World's slowest Fiero/Quad 4 Swap (Page 33/51)
Quadfather APR 10, 08:09 PM
Last week an ‘85 GT Fiero turned up in my favorite salvage. I went over and looked at it on my lunch hour the next day. It was a fairly complete car but boy was it a tired old heap. Someone had gotten the seats, and the only thing that I needed that was also in good shape was the visors. They’re unblemished but the fabric is very delicate. I couldn’t remember if I have spares so I got these thinking I’ll use headliner material and try to re-cover them.



This booklet was lying on the floor. First time I’ve seen one.
Quadfather APR 17, 09:19 PM
Out came the engine cradle today so I could mount the muffler and tail pipes.





I was feeling pretty good about it until I put the cradle back in the car.



Looks like crap.





Sure would be easier to do this with the car on a lift. By the time I got the cradle back in the car I was worn out and didn’t spend much time figuring out the best way to address the issue. This exhaust will be temporary, so I can get the engine running (hopefully) and the car drivable, but I don’t want it to look ridiculous. I might try shortening the driver’s side hanger.

A permanent solution would be to use a small muffler that has the inlet on one end and two outlets on the other, and mount it 90 degrees from the way this one is mounted. That would put the inlet directly beneath the exhaust manifold.

[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 04-17-2022).]

Quadfather APR 17, 09:39 PM
Today I made two discoveries that were not pleasant. I found out that lifting the Fiero with the engine in it with the engine hoist boom in the fully extended position puts the hoist very close to its tipping point.



I also discovered that the wheels on my custom-built cradle cart are plastic instead of rubber.



I’ve also found overspray all over the underside of the car and in the engine bay. So much for believing I had been very careful when masking the car.

Of course, I’ve dinged the paint along the bottom of the car several times by taking the engine and cradle out so many times.

[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 04-24-2022).]

Quadfather APR 24, 10:31 PM
I shortened the hanger on the driver’s side and that helped a lot.





The muffler and tail pipes need to be rotated down about a half an inch to fit perfectly and to give maximum space for the down pipe out of the manifold. A bungee cord will do for now.









I’ll take a look at the springs on the muffler once I get the engine and cradle out of the car again. That will have to wait until I finish the new cradle cart.

[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 04-24-2022).]

Quadfather APR 24, 10:51 PM
I went back to the salvage yard yesterday thinking I’d get the muffler and tailpipes from that ‘85 GT, to have some spares in case my experiment goes seriously awry. Of course the car now looks like a bomb went off inside it. The entire exhaust system was gone, as was the cradle and the doors.



The lack of care taken by whoever removed all these parts is irritating. Somebody ripped the deck lid in half, tore the left front fender off its mounts and shredded the rear quarter panels.
zkhennings APR 28, 04:44 PM
Such a shame to ruin parts for no reason. Looks good and getting close!
Quadfather MAY 03, 09:42 AM
Had the day off from work yesterday so I spent the morning working on the new and improved cradle cart. In keeping with the theme of this project, I'm using whatever I could find around the shop, which includes an old leaf spring, some heavy-walled oilfield pipe my dad got somewhere decades ago and a little bit of square tubing and casters I got out of a dumpster when the company I worked for in Kansas City 20 years ago remodeled its offices. The tubing and casters were designed to hold very heavy video editing equipment so I think they'll be strong enough for what I'm doing.



I needed a way to mount two casters without drilling holes. A couple of big lug nuts from my stash worked perfectly.



I got it all tacked together and rolled it under the car to check for fit, then ran out of time because when you have the day off from work your wife somehow expects you to meet her for lunch.



I might try gluing a strip of rubber onto the leaf spring. Funny how painting your cradle suddenly makes you want to be careful with it.
Quadfather MAY 19, 08:26 PM
Well, as a cradle cart, my new cradle cart is a failure.

On the narrow end, which fits between the legs of the engine hoist, I should’ve made the casters flush with the support for the back of the cradle. That way the cart would roll past the hoist once the car is suspended. That was not a pleasant discovery to make with the car suspended high enough to try to roll the engine out the side.

That sent me searching for more steel and better casters, and look what I found. Two outboard motor stands for 10 bucks a piece at a garage sale just down the road.





The smaller of the two contained enough material to make a new cradle cart.



[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 05-19-2022).]

Quadfather MAY 19, 08:42 PM
I need to adjust the height of the front of the cart so that the cradle sits at the perfect angle to align with the mounting holes on the car, but that can wait. For now I’m still working on the exhaust. I experimented with using modern rubber mounts instead of the springs but gave up. I shortened the passenger side hanger and altered the shape of its bracket.





[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 05-19-2022).]

Quadfather MAY 19, 08:50 PM
Here’s why the back of the cradle needs to be flush with the casters. I built my engine hoist years before I became a Fiero owner, and I don’t know if store-bought hoists are different, but with my hoist there’s about a half inch of clearance between the Quad’s intake manifold and the body of the car when the body is lifted high enough to roll the engine in or out.