Not much happening with it. Got the front battery mount done...sorry, no pics. When I pulled the wire off the starter, the stud came with it. No big deal, I have spare starters...but sure would be easier to get to the starter without the exhaust in the way. That would also give me the opportunity to fix the exhaust leak and upgrade to the dual exhaust...there goes that project creep thing again. But, we are real glad we did it. It is quieter, and breathes better in higher RPMs. Remember that we are comparing a bad exhaust to a good one...not a single exhaust to a dual exhaust.
Got a few random things done to it like H4 conversion headlights (of course, I had to refurbish the entire headlight assembly when I put them in)...got my front marker lights replaced (broken housing prevented the bulbs from staying in place).
Been driving it...
Now...it is time for the seats and carpet to be redone...deadline is the 30th Anniversary (this car WILL be there). Just a couple pics to induce drooling...
The seats. Bottoms are done, but tops were waiting for the next pic...
Old vs new. Oh yeah...we are going to be able to hear the stereo at highway speeds now.
Also got some new front speakers to match the seat speakers.
And you know how much I like posting random pics of it...
Re-skinned. I used about 80 cubic inches of added foam and a 1/4 roll of gorilla tape in each one of those bolsters to prevent future issues...and the cores really were in great shape to begin with...
I received a question on how the top is sealed on this car...so I decided to post it in the thread in case anyone else wanted to know.
First, a close-up with the top off...
Closed up, ready to drive...
Snaps pulled back so you can see the actual seal...
The seal (if you want to call it that) around the window...
Here is the drivers side with the window down a little...maybe you can see it a little better.
Then with the drivers window up, as you can see, there is a significant gap at the back of both windows. This design simply can't account for the curve of the window.
Showing how it attaches at the back of the door. This snap is sort of hidden behind the door when it is closed.
Remember, this top is an emergency use only top...we avoid driving it in bad weather. It does just fine for a light mist, but if the rain is bad enough that windshield wipers are needed, it gets miserable fast. The seal across the windshield works pretty well....I don't get any water through there. The corner between the windshield and the windows is where I get water when driving...but I think that is made worse by the fact that the top is quite old at this point and the seam is coming apart in between the seal and the top in those corners. Still...this design would never be waterproof. The seal around the windows is terrible. Rain runs off the top and through the windows when it is sitting at the right angle. I don't have to describe what will happen at the back of the windows.
I have some ideas for redesigning the top that are mentioned somewhere around the middle of page 3...but even then, it will never be waterproof.
An update....sort of. I have FINALLY started tearing down the interior for the new seats and carpet. I will re-glue the center console while things are out...and the steering wheel is being replaced as well. So...here are some "before" pics. I will pull a few skeletons out of the closet here....but it is only to properly dispose of them.
First...they way the public has seen it lately.
Now for what has been hidden...
Believe me....it is NOT as nice as those pictures look. These seat cores are the worst I have ever seen. The seat tracks are rusted solid....the seats have not moved in at least 3 years (since we have had it). I am having a hard time getting the seats out because of that...and the reason it has taken so long to start this (once started, I have to finish whatever can of worms I open up). I have the passenger seat almost out. I am definitely going to have to weld in some new studs to mount the new seats. The front studs seem to be fine, but the rear ones are shot (and if they aren't, they will be by the time I am done).
I also have a new set of taillights that should be here Thursday. Once again, the pics just don't show how bad these are. They are so foggy that they go well with the white car. The real issue is how dim they are because of that fogginess. I have seen video of the car from behind where you see a whole line of cars with the brake lights on, but have to look close to even see if these lights are working. Maybe when I get pics of the new ones we will be able to see the difference in pics.
Just to give you an idea of how rough those seat cores were in...those rear bolts were not removed.
Lotta junk got caught under the seat. To be honest, I was afraid to reach under there to clean it for the past couple years.
So....stripped bare and showing all her dirty secrets: Passenger side wasn't really that bad....needs a couple new seat studs, but I knew that was coming...
Driver's side...well....it wasn't as bad as I feared, but not nearly as good as I hoped. Definitely some new metal going in here.
But, it is done. First pic shows the partially complete passenger side...the key is that it also shows the seat belt setup. Yes, the shoulder belt IS a little low...so if you are tall, you ride at your own risk. I'm 5'9", and it is above my shoulder level....so I feel it is safe enough for me (and I am the tallest regular rider in the car).
And here it is....complete. The only original parts at this point are the odometer, the HVAC controls, and the pillar trim (I didn't feel like cutting new ones).
I have put a couple hundred miles on it now...and I am shocked at the difference. The purpose of the change was to get rid of the dirty, grungy feel of the old seats and floor. Now...it feels like a different car. 95% of my squeaks and rattles are gone...I had no idea the seats were making all that noise, I thought it was the chassis flexing from where the top was cut off. I can adjust the driver seat to a proper driving position now. That doesn't make it handle any better, but it feels like it does because I can control it better.
We tried to have a little fun with it today, but we were shut down by Sunday drivers (filmed from a friend's BMW E30 with an S50 swap)...
Well, it's official....I killed the vert. Currently sitting on the side of M15 just north of Vassar, MI. 99% sure it is the cam gear. Truck with trailer side be here soon....then I will steal a car to drive back to NC with...then we will regroup.
So....will it be a repair? A 4.9 swap? Or set aside until another project to be finished?
First...the 30th: Had a lot of fun...met a lot of people. Highly recommend that nobody miss the 35th. This was the first large event that I have been to with a car. I spent a lot of time at the car talking to the people that came to look at the convertible.
At the class assignment tent...they started looking it over and counting the mods....Top cut off, wheels, Mechum side scoops....there, out of stock class...Painted engine, relocated battery, radio....bam, up to mod 2...window switches, autodim mirror, etc, etc. About the time they were trying to decide between mod 3 and mod 4, someone suggested that it would go well in the "Work In Progress" class. I agreed. But...it was a tough class....some very nice projects. I didn't win anything.
Didn't get much as far as photos. In fact, my camera didn't even come out until Saturday night when Colin and I decided to cruise downtown Indy. Then...Tracy decided to join us with that beastly orange definition of overkill (that took "Best of Show"). All of a sudden, we had a line of cars that wanted to join us. Thanx for joining us, Tracy. I did get this pic...
So...we towed the convertible up to the 30th. After the 30th, Sharon took my truck and trailer back to North Carolina, and I took the convertible up to Michigan to visit family. Car ran beautifully all week. Had lots of fun with it up there. Then on the way back from my mother's cabin, the car just died. Tach went to zero while the engine was still spinning. I suspected the cam gear, and posted the message above. Got the car back to my grandparents' house, pulled the distributor cap, and set the phone to record a video of the rotor while I cranked the engine. It spun...so that meant it wasn't the cam gear. So...I pulled the ICM and took it to AutoZone...they couldn't check it, but they had a new one in stock. Suspecting that was the most likely culprit, I bought it and replaced the one in it that had about 2000 miles on it. Put the car back together, and it fired right up. Woo hoo...we are back in business. Then...I go to leave Thursday. I made it south as far as Dundee, MI before the car died again. Exact same symptoms. I popped the decklid, and checked all the plugs...didn't notice anything out of place. Tried starting it and it fired right up. Made it a short distance and it died again. I played with the wires, and it started...again. I couldn't drive it to NC like that. So...I limped it to a friend's house in Wixom, and tracked down a new wiring pigtail for the distributor.
Gotta give credit to Olejoedad for this part. I posted that I needed the wiring...and he went out to multiple junkyards, found the part for me, and had it ready by the time I could get to his house....Thanx, Joe.
So...I put the new wiring in assuming I fixed the broken wire that was causing my problem. Since it was already Friday...and my mother would be back in town Friday night...I decided to delay leaving for a day and join my mother at the Tall Ship Festival in Bay City. I drove the car to Bay City.....around town....back to Davison....around town again...put about 300 miles on the car. It drove perfect. Best it has ever driven. That miss that has been haunting me for close to a year was gone. It drove strong and smooth through the entire RPM range. It was wonderful. So Sunday morning comes, and I headed out again. This time I made it to M-59. Dead again. Exact same symptoms again.
At this point, I am done with it. I had to get home. I made some phone calls, stole my mother's spare car, and drove back here to North Carolina.
So....where does that leave us? First....the car is in Michigan...it currently looks like this....
First step is to get the car back. I will tow my mother's car back up, and tow the convertible back down. No way around that part. Where we go from there is anyone's guess right now. We will be back to the three options listed above...A repair? A 4.9 swap? Or set aside until another project is finished?
High resistance in the secondary can cause the spark to jump to the primary which can cause multiple ICM failures.
Whenever replacing your ICM, you should measure your spark plug wires - they need to be less than 10K per ohm. Inspect the spark plugs and make sure they are gapped properly. You need to replace the ignition coil. The high voltage jumping to the primary breaks down the insulation inside the coil. There is no way to test for the broken down insulation. Never run the engine with a spark plug wire disconnected.
Finally inspect the pick up coil and replace if it looks bad. Inspect the coil to ICM cable. Once the engine is running again wiggle it and replace it if the engine skips while wiggling.
High resistance in the secondary can cause the spark to jump to the primary which can cause multiple ICM failures.
Whenever replacing your ICM, you should measure your spark plug wires - they need to be less than 10K per ohm. Inspect the spark plugs and make sure they are gapped properly. You need to replace the ignition coil. The high voltage jumping to the primary breaks down the insulation inside the coil. There is no way to test for the broken down insulation. Never run the engine with a spark plug wire disconnected.
Finally inspect the pick up coil and replace if it looks bad. Inspect the coil to ICM cable. Once the engine is running again wiggle it and replace it if the engine skips while wiggling.
I appreciate your thoughts....but at this moment all we can do is speculate. If we are going to speculate, I might as well make sure you have all the info. Keep in mind, the car is now 750 miles away...so I can't exactly go test more things. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil and ICM are all less than 2500 miles old (replaced about a month ago). This isn't really a "new" issue, it is a progressed issue. Those other parts were replaced because I have been trying to find a miss that the car has had for quite some time. The miss was mainly noticeable at high idle...but would also show up occasionally in heavy throttle and high RPM. Then, only when it was wet out (remember we try to avoid the rain, so this didn't come up much), it would be driving along and suddenly cut out. Check engine light comes on as the tach goes wonky (happened fast enough that I really didn't get a good look at what the tach was really doing). Then....just about the time I finish saying "what the f#$%?", everything would correct itself and it would drive normal again. The ECM would not throw a code.
So...when it died the first time, I replaced the ICM. Had no way of testing them at that time. This allowed the car to start again...but made no difference in the way it ran. Still had that slight miss at idle, etc. Second time it died, I replaced the wires going into the distributor. This resolved ALL issues with the miss...for about 300 miles until it turned into one big miss. Third time it died I threw in the towel...did almost no trouble-shooting (because even if I fixed it, could I trust it to drive home at this point?). It really could be as simple as a bad ICM.
I really have mixed feelings about where to go. I was really excited about the fact that the car was at a point where we were just going to drive it for a while and let me work on one of the other projects. I NEED a faster Fiero. I am not looking for stupid fast, but enough to climb a hill. This duke runs (ran) strong for a duke....but she is still a duke/auto. I am tired of throwing time and money into an engine that will never satisfy me. My focus will move over to the 85gt/3400 swap at least until I get up there to bring the vert back....then we will decide where focus needs to be placed.
Well....I couldn't stay away from it. As frustrated as I was with it, it just kept calling my name. "Greg, come get me. Greg, I miss you. Greg, I am lonely in the back of this garage. Greg, you really want to find out what went wrong, don't you?" Ah, yes....she finally hit the right key.
So...whiteandnerdy27 and I did a road trip. The trip up there was every bit as eventful as trying to come home last time. I will save you the story, but my trailer now looks like it went through a war zone.
On the way back to NC...note the missing fender on the trailer.
I got her home...pulled the distributor (again), and started rebuilding. Both ICMs tested good...would have been a shame to find out I left the car because of an ICM. Tore down the distributor, cleaned and polished everything, and put it back together with a new pickup coil. I could feel the difference right away...the new pickup coil had a distinct magnetic pull...the old one didn't.
Put the fresh new distributor in, and she fired right up...
Gotta set the timing still...but she seems to be running really good. She will have to earn my trust this time, though.
Todays drive went flawlessly. Didn't even adjust the timing any more. She fired right up and idled high around 2000....about 30 seconds in, it dropped right down to 1000. Perfect. Drove he to the car wash, and she didn't hesitate a single time....not even while spraying the engine with the pressure washer. Perfect. Dried her off...did a quick detailing...and was on my way. She certainly acts like she wants me to trust her. I see enough of a difference that I can't believe the problem isn't solved. It runs smooth right from idle all the way to redline. It is noticeably smoother in cruising RPMs...easily holding the lower gears going up hills. The engine sounds happy now. It is noticeably quieter when running. For the first time, I will claim the engine is right. It runs as smooth as Pete 2m4's Leaky Pete Lea.
I suspect all thoughts of the engine swap are gone for now.
OK...time to rebuild the front end. We have all new joints and bearings for the front end. We will likely be replacing the stabilizer as well. We will be upgrading to KYB shocks and struts with stock WS6 springs. Front brakes will be redone with Wagner Thermoquiet pads. Front a-arms are being replaced with the 86 version. Bushings are being replaced with a special combo of poly and rubber that should maintain the ride comfort of rubber but the performance of poly (this is experimental, we will let you know how it works out). Then an alignment and new tires for the front....215/55/16s that match the rear 225/55/16s. I am hoping to resurface the wheels at that time, but it may not happen (polished outer, black inner to replace the current yellow).
One delay after another has kept me from getting the new front end parts powdercoated...but in the mean time, we have done a couple purely cosmetic things. Since I am illiterate and just look at pictures, I assume the rest of you are the same way...
First....some new vinyl that we have said we were going to do since we put this engine in...
For those who don't know about Skoon: //www.fiero.nl/forum/A...110502-1-077848.html It feels like half of this car came from him...including the engine and most of the suspension that we are about to put in.
Then, we tackled the new goodies from TLG... Before:
Covered the dome light so we could concentrate on the courtesy lights:
Your first glance at the new Level 3 courtesy light kit from TLG. This one makes it really clear how much of a difference there is:
Both sides in. Now, the camera is able to set the exposure a little better...in the last pic, it over-exposed the new light in an attempt to get some detail in the rest of the pic:
And now with the dome light as well:
These things are every bit as bright as the pics make them look. I will be honest...if I were to do it again, I would probably back down to Level 2. But when I talked to Oslo, I wasn't convinced he was going to find me anything bright enough to properly compliment that dome light I had. I was wrong...and he even matched the color temperature perfectly.
Then we tucked her back into bed to wait for the front suspension:
good to see you making progress... you're doing a lot better since the 30th than I am with my Vert, lol... most I've done with mine so far was to get it into the garage and up on jack stands, and to pile all my travel stuff from the truck on it, lol...
glad to hear you finally nailed down that running issue... sounds like she should be good to go for a while, lol
and don't feel too bad about the seats, mine are seized solid too, and I suspect I will be doing as much or more reconstruction as yours... especially since after I got it home and in the air, I crawled under it and found a sizeable hole in the floorboards right where the dr side rear frame attaches to the cab structure... it's gonna need some serious structural repair before I can even get it inspected and plated, lol... and definitely diggin those new interior lights... will have to invest in a couple sets for my cars, those look really good
------------------ 1986 Fiero SE 2.8 Auto - Blackie 1985 Fiero GT 2.8 4-spd - Goldie II - To be driveable this season 1985 Fiero SE Targa - 3.8SC - long term project 1987 Cavalier Z24 2.8 5-spd - daily beaten driver 1993 Bonneville SSEi - 3800SC donor for 85 Targa
It's looking really good, Greg. Dot matrix trim in an 84? What gives with that?
I pulled them from a Formula parts car I had. I would be just as happy with the brushed aluminum trim...but the dark gray that came in the 84s look so bland to me. I think we are going to have a set done with a water spot pattern with water transfer printing. The theory is, if it always looks wet, then it will never really get wet.
Just a quick update... Since the 30th, there has been little done to the car.
First, we refinished the wheels....it is one of those things that points out how bad they were before. This was my first attempt at powdercoating...even though I had a friend (Kento) guiding me through it, they didn't turn out as perfect as I wanted...but the lack of perfection made me more forgiving of the chip they did in the powdecoating when mounting the wheels.
Went to a local car show/cruise-in with some of the North Carolina crew:
Then we went down to Run For The Hills. On the way down, my old problem from Michigan came back to haunt me again. I knew right away it was the same issue...the biggest difference being that I had someone else with me this time. So, with Fierfly turning the key, I played with wires. Quickly discovered it was the power wire on the coil that was causing the problem. I jerrry-rigged it to get me to the run, and once I was at the hotel I tried to do a more permanent fix. Found that the problem wasn't really in the connection...the problem was in the coil itself. Found one in stock at the local AutoZone, and was on my way. The problem has not repeated itself, and I am truly convinced it is resolved. I hadn't thought to check the coil because it had less than 1000 miles on it. But....sometimes you get a defective part.
From bottom to top....FieroFool, Whiteandnerdy27, CowsPatoot/Fierfly, AeroDONamic, and WayfarinStranger.
We got wet on the run this year. Very wet. We didn't trust carrying the camera in the convertible with all the leaks, so there are no other photos this year. They put me in the lead for a portion of the run, and I must say the new tires did wonders for the way the car handles...especially in the rain. They are Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring...215/55/16 front, 225/55/16 rear. They really made a bigger difference than I expected even in the dry...I was shocked at how much they resolved the "dartiness" in the highway driving.
We took the parkway home again and did some photo shoots for the Mile High Fiero Club calendar. This was NOT one of the submissions:
Upon request, I have taken a couple pictures of the support under the car. As you probably know, the support was not done by me. I believe it was done by Denny Patton, but I could be wrong.
From just in front of the front tire, you can see how it is welded to the front crossmemeber. Not sure I like that, makes future repairs more difficult.
Same location, different angle.
From behind the front tire looking forward. Note the conduit with battery cables for the front mount battery.
Same position, different angle again. Notice that the support does NOT block the gas tank.
In front of the rear tire. You can see where it runs up the firewall, and has the crossmember behind the gas tank. Battery cables are also visible again.
The support runs up the firewall, and out along the B pillars. The seatbelt in this pic is bolted to the added support in the B pillar area.
