The last of posts, don't indicate a lack of progress, just too busy.
The DBW cruise module didn't pan out, so the vendor agreed to accept it back, so I am just waiting on the return slip.
The AR Module cruise is all hooked up, troubleshooted, and still doesn't work. In another thread, Darth said that he had come across 5 that just refused to work in a fiero, but would work in his FWD car, so I am assuming the unit I purchased is either broken, or just won't work, so I purchased 3 more, and AR, a V8 and V6 tagged units for some variety. Hopefully one of these three will work.
The interior is all back in the car. I decided it has been torn apart too long, but the module is in the stock subwoofer location so I can easily swap it out with the dash in place. The car is much, much quieter now than driving it w/o the A & B pillar trim and head liner.
Took the car for several drives around town... still a blast to drive!
In other news, we had an offer accepted on a house and should close on Nov, 10th, about 1 year and 2 weeks after I transferred back to IL. It's a 5 br, 2.5 bath (3rd full bath roughed in in the basement), 3200 sq-ft, main floor master suite, partially finished basement, 3 car garage, 0.37 acres, at the end of a cul-de-sac. Its has everything Sara wanted in a house, but the lot is a little smaller than I wanted, but it will save on grass mowing time.
The subdivision covenants specify a minimum of 2 car garage, but no maximum. Only restrictions are the garage has to be attached, match the house construction, and the total house foot print can't exceed 33% of the lot sq-ft. The covenants also do not restrict running a home based business, so long term we think this house will work well.
I am hoping everything works out and I can add a 23x40 shop area behind the 3rd garage and against the kitchen wall next spring.
That is a killer house. Hope everything pans out and you get up and running again. We all appreciate the break through ideas and products you make for our cars.
Thanks guys! Its more house that we need, but the location, covenants, and price ($6K less than it was built for in 2005) were perfect, and most importantly it makes the wife happy. Our house in KY was 1975 sq ft, so we were looking for something in the 2500 sq-ft range with 4br to have a spare for guests and a basement for tornados/TV/movie center. But with the girls upstairs bedrooms being a little smaller than we had in KY, having the 3rd upstairs bedroom as a common toy/lounge area for them will work out well.
The drop zone is going to be cut in half and walk-in pantry added to the wall next to the kitchen including its own door from the kitchen. That, finishing the basement bathroom, staining the kitchen cabinets darker, and painting all the wood trim white are the only immediate plans for the house. I have been working on an AutoCAD layout of the garage with all my equipment, but will likely use the 3rd garage for tool/work area, and leave the cars in the 2 car bay... until I expand the garage area... hopefully next summer.
Took the rear struts off the LS4/F40 car to add some bump stops to them. There are some rough roads around here and I was bottoming out way too much. Didn't want to raise the car or get stiffer springs at the moment, so I added some rubber bump stops. My rear struts are Konis, so there is only about 1/8" between the top of the strut housing the mounting washer, so I used HELP 42324 Ford PVC grommet on each strut. They about 3/8" thick, slightly tapered, pretty soft rubber, about the OD of the strut body, and are a snug fit over the shaft so they will stay next to the upper washer. I should have taken some pictures, but didn't. So far they seem to be doing the trick.
I also used some black electrical tape to better isolate the spring from the perches/centering pieces to reduce rattles from the rear suspension. That worked pretty good, now its just the rod end lateral links that rattle because after about 20K miles, I can rock the wheel about 1/16" on both sides due to the play in the joints. I am going to start looking for some better sealed joints to replace the ones that are wearing.
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 09-13-2015).]
------------------ "I am not what you so glibly call to be a civilized man. I have broken with society for reasons which I alone am able to appreciate. I am therefore not subject to it's stupid laws, and I ask you to never allude to them in my presence again."
Originally posted by ericjon262: but the garage is too small...
Agreed, but that can be fixed in due time!
So after a month or so of messing with cruise control, I can claim victory as it now works!!!! It took 3 AR modules to find one that actually worked, but now it does!
First I have to thank Klingon Fiero, Darth Fiero, and all the others who posted detailed information about this setup on PFF!
I wired mine up a little different than most others, wiring the brake and clutch (actually a 2nd Fiero brake switch mounted to the clutch pedal) switches in series (so either will cancel the cruise) and used 2 relays for the D & G inputs that must switch between +12V and Ground. When 1 relay is used, the ground signal when the relay is off had to go through the unpowered relay coil and had about 100 ohms resistance which wasn't as strong of a signal as I wanted. It wasn't working at the time (probably for some other reason), so I added the 2nd relay to eliminate it as the cause, but then it still wouldn't work until I got another AR module. Also, as part of the debug process, I found that my cruise stalk was bad, so I replaced it with a new one.
Here is my wiring schematic, I also added the troubleshooting info as well, so its all in one document. Use it at your own risk...
With the harness built this way, it literally was a 3 wire hook-up (power, ground, VSS) and plugging in the connectors at the brake, clutch, and cruise stalk.
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 09-19-2015).]
Also, I knew these guys were in Champaign, IL, but I never took the time to figure out where. As luck would have it, they are less than 2 miles from my current and future house, so someday I will likely stop by and see what they are working on. I might eventually use their dyno to dial in the timing for max torque while cruising from 55-85 mph.
A Fiero legend that lives only 30 miles away, how awesome. Champaign is a nice town, welcome.
Legend?? I don't think I qualify as a legend, just someone crazy enough to dedicate his metal fab/machining hobby on the 88 Fiero.
Champaign has a lot to offer. Shops/stores/restaurants for my wife, http://ccsportscarclub.org/ for me. I hope to do a bunch of autocrossing next year.
Where are you located? Whenever you are in town, let me know and I can take you for a spin in the LS4/F40 Fiero.
On the car front, I am getting spoiled with working cruise and glad I went through the effort to get it working!
One of these days, I may take it on a road trip up and down the interstate to check my IL fuel mileage. I have also been thinking of doing it with the car in 5th gear to get the mpg delta that 6th gear adds for my swap... just out of curiosity.
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 09-24-2015).]
I have grown to really like the cruise... use it every day now!
Back to working on lots of small little things.
Today, I swapped out the window motor. When driving in the rain, after about 20-30 minutes, the motor would just stop. I could turn it off, then in about 1-2 minutes it would return to the home position, then I could turn them on again... Not the reliability needed for a daily driver. So I swapped it out with a used one I had on the shelf.
Also, removed the HVAC blower motor and checked for debris. Most of the summer, I haven't used the HVAC fan, so I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any debris in there, and there wasn't.
Lastly, I started working on some annoying rattles. The engine vents rest on a stud off the rear decklid hinge. Normally, there is a sleeve of plastic that sits on the stud to eliminate the metal to metal contact. One side of mine had the sleeve broken, the other side it was missing entirely. I don't know if anyone sells the sleeve (didn't take the time to look), instead I just used 3 layers of heat shrink tube.
Bare stud:
Broken sleeve with the layers of heat shrink
Installing the heat shrink tube:
Stud with 3 layers of heat shrink tubing:
Wednesday, I am going to the local car club meeting, we shall see what kind of welcome the Fiero gets.
Any Fiero you bring to a meeting would have to get a lot of attention and questions. Worked in Champaign in construction and it is a really nice town. Beautiful house you have there and thanks for the up dates.
Neat trick with the shrink wrap Glad to here the cruise control solution you came up with is working well. After the challenges you struggled with to get the digital cruise control system to work. I will make it a point to consult Dakotadigital before I purchase their cruise control module, hopefully they will be able to tell me if its combatable with the 06 system.
[This message has been edited by Jims88 (edited 10-08-2015).]
Went to the CCSCC meeting on Wednesday last week. There is another guy in the club has an LS RX7, but he wasn't there. At the meeting I found out about a CIR SCCA even in Rantoul (19 miles away) this weekend as well as an CCSCC autocross next weekend.
So I dug the helmet out of storage on Friday and went to the CIR SCCA event today. Good news is the car was issue free, drove to the event, did 9 runs, drove home. The DS rear wheel bearing does have a little slop in it, so I will likely change it this week so it will be tight for next weekend. The car still needs some work to be a better autocrosser (and dedicated autocross wheels/tires)... might even need a driver mod or two. I spun out on 2 of the 9 sessions, so even though I wasn't "fast", I was certainly entertaining!
Here is a crappy video of one of my runs. The threaded mount in my camera is loose, so the camera is quite bouncy (sorry - maybe I will get a go-pro for Christmas)
Here is one where I spun out towards the end (1:45):
Unfortunately, I have a family get together to attend on Sunday, so I can't go back tomorrow. I will try to do both days next weekend!
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 10-10-2015).]
There's something missing from the spin... swearing! Heh heh
Car sounds great.
Just curious... Why are you reaching for the shifter at 1:39 in the first video and at 1:36 in the second?
I have another video with some cussing and pounding on the steering wheel... went on the wrong side of the same cone 3 times in a row...
I almost never drive with 2 hands on the wheel, so it doesn't feel natural to me (yet). My default is 1 hand on the wheel and 1 on the shifter, so after I got past the wallom and made the turn, my hand instinctively went back to the shifter. From right after the launch, the car was in 2nd and stayed there the rest of the way, so I "should have" kept both hands on the wheel the rest of the time, but old habits are hard to break! This is one of the items I want to focus on more this coming weekend.
I have another video with some cussing and pounding on the steering wheel... went on the wrong side of the same cone 3 times in a row...
Those type of videos are fun to share as well.
quote
Originally posted by fieroguru:
From right after the launch, the car was in 2nd and stayed there the rest of the way, so I "should have" kept both hands on the wheel the rest of the time, but old habits are hard to break!
Exactly... keep those hands (both of them!) on the wheel.
Today, I started the process of breaking down the garage. All shelves are now down and all items on them packed away yet again. We close on our house in 8 days, have movers for the house stuff scheduled for Black Friday, and need to be out of the current place by 12/1. The next month will be a whirlwind, but we can finally see the light at the end of this tunnel that started 1 year ago. This will be my 4th move since then, but we should be in this house for many, many years to come...
It does mean I have to setup another garage, but the new one is large enough I can bring most of my equipment back out of storage and start putting it to use.
So, I'm all like, "I wonder if anyone has done an ls4 swap, I'm gunna check the Internet". Not only is this thread the first hit on Google, but you live in my town.
What are the odds?
Anyway, nice build. I use to race with ccscc back in the day, and I even use to own an 88GT. I am looking for an 88 now, and also thinking of an ls4 swap.
So, I'm all like, "I wonder if anyone has done an ls4 swap, I'm gunna check the Internet". Not only is this thread the first hit on Google, but you live in my town.
What are the odds?
Anyway, nice build. I use to race with ccscc back in the day, and I even use to own an 88GT. I am looking for an 88 now, and also thinking of an ls4 swap.
Cheers.
Welcome to the forum!
Cool! I came back to the area about 1 year ago and have been back in Chambana since July. I currently live in the Sawgrass Subdivision, but purchased a house in Tunberry Ridge and will be moving around the 15th of Jan.
One of these days I will have to take you for a ride in the LS4/F40 Fiero... its quite fun!
I do have an 88 GT clone with a cyl/auto that hasn't moved in a year (bad water pump) and 2 LS4/4T65e-hd setups in storage. I could be talked out of some of this stuff as I really don't have room for it in the new garage and need to downsize some to get out of paying storage ($153/mo).
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 01-02-2016).]
Over the past several weeks, we have been slowly making progress on the new house in preparation for the move. All the kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities are now a dark brown/near black as well as the main stair rail going upstairs, all the main floor carpet has been replaced with wood flooring, and the walk in pantry is nearing completion.
With all this progress as well as the looming move date, I was able to shift my focus to preparing the 3rd car garage bay. Here are a few original pics... lots of lighter duty shelves and the paint was too dark...
I have now removed all the shelves, filled all the holes (PO didn't know what a stud finder was... lots of search holes to find the studs to mount the shelves), and 2 coats of white paint. The only windows in the garage are through the back door, so the walls need to be white to maximize the brightness of the garage... more/larger lights are also on the agenda...
The pictures above really don't show the color difference well (unless you focus on the relative color of the back door), so here is a better one for that. The wood for mounting the garage door is the original color the entire garage was.
On Sunday I plan to start mounting the work benches, the tool board and probably moving some equipment from the current garage over here.
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 01-02-2016).]
I had to charge up the camera battery, so no picks today...
Both of the work benches are installed, the tool peg board hung and all tools put back in place. This bay of the garage seems to have been made for my work benches. They are 111 3/16" in length and 32 13/16" deep, and one of them fits along the short back wall between the side wall and the trim for the back door by less than 1/16". I was a little concerned they wouldn't clear the door trim and I would have to shim them out about 1/2" to clear... but there was just enough room!
These work benches are 2x6 frame, 3/4" plywood, and topped with 3/4" hardwood flooring. I attach a 2x4 ledge to the wall to support the backside, use some long torx screws to bolt the rear of the bench to the wall studs, then use some 4x4 legs in front. They are heavy to move around... but very stout once installed. I salvaged 3 of these benches from a demo project 15 or so years ago and this is the 6th garage they have been installed in. Unfortunately, with the wife wanting to park her car in the garage and the relatively small bays, the 3rd bench will have to stay in storage until I expand the garage space in a couple of years.
Hopefully I can continue to make progress on setting up the garage during the evenings this week.
It is a little more expensive, but both kits use 13" rotors of comparable weight as well as the stock 88 fiero calipers. So once installed, I doubt anyone could tell the difference from the drivers seat. Problem solved.
[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 02-09-2016).]
It is a little more expensive, but both kits use 13" rotors of comparable weight as well as the stock 88 fiero calipers. So once installed, I doubt anyone could tell the difference from the drivers seat. Problem solved.
Thanks for the link.... really wanted to buy yours .... I've decided to make my own ... regards Danyel
Originally posted by fieroguru: Is it going to be a kit of your own design, or are you back to working on a copy of my kit?
I dont think there are hundreds of ways to make a bracket that holds 88 calipers to a 13 inch Buick rotor ....Copy your kit NOPE .... but yes I will base my brackets on some of your pics.... will i do Resale... HELL NO too much liability issues .... and your brackets are a copy of someone elses design... by the way. I've been sending you many request to buy you kit for my VERT and you always said Got none and wont till maybe 2016 or later. .... buy from WCF nope either.
Hope that doesnt pi$$ ya off but I did find with the help of my brother (manager at NAPA) which disk you were using that way It will have the look I always wanted.... will I share my finding... NOPE ... dont have the need to....... that way I wont be accused of plagarising your kit...
Originally posted by Danyel: I dont think there are 1000 ways to make a bracket to hold 88 calipers to a 13 inch disk .... copy nope .... but yes I will base my brackets on some of your pics.... will resale HELL NO too much liability issues .... and your brackets are a copy of someone elses design... by the way.
Hope that doesnt pi$$ ya off but I did find with the help of my brother (manager at NAPA) which disk you were using...
regards Danyel
If you know my rotor application, then you know it was never used before in a Fiero until I came out with the kit. It isn't from a Corvette, Viper, Camaro, Mustang, LeBaron, or any other previously mentioned application on this or any other Fiero forum... So if I was the first to use this particular rotor, exactly whose caliper bracket did I copy?
Heh heh
