I'm doing this all by my lonesome, so don't expect as many pictures as Tress would give you; but I tried my best to take pics/label what I thought was important with this install, plus a pic of my exhaust system (let me say right here, this is NOT my design, but rather the brainchild of Ed Parks and a creative tube monkey in Huntsville, Alabama) which helped make this install of a hitch on a 4.9 Formula a (relative) breeze.
First a shot of the exhaust system. As you can see, simplicity itself. Five minutes to take off/install; ten without air tools, without even having to jack the car.

Okay, since I didn't want to unbolt it for the sake of one photo, here is a shot of the hitch from the Fiero Store's site. Hope they won't mind since they might make some money off this if someone sees how easy it is to do.

The upright portions you see in the pic slide up to the frame rails to either side of the trunk.
By far, the biggest pain I ran into with this, was in trying to manipulate the relatively short bolts through the frame into the rear mounting holes which already exist in the rear frame rails.

Edit: changed the pointer in the above photos to reflect the fact that I was shooting from the LEFT side of the car; trunk bottom is in the LOWER part of the picture.
As you can see, there is quite a bit of offset from the rear frame access hole to the rear hole used for mounting the hitch. After one frustrating hour of dropping the bolt inside the frame rail, and then having to fish the bolt out, reposition the reinforcement washer, and repeating the entire process, trying several ways of doing it, I hit upon a simple solution. I obtained a pair of Grade 8 bolts the same size and thread, but one half-inch longer. This enabled me to maintain a grip on one end of the bolt with my fingers, while guiding the other end through the washer and into place in the frame rail. I then used my trusty motorcycle lift (very useful in working on Fieros, it will easily support a door or engine cradle) to support the hitch in place while I marked the forward mounting holes. I then lowered the hitch, rolled it away, drilled my holes, moved it back into position, and tightened the bolts at all four mounting points.

[This message has been edited by Vonov (edited 07-05-2005).]

Omigosh! My ratings bar showed up!!! (falls out of chair in shock)

Lol, glad someone thought this was useful. Looking at the post again, I noticed two glaring omissions. (A.) I forgot to take a picture of the hitch itself prior to install, and (B.) I should've showed a pic of the hitch being supported by the m/c lift. I'll try to do better next time.

BTW, in case anyone is thinking of buying one of these hitches from the Fiero Store, the quality is excellent, good heavy finish, and good quality precision fit. They just don't come with instructions, lol...

nice! i look forward to seeing this in person. +!

Finished result...

Deployed and ready for duty... on land or on sea...

[This message has been edited by Vonov (edited 07-04-2005).]

One bump before it goes to archives...

This is great. I want to do the same to my car. Thank you for the visual!

Steve

How does it sound? It seem like it would be pretty loud. It also doesn't look like it would flow very well, although if the pipes are big enough, it probably wouldn't matter.

i also have one of these hitches, and recommend getting a bar with a 6 inch lift to get better angle on the tongue and road clearance.

This is a great thread, considiering I have an 85GT with a 4.9 and I am dying for a trailer hitch for it.

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85GT 5spd MSD Everything,4.9 With Nitrous. www.captfiero.com

The 4.9 would make a pretty good tow motor, no?

John, it's only a little louder than the stock V-6 exhaust, if any. As for flow, it seems to breathe okay to 5K. (I beat a Chevy SSR and a 2005 Mustang GT auto on an 1/8 mi dragstrip) Bruce, I agree with the 6 inch lift idea; although it tows very nicely with the one I have (4 inch) I would prefer a more level stance for the jet ski trailer. BlueShift, as I said, it tows very nicely; Ed Parks has used his to tow other Fieros back to Alabama.

This trailer is good for the automatic 4.9s but I don't think the stickshift ones will like it. Unless you get a very very very nice clutch

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4.9 under construction... To lay the smack down on any mid 80s truck that stands in my way. :)

I've towed as muhc as 3000pounds (another car on a dolly) , or a 4x10 trailor full of mulch with a 3.4 pushrod isuzu 5speed gt.. a stock 2.8 won't tow as well due to less torque

I also have a friend who towes a popup camper with a 2.8 getrag fiero

[This message has been edited by Kohburn (edited 07-26-2005).]

quote Originally posted by 86fieroEarl: This trailer is good for the automatic 4.9s but I don't think the stickshift ones will like it. Unless you get a very very very nice clutch

I would have to agree. The auto (4T60E) seems much better suited for towing, because of the smoother power transfer between shifts, plus the advantage of torque multiplication. I'm not as brave as Ed Parks, though. I don't ever plan on towing anything as heavy as another Fiero, although it's nice to know the capability is there.
Edit: I do plan on having the trans modified to make the trans more durable and the shifts a litlle crisper. Anyone know who makes a good shift kit that actually helps the tranny live longer?

[This message has been edited by Vonov (edited 07-26-2005).]