Installed a new air filter today, hopefully fixed the oil pressure sender's ground issue, and did some more painting! It does make my 4.9 look "better". I admit while its a solid swap and thing are routed semi-nicely, it's still filthy and and not "pretty". It's driven almost daily so I just didn't bother. It's now so shiny I had to take a close-up to get the detail or else it just washes out!
[This message has been edited by mattwa (edited 07-24-2011).]
Not good news today. I went to a performance shop to get an alignment done, and they said they could not do it for the following reasons: Loose passenger lower front ball joint Front sway bar bracket not fastened properly (knew this already, nothing I can really do about it I don't think, one side of the bracket is down from the frame about 1/4" at most), Both rear wheel bearings are worn/loose, you could move the whole assembly up and down 1/8" or so. Rear coil-over springs need to be held to the plate/strut more securely, as they are able to move and are off-center somewhat on the strut.(knew this already, too. I know I gotta fix it, it's just a matter of how)
So I didn't get an alignment, and they didn't charge me anything. Very nice shop and staff, they know what they are doing and are very friendly. So I went home, and tightened the axle nuts, as they were loose somewhat. Hopefully that took care of that.
What concerns me is the bad ball joint so they say. I jacked up that wheel, and it didn't move up or down, but I could move it side to side, but that was turning the steering wheel and the other wheel. Exact same thing with the other side. My front wheels when my steering wheel is straight are toed out. When I drive it, there is some on center slop, but it's not a "disconnected" feeling like our dodge Dakota has.
Just took it out for a short drive on the highway since I haven't done that since the 88 cradle was installed. Drives pretty good, steering wheel shakes a little bit at 70MPH but not nearly as much as it did to Carsile. Besides that it was good. 70MPH at 1700RPM's, yea!
[This message has been edited by mattwa (edited 07-23-2011).]
Today I jacked up the back of the Fiero to give things I have been having issues with in the past a check up. All looks good, and the rear wheels no longer have any play in them that I could notice by eye or feel. Tightening the axle nuts did the trick in this case. After words I did some more work on the decklid project, I inserted some rubber plugs in most of the holes for now, need some more or I can just a nut and bolt. Some RTV/sealant will be good until I get a full paint-job done on the whole car. Also bought gloss black and gloss clear paint for $9 (still not the cheap stuff, they had a sale going on. The cheap stuff is 97 cents a can.)
I inserted some rubber plugs in most of the holes for now, need some more or I can just a nut and bolt. Some RTV/sealant will be good until I get a full paint-job done on the whole car.
Keep the RTV away from the paint if you plan on repainting it.
The point of contact where the RTV touches the paint is where the new paint will flake off.
What was the trophy for? If it won the category "goldest fiero at the show", I wouldn't be surprised. I'm not sure if that is a category though...so don't kill us with the suspense! We need to know! 4.9 install looks great by the way!
My Fiero got an average of 30 MPG today with traveling 450 miles. Not changing that final drive ratio now. Lol.
Picture at the hotel in Beloit, WI.
That's really great mileage. I don't believe that there is any other route to a swap that will give 275 ft lbs of torque, 30 hwy mpg and can be done for under $2000. The only thing that I'd like to see is a way to improve the 4.9L looks and I'm thinking about that. . BTW, did you retain the EGR function and all the emissions stuff? Scrapping the EGR might decrease mileage but I'm not sure of the effect..
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, 3.4" Pulley, N* TB, LS1 MAF, Flotech Exhaust Autolite 104's Custom CAI 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Made it back home from the Frazee trip in one piece! Very tired, but we did it. Took some pictures before we left our Perham hotel, and when we got home.
Hotel:
2000 miles later, she is back home.
There is a few things I need to address, like the starter suffers from heat soak on a long trip, at least I think that's the issue, so I'm thinking about getting either a new starter and/or a heat blanket for it. Also, there is heat pouring into the center console area from the bent metal around the engine harness plug thing, so I think I need to seal it better or add a vent to the center console someplace.
So I checked my fuel pressure today and I got a solid 25 PSI at idle, not good. Maybe that's why I got such good MPG, LOL! So it's either a clogged filter or the pump. I'm changing the filter first.
After that, I removed the ugly, not even purposeful fog lights I had in the front bumper, and re-wired the switch to turn on the Radiator fan at will! I also re-installed the wiring jumper that gives constant power to the window motors.
No luck getting the fuel filter off, everything is too rusty. The fitting seems to be seized to the line, and I was actually twisting the line. The return line looks pretty rusty too. Guess this is my chance to totally re-do the fuel lines like I wanted too. But chances are that it's my fuel pump since it was vibrating real bad earlier, then for some reason stopped?
What does your car use for a fuel pressure regulator?
I am guessing fuel pump may be bad, as it made noise, but the pressure only rises with restriction, and thats the regulators job.
Gotta love rust !!!
It's the stock 4.9 regulator. I already changed the pump with a new AC Delco one 2-3 years ago, so I don't know what happened. Yes, I LOVE RUST! Not. There isn't much left of my floor pan drain plugs, either.
So I re-checked my fuel pressure, and I might have been reading it wrong or didn't have it fully installed correctly because it now I read it 35 PSI key on, engine off, 32 PSI engine on. If I read correctly that's what Raydar is running as well, so I think it's OK, considering part of fuel lines (that is getting replaced very soon mind you) is a rubber hose, that might cause lower pressure?
