Civilizing the Beast (Page 1/1)
imacflier JUN 16, 09:45 AM
Good Morning, All

Well, I suppose I had better start with a bit of background:

I am a GOF, that is, a Grumpy Old Fart, nearer 80 than 70, and I have more and more difficulty accepting the beastliness of our little obsession as the years pass!

Now, make no mistake, I DO love me some Fieros! In fact I have owned one or more of them continuously since I factory ordered an '87 GT (Ordered in Bright Blue Metallic, delivered in Medium Red Metallic...there was an omen there, plainly seen!) and mostly drove one as a daily driver and drove one transcontinentally at least 5 times over the years.

Now almost all of the flaws I see in my Fiero have well known fixes. And I am starting the long term project to fix as many as I can. I plan on doing a TD&Q build thread on each as I go.

My first irritation is that mostly advisory (well to be honest: LYING) fuel gauge! I will address that one with a capacitive fuel sender....an off the shelf part which costs less than a replacement sender from TFS. I do not intend to convert to digital gauges because I LIKE my instrument panel and think it suits the car very well.

My next irritation is the slow and heavy steering. Yes, the '88 is MUCH better than the earlier cars, but really! Call me a girlyman if you wish, but it is just too damned stiff for this old man! I will fix that by converting to an F-body power steering rack powered with the EHPS pump and controller from an MR2 Spyder. I am sourcing parts for that conversion and can start as soon as I find a good deal on a 2000 F body rack and West Coast Fieros gets off their duffs and builds me the adapters. Many thanks to Spoon for giving me invaluable advice on this subject!

Which brings me to the power windows. What I want is always on, fast, express up/down power windows. What I have is something less. But I have Rodney's fast motor kit and a couple of AutoLoc kits for express up and down.

I ALSO want remote keyless entry, remote start, and power locks which work on one actuation....since I am an EE by education if not practice, the electricals hold little fear for me.

Finally, I want a GPS with a display large enough to see....I will solve that one with an EinCar 7" popout display with Android screen mirroring.

So, my projects look to me as though they will take a lil more time than I have left....but then my relatives were all fairly long-lived, so we shall see!

In reading through this loooong wish list, I see I omitted the brakes! Well those, and performance enhancement, really belong on another list!

So, whatcha think? Do YOU have any improvements to make YOUR Fiero less beastly?

Stay healthy and happy!

Larry
Frenchrafe JUN 16, 11:54 AM
Yes, keyless entry was one of the first things I added 15 years ago!
Cheepo E-Bay kit did the job. I could even add remote start, but it's illegal in Europe!

The power steering would be the single most beneficial thing as we grow old. However, I can't complain on the workout the stock steering gives on a trackday - need to keep fit!!

Regards,
Rafe

------------------
"Turbo Slug" - '87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. Sticky tyres. Driven hard!
https://www.youtube.com/cha...1wZvWQlkYxTjivW_0XNg

darkhorizon JUN 16, 12:54 PM
For what its worth... if you can sacrifice the space under the dash I would suggest the powered steering shaft solution. Its alot easier install and you dont have to regulate the hydro electric pump. Either the toyota (prius,etc) or chevy (vue/equinox) racks are great options. My friend and I installed a Vue rack into his 335 tire'd manual steering Rx7 and it works like a dream.
imacflier JUN 16, 02:02 PM
darkhorizon,

Thanks for the suggestion, but I already have the MR2 pump so I am rather committed at this point.

Larry