? A few days ago it snowed here, and I had to use the propane heater in the garage! That's no fair.
I'm sorry Matt! My original plan was to have this car done in January so I could drive it before it gets too hot down here. Looks like I got it just in time for the heat! If it makes you feel any better, we are supposed to get high winds (means a sand storm) and record high temps tomorrow and Saturday - then a cold front comes through - supposed to drop into the 70's!
I'm sorry Matt! My original plan was to have this car done in January so I could drive it before it gets too hot down here. Looks like I got it just in time for the heat! If it makes you feel any better, we are supposed to get high winds (means a sand storm) and record high temps tomorrow and Saturday - then a cold front comes through - supposed to drop into the 70's!
Its funny how you describe a "cold front" as 70's. I would be ecstatic if it was 70F outside right now. It's going to be warm tomorrow here as well, and I mean warm as in mid 40's.
[This message has been edited by mattwa (edited 04-01-2011).]
Not much work on the V8 Coupe this weekend but I did manage to get the exhaust tips welded on and fixed a little issue I had with a trans mount.I did work on Fiero's all day yesterday though. Did a gen 2 headlight swap on the Short Bus, helped Frizlefrak repair an oil leak on his GT and did some work on a 3800SC that I am prepping for a swap. Plus I spent 4 hours working on my swamp cooler for the house. I'm glad the weekend is nearly over - going back to work will be a nice break from all the Fiero work I've been doing lately.
I only have a few things left to get the car ready for inspection. Got to go to the yard tomorrow and pull a set of seatbelt latches - I really only need the fastners so it should only take a few minutes. Then I have to pull the seats out of the V8 Copue so I can install them. I should be legal by Tuesday! I can;t wait.
Insured, inspected and registered today! Hooray! Cruised it around town about 40 miles - no issues, ran @ 180* - plenty of power! I'll be needing tires soon!
Great build! I enjoy following all of your build threads. You do a great job of showing the problem, then showing the solution. I look forward to following your Short Bus SC3800 build thread.
Great build! I enjoy following all of your build threads. You do a great job of showing the problem, then showing the solution. I look forward to following your Short Bus SC3800 build thread.
Thanks Topcat - it's been a fun build - it's not done - but at least I can drive it now.
Good.....time for a little hellride up and down Montana You need me to bring by the big torque wrench?
Now there's a funny story - I actually had to stop by Frizefrak's and borrow the big ass torque wrench as my axle nuts were getting loose this evening. Thanks for the big ass torque wrench Dan! I did not have near the pucker factor on the drive back home. I did get slapped twice by the Mrs though - once when leaving your house and when I smoked a Mustang GT on 601 on the way home! I know it will bury the speedo!
Got started on a hood extracter vent today. Rick suggested that I use a "defroster" vent grate from the Fiero dash and fluch mount it into the hood. I was sitting out in the garage taking a Union break this afternoon with Jeff and we were talking about the vent. My origianl plan was to cut a couple "strips" in the hood and "sink" them in to create a couple vents. After looking at ait and talking about it, I went out in the shed and grabbed a spare defrost vent. After laying it on the hood and looking at it some, we started laying out on the hood. We talked about setting it in at an agngle and after messing with it, I started to think that flush mounting it would be OK. But jeff said that setting it in at an angle would be "cooler". So that's the direction we are heading in.
Nice work Pat! I'm glad you took my idea and ran with it. Since you are using a factory Fiero part this could be considered a "stock" addition.
The "twin duke" actually was fairly quiet when you passed by me yesterday. I think you will suprise a lot of unsuspecting people.
How does the Mera look with its new lowered stance on the road?
Thanks Rick!
The exhaust came out exactly the way I wanted it - sounds nice and V8ish at idle - but not to loud with the pedal mashed. The Mera looks "right" now! We really need to trim the "tongue"
Went to a local guys place today that was advertising an T Top GT and some Fiero Parts on CL - plus he has them listed here on PFF. Anyway, He was giving away the Fiero parts. After rummaging through the pieces and parts, we found a Notchie deck lid with a scoop already molded in and most of the work was done. I grabbed it and brought it home.
As picked:
And after some sanding!
And a shot of the V8 Coupe today!
More later!
Pat
[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 04-17-2011).]
So I had a problem with the front spoiler - the FSM parts book says it's called a deflector! Anyway, the one on my car was pretty much destroyed - missing 95% of the lower center section - the part that actually deflected air into the rad. Yesterday, I wandered the yards and could only find one that was in slightly better shape than the one I had. I snagged it and dragged it home. After fighting with it for several hours, I finally got it mounted with the intention of doing some repairs to the rips and tears in the center section. The more I looked at it, the worse it looked. All that work to swap it out and it looked like doo doo!
Today, I gave it a lot of thought and decided that I would build a sheet metal piece that would fit inside the lower section. Then I would bond the sheet metal and plastic together - hoping that the sheet mteal would give a solid foundation for the messed up plastic. After cutting and shaping the sheet metal piece, I fit it up under the car and again, after eyeballing it for awhile, I did not like it. What to do? I ended up cutting the tore up center section out and mounted the sheet metal "deflector". I left enough of the plastic center section to overlap the sheet metal by an inch and then drilled and riveted the plastic to the sheet metal. A quick low gloss black paint job and it's done. It will do until I can find a nice original replacement. I just have to be careful and not catch the deflector on anything - it has no "give"!
Forming the sheet metal:
Fit up - if you look close you can see how bad the plastic is:
I had a piece of the hex mesh that came from under an SE engine grate. Unfortunately it was not long enough to cut a piece out of it on a 90* bias. I cut it diagonally, made a few bends and trimmed a little here and there and mounted it with some epoxy. When I turned the hood right side up, I did not like the "look" of the hexes on a diagonal!
So this afternoon, I went to the pick and pull and got another defrost vent out of a Fiero Dash. The wind was blowing so bad when I started to walk back to the car, I had to sit in a junker Astro Van for nearly an hour before I could make a break for the car. I got the hex mesh out of the frame without destroying it and started to fab it up. I ended up cutting a "grrove" in the top side for the mesh to rest in and then made a 90* bend on the bottom to overlap the underside of the scoop. Plan was to epoxy the mesh in a few spots just to hold it in place. I managed to get it done and when I flipped it back over, the mesh looks much better running square. I also managed to put a few "dings" in the primer so I had to do a little more body work. The wind was so bad here today that there was/is no way I could paint it today so I did not loose any time.
Here's what it looked like with the mesh on the diagonal:
Fitting the "new" piece of mesh:
Finished - I will clean up the underside and paint it to match the factory color:
The latest look - I am not sure wat went wrong with my camera - pics are kind of blurry?
Been having some "runability" issues with the Coupe. At first I thought it was an ignition issue. Replaced the plugs, new MSD cap & rotor. Much to my disapointment, the MSD rotor was a piece of crap! It rubbed on the advance mech. and would stick in the advanced postion. I had to perform some surgery on the inside of the rotor to get the required clearance. Also bought a new Accel HEI Super coil. Another issue I found was that the port that I had the vac advance hooked to - actually had no vac (using and Edlebrock Carb). After hooking up the vac advance to the correct vac port, I fired it up and it seemed to run smoother. I went for a drive and the issue remained at lower cruising speed - felt like it was missing on a few cylinders. Kind of had a "surge" to it. I took it out on the loop and put the hammer to it. What a difference having the vac hooked up right made. The motor really came alive. It felt a whole lot more stonger than before. Way eaiser to light up the tires. But I still had the problem with a miss/surge at lower cruise speeds and idle. Once I mashed the gas and cleaned it out, it ran excellent. The last run I made with it, the alternator belt rolled over on the pulley's - never came off but it started rubbing the timing tab and made a terrible racket! At first I thought I hurt it. I limped her home and started on the repairs.
Once I had the tire off, I was able to get in there and roll the belt back over but it would not stay that way - as soon as I fired up the motor, it would roll back over - the belt was shot! It was about that time I realized that there is not enough space between the frame rail and the balancer to get the belt off! That's a whole other issue that I resolved but it was a major PITA. From now forward, changing the belt will be very easy so I guess I did what I should have done back when I stuffed the motor.
My buddy kept telling me to ditch the Edlebrock - instisting that they have poor idle circuits to begin with. At first I did not want to listen to him but I finally gave in. I had a freshly rebuilt Quadra Jet on the shelf so I installed it. Had an issue right off with a fuel leak at the inlet (never seen a QJet yet that did not have a leak problem there). I got the leak fixed and fired her up. Seemed to run a little smoother at idle but still had a littl bobble. I adjusted the timing, carb, timing, carb, back and forth but could not get it to clean up. We changed the springs on the mech. advance which helped it rev quicker. Again, once I stomped on it and cleared it out, it seemd to run pretty smooth for a short while - after it sat idling for a few minutes - while adjusting the carb/timing, it would start to stumble - load up. At different times, I could see the fule dripping from the horns at an idle! Looks like I have the same issue with the Q Jet as I did with the Edlebrock.
I knew that I needed to install a regulator - it did not have one when I got it and that is the reason why the oil pan was half full of gas and the bearings were shot. I read all the threads on PFF - most of which said that you need to use a bypass regulator! I went to the local speed shop looking for a bypass regulator and they only had the single line style in a Holley unit. Being PIG headed, I bought and installed the Holley and a cheap in line pressure gauge. Withe the regulator turned out/down all the way - just before the adjustment screw falls out, the cheap gauge shows 5psi. Being PIG headed, I went with it. Now I beleive that the cheap gaige is not right and the pressure is closer to 8 - which is the bottome end the regulator is rated for! 8 psi is simply too much for a float in a carb.
Moral of the story: Don't be PIG headed and CHEAP! Take the advice of those that have "been there- done that". Don't try nd reinvent the wheel and realize that you may not always be right!
I'll be spending next week in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area and will be visiting all the hot rod stores I can find - looking for that bypass regulator. If I can;t find one, I'll have to put aside my PIG headedness and just order one from Jegs or Summit!
Had a chance to tinker with the Coupe this evening. I ordered a bypass regulator - I believe that it will solve the problem. The quadrajet I installed seems to handle the bottom end better and does not seem to load up like the Edlebrock. I was able to get the fuel pressure cut down to 5 psi which for the quadrajet, is too low for the upper end - WOT it stumbles and acts like it's running out of fuel. Once I install the bypass regulator, I will have a better idea of how it runs on the upper end. After messing with it a little tonight, I took it for a spin and found that it runs pretty good as long as I stay out of the secondaries. I can't wait to see how it runs with plenty of fuel.
Here's a little taste: The video is not so great - had my 17 year old running the camera.
So tell me how is the low alt mount working out for you? Does your alt sound louder down there?
So far so good Jake. I had an issue a few weeks ago - at the upper end of the RPM range, the belt "flipped" upside down but never came off - the belt was rubbing the timing tab and I could smell rubber burning. I think it flipped becuase it was not tight enough. I installed a new belt and made sure it was good and tight - I have been up to the upper end of the RPM range several times with the new belt and no issues. It does seem that the alternaotr makes more noise - Almost like where I have it mounted - on the front of the front motor mount - that it seems to "resonate" the regualr alternator noise through the mount - almost like a "ringing" noise. I can put my hand on the motor mount and dampen the noise some. I was just thinking that the aternator bearing was getting ready to fail? I have a replacement - maybe I'll swap it out before it fails and see what the noise does.
You need me to bring by the big torque wrench?
