Do you have installation instructions for the Archie vents? If not, you may find them on his site or on the internet. I know many use the Evercoat Vette Panel adhesive and filler for bonding that sort of project. Good luck, you can do it.
I didn't get any instructions with it. I also didn't find any online. I saw one post by Archie on here but he doesn't say what filler/resin/adhesive he recommended. The other two posts I found said to use different things 3m panel adhesive, non SMC vette evercoat, and also one said to use SMC panel bond. I'm not sure where to begin, but at least I'm not trying to start on this in the next week, I've got time to figure it all out I guess.
My initial idea was to use a filler on the underside bracing to bond the insert to the hood, and use resin and FG mat to bond the top (after sanding down a flange to fill with the resin/mat) then I'll use filler and glaze or just high build primer on the top to smooth it out. Let me know if that sounds like a good plan of attack :-)
I've been doing a lot of work on my other cars, and doing a ton of rust repair and body work on some rusty old C10 fenders for my Dually. Its given me a lot of time and practice with filler and welding and metal work. The metal work will be little to no help with the Fiero hood but I'm getting pretty good at the filler and block sanding so I think I'm going to start work on the hood vent soon. I'm trying to clear out the project list and my garage of extra parts so I'll have some updates soon. Also in June or July I think I'll be doing the transmission work. The weather here has been very wet and cold so I'm just going to push opening up the trans for a few more months until I know its not going to rain or get wet at all. Other than that the car is running really well. I do have some issues that have started to crop up A random P0300 code for misfires and that P0303 cyl 3 misfire occasionally (I think its my ignition control module) I need to get a set of A/C lines and recharge the system The radiator still kinda leaks so I need to check that front lower hose again, hopefully thats the issue and not the radiator I think the gas attendant overfilled the tank because it leaked gas the other day, but only when parked up hill and its never leaked again...thats kind of a scary problem to have but I can't find the leak now. The cruise still doesn't work, I'm starting to think it may be the switch on the column, because it only rarely worked before when I jiggled it. Now it does nothing. I've gone through the wiring and everything so I need to check and see if the switches are switching. Jessica
Wondered what was happening since there had been no updates for a while. Car is looking good, what a change from your original purchase. Is your cruise control the newer electronic stuff or the original cruise from the Fiero? If it is the electronic control style, I have the pinouts in my files somewhere. The person I purchased my 3.8 sc car from, had done a lot of research on that method and forwarded the information to me when I bought the car. If you need anything , I can email the information to you. Mine works perfectly and since the car is an 84, he wired the shift light to show when cruise is functioning. I've never done the wiring on one myself.
Wondered what was happening since there had been no updates for a while. Car is looking good, what a change from your original purchase. Is your cruise control the newer electronic stuff or the original cruise from the Fiero? If it is the electronic control style, I have the pinouts in my files somewhere. The person I purchased my 3.8 sc car from, had done a lot of research on that method and forwarded the information to me when I bought the car. If you need anything , I can email the information to you. Mine works perfectly and since the car is an 84, he wired the shift light to show when cruise is functioning. I've never done the wiring on one myself.
Thank you, it's been a blast to drive and even the kinks aren't that bad. A lot of it is just stuff I'd have figured out if I ever drove the car much before the swap.
As for the cruise it is the newer electronic style, I'd really appreciate the pin outs. My email is jboncio55 at aol.com
I was talking with someone about wiring it but he was pretty vague and only gave me so much info at a time haha. So thank you! Jessica
Your car looks really good in that picture. Please give us the details on you hood modification. Thanks
Thank you, I got an older style archie extractor hood insert locally that had never been installed so I'm going to try and put that in the hood that came with the car. It haseems some fiberglass issues so I figured it'd be a good candidate to modify and fix.
I think one of the last posts on the last page had a pic of it sitting on my hood. Jessica
So I still have yet to work on the cruise control but I did get some good stuff done on the car. I robbed the 4th gen Camaro seats from my El Camino and threw them in the car. I really like the seats but I never liked that they were grey in my El Camino's black interior so this was perfect. I'm going to pick up another set for the El Camino this weekend (for $40!) and I'll throw some aftermarket black leather skins on them. I really love them and they work great in the Fiero. I know this has been done before but its still great to me :-D Jessica
Thank you, they are a super easy fit. I measured they have the same height and width as the stock seats and the bolt holes on the Camaro seats are the same exact dimensions as the stock seats. It took more time to swap the rails than it did to get them in the car. Jessica
I don't know what happened, but most of the pictures in this thread are not showing. Some seem to be gone, while others just won't show. I get a message that it's larger than 155xxx size, click to view, but when I click, no view.
I don't know what happened, but most of the pictures in this thread are not showing. Some seem to be gone, while others just won't show. I get a message that it's larger than 155xxx size, click to view, but when I click, no view.
That's really weird! I host them with facebook so I know they are still there. I don't resize them so I know it leaves that >300 image icon that a lot of threads have on the site. Usually if I click them it opens a blank window then when I go back to the thread it's visible. Jessica
I went back to page 5 and checked and they aren't working. I'm not by a computer (and I really don't want to redo this whole threads pictures) but I'll look into it this week. Anything in particular you're looking for a picture of? Jessica
Farcebook either changing the links to your pictures(moving them automatically, or possibly by something you've done), limiting how many views they can have, or denying outside access to them, at a guess.
Yeah it is definitely something to do with facebook so I'll have to go back through and see about editing posts and making things right again. What a pain! I checked the other forum I use (LS1Tech) and it is fine, but it allows/makes you post the pictures to the site not just linking it so they can't disappear. Jessica
I didn't know there was a way to host them on this site. I went back and added the majority of the pics to the first 2 pages or so.
Onto other great news the car doesn't throw any codes and has been driving better than ever. I had a misfire on cylinder 3 and I ended up rerouting the spar plug wire as well as building a new wire for it. The new and old wire were about the same resistance but it seems to have helped. I also disconnected the vacuum line going to the evap canister from the throttle body and that cured the lean code I was getting. So between those two things I know the computer was pulling timing and making the mixture extremely rich so the engine was down on power. Now that those are fixed it runs great and has a lot more power.
I think I'm going to take it to cars and coffee again this weekend Jessica
OK I can't leave things well enough alone. I have been scouring the interwebs for a set of FRS or BRZ wheels for sale since I got this car. Usually they are pretty darn expensive and have bald tires, or they are really expensive and have OK tires. Anyways, I finally found a set that are in great shape and have tires with only 8K miles on them. I had to grind out the lip on the inside, just like I did with my Impreza wheels and its really not that hard or bad to do. So I'm still not done with the car or with all the other mechanical stuff but these wheels were a dang bargain! Hopefully this summer (if it ever comes) I can get more of the mechanical stuff sorted (A/C, Radiator, New Hood Vent), and maybe even tear into the transmission and fix the O.D.
Well I'm just about done with body work on my other projects. So I decided to tackle that hood insert now that I have the space and the weather is nice. I'm using the stock hood from the car, and it is in pretty horrible shape, but its still scary to cut up a hood with as little experience as I have. I used an old cut off disc that was pretty small so it wouldn't cut too deep and be easy to control at the corners. I also used a wood saw to cut the corners, sort of. The piece was just glued on, and that held it on pretty well and made it hard to remove. There were also pine needles between the two pieces so that was kind of funny Hopefully all my measurements are correct. The car will be back at the house next week when I put in a new big radiator and start installing the cool A/C stuff I've gotten. Either way I think this will work (my measurements look right, and it looks like its in the same place as other peoples' scoops), and if I was wrong I can always cut more and fill a bigger gap.
Anyways I'm still loving this car and driving it a ton. It seems to be leaking gas and coolant so I'm leaving it parked right now until I can fit fixing it into my schedule. I know the radiator is leaking so I'm replacing it. The gas is coming out from somewhere near the back of the tank, so I'm hoping it is a rusted hard line, but maybe it is something else.
There are 2 rubber filler tubes connecting from the fill tube/return to the tank. I'd start there, if you haven't checked those yet. They're notorious for leaking, and for causing fires, due to the hot cat nearby.
There are 2 rubber filler tubes connecting from the fill tube/return to the tank. I'd start there, if you haven't checked those yet. They're notorious for leaking, and for causing fires, due to the hot cat nearby.
Thank you! I replaced all the rubber hoses down there when I swapped the engine. I did have a leak in the return line right after I got the car running with the higher pressure pump. I cut off that section of hard line, but the whole thing is rusty so it may have another leak. The good thing about the 3800 is there is no exhaust stuff down below the window and no cat.
quote
Originally posted by notwohorns:
That's something I want to do. Where did you get the hood scoop?
I believe its a discontinued style from V8 Archies. I got it locally from a guy who used to have a Fiero but never got up the nerve to hack is hood apart before he sold the car.
quote
Originally posted by bjc 350:
Good report, wondered what was happening with you and the car.
Still plugging along, its mostly been trouble free and enjoyable.
So I've been really busy with traveling for work as well as trying to finish a bunch of stuff on my dually project but I did do a little more on the hood, The hood had the rear corners broken off as well as a few deep holes in the fiberglass and that is almost all filled and fixed with that 'vette filler and resin/matt I really want to devote some more time to the project but I just don't have enough time to spare. The car has a gas leak (I'm assuming its that same rusty stock return hard line I haven't replaced) and the radiator leaks. I have the new rad and some hard fuel line so I just need to work on the darn thing before I get to drive it again. Jessica
[This message has been edited by 78_elky (edited 08-23-2017).]
That hood is looking good! Seems jobs/work get in the way of all the car fun.
Yeah that does seem to be how it goes. Last summer was pretty slow at work and I didn't have to do any service calls out of state. This year its been a lot more crazy and its really cut into my time to work on the projects. I ended up taking a week off to get ahead on my crew cab project and that helped though. I've got too many cars and trucks at this point, and they all seem to be projects in one way or another, either just maintenance or they are large scale projects. Jess
My symmetry OCD is kicking in on those scoops, but it's coming along.
I know what you mean, I measured so many times before I made the first cut, then I measured again a few times before I bonded the insert. The outside edges of the insert are not symmetrical so I measured from the scoop itself. Of course that means the areas that need sanding look off and the picture is not exactly lined up. I hope it turns out OK. I really dont want to have to cut it and redo it, or scrap the project. Jessica
So I'm still here and still working on the car. I stalled out on fixing up that hood. I ended up wrapping the dually I've been working on and trying to get all the major mechanical problems the previous owner created fixed. Just thought I'd share because I've spent most of my summer cutting out and replacing rusted panels, redoing the interior and also all the suspension and driveline parts. It was a serious heap of crap when I bought it, but its low and cool so I'm hooked.
I put the new radiator in and added another trans cooler to the front (in addition to the one in the rad) so that stopped my coolant leak in the front. The stock radiator must have had a crack in it, but either way the aluminum one works great, and the temp stays more constant.
I installed my A/C hoses I had made by a guy on here, and they worked pretty well, but were a pain to install. I also put new O-rings in the A/C fittings, and replaced the dryer. I need to install the new orifice tube, but I don't know where it is located on the car...
I'm still chasing a gremlin with the cruise control, but I have verified it is wired correctly so its a matter of testing the multi switch, the pedal switch and the module in the engine bay.
The last nagging issue is a coolant leak in the rear of the car. Its coming from the passenger side, there is a heater hose that ties into the coolant tube and its leaking. When I did the engine swap, as some may remember I tried to replace all the rubber hoses on my car, I took this one off because it looks horrible. I don't know where to get one, or if I should just cut this one and the hard line it is pressed into (near the gas tank) and replace it with a new hose using some hose clamps.
Any advice on how to proceed would be really appreciated! I love driving it, but I'm scared to when I leave a good size puddle of coolant everywhere I go, I'd hate to drive too far or too long and have it overheat on me Jessica
It was a $900 piece of junk when I got it. The owner before me had bought it running and driving and he tried to drop it and put it on air ride. He managed to put 3/4 ton spindles on it (the wheel bearings didn't even fit) he couldn't get the calipers to work or the tie rods (no surprise) He did a flip on the axle and a notch in the frame. The axle wasn't welded to the spring perches so the first time I tried to move the truck it spun and almost broke the U-joint. The notch has to be cut out and redone, because it is dangerous/scary/not welded garbage. The floors were rusted out, and he cut the front A-arms to make room for the air lines.
The truck was owned before the moron I got it from by a racer that my friend lived down the street from and it was only used to tow an enclosed trailer with a race car in it.
I've since put a new fuse box and wiring harness in the truck, replaced the A-arms and every suspension part under the front, as well as fix the driveline and welded the perches on the axle. I cut out the rusted floors and made them work with some '01 Suburban seats and redid the rest of the stuff in there. I put power doors on it from an '89 Suburban as well. Now I'm going to tackle cutting out and replacing the step notch as well as finishing (and fixing) the previous owners attempt at Caddy tail lights. At least I found a tailgate thats stock, he had welded the original one shut, put a piece of 1/4" plate over it all the way to the bottom of the tail lights and installed a tilted license plate pocket.
Its getting there though, and should make for a fun cruiser and if I need to tow a car it'll have no problems with the 454 and turbo 400. Jessica
[This message has been edited by 78_elky (edited 10-18-2017).]
Great to see an update. That's one hella big project you are on, now! Good job.
Thanks! Its been a lot of work but pretty fun too.
I think I'm done driving the Fiero for a while, it has a gas leak I can't seem to track down. It only happens after I fill the tank and/or parking with the nose up. I've been under the car multiple times to try and figure it out, but I'm about ready to put it away for the winter. If I can figure it out I'll buy whatever seal or thing is leaking and park it and fix it over the winter and do my other stuff it needs at the same time so its ready for spring.
Well I'm getting the little car ready for summer again, and I happened to run across a set of NOS GM outer dew wipes, so I bought those. Truthfully I may need to replace the inners at some point in the near future, but they look perfect and still work so I'm not worried because they are so easy to get to. I also got a set of the guides/sweeps that go inside the door from the Fiero Store. It was a heck of a project, but I'm glad I did it. I also went ahead and put the power mirrors on the car because they have fresh paint on them, and hopefully they won't move around with the vibrations from the engine. The remote mirror on the drivers side has been basically unusable the entire time I've owned the car, so this will hopefully be an improvement.
I also redid my return line and supply line for the engine, and bent up some new hard lines to replace the rusted stuff. Today I got my new fill tube and vent hose, as well as a new sender ring and seal from the Fiero store so that should fix the gas leak. I'm hoping to take the car to the drag strip in April to just see how it does and I want to make sure I'm going to pass tech.
My dew wipes were in bad shape, both came out in pieces and were horribly rusted stuck.
Doing the dew wipes can be as bad, or worse than anything you've read.
To install the sweeps/guides for the windows without taking the glass out, I just cut a couple access holes in the inner door frame. Its not too hard, and it looks almost like it should have been there from factory.
The new sweeps, mirrors, and dew wipes really were worth it.
I did snap a few of the clips that go on the door trim so I may buy a couple new sets and just replace those if the trim doesn't stay stuck really well.
