Being from Michigan, my GT sits in the garage from Oct/Nov until March/April each year...eagerly awaiting spring. I use this time to dig into projects that I put off all summer so I could just enjoy driving her when the weather is nice.
Last winter: • Replaced interior incandescents with LEDs, both dash and interior lights (HUGE difference), • Deck lid vent, spoiler, and Aussie side scoops installed. • Center console covers from Russ installed • New Pioneer sound system • Toms black Lexan dash trim • Fixed the damn temp gauge needle that fell off (again) • New Nose badge (mine)
This winter’s projects • Modifying dash for double din stereo • New headliner (DAMN what a difference) • Adding USB charging ports • Remote entry • LED Headlights
What is everyone else working on while waiting for the snow to melt?
Replaced a sticky "select" cable. Repaired left side headlight mechanism. (Not enough "lift".) Need to rebuild right headlight motor. (Bushings are shot.)
Need to install 60mm projector buckets on the "Ghost".
Not a lot, IOW.
------------------ Raydar 88 Formula IMSA Fastback. 4.9, NVG T550 Praise the Lowered!
had plans to do the grand am brake upgrade, replace rs gt window, and prep for a new paint job. Momma said no, so now it sits under its own car cover, which has a 1 inch layer of sawdust on top of that. She said I had to finish the house jobs before I could "play".
had plans to do the grand am brake upgrade, replace rs gt window, and prep for a new paint job. Momma said no, so now it sits under its own car cover, which has a 1 inch layer of sawdust on top of that. She said I had to finish the house jobs before I could "play".
dan
Yea my Fiero sits too while I remodel the whole house I bought a year ago. New kitchen and two new bathrooms all down to the studs remodel and still not done. But I did sneak a sequential turn signal kit from Black Top Racing under the Christmas tree for myself. Now just waiting for some nice weather.
------------------ ∇PONTIAC∇ “The difference between a Fiero owner and a genius is that genius has its limits.”
What is this off season you speak of? I drive mine in the snow. I have been working on recovering the interior. Installed remote door locks. Added strut to the decklid. Fixed the fuel gauge. Had to drop the tank twice because the seal was the wrong size.
This list is from the summer forward to the present:
Fixed a faulty radiator fan relay that prevented my secondary fan from turning on with my A/C activated. Made custom made embroidered floor mats. Added some decorative trim to clean up some rough spots in engine bay. Added a storage bag for my removable side windows (similar to the bag you non kitcar guys use for your vista glass or T-Tops). Remodeled the front bonnet area to hide my relocated battery up front. Fabricated Pop-up headlight buckets and bezels. Replaced tail lights with LEDs Replaced Headlight switch that I burned out from replacing tail lights with LEDs Replaced Headlight switch harness that I burned out from replacing tail lights with LEDs Rewired driver side door pop actuator. Fabricated replica gated shifter to replace my manual look shift "boot" automatic set up I had from Rodney. Converted Ash Trays into mini storage pockets. Replaced Cruise Control Stalk. In Progress of installing Digital Cruise Control. (Almost done) Repinned faulty harness plug for Digital Cruise Control. Rebuilt driver side headlight motor...in process of rebuilding passenger side now. Installed black switches throughout the interior (Windows, Headlight, Defroster, & Decklid). Still trying to find a functional nice/clean 1984 Hvac Unit. Installing Lower Console Covers I received from Russ (Black Diamond Stitched) when I am done wiring the Digital Cruise Control. Installed pair of TFS seat recline handles finally.
A friend of mine asked me why I work on my car out in my cold garage all winter. I told him I work on my car all winter so I can drive it all summer. So here is what I have done so far:
A friend of mine asked me why I work on my car out in my cold garage all winter. I told him I work on my car all winter so I can drive it all summer. So here is what I have done so far:
I have been busy.
Agreed.....work in the off season, play in the summer!
Fiero Switch front a rear lights to LED - Done Install Danyel's side marker lights Switch from Munson headlights to Danyel's low profile buckets Still trying to figure out the best path for a V8/Auto setup to replace the 3800 turbo/Auto
Well winter here i still drive the car more so since no a/c currently
install double dampner - completed install lowering springs - ordered install new battery tray setup -- in construction install notchback assembly paint......and the list goes on and on
I haven't done much to mine... afraid to take it apart and introduce scope creep that will keep the car down most of the spring/summer. There have been a few 50 degree weekends where I took it out for a spin. The day job has kept me very busy traveling this winter...
One of these days I will play around with the tig welder I picked up around thanksgiving and work on remaking all the LS4/F40 mild steel brackets in aluminum to further reduce the weight of my car. Some of my other personal projects include working on an AWD upgrade as well as collecting all the parts needed and panel upgrades so I can get the car painted, but those don't need the car to be down to make progress.
This list is from the summer forward to the present:
Fixed a faulty radiator fan relay that prevented my secondary fan from turning on with my A/C activated. Made custom made embroidered floor mats. Added some decorative trim to clean up some rough spots in engine bay. Added a storage bag for my removable side windows (similar to the bag you non kitcar guys use for your vista glass or T-Tops). Remodeled the front bonnet area to hide my relocated battery up front. Fabricated Pop-up headlight buckets and bezels. Replaced tail lights with LEDs Replaced Headlight switch that I burned out from replacing tail lights with LEDs Replaced Headlight switch harness that I burned out from replacing tail lights with LEDs Rewired driver side door pop actuator. Fabricated replica gated shifter to replace my manual look shift "boot" automatic set up I had from Rodney. Converted Ash Trays into mini storage pockets. Replaced Cruise Control Stalk. In Progress of installing Digital Cruise Control. (Almost done) Repinned faulty harness plug for Digital Cruise Control. Rebuilt driver side headlight motor...in process of rebuilding passenger side now. Installed black switches throughout the interior (Windows, Headlight, Defroster, & Decklid). Still trying to find a functional nice/clean 1984 Hvac Unit. Installing Lower Console Covers I received from Russ (Black Diamond Stitched) when I am done wiring the Digital Cruise Control. Installed pair of TFS seat recline handles finally.
-Van
Made custom made embroidered floor mats. I'd be interested in knowing how you did this.
What is this "Off Season" you speak of? it gets down to the 60's these days so I guess that is slightly less than ideal for working on the car.
I just changed the plugs. I'm now looking to remove , brush clean, and repaint some suspension parts just to really clean up the undercarriage of the car. I already coated most of the undercarriage with POR-15. ( for anyone not familiar with this product, you may want to check it out. amazing stuff) I replaced the heater core a few months back. I'm gonna replace the front speakers soon. I'll be going on a trip thru the Blue Ridge Parkway next fall with my new bride ! Just the two seats and the two of us. That's pretty much it. My car runs very well, and gets loads of positive attention. Zoom Zoom.
Made custom made embroidered floor mats. I'd be interested in knowing how you did this.
I should start out by mentioning that I was in the custom embroidery business 18 years ago. I had always wanted to make my own floor mats however the embroidery was easy for me...it was the assembly of the embroidered carpet to the rubber mat that was the problem. Most people don't understand that the embroidery is done first, then the carpet is mated to the rubberized mat. Commercial embroidery machines are powerful but they are not designed to stitch through the fully assembled rubberized mat. Attempting to do so would required using inferior quality thin floor mats and would probably result in many broken needles and possibly damage to the reciprocator of the embroidery machine itself. So, because I had no way of doing the latter...I purchased embroidered fully assembled mats from a vendor that was willing to produce the trademarked logo.
These are my original floor mats I purchased 14 years ago. Obviously, this is the passenger side.
As you can see, the embroidery is fine. Nothing visually exceptional about them in any way.
Unlike most Replicar/kitcar people, I tend to drive my car often. As you can plainly see, the embroidery of the drivers side had trouble standing up to the rigors of 14 years.
In those 14 years, things have changed a lot. Most, if not all vendors avoid copyright infringement issues by not producing licensed logos. So I decided to make my own before I recently sold the last of my high end embroidery equipment that had been sitting in climate controlled storage for all these years. I used a different approach and designed a larger patch, with the intent on shaving down the carpet with a dremel tool in the shape of the shield and gluing the patch itself into the recessed void in the carpet.
Here is the sew out of the patch itself:
And here is one of the new mats.
I am very pleased with the way they came out. I think they look as if they came from the factory.
I have to replace my broken trans soon because the the club started to post the track days. Meantime I've been working on my 300WHP iron head Supernatural 3.XX short block. I have most of the parts after months of planing and research. I'll probably replace the trans and enjoy the summer and spring on track days, time attacks and twisty roads with the 250WHP Supernatural currently on the car and then on the next off season (December-February) install the Supernatural 3.XX short block and tune it for the following season. We'll see what happens!
I have a project Mera with a mostly disassembled interior scattered across the basement work shop. I am also in the process of installing a new pop out head unit with bluetooth, NAV, and a rear view camera plus a security system so a lot of wires are going everywhere. The digital cruise control install is complete except for setting a few switches. The sail panels have been slotted appropriately and are being reinforced with fiberglass resin prior to paint application. I also have a set of F430 power mirrors that will be installed after fabing some custom mounts. I also need to dyno and tune the 383 engine to get that running better.
When all of that is done, then we start body work and will eventually paint the car a British Racing Green. Maybe I can finish the car in the next year or two.
Well, it's only been getting up into the 60s these last few weeks but I've managed to bundle up enough to be able to get out in the garage and do a little work. I added some 3000k HID fog lights to the front bumper between the blinkers and changed how the splitter is mounted. I've been driving with it and the rocker extensions for about a month now with only a couple scrapes when I got lazy. Seems like a successful test and I guess time to contact APR and get the carbon fiber variants made. Next on the list for garage stuff though is changing the spring rates on the rear coilovers. If anyone wants to see that process let me know and I'll snap some pics. Otherwise, there are great threads out there on how to build them already.
Well, it's only been getting up into the 60s these last few weeks but I've managed to bundle up enough to be able to get out in the garage and do a little work.]
60 degrees in Michigan is shorts and t-shirt weather.
Everything , actually have been more successful this winter than any other. I managed to primer, and get the drivers carpet in. Many more things on the list to get ready for Peoria IL.
Up here in Ontario we’re are in the same boat. No driving from oct to April! I have been doing the zettner brake upgrade, rear sway bar, new shift cable and RD ultimate shift kit, install mint never used 85 gt tan seats and have my inner door skins and arm rests leather wrapped Getting ready for the 35th!
I got my car to the point it was time for an allignment and testing. The last week of Feb was springtime warm here so for the first time ever I put it back on the road in February. The last little job was to put on the decklid spoiler I picked up at the 30th show. Drove the car every day till today when I woke up to 3 inches of snow.
A friend of mine asked me why I work on my car out in my cold garage all winter. I told him I work on my car all winter so I can drive it all summer. So here is what I have done so far:
This is a ball joint, not a rubber bushing, right? What application is it from?
That is the cheap polish (Febest brand) version of a Lemforder ball joint. I don't really think they should be called ball joints because they are sealed spherical bearings as far as I am concerned but anyways they are used in Mercedes and BMW applications. There is a thread started by Mender that has detailed info. Pretty sure you posted in there. I tried to order the Lemforder using the part # but my local parts store could not find it so I used the Febest # supplied by Mender and got them off amazon. 12.00 each. So far so good but only about 500 KM on now. link to Mender's thread https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/140505.html
[This message has been edited by wftb (edited 03-09-2018).]
well after car shows in march and april i should be doing ball joints , steering rods w/ new rod ends, and the rear arms and rod ends. everything is painted and ready to go. i just hope my back holds up to do the job. we have no down time in florida. 12 months , just no rain. i still have a pontiac vibe to drive
That is the cheap polish (Febest brand) version of a Lemforder ball joint. I don't really think they should be called ball joints because they are sealed spherical bearings as far as I am concerned but anyways they are used in Mercedes and BMW applications. There is a thread started by Mender that has detailed info. Pretty sure you posted in there. I tried to order the Lemforder using the part # but my local parts store could not find it so I used the Febest # supplied by Mender and got them off amazon. 12.00 each. So far so good but only about 500 KM on now. link to Mender's thread https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/140505.html
I have the Lemforder version for test fitting, and I'm pretty sure it has a thicker wall in the center sleeve. The one in the photo didn't look the same, so I thought it might be something different.
Mender got the Lemforders for 30.00 each but I could not find them for less than 50.00 US each so off to Poland I went. Snowed in again maybe a new upper motor mount tomorrow.....
Now just waiting for some nice weather.
