Bringing a 88 Fiero Back to Life with a LFX Swap (Page 15/15)
zkhennings MAR 08, 02:47 PM
Nice work, be careful with the Fiero driving in winter and rust. My Fiero had never seen snow (200K miles) and was pretty rust free in the upper and lower rear frame rails. I drove it for one winter in MA, and now upper and lower frame rails are rusty. Granted I did a lot of snow drifting where salty snow was getting chucked everywhere, but I don't think the factory chassis paint is the greatest. Eastwood makes a great internal frame coating paint, can't get the link to work for some reason but it is: ITEM # 15275ZK. Comes with the 3 foot long whip with a 360* nozzle. Ain't cheap at $30 a can but you get what you pay for.

I will be using it on my Fiero, and have used it with good success on other cars in the past. Very watery paint though to let it get into all the cracks and crevices, but keep that in mind when using it if you ever get some.

I have also successfully used zip ties for CV boot clamps on my WRX, I use two and offset the heads 180*. Used on the large and small end of the boots. They have held up just fine for 40,000 miles, and seen 130+mph many a time. Got sick of leaking factory clamps. Bought some high strength zip ties from McMaster, not even sure if that is necessary though.

I like how your headlights turned out too!

[This message has been edited by zkhennings (edited 03-08-2024).]

MikesFirstFiero MAR 13, 12:43 AM
The Fiero fuel tank is really a pain. Not enough capacity and long & skinny so the fuel can slosh away from the pickup. The idea of using a venturi to fill a small cup is clever. I'm thinking that the Impala had a similar solution but the impala unit would never fit into the tiny tank opening. So when I plan to drive quickly I make sure there is a half tank minimum.

I'm planning on going over the frame rails and check their condition. Putting in a rust preventitive sounds like a very good idea. Around here they use some kind of a de-icing fluid on the roads but only on interesctions, roundabouts and highways. Other roads are simply plowed. We don't usually get more than 6-8" in any one storm so the roads may be slippery but they are usually drivable. Since I go to work at noon and drive home at 9pm there is little traffic to contend with. And it's only 3 miles each way. If the weather is really bad I'll take our Toyota AWD Venza.

With winter coming I replaced the wipers with Rain-X Rugged ones. Pricey and NOT worth the money. Rugged they are not. Replaced with Bosch Pure Vision (we had them on a 2-for-1 sale). These seem to be holding up much better. Also determined that the driver side wiper can be 21" and the passenger 19" to give better coverage.

The new headlamps are working well but need some tweaking the aiming. But it's too cold to do it on a deserted road now. Maybe in April. While I like the results it was really a time consuming pain. If someone offered the 90mm buckets again I'd buy them before modding the originals.

Just changed to summer tires and did a quick check under the car and found nothing wrong. The CV boots are still well retained and there are no new leaks other than the already discovered vent pipe.
zkhennings MAR 13, 01:47 PM
I *think* the main problem with the fuel tank is the baffling system inside is plastic, and breaks apart easily. I know in my tank the baffles are all broken and don't hold any fuel around the pump anymore. There is a really steep really tall one way road off main street in Worcester MA that I got stuck on once, I had a 1/4 tank of fuel and halfway up the hill the car died from all the fuel running to back of the tank. I had several people behind me and we all had to back up into main street, and I had no vacuum assist for the brakes exiting backwards out of a one way into a very busy road. Fun times!

I believe Rodney D's replacement tanks have all metal baffling and the pump sits in a little sump to solve these fuel issues and higher capacity, I think they are pretty well priced too and bolt right in. I am strongly considering buying one. Edit: looks like he does not have anymore and is not making anymore, he is selling the tank making business, but maybe a member has one for sale.
MikesFirstFiero MAR 16, 12:35 AM
Putting the tank under the center spine is a clever way of utilizing that space - and an awful solution for providing a constant fuel flow. I've had the car die when stopping quickly several times with 1/3 of a tank of fuel. It could use a way of transfering fuel surging forward back into the central baffled chamber. I'm going to pull mine to fix a leaking vent tube and might give it some thought. It is really irritating as it now operates.
MikesFirstFiero MAR 27, 10:49 PM
Had something popup (literally) while driving a few nights ago. Took a guy I work with for a quick ride after dark. I found the headlight lids were fine up to about 80 and then they started flopping around when going faster. The lids do have built in stops for the original lamps but it needed new lower ones for the slimmer Hella projectors. I dug out some HDPE (high density polyethlene) laying around and carved them on the bandsaw. Now the lids are mechanically stopped at the lower position. No more dancing covers. The fasteners are #6 x 1-25" cabinet screws.

The original stop, this lid is in the new open position.


The revised stop, this one is closed

[This message has been edited by MikesFirstFiero (edited 03-27-2024).]