it was at a carshow many yrs ago in sherwood i believe. i had the great chance to sit in it. i had no idea of the history at the time. i guess i feel grateful now. i also know i will never own a choptop. im too tall. thanks for the history
Originally posted by Daredevil05: So if you ever get a chance please send me many pics, close up pics. Dave
Pictures sent to your Email, more to come...
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Originally posted by Tony Kania: Sorry that I did not get a chance to meet you
I feel the same. Next year for sure. Thanks for the pictures.
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Originally posted by Dogcreek: Great to meet you Alan! Let's do it again next year!!! Jeff (Porvett)
It was great meeting you and Karla. Next year, indeed!
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Originally posted by thedrue: Damian (Kateys boyfriend)
You are a lucky man.
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Originally posted by Fieroking: Alan It was great to see your beautiful Fiero at the Northwest Fiero Fest. Keep up the great work and looking forward to seeing you at next years NWF. Joe Sokol
Nice meeting you and your son. I appreciate the way you call em like you see em. I like the cars you built.
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Originally posted by sricka01: Here are some shots I took of your car at FieroFest. Enjoy.
Thanks for the pictures. My camera memory lost all my pictures from the event.
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Originally posted by Capt Fiero: I do want to thank you for bringing my Dream Fiero up to visit.
You are welcome. I enjoyed meeting the two of you. Now there are three! Congratulations. Thanks for the post.
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Originally posted by fieroman22: i also know i will never own a choptop. im too tall.
I am 5' 11" and I removed the sun visor so I can see. I wouldn't recommend a 3" chop for anyone taller than me.
I went for a Fiero cruise with 2 local Chop top Fiero builders and after seeing there cars for long drives on the highway I have decided, I am going to chop the top on my V8 Fiero. Its currently an 87GT with a custom nose, and front and rear cowl scoops, also double tall wing. We are going to chop the roof and at the same time, convert it into looking like an 85GT. The same as the PPE. Even will have a similar paint scheme, just black with white accents instead of sliver. Oh and no wide body at this time.
------------------ 85GT Soon to be 87GT,93 Eldorado 4.9, 5spd Dual O2 Custom Chip, Custom Exhaust. MSD Everything Capt Fiero --- My Over View Cadero Pics Yellow 88GT 5spd Full Poly Suspension, Lowered 1/2" in front, Corner Carver.
Seeing the PPE in person for the first time at this years Fierofest was great. What a fantastic car. It looks better in person then all the pictures I have seen.
Capt, I will be heading up north today and passing by east of your house...............should I bring my sawzall? I can't wait to see your chop top.
In 1998 Rich created the “Warber vented hood” . It has been reported that it was installed it on Rich’s car but car does not currently have the hood and I have not seen a picture of the car with it. Does anyone remember seeing it with the vented hood or have pictures? Here is a picture of the Warber hood being created!
It's complete disrespect to this man for everyone to be calling it an "angel vent" as I have been seeing all over the forums lately.. It's a Rich Warber hood vent.
the PPE is an awesome car, glad to see it being loved the way it's creator loved it.
[This message has been edited by timgray (edited 06-16-2011).]
This car has always been my reference point ... she's a beautiful piece of art and maybe one day The Widow will be photographed beside her ..... I have just one word ... WOW **jaw drop** Hope to see her soon .... thanks for the history ... Rich was a real "rodder" glad to see she is in good hands.... take care ... your canadian friend Danyel
You coming up to Fiero Fest? We got registered and got a room set.... We are all hoping to see you and your incredible car again this year. We have some of our friends from Canada coming this year as well so we should have another great Fest!
You coming up to Fiero Fest? We got registered and got a room set.... We are all hoping to see you and your incredible car again this year. We have some of our friends from Canada coming this year as well so we should have another great Fest!
Hope to see you there!
Jeff and Karla
Jeff,
I haven't made reservations yet. I have been holding off because last year my temp gage made me nervous while idling at stop lights, etc.. I have boiled it over a couple of times because of operator error with the manual radiator fan switch. Yesterday I discovered one of the radiator caps was rated at only 7 pounds. I installed a 13 pound cap today and will take it for a test drive tomorrow. If that helps my confidence, I will go ahead and make reservations. I need to get thermostatic control of the fan too (no big deal, just need to get around to it)
I had a great time at the Northwest Fiero Festival last year. I met a lot of great people and saw a lot of very nice Fieros. Looking forward to seeing you, Karla, the Porvette and all the other great people and cars again! I highly recommend this event for anyone who is able to attend.
I guess it is my last chance this year to update the PPE history page!
Last summer I did a little work on my car before driving it to the Northwest Fiero Fest in Richland Washington.
I installed an adjustable thermal switch for the radiator fan. When I purchased the car the fan was hard wired on so it ran whenever the key was switched on. Shortly afterward I restored it to the way Rich had it, which was manual control from a switch he put in the dash. That worked fine until I forgot to turn it on while at the 2010 Fiero Fest. I wasn't watching the temp gage closely enough because I was trying to navigate torn up roads at night in an unfamiliar place in a lowered car. The car boiled over. I didn't want that to happen again so to protect myself from myself I installed the switch. I have it set up so the switch Rich put in the dash still works as an override and the light in the switch comes on whenever the fan is on.
The car would get pretty hot under the hood. The spark plug wire insulation was shot when I bought the car and later I had a fuel hose fail. To further alleviate the excessive heat I decided to take Rich's hood scoop to the next level. I added exhaust fans. I used five 40mm computer fans. They fit inside the scoop nicely. Since the chop top rear glass no longer has a defroster I used the defroster circuit to control the fans. I modified the circuit so the fans will stay on for a while after I turn the key off. I used the rear window defroster timer and an additional relay. The defroster switch and indicator light are used as well...I can turn the fans off before the time-out if I want. It works well. I left room on the fan mounting bracket to add 4 more fans in the future but it is doing well with the 5.
Have a great new year. Alan
[This message has been edited by newin55 (edited 10-06-2015).]
This weekend I took the PPE on a cruise with a couple of friends who also have performance enhanced Fieros. Actually it was more like a trip up Pike's Peak than a cruise. We drove to the top of Marys Peak, the highest point in the Oregon coastal range. Also joining us was a friend with a turbo bug which was quite impressive in it's own right. Had a great time.
[This message has been edited by newin55 (edited 10-06-2015).]
I had the distinct privilege of hanging out with Alan and the PPE almost all weekend. Aside from being a nice guy he definitely enjoys his car! There is no better place to enjoy such a fine car than on the beautiful curvy roads on Mary's Peak.
The highlight of my day however was when Alan asked if I wanted to drive the PPE. I am extremely honored to have had the chance to drive such a historical car. It was also my first chance I have had to drive a v8 Fiero or chop top and all I can say is WOW. I guess you can say that with that one little drive there were many firsts! There is no better can to experience those firsts in thats for sure!
The torque is insane and comes on hard and fast, the noise that accompanies it can only be described as orgasmic. Peering out that low windshield is a little unnerving coming from a stock roofed fiero, but something about the car feels so right. It actually has very similar corvette brakes as my car so at least that felt fairly normal. All in all the car is the whole package, power, style, flare, originality, and performance. Definitely one of the great fieros!
Thanks so much Alan, it was truly an honor to drive that mighty car of yours. Looking forward to hanging out again! Keep doing what your doing Alan and keep that great car on the road.
It was also nice to see such a car eating up the curvy roads, the car was definitely taken care of but it is so rare that you get to see a car like that out in the wild and not in the garage.
The highlight of my day however was when Alan asked if I wanted to drive the PPE.
Heck yeah, glad you enjoyed the day as much as I did. Thank you for letting me drive your car. The turbo makes it's own brand of intoxicating sounds. The handling was spot on.
Here is a picture that captured a moment shortly after your drive!
And here is Justin after his turn!
[This message has been edited by newin55 (edited 10-06-2015).]
Like Damian, I was granted the completely awesome opportunity to spend a few minutes behind the wheel of this amazing car. His post above summarizes it up pretty well, but I'll add a few things. The first things I noticed were quite positive: First, it drives very similarly to a stock Fiero GT, in many ways. It's clutch is effortless and smooth, and the steering is not heavy. It's a very driveable car. That's more than you can say about a lot of wildly modified cars. The V8 makes easy work of getting this car around! It's got so much torque, that I found I was using much lower revs in a higher gear than I do in my car. It wasn't until I enjoyed a bit of the loud pedal that I found out what a ton of power in a Fiero is like. I got back in my mildly modified 3.4L SE and I felt like I was driving in slow motion. The sound is totally awesome. I've got a bit of redneck in me that truly "needs" to have a V8 sound burbling from the exhaust of my car, and the V8 in the back of the PPE certainly did the trick for me. It's just such an amazing experience taking in all the different facets of this car.
Holy cow. It's completely nuts how great Rich built this car. I'm glad that Archie and the crew were able to "finish" (I use this term lightly, as a Fiero is never finished!) what he started, and how he would have wanted it. It was an extraordinary honor to be able to experience such an iconic part of the the Fiero culture. I started out that day with no expectation of being given the opportunity, and ended it with having had a quick drive in the Pavement Eater. So, so cool. Thanks Alan!
[This message has been edited by ManMadeChickens (edited 06-13-2012).]
Today I took the PPE to the local car show here in Philomath Oregon. Most of the car shows are just for older cars but this one had a category that fit my car: Special Interest 1982 to 1991. The prize for that category was won by a 1974 Pantera. They must have been confused. My real competition was a 1985 Lamborghini Countach.
Preparing for this show just got me that much further ahead in my preparation for this year's Northwest Fiero Fest. http://nwfierofest.com/
I am registered and have reservations!
[This message has been edited by newin55 (edited 07-08-2012).]
This car had caight my eye in 2010, mainly because of the purple everywhere! I love the look of it all! It was interesting to hear the history of it. Can't wait to see you at NWFF!
I have been very busy lately but have completed a few improvements to the PPE in time for this year's Northwest Fiero Fest.
I now have a spare tire. The previous owner tossed the spare tire after he installed the Corvette brakes since the wheel would not fit over the brakes. I bought a new wheel from a nice couple who were building a 3.8 SC Fiero. I put that wheel on the mill at work and cut the center out with a 3/32" end mill at 5-1/2" radius. I flipped the center piece and welded it to make a reverse wheel. I wanted a nice tire for it so thought I would just buy a new one....wrong! I couldn't find a place that sells a new compact spare. I finally found a nice one at a wrecking yard and had it installed today.
With a functional spare tire I needed a functional jack. The stock jack has clearance issues with the custom rocker panels. I welded a piece onto the jack to correct this problem and painted it. Now I am ready for a flat tire, which would make me very sad.
I have had headlight motor problems (surprise surprise). When I bought the car it came with a couple of extra motors. I took them apart and cleaned and lubed them. Also, I took the rubber bumpers out. One of the motors ran backward. I discovered that the magnet assembly on the motor was installed backward. This was weird because it will only go on one way because of the U-shaped clips between the magnets. I had to remove the clips and turn them 180. The headlights are working great now and I may even suggest we have headlight races at this year's Fiero Fest!
Having rebuilt three sets of those motors myself, I know exactly what you're talking about. I didn't think it was possible to get it put back together 180° off... but apparently with some coaxing you can. I'm up for a friendly headlight race. Points for speed, quiet operation, and smoothness.
Alan, I feel at a loss now that i was inches from you and your car and never met you or took the time to find out the story of the PPE. Thanks for this thread and the history of the PPE. Look forward to meeting you at NWFF next year.
Best Regards, Mitch Lambert
In case you don't remember me... I was in the gold one.
[This message has been edited by mitchjl22 (edited 09-03-2012).]
This is a picture of my car lined up against Spencer's (Shill) car during the slow drag competition at Northwest Fiero Fest in 2011. Bruce Craig recognized the opportunity and took the picture. Great picture Bruce!
Here is the picture:
Edit to thank the person who posted this on Wikipedia. I am thinking it must have been one of us. Thank you!
[This message has been edited by newin55 (edited 10-06-2015).]
I told Alan at Northwest Fiero Fest 2013, that if I got to go for a ride in the PPE, I'd write about the experience on his thread... Let me first say, that the car is incredible.
The chop top is so different. It really caught me off guard. The lowered roof makes the car feel even sportier, and lower to the ground. Alan was a responsible driver, and gave me the easy cruise demo of the PPE. Taking the PPE through downtown Richland was really cool. The power and sound of that monstrous V8 is exquisite. The car turns heads everywhere it goes, and is a great example of one of the most unique cars I've ever seen. I also really liked the custom jack stands Alan made for the show.
Nice Car Alan, you're doing a great job keeping it alive.
PS: Here are some pics of the cool jack stands Alan made:
I still remember pulling in and seeing your car in the parking lot. It was the first notch chop top I had ever seen and my eyes were drawn to it like a magnet. Great car! Someone had great vision when they contemplated this build.
Thanks, Mitch, for the comments and pictures. Also, a big thanks goes out to Justin for arranging the ride. It was my pleasure.
The custom jack stands were the only thing I had new for this year's Fiero Fest. I thought it would be nice to show some of the car's "unders".
I am pleased to announce that the Purple Pavement Eater took first place in the supermodified V8 category this year at the Northwest Fiero Fest. There was even another V8 chop top in the competition (it took 2nd, and I imagine it was close).
[This message has been edited by newin55 (edited 10-06-2015).]
I attended the 2014 Northwest Fiero Fest and the PPE won 2nd place in the Super Modified V-8 category. Congratulations to Jeff (dogcreek) for winning first in the category, as well as people's choice. His car has gotten my vote every time I have seen it.
On my drive home a jacked up pickup passed me on the right and gave me a thumbs down. My first thought was that I needed to blow by him at about 130 mph. What I did instead was to position myself in his rear view mirror and hold my trophy out the window for him to see. This apparently caused a large puff of black smoke to come out of the back of the pickup and I never saw him again! To each his own.
Had a great time at Fiero Fest. The people there are the greatest.
I attended the 2014 Northwest Fiero Fest and the PPE won 2nd place in the Super Modified V-8 category. Congratulations to Jeff (dogcreek) for winning first in the category, as well as people's choice. His car has gotten my vote every time I have seen it.
On my drive home a jacked up pickup passed me on the right and gave me a thumbs down. My first thought was that I needed to blow by him at about 130 mph. What I did instead was to position myself in his rear view mirror and hold my trophy out the window for him to see. This apparently caused a large puff of black smoke to come out of the back of the pickup and I never saw him again! To each his own.
Had a great time at Fiero Fest. The people there are the greatest.
lmao !! Perfect move with the trophy, the ultimate in your face, up yours response. Priceless.
Thread Bump to keep it alive. Any updates on the car? How is she doing. Have ya dropped out that 3.65 4spd yet and installed either a 3.32 4spd or an F23 5spd. Any plans to sell the car, only asking as I want it known well in advance I want first option if you ever do.
------------------ 857GT Part 85GT Part 87GT Part Caddy, 93 Eldorado 4.9, 5spd Dual O2 Custom Chip, Custom Exhaust. MSD Everything Now with Nitrous. Capt Fiero --- My Over View Cadero Pics For Sale $4000, Yellow 88GT 5spd Full Poly Suspension, Lowered 1/2" in front, Corner Carver.
Thread Bump to keep it alive. Any updates on the car? How is she doing. Have ya dropped out that 3.65 4spd yet and installed either a 3.32 4spd or an F23 5spd. Any plans to sell the car, only asking as I want it known well in advance I want first option if you ever do.
Thank you for the bump! Sadly, no updates on the car. Life has gotten hectic and I have only been able to drive it occasionally to keep the fluids moving. I haven't done anything to the car in the last year. I won't be able to attend North West Fiero Fest this year. I am a bit bummed about the situation. Selling the car has crossed my mind but I still have hope I will have time for it in the future. Thanks for the interest.
Now, as far as the transmission...I remember you enlightened me about it when we met and you got to look it over. At the time your assessment was that I had the 3.32 gear set installed in the heavy 3.65 case. I run about 2K RPM at 65 MPH. The gearing is great for the car. Plenty of torque to handle the launch and loafing at freeway speeds (not to mention a pretty good top speed...theoretically speaking of course).