Trinten's SBC/F23 build - The work has begun! (Page 31/76)
Trinten FEB 02, 01:37 PM
Looking great!

If I knew it wouldn't be such a pain to keep clean, I'd be like "That white looks pretty sharp..." lol But that's one of the reasons I like black - hides dirt better!

fieroguru FEB 02, 06:56 PM
The engine bay is black again. It is glossy because its wet. Once it dries, it will have a dull satin finish.
qwikgta FEB 02, 10:00 PM

quote
Originally posted by fieroguru:
Since this car will use a lift cylinder, I went ahead and added a reinforcing bar that goes down the majority of the firewall. These reinforcing bars were part of the original discussions when this mod was developed, but I haven't ever needed them since I don't use the lift cylinders. Here are the hinges again with the reinforcing bars (these will be hidden behind the smooth firewall panel:






This spring, I'm going to pull out the 3800 from my 88 GT and incorporate a few of these "Guru" mods. I love the hinge delete, the firewall smooth, the harness mods (lower, remove, relocate) and I also like the shift cable mod (2" hole in the floorboard to bring it up out of the gas filler spot). For the hinge delete, I understand the flex issue, but do you offer the hing mod as something for sale? I can do my own support bracket, unless you plan to add that stiffener to the part?

also, I just found this thread, and I'm loving that I get to see a hole bunch of "guru magic". You making LS Fest this year?

Rob
CowsPatoot FEB 03, 04:18 AM

quote
Originally posted by Trinten:
If I knew it wouldn't be such a pain to keep clean, I'd be like "That white looks pretty sharp..." lol But that's one of the reasons I like black - hides dirt better!



Yes...learn from my mistakes with the convertible....you DON'T want white.
fieroguru FEB 03, 08:03 AM

quote
Originally posted by qwikgta:


This spring, I'm going to pull out the 3800 from my 88 GT and incorporate a few of these "Guru" mods. I love the hinge delete, the firewall smooth, the harness mods (lower, remove, relocate) and I also like the shift cable mod (2" hole in the floorboard to bring it up out of the gas filler spot). For the hinge delete, I understand the flex issue, but do you offer the hing mod as something for sale? I can do my own support bracket, unless you plan to add that stiffener to the part?

also, I just found this thread, and I'm loving that I get to see a hole bunch of "guru magic". You making LS Fest this year?

Rob



Glad to see you think some of these mods are worth the effort! I think they really clean up the overall look of the engine bay.

Yes, I can supply the modified hinges with or without the reinforcing leg. I do have a few spare sets of hinges, so I just need to decide how much to charge for them and build the instruction sheet.

Yes, I will be at LS Fest again this year... I will probably make it an annual thing!
fieroguru FEB 03, 08:07 AM
Here are some pictures after the paint has dried:
Trinten FEB 03, 08:59 PM
That looks awesome! I'll definitely have to get the paint color code from you on that stuff.
fieroguru FEB 09, 05:49 PM
Between work being busy and 3 power outages this week due to weather, I didn't make much progress until today.

The hinges, firewall panel, decklid, inner sail window trim and truck weather stripping were installed. Prior to installing the firewall panel, I re-purposed the sound deadening material that was originally on the firewall and used some spray adhesive on the backside of the panel to hold it in place. The material was also trimmed to clear the hinge extensions as well.







The nuts on the inside of the firewall panel. The ones with the large washer are for the hinge support:


Then it was time to switch the welder over to stainless wire and tri-mix gas and do some work on the exhaust. I started with the front collector and trimmed the 3" mandrel bend to the right angle and then welded it to the V-band:




Then I did the same for the rear collector and started to shape the other section of pipe that will join up with the front collector. Lots of cutting/fitting/shaping:




Then I welded in a flex section to connect to two pipes:




Then I started to mock up the muffler system. The trunk on this Fiero is gone, so the bottom of the trunk is 4 1/4" from the top of the rear cradle mounts. So I used some 4x4's on the rear cradle mount and placed the level across the top to get an idea of the vertical room I had to play with. The pipe coming from the collectors was trimmed back some (needs trimmed a little more) and then I placed the muffler and resonator in place:




Still more work to fit up everything on the muffler system, but it is coming along...

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 02-09-2014).]

Trinten FEB 09, 07:37 PM
Looks awesome man!

And with those flexible pieces, the exhaust shouldn't rattle itself apart like it was before (I can't tell you how many nuts and bolts I replaced, hell, it even wiggled out of one of the donut hangers!)

I was thinking that since the engine was lowered some to clear the intake under the original decklid, when it all goes back together, should we take advantage of the adjustable shocks and raise the car up a bit? I know it'll look a little silly with the bigger gap above the rear tires, but it'll give more ground clearance for things? Or am I overlooking something critical?

fieroguru FEB 09, 09:44 PM
Did the bolts holding the headers to the heads ever work loose. I am using the same ARP fasteners and don't want anything to work loose. The V-bands shouldn't work loose.

As for the ground clearance, only the pipe connecting the two headers is below the cradle. If it was in the center of the car, then there might be some concern about hitting it on a high crowned road. With it being as far to the side as it is, I doubt it will ever hit anything. My LS4 exhaust hangs down the same way.