[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 07-20-2012).]

I have a small update.

I decided to upgrade my radiator fan to a high volume aftermarket fan. I don't need the extra cooling CFM that the aftermarket fan produces, as my 3.4 DOHC seems to sit more or less around the midpoint on the temerature gauge, but the look of the stock fan is a little on the dated side. The extra air flow is a bonus though!

I got the idea from Fierosound. Here's a link to his page: http://www.fierosound.com/moreMODS.htm#Aftermarket Cooling Fan

The local speed shop that I went to didn't have the Proform Fan that Fierosound used so here's the 16" fan that I bought:





Here's the new fan with the stock fan and shroud:



To install the new fan the stock fan supports have to be cut at the shroud. I cut them so that there was some left over raised plastic that sat proud of the top of the shroud discharge ring. These bits will be sanded down flush after the fan supports are removed. Here the supports have been cut with a cutoff disc in the Dremel and the assembly removed:



The outside diameter of the aftermarket fan ring is just shlightly smaller that the inside of the stock fan ring. The two will fit in like they were made for each other. There are 4 mounting bracket points on the outside of the new fan that need to be removed:



I did this using and anglr grinder, sander and hand file:



Almost all of the marks will be hidden by the shroud once the new fan is in place.

I also wanted to trim the left over support base on the shroud to have a more rounded look. I used the sanding drum in my Dremel for this:





Then I painted the shroud:



To assemble, I ran a bead of poly-urethane around the outside of the new fan ring:



Then the shroud was placed over the fan and 4 small self tapping screws secured it together. I painted the few spots that needed some touch up on the new fan ring and the screws. Here it is installed:



Easy to do, and it`s an improvement over the looks of the stock fan for sure!

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 08-25-2012).]

While I'm thinking about how I'm going to do the trim I figured I'd have a look at separating the existing carpet underlay. On 88 Fiero's the underlay is a foam moulded to the underside of the carpet rather than separate jute underlay used on the earlier models. Here's a couple of pictures of the underside of the stock carpet:





This foam is surprisingly easy to peel off of the rubberized backing on the carpet:



It still has to be carefully separated as it will tear where it's thin and there are spots where it adheres stronger to the carpet. I used a sharpened putty knife that I have to work it free using small jabbing motions along the carpet surface:



The funny thing is that while doing this I was reminded of a face lift procedure I saw an a show called "The Operation". The doctor used his hand in a similar fashion to separate the patients skin from the supporting tissue... I know, I'm crazy.

Here's the stripped carpet:



And the peeled underlay:



One down and one to go.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 04-27-2014).]

Continuing on with some things that I did earlier this week and today. I cleaned the majority of the glue and insulation off of the backside of the B pillar trims. Pain in the butt however needed al I'll line them with dynamat later on:



Now all 6 door trim pieces and the dash bezels are off to the hydrographics shop.

Next I pulled off the door panels:





Then the map pockets were next. The "nuts" holding them on are a a stamped steel nut/washer. These are on in a way that I would think was backwards with the nut portion facing down into the insulation which leaves a hex shaped depression with the bolt up through the centre:





I can only assume that the factory uses a special tool to install these, my solution was to use a pair of snap ring plyers inserted into the depression and exerting pressure on two opposing corners in site the hex and turn. A bit clumsy but workable:





Success:

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-03-2014).]

Next came removing the door panel carpet. There are a few ways to do this. First you can use started fluid or a number of other fluids but this doesn't appeal to me. So I used a heat gun which has also been recommended. You have to be careful to not overheat when you are working on the carpet near the upper vinyl section though. Basically just apply some heat to warm up the carpet and the glue below and it will pull off with some effort. The glue is easily removable from the panel once warmed.







Then the headline came out of the car. I was disappointed that the headliner itself was broken into three pieces, I wasn't expecting that on a low mileage car:







I figured I might as well try an salvage it so I removed the headliner material which left behind some of the foam but that is easily removable with a soft wire brush.





Then taped the 3 pieces together with duct tape as I've seen other do:



Hmmm not to sure this is going to work but I continued. Traced out the headliner on the back of the vinyl and used contact cement as the adhesive:







Then used a piece of cardboard to cover most of the headliner so that I would only have to work a bit of the vinyl at one time:



The end result was.... Meh. The tape could be seen though the vinyl and the whole assembly was pretty flimsy. A fiberglass headliner is now on it's way from V8 Archie Oh well, let's call it a practice run.

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-03-2014).]