Fiero Argento Signora build thread w/lots 'o' pics (Page 7/21)
Darren's 87 coupe JAN 04, 12:02 AM
Your avitar is cracking me up man. Please keep this post going. It's the only post that I am always looking at. Glad that you include all of the pics. I like the detail. By the way, I got a battery tray for Christmas. And I think this weekend might be nice to work on the wiring harness for a little while.

Talk at you later,

Darren
Fieroseverywhere JAN 04, 12:59 AM
Good to hear from you Darren. Hope your ready for the new addition. Must be very close now. Hows the house coming? How about the car?

I am on a unplaned break from working on the car right now. Inventory at work is on the 13th and after this sunday, I won't get another day off til the 20th. Then I go back to one day off a week. Top it off I lost an employee and am now behind on the work to get the store ready for inventory.

But there is a bright side... if you can call it that. More overtime then I can handle for the next couple weeks and no time to spend the money. There will be lots extra for the next couple months also, at least til the new guy is ready to go it alone, that is when there IS a new guy.

I do have a little pile to work on in the meantime. I'll get them torn apart on sunday and get started from there.

Top - 93 deville engine harness
Left - 85 2.5 harness for harvesting c203 and passthrough from
Right - 93 Deville climate control and wiring, trying to use as a code reader like it was setup in the deville.

I will also be ordering some parts to complete the brakes and hopefully the suspension/steering soon and will post when it comes is.

EDIT: I've decided to replace my springs with a better set more suited to the KYB's on the car. I found a company that will sell Einback in custom lengths and spring rates. I'm looking at $220 for two 1-2" front lowering springs and a pair of 12" rear spring to go in the coilovers in the spring rates of my choice. Just need to decide my handeling to ride ratio.

Also may have tracked down an 88 rear swaybar and brackets finally. We'll see what happens in the next few days with that one.

[This message has been edited by Fieroseverywhere (edited 01-04-2008).]

HarryG JAN 06, 10:45 PM
I'm sure I'm not the only one out here in "lurk" mode who's been following your threads! Keep them coming!!
You mentioned possible use of the Eldorado dog bone set-up that bolts to the front of the head.
Are you still going to use that?
Fieroseverywhere JAN 07, 03:21 PM

quote
Originally posted by HarryG:

I'm sure I'm not the only one out here in "lurk" mode who's been following your threads! Keep them coming!!
You mentioned possible use of the Eldorado dog bone set-up that bolts to the front of the head.
Are you still going to use that?



Once I got the motor in I found that it will not work in the stock position. For that matter there isn't even enough room next to the strut tower at all even with the original fiero dogbone bracket removed. With a bit of shaving of the stock caddy head bracket it may be able to work but I decided I would go a different route if its needed later.

I am using a 4 point mounting system. It should be strong enough to hold the motor just fine. If need be I will add a torque strut from the head to the cradle at a later date. According to what I have read a GM suspension link is about the perfect size if needed.

One of the things I wanted to do with this car is use as many fiero parts as possible. So far I've done pretty good. Only the brake rotors and engine and ECM are non fiero at this point. All other parts are factory fiero just re-arranged to work with my build.
HC JAN 07, 10:33 PM
I'm also lurkin' this, very nice build man, I have this bookmarked FYI.
Fieroseverywhere JAN 08, 01:23 AM
There is more interest then I thought. Thanks guys for letting me know that some are still watching.
Wheels are pissing me off at this point. I know what I want but no one makes them. I have looked into Diamond Racing Wheels but the sizes I am looking at don't have the backspacing that I am looking for. I have also looked everywhere else that I can find. Problem is I don't want bling wheels and that what is made right now. I am more interested in performance and for that you want a lightweight wheel. To clear the vette rotors I need at least a 16" and would prefer to stay with a 16" if possible. I want to go with staggered width 16x7 front and 16x8 rear but does anyone make wheels in a 5x100 with a decently compatible offset for these.......... NO, not that I can find. I can probably do it with a 17" but it adds weight and a higher tire cost. Just not ideal for me. I'll keep looking but at this point it looks like a 17" is my only option and that will add more weight then I want. I want to compensate for the added weight of the brakes ?(rotors, brackets, 88 calipers) to keep the unsprung weight the same or lower then the original fiero 14's and brakes. Not an easy task so far, deffinately not while also trying to go 8" on the rear. If you have any ideas throw them my way, please.

Sorry, rant over.

On the lighter side I called Aaronrus here on the forum a few days ago about the chip. I wanted to get a few more details about what info he needed. He confirmed that he can indeed set up the chip to run the fiero speedo so I no longer need Rockcrawls speedo circuit that I bought oh so long ago. Still trying to figure out if I can use it to run the speedo in Dads formula. The previous owner swapped in a FWD getrag and the speedo hasn't worked since.

Anyways, back to my talk with Aaron. All he really need in the way of info is manual or auto, tire size being used (for speedo calibration), and single of dual O2 setup (please correct me if I missed anything Aaron). He will turn off the passkey stuff so there is no need for a bypass or any other modules to make this work. The details are starting to come together.

Started with the wiring harness but only looking at it at the moment. I don't have the time to pull it all apart yet with work being as crazy as it is right now. I have started labeling wires and unwraping to a point. Mainly research to get ready for it. I think it will be pretty easy but then again I don't fear wiring so it could just be me.

Oops, I have to get up for work in 6 hours. Gotta go.

[This message has been edited by Fieroseverywhere (edited 01-08-2008).]

FieroFanatic13 JAN 09, 02:46 PM
Any updates on the brake upgrade? I PM'd you about them as well due to the fact that we have been discussing the '88 rear sway bar for your car!
I am considering this brake swap from Rockcrawl as well.
-Gary
Fieroseverywhere JAN 09, 03:43 PM

quote
Originally posted by FieroFanatic13:

Any updates on the brake upgrade? I PM'd you about them as well due to the fact that we have been discussing the '88 rear sway bar for your car!
I am considering this brake swap from Rockcrawl as well.
-Gary



Pm responded. Everything I got from Rockcrawl is on the car. Had no problems except I need to install longer studs in the front hubs. This has nothing to do with the product though. Its those stupid ugly wheels that are on my car now. No biggie. Rockauto has longer 54mm ones for about $1.20 a piece and thats where I'm getting the caliper rebuild kits anyway. More info in PM.

For those who haven't figured it out already I will be adding an 88 rear sway bar to this build also courtesy of FieroFanatic13. Guess I'll eventually need to upgrade the front bar to match also since the 88 rear and 84-87 front are the same diameter. Crap gotta go back to work. Don't know when I'll get back to work on the car again. My next day off is 1-20 and I don't know yet if I can get more then one. I will be rebuilding the 88 calipers and installing the rest of the brakes when work starts back up. Ordering the parts on friday.
Darren's 87 coupe JAN 12, 08:30 AM
I might get some time to work on my harness today or tomorrow. I'm not rushing it since I'm not having much time to get to it, but My 83 Cutlass is starting to give me problems, and I would rather get the Fiero running, than work on the Cutlass.

Glad your not to worried about the wiring. It's not to hard to understand in my opinion, but I've been looking at it for years now so that might be some of it. The main pain for me is the routing of the wires and all the soldering and cutting and adding wires to get them to go where they need to be as well as making it look like it was meant to be there. I am really trying to make it look clean and from the factory looking.

i has been approved for a loan and we should be closing on it in the next few weeks, so I am probably getting a nicer used car for my self, but will also have a little left over to finish the Fiero like I want, and hopefully get every thing done before the 25 anniversary show. The Fiero will be my daily driver, but I am getting me another sedan for the realities of needing a four seater. But for me I want to drive the Fiero as often as possible.

I'll fill you in as I go. Keep me posted. Hope to see more pics after the 20th.

Later,
Darren

------------------

Fieroseverywhere JAN 14, 04:48 PM
Finally made a real decision on the wheels. Been looking for months and finally gave up on the idea of using 16's. Just couldn't find anything in that size.

I was trying to find something in a 16 and a bit wider then the stock 15x7's without being excessive (16x8's would have been ideal). Also looking to spend somewhere around 600 total for 4 wheels and keep them 17lbs or lighter each (elliminates 18" or larger for the most part). Finding all of this while also having a 5x100 bolt pattern and a decent offset is why my choices were so limited. I have decided on the Konig Feather.


17x7.5 with a 45mm offset. Price $129 each. Weight 16.8lbs each. Combined with the vette rotors they should sit about 2mm further inward then the stock 15's did. I will be going with a 235/50-17 on the rear and probably a 225/50-17 on the front. Tire brand is still up in the air at this point but choices are limited unless I go with a 45 series which I don't want to do. Choices are Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3, Yokohama S-drive, or the Yokohama Advan sport (*new tire not tested much yet). If anyone has run any of these let me know how they worked for you.

Caliper rebuild kits are ordered along with new bearings and seals for the front hubs. Caliper kits are on backorder so it may be while before they come in. Swaybar should also be going out today.

Inventory is over, (whew...) thats a load off. We killed any previous record by having only a $3.99 variance on approx $325,000 worth of stock. Far less then 1% difference (company average 5%). Low enough that it did not register in the system as being anything. New employee should be starting tomorrow or wednesday so as soon as I get him trained I will go back to two days off a week. When he is ready I will also be taking 3-4 days off to get back to work on this car.

May head down this weekend for a day if time permits and I decide not to sleep on my one day off. Later.

[This message has been edited by Fieroseverywhere (edited 01-14-2008).]