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.
I almost think its where its at. My new alt is louder than the old one but I could hear both of them. If I pull the sense wire its quiet so I don't think its the bearing. Did you keep the stock heat shield in place? I wonder if it would help with noise. My bracket is working great, the turn buckle is perfect for tightening the belt. So far its not had any problems and its staying tight. I my try a new belt as this one was on when I was having harmonic balancer issues. I may have contaminated it.
I almost think its where its at. My new alt is louder than the old one but I could hear both of them. If I pull the sense wire its quiet so I don't think its the bearing. Did you keep the stock heat shield in place? I wonder if it would help with noise. My bracket is working great, the turn buckle is perfect for tightening the belt. So far its not had any problems and its staying tight. I my try a new belt as this one was on when I was having harmonic balancer issues. I may have contaminated it.
Hey Jake-
I tried that this evening - pulled the excite wire and my alt noise went away - not the bearing but when it's charging, it produces some wierd harmonics through the front engine mount plate. I made an easy "slide" type tension bracket but I like your turn buckle idea and will be upgrading mine here soon. I do not have the heat shield in place as I have been tinkering with fuel lines and wiring in an attempt to get everything routed where it won't melt from the firewall header/collector. I think I have it all sorted now so it's time to install the heat shield.
On another note, I got my new bypass regulator and fuel pressure gauge from Summit today and installed it this evening. While I was under the car digging out the retun line for the bypass regulator, I pulled out the line that originally went to the evap canister - I thought that it had a small breather/filter in the line but discovered that it was plugged solid. There was no vent for the tank and after a period of driving, the car would act like it ran out of fuel - more so at WOT in thrid and fourth. I think that the pump would pull a vac on the tank until it "equalized" and would not allow enough fuel through the pump. Once I got the line hooked up for the carb and the return, I took the car for a drive - man what a difference. First, I am able to dial in the correct fuel pressure to keep from pushing fuel pass the needle and seat and second, I am able to return fuel to the tank versus trying to hold it all back with the single regulator. The single was rated at 4 to 9 psi and without the return, I believe that the regulator simply could not hold the pressure back. With the single regulator, I could watch the old fuel pressure gauge and watch it slowly rise with the car sitting at an idle. At about 7.5 psi, I could see the fuel being pushed through the idle circuit and cause the motor to load up. Now with the bypass regulator and a much more accurate gauge, I have it dialed into about 6 psi and it stays there at all throttle positions. No more drip drip drip in the carb either. All I have to do now is install a filter on the vent line and I think the fuel problems will be sorted and finished.
I love it when I come home and I have a Summit box waiting for me!
Implements of destruction and all the players!
Installed - temporary - going to have some steel braided line made once I get the routing sorted out.
A steady 5 psi - after a couple drives, I bumped it up to 6 psi - seems a little smoother at cruise with a little more pressure.
Tomorrow's project - 120mph Speedo!
More tomorrow!
Pat
[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 05-14-2011).]
Got another project within the project done today. Got the declid with the scoop painted and installed. The paint did not turn out the way I wanted but it will do until I can get the whole car painted. After I finished the bypass regulator last night, I filled up the car and today I took it for it's longest drive yet. The car ran great. Went up over Trans Mountain to the West side. Never got over 180* pulling the long hill @ 65 - 70 mph. I met up with Rick and Jeff at Rudy's. When I pulled into the parking lot, there was a herd of Cobras. Took a few pics. Could not get any of them to trade me for my Fiero! I filled up the car about 1/2 Hour ago - I did not "rod" the car all day - put about 98 miles on it and the gauge showed 1/2 tank - took 5.4 gallons to fill it. A little better than 18 mpg - Yesterday, before I changed to the bypass regulator and opened up the vent line, I was getting 10!
First coat!
Last coat! I will need to either color sand and clear it to get the shine or just leave it till I paint the whole car.
A little Cobra Show! Note the lonely Fiero's forced to park in the back of the lot!
I really like this one - 406 stroker with over 500 rwhp! I think it would give my SBC Fiero a run for it's money.......lol
Now here's where the day went goofy on me. Jeff and I went back to my place to instll the deck lid. This morning, I went and bought a new lo pro intake cap and a CIA setup to install with my decklid. I was so excited. We puled the old declid then installed the CIA. Next we installed the new decklid and guess what - would not shut - the CIA cap was too tall? WTF. This new decklid has a scoop molded in - it has to be deeper right? Wrong. After a lot of hood adjustement, several trips to the parts houses and 3 different air cleaners, I ended up using the old Eldlelbrock foam POS and the deck lid still did not want to close - still hits the air cleaner. After a lot of eyeballing and meassuring, we discovered that the "scoop" that was molded into this deck lid is a little narrower than the original bump in the deck. So now I have less clearance for the air cleaner - looks like I'll have to fab up something custom! Anyway, we got the deck lid on and "temporarily" adjusted so that I can close it.
I had to install a large scoop to fit mine. I have the large square cut out and covered by the Mopar scoop. Does your carb sit level? I have a level plate installed. Its not perfect but it does help. Going to have to get a new one made and get it perfect.
I have been searching the world for 3 1996/98 Baretta Z34 wheel center caps. I have not been able to locate even one. So I started looking for alternatives. Everything I found - that had a 5X100 bolt pattern - was too large of a diameter. The Baretta Caps are 5.900"
Friday, Jeff and I went to the Mega Pull looking for old Dodge/Plymouth parts as he is looking for an old Dodge/Plymouth for a project. I never walk through the Chrysler section. I ran across an 88 Dodge Daytona - Hmm.... 5X100 pattern, alloy 14" wheels - with center caps that looked close to the right size..... So I grabbed a tire iron and attempted to "pop" them off - first off, these caps are metal! Second, I could not pop them off? As I looked around the car, it only had 3 wheels with the caps so I kind of gave up - I did not have any tools anyway so we headed for the car. A few rows down, I found the 4th wheel laying in the sand. I flipped it over and found that the caps are held on by three machine screws from the back side. My plan was to come back over the weekend with some tools and grab this one for a trial fit.
I picked up the single loose one this am and brought it back to the house - cost me 2.00 for the cap. Much to my dissapointment, it was 6.25" in diameter. Too big - crap! After thinking about it for awhile, I decided to go back and get the other 3 - just in case I could find a way to machine them down to fit the Baretta wheel.
The stock 88 Daytona cap
The Baretta cap on top the Daytona cap - I need to remove about 3/8" off the Daytona cap
My dilema was how was I going to "machine" these down? I could take them to a machine shop and pay 25 or 30 bucks each....or I could find a way to do it myself. You now what they say - "necessity is the mother of invention". I do have one of those Harbor Frieght wood lathe's... Now don't laugh... I took the flat mount plate for the lathe and marked out the 3 mount holes to fit the Daytona Cap - then drilled the plate. Once the cap was bolted to the plate, I put it on the lathe and fired it up - all looked good and the cap was centered on the plate. My first thought was to use my 4" grinder and "grind" off the excess. This did not work too well. First off, the grinder was hard to keep from "bouncing" and second, the grinding disc filled with aluminum from the cap very fast. I needed a "machine" bit? After rummaging around the shed for an hour, I found my el cheapo set of wood carving tools that I bought with the wood lathe about 10 years ago. Would it work? Remember - don't laugh. I was able to use an angled blade and it shaved the cap down in about 15 minutes. I used a piece of emory cloth to smooth it out and polish it up - It worked perfect!
Turned down to the 5.900"
Daytona Origianl Cap on right - Turned down Daytona cap on left:
With the stock Baretta cap
And on the wheel
I also had to trim the 3 mount legs and each of the lug barrels to allow the cap to sit flush to the wheel. I still need to figure out how to mount them to the wheel. I can drill and bolt them to the wheel like they were mounted on the Daytona wheel - I was also thinking about some sort of bracket that would rivet to the 3 mount lugs and then be captured ny the lug nut or just try some Ultra Grey RTV and "glue" them in place? I'll figure it out tomorrow!
That cap looks better than the original one! I can't remember what the Daytona wheels looked like, but the cap looks great on the Beretta wheel. Good Job!!
My first thought was to use my 4" grinder and "grind" off the excess. This did not work too well. First off, the grinder was hard to keep from "bouncing" and second, the grinding disk filled with aluminum from the cap very fast.
Grinding on aluminum with a grinding wheel is very dangerous. Like you found it will fill up the disk and stop working but the danger happens when the metal expands in the wheel and fractures it, the wheel will fail and take you out with it. Most aluminum work can be done with a heavy duty sanding disk. In your case I think you chose the best option and used the lathe.
Grinding on aluminum with a grinding wheel is very dangerous. Like you found it will fill up the disk and stop working but the danger happens when the metal expands in the wheel and fractures it, the wheel will fail and take you out with it. Most aluminum work can be done with a heavy duty sanding disk. In your case I think you chose the best option and used the lathe.
You are 100% correct on the grinding wheel coming apart. The first one I used was 1/4" thick and it just filled with aluminum. I switched to an 1/8" thick disc and it started coming apart right away. I found that the best thing was a 50 grit sanding disc. It did not fill up too bad with a,uminum and was flexible enough to "pop" out any a,uminum that ut did pick up. Once I got the outer - thicker - lip sanded off, I was able to use a tool steel angled tool. I just rested it on the tool rest and "eased it into the edge of the cap. If I did not press too hard, it just shaved off aluminum like butter! I had to be careful and not feed the tool too fast or it would create "low" spots. Once I got it to the diameter I wanted, I used some emory cloth to clean it up. Worked great - got the 2 front wheels done today.
I fabbed up a template for the 3 machine screws, transfered it to the wheel, marked the holes then drilled them. I retapped the mount bosses on the caps and used 1/4 - 20 X 1" stainless flat head - counter sunk screws with locktite to fasten them to the wheels. The mount bosses and the "cups" for the lugs were too tall - they did not allow the caps to sit flush with the wheel so I had to "machine" off the bosses and the cups. I used my bench belt sander - it worked as good as the lathe did. Over all it was pretty easy to do - just time consuming! I have about 25 bucks in cash in the caps, screws and 2 trips to the mega pull and when I am all done, I'll have about 10 hours of my time into them as well. Here's the funny part - after all the work I did last night, I got on the net to look for "mounting" options. I found 6 of the Baretta center caps on Ebay for 19.99 each. I like the Daytona caps better - they are sans emblems - they have a nice clean look to them. My only dilema now is trying to figure out which lug nuts to use. I like the look with the chrome lug nuts but I think that they will look good with the stock lug nuts and plastic caps.
I'll take some pics with the stock Fiero lugs tomorrow and post them up.
When will the other car be back from the paint shop? -Joe
Hey Joe,
Should pick the color in the next day or 2 - hopefully it will be done by the weekend - all the body work is done and the car has been primed and snaded and primed and snaded and primed and.... well anyway - it's ready for the color coat.
That cap looks better than the original one! I can't remember what the Daytona wheels looked like, but the cap looks great on the Beretta wheel. Good Job!!
I agree Rick - I like the Daytona Cap a lot more than the Baretta Cap. I seriously thought about picking up the Daytona wheels - they look pretty good but would need a rehab plus they are 14s. They have a steel backing with an alloy outer?
Well I started round 2 of the interior work today. The last headliner I did started to sag so I decided it was time to do it again. After tearing out the interior to get the headliner out, I decided to install the 120 speedo and a V8 tach. Got the speedo installed and the tach installed - everything is working. Tomorrow I will finish pealing the old headliner off and prepping the board for the new liner. I'm going to give the board a coat of resin on both sides to stiffen it up and "seal the underside so the glue will sick versus pull the outer layer of glass loose.
Moving the temp sender for the gauge this afternoon. Currently located in the coolant fill/tstat block on the manifold. I believe that there is too much turbulence and periods of "air bubbles" in this block. I ran the electric pump with the cap off the other day and noticed that it is pretty turbulent in the are where the temp sensor is mounted. I am moving it to the head in an attempt to get a more consistent coolant temp. Also going to install a higher amp/new alternator - current alternator seems to be overworked with all the lights, rad fan and pump running.
DId a little work on the Coupe this afternoon. I have been having some issues with the temp gauge - was thinking I had the sensor in a bad spot on the tstat/fill housing. After messing with it this afternoon, I moved the electric gauge sensor to one of the ports in the intake manifold in the hopes of keeping it in the coolant. I also installed a second manual temp guage - used the other intake port for it. Another "fear" I had was that the tstat was causing a "resriction" for the Meziere pump. Even with the tstat wide open, it appeared that there were "turbulence" in the housing - creating a air pocket around where I had the sensor. I pulled the tstat out after I moved the sensor, filled an burped and ran the pump without the motor running. I have a lot more flow now - so much that I can't lift the fill housing cap - it spews coolant out the top - would not do that with the tstat in place. I ran the car for over an hour in the garage - fan running but no air flow in the garage and never seen temps over 180* on either gauge. My only concern now is that I may have too much flow - maybe the coolant will not get enough time in the rad to "cool" down? I'll drive it around tomorrow and see what it does - supposed to be 108* here tomorrow.
Well you could install a fan controller and not turn on the water pump till the car reaches 160, would be the same thing as a thermostat but no restriction on water flow. Here in Florida on a hot day I can keep my car at 190 with the fan running. No thermostat installed. It does take about 3 minutes to get up over 160 if I don't get on it.
I have never had a thermostat in mine, but I do use a restrictor plate in the thermostat housing to slow the flow a little, I have an electric water pump and an aluminium 3 core rad, generally runs around 180 degres, actually the best thing I did for the cars cooling was changing the rad, I used to run a V8 Archie 4 core rad, but the new aluminum rad works way better and keeps the temp very stable.
------------------ 84SE, aero body, 4 speed and an injected 355 V8
Well I ran it today without the tstat and in about 5 minutes I was up to 200* just cruising around the neighborhood. I did install a puke tank for the tstat/fill housing and when I got home, it had puked some coolant into the new tank! I'm thinking that without the tstat, the coolant flows to fast through the rad and does not get any cooling action! It can sit in the driveway idling and sits right at 180* but the minute I start driving and building heat, the temp starts climbing. I like the idea of a restirctor plate - I may try that or just throw the tsta back in. I think I figured out what the main problem was while going through the sensor location changes. I did not have a puke tank hooked up the the Moroso tstat/filler housing - just a hose ran down below the cradle. I believe that due to the funky readings on the temp guage due to the sensor location that the car was getting hotter than I realizied and it would puke a little coolant out the housing onto the ground! After it would do this a few times, the system would get too low and an air lock would form at the pump - elevating the overheat issue until it would puke out all the coolant at noth ends. As I stated above, the other day I had to put 3.5 gallons of coolant in it after it overflowed the front puke tank.
I have it back in the garage now and after it sat there for a few hours, how I have a puddle of trans oil! WTF? Looks like the driver side axle seal went tits up! I tell ya - it never ends with these cars!
I put a 160* tstat back in it and replaced the axle seal this AM. Took it for a little hop around the neighborhood ran between 190 and 200. No boil over into the tanks. I beleive the caps - front and rear are 16 or 17psi? I'll have to go look. H2O pump is a new Mesierre. Only about 400 miles on it. All my coolant tubes are intact - no crush or bends. It seems to flow well without the T Stat. I'm pretty sure without it, it was flowing too fast and was not cooling as it passed through the rad. Seems to be working OK now - I'll take it for a big drive tomorrow and we will see.
Normally you want to setup the coolant system to purge out only one of the two caps. I normally run a 4psi or higher difference between the two and prefer to purge to the stock overflow tank, vs. in the engine bay. So I run a stock cap in front and a higher PSI one in the rear (I also plug the purge hole on the rear).
Normally you want to setup the coolant system to purge out only one of the two caps. I normally run a 4psi or higher difference between the two and prefer to purge to the stock overflow tank, vs. in the engine bay. So I run a stock cap in front and a higher PSI one in the rear (I also plug the purge hole on the rear).
Thanks for the input Guru! I was wondering if it would work. I was thinking that if I could "seal" off the rear like the stock V6/Duke setup, it would be the trick. I'll go find a higher PSI cap for the rear. I'm still not sold that this Mesierre setup is the way to go. I believe that I had the temp sensor in the wrong spot and it was giving me a false sense of secuity! Now that I have the electric gauge in the manifold and the manual gauge in the head (both are within 5* of each other), I am getting a "real" picture of what the temp is running. If I can keep it under 200* while cruizing down the higway I will be happy.
Normally you want to setup the coolant system to purge out only one of the two caps. I normally run a 4psi or higher difference between the two and prefer to purge to the stock overflow tank, vs. in the engine bay. So I run a stock cap in front and a higher PSI one in the rear (I also plug the purge hole on the rear).
Thats how mine is setup. The highest I could find for the back and a little higher in the front. I plugged the over flow in the back so its only used to fill and no over flow.
I had big plans over the weekend to get the cooling system sorted out - did not work out though. This evening, I will hunt for a higher psi cap for the back. I have another idea - the piece bolted to the top of the Moroso tstat/filler housing is steel. I will look into cutting and welding a Fiero fill cap to the Moroso cap/plate - this will resolve the "cap" versus "vent" issue. I may even be able to weld the entire Fiero V6 tstat/fill housing to the Moroso plate and eliminate the Moroso housing - allowing me to use the Fiero Tstat which will aid in filling! It may require a coolant hose change though. Something to look at anyway.
The V8 Coupe has sold and will be going to a new owner. Not sure if he is a PFF member. I hope that he will continue to keep this thread updated as he makes his changes to the car. I will post more info when it ships. Congrats to the new owner.
Thanks to everyone that helped, commented or just followed along. It was a lot of fun and selling the car just opens the door for a new project.
Pat you need to build another one. I always like your build threads. Plus it would be great if you come visit us in Texas.
I'm thinking about a new project - wanting another V8 Fiero - I'll find something here in the next few months. I miss Texas Fieros! Was just in Dallas last week - High 80's - came home Friday to 17 degrees and snow.
