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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:23 AM
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I had a dream. It started when I bought a Honda Odyssey - not the underpowered minivan with more cupholders than seats, I'm talking about the 1980's vintage single seat go kart, the one with a fully independent suspension. I found one on eBay with a 65 HP 4 cylinder motorcycle engine and front suspension off a Yamaha Banchee. I love driving this cart! It'll do 70 MPH in a cornfield, floating over the bumps. I've spent the last several years dialing it in - reworked the steering so it now has positive caster, changed the gearing for better launches, changed the clutch and shifter so a paraplegic can drive it, etc.
It's so much fun to drive that my dream was to drive it to work. I started looking at what it would take - proper lights and signals, fenders, a windshield and windshield wiper. Then my wife brought me back to earth, "You can't drive that thing on the highway - you'll kill yourself!" Damn, I hate it when she's right. You see, I drive 33 miles to work each day. Some hilly twisting roads and some 4 lane highway. And then one night it came to me - I need to build a car! Something rear engine, light and with a good suspension. The list of rear engine cars is pretty slim. There's that old chestnut the VW bug, but I just can't stand the sound of the engine on those things.
It didn't take long for me to land on the Fiero as the ideal car for this project - light, relatively inexpensive and with lots of interchangable parts available. I found an ideal base car in Lincoln, Nebraska. The seller had it listed on eBay (I may have a shopping problem) and the car came with a 1996 Nortstar engine and trans. It wasn't in the car yet, just sitting in the guy's garage still in the engine cradle. I had a project! This was 2007.[This message has been edited by artworks (edited 09-19-2019).]
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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:27 AM
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Starting with an 87 GT, I'm building an off-roader that will have a Jalapeno body. I've welded 2"x4"x1/8" wall thickness tube steel under the chassis, effectively creating a 4" body lift. The front track has been widened 2" per side, and for the rear I've mounted a Cadillac Northstar 4.6L engine/trans. The front spindles and rotors from the Caddy will become the rear wheels, and I'm now fabricating the rear suspension - Macpherson struts are lame, so I'm going with a custom link suspension tied to the Caddy spindles (they're aluminum!). There are air bags on the front end, and coilover air bags for the rear. I've upgraded the Northstar cams with high-lift units from Cadillac Hot Rod Fabricators, with a proported 375 HP output - the stock engine was 300. In front (where the engine is "supposed" to go) there's an 8,000 LB winch with synthetic rope instead of cable - 86 lbs. I think of it as ballast. There's still a lot to be done on the car, but I'm getting there. I'll post pictures of what's been done so far, and update as progress is made, but I'm not the fastest builder. I don't know how those guys on tv can do a car in a week - or 48 hours.
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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:28 AM
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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:30 AM
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I don't know if you can see it, the lower front control arms are HT Motorsprts, except they've been mounted with screw-in ball joints from a Chysler. The front spindles are early Ford Pinto - turns out they're the same height as Fiero. The good news here is that there are lots of after-market parts for Mustang/Pinto spindles, so the front brakes are 11" aftermarket for Mustang II (the hot rodders friend). The upper a-arms are aftermaket Mustang also. The air bags are from Universal air, with about 9" of articulation. Of course, the suspension only gives me about 7" of front movement, but I'm trying to keep the stock Fiero geometry (I'm not a rocket scientist).
The rear suspension is all 1" DOM 1/8" wall, mated to 1/4" steel plates that bolt to the Cadillac spindles. The front of the "traction bar" is bolted to the frame with 5/8" chrome-moly heim joints. Caster is fixed by the track bars, and toe-in is adjustable by changing the spacing of the heim joint to the frame - two shear ponts for each bolt means adjusting spacing on both sides of the heim. Camber is adjusted with heim joints and a "swedge". Each rear axle is supported by a coilover unit, with airbag over the steel spring. I'm waiting for the bags to be delivered now, then I need to order the shocks and steel springs.
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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:31 AM
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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:33 AM
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This is a photo of the driver's side front suspension.[This message has been edited by artworks (edited 07-14-2017).]
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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:35 AM
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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:39 AM
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The winch was installed on Saturday - 8,000 LB Smittybilt with synthetic rope. Including the two pieces of 3"x1" C-channel, I've added about 130 lbs to the front, right over the axle.
 [This message has been edited by artworks (edited 07-14-2017).]
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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:40 AM
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Its sitting on its own wheels for the first time in almost 2 years!
 [This message has been edited by artworks (edited 07-14-2017).]
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artworks
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MAR 26, 08:42 AM
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I've had the body panels for over a year now, this is the first time they've actually sat on the car
 [This message has been edited by artworks (edited 07-14-2017).]
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