Honestly a bit surprised no one's piped up and said "Damn you ask a lot of questions!" or something to that effect. But I just did a bunch of tune-up/hop-up work to my Fiero and I have some questions now that I'm done.

First off, should the big fat hose leading forward from the thermostat housing be pressurized when the motor is first started (but not warmed up)? I just replaced the thermostat and mine is, but I can't remember if it was like that before or not.

Second, the stupid plastic can thing just behind the air filter assembly, the one that has something to do with emissions. (has two small vacuum hoses leading to the top of it). Um... how bad is it if I broke the top vacuum hose off while I was trying to put a sleeper hold on my number 6 sparkplug? (One of my roommates said I looked like I was practicing WWF wrestling moves on my motor.) I figure on replacing the canister thing, but I'm just curious about how crucial it is to engine performance since all the parts stores are about to close.

Thanks in advance

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85 GT (to be modified...)
--Um, no the paint isn't oxidized, that's the ultra-rare Whirlpool White textured finish... yeah.
89 Lincoln Town Car (has Fiero Envy)
--Hey! Can I have an anti-sway bar too?

That would be the fuel vapor canister. It should be replaced. They aren't hard to swap and you can get them thru most parts stores. (Make them look, or let you look, in the motormite master catalog if it's not in their computers.)

In the meantime remove and cap both vac lines.

If the cooling system is building pressure as soon as you start the car it could be very big trouble. To be sure, wait untill it cools and open the cap to bleed all pressure. then compare how the hose feels to when the motor has been running just a minute or two.

Don't really like the sound of "very big trouble". What exactly are we talking about?

The car ran quite cool today, though it wasn't very hot out. It ran around 150-160, where before I put in the new thermo and fan switch it would have run about 200-210.

Also, what about super-glueing the little plastic piece back onto the canister?

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85 GT (to be modified...)
--Um, no the paint isn't oxidized, that's the ultra-rare Whirlpool White textured finish... yeah.
89 Lincoln Town Car (has Fiero Envy)
--Hey! Can I have an anti-sway bar too?

Hey Spec!
The hose is pressurized because the water pump is running, and the thermostat is closed...
Second, get Zap-a-gap glue from the hobby shop, it is a super glue type product, but works better...
I had to repair my cruse control vac canister because the fitting broke off...
crash...

As long as it is running cool then it's likely ok.

The canister is about $40 and you can get it at any parts store. (I was mistaken... It's probably one of the few things Not in the motormight book.) It's called a fuel vapor can or an EVAP canister....

IF you are careful and IF you didn't do any damage beyond cracking off the fitting Then you Might get away with gluing it.

It would be better to replace it. The canister saves you gas money and keeps the air cleaner.

Okay, checked the cooling and it's fine. Proabably will want to add a bit that seeped out when I replaced the thermo and fan switch, but it's not a giant deal since there's some extra in the overflow tank. Hottest I've gotten the car since the change is a tiny bit more than halfway between the 100 and 220 mark, assuming the guage is accurate. The car is running at least 60 degrees cooler and makes for a BIG load off my mind in stop and go traffic.

The break in the evap canister is a nice clean break. I'm sure I can glue it up as good as new. (All those years building plastic models will actually pay off!)

Got the cat off today, the car sounds MUCH better. A mild deep note during idle, not really noticable until about 2500 rpm when it starts to get an aggressive growl. In my opinion it's perfect. I can keep it quiet at the light and not attract attention, or I can stab the throttle and make a scene.

Incidentally, I did start the car up without the straight pipe in place (ie. no muffler, cat, etc). I just couldn't resist. Aside from being quite loud, the car sounded like a mildly hopped-up V8.

I'm doing absolutely nothing for the next two days... I exhausted after all that work.

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85 GT (to be modified...)
--Um, no the paint isn't oxidized, that's the ultra-rare Whirlpool White textured finish... yeah.
89 Lincoln Town Car (has Fiero Envy)
--Hey! Can I have an anti-sway bar too?