i've only driven one day in my conv. with the top fully down. it was mid 90's and combined with the engine heat it was like driving around in a sauna. seemed even hotter moving that sitting still at times. i guess because i was getting like some wrap around air from the windshield that was drawing heated engine air to the pass, comp. targa style it's not too bad.

besides picking a better day to go topless, has anyone with a conv. tried anything to keep the heat off you? or anyone in general have any thought on it?

what i want to try is putting a rubber seal of some kind along the edge of the trunk lid just behind the passenger comp. i also got some '84 engine side covers that i want to try putting small backward facing scoops on, possibly with pancake fans to get the heated engine air exiting a little farther away from the passenger comp. i've been looking at mr spyders and seeing the the engine vents are at the far end of the engine lid. maybe for that reason?

anyway, any experience or thought on it appreciated.

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Phil T.

start where you are,
use what you have,
do what you can.

I've noticed that my Fiero remains fairly cool - Sorry to hear that yours gets hot...wanna trade? Mine has a roof and EVERYTHING!

Is there any way to get air flow from the front or sides of the car through the engine compartment, and then out the rear? like some funky side scoops..or install some sort of fans in the rear...

There are a few members that own convertibles (wish one of them was ME), maybe one of them will chime in with a solution to your heat issues...

i am thinking i'd like some small original style side scoops also. i have a couple of fieros with that "boy racer" type look. this is a coupe/formula style so i want to keep it fairly clean looking scoop/wing/gfx wise. a fiero SL if you know what i mean.

where i am so far...

i attatched a piece of aluminum angle to what i guess is the lip the rear window sat on. i found weatherstrip at autozone that sits well on it' the side covers fit right up against it. if i can find the strip that went on the lid it will be pretty well sealed.

got this scoop today (should have got a pair. need to contact seller about where the other is). i hope to use these with some '84 side covers to have the engine air exit a little further away from the passenger comp. i may try it with out the fans and add them if needed.

i have since driven the car on a cooler day and it was better. i hope this will make it more enjoyable still.

There is a massive low-pressure area where airflow actually goes backwards to the direction of travel, even in a convertible, right on the decklid.

You'll need to move the vents to the back of the car somehow (look at Ferraris, vents all the way down.) to really solve it, or vent somewhere else (EG taillights, replace with a mesh and go dual-round tails)

PS: that's a SWEET looking topcover, you mention Targa style, is it Automoda?

Best!
Ben.

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Ben Cannon
88 Formula, T-top, Metalic Red. (2:13.138 at Sears Point) "Every Man Dies, not every man really Lives"
88 Formula, Northstar, Silver, In-Progreess. -Mel Gibson, "Braveheart"

i don't think it's automoda, but it works about the same. targa top with a fold back section that goes down behind the seats. from the bit of gleaning for info i've done it could be a dealer offered option. someone posted a blue conv. that from the pic looked the same as mine and thats what was said about it. the person i got mine from said it was done by pontiac but i guess it was the dealer also.

i really don't want to mess with the body much. i'm in it today and it's a cooler day and more comfortable. i'll just have to hope this is good enough. maybe with fans under the vents forcing air back i'll get away with it.

got the fans...

found them on ebay like the scoops. i was kind of worried about the thickness of them but since i'm going to use some '84 engine side covers they sit in pretty well...

i'm sure it will clear the battery and i believe the vapor canister on the other side. got started on some other projects so it might take a bit to get back to this.

the covers cut out, with mounting nuts attatched, and the vent set in place with two sided tape. i'll be glassing the scoops on to try and give it all a one piece look, plus i'm not sure if the tape can take the heat by it's self.

on the battery side, there was no problem with clearance. on the driver side i had to lower the vapor canister. just had to take off the bracket, which is held to the indide fender with two screws. i cut the insulation under the original mounting spot, and then i was able to align the upper bracket hole with the lower fender hole.

at this point it's just a matter of trying to do good glassing and deciding how to wire the fans. whenever i get it done i'll post on weather it helped with comfort or not.

Phil, I was asking Chris Moore about heat coming front in his Northstar convertible. He says he has to run the AC full blast when the top is down. I don't think fans will change the problem enough unless you could move enough air so cool are would be coming out and that will not happen.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red 88 GT T-Top 3800 Supercharged
White 88 GT T-Top Stock
White 88 GT Stock

What size are those fans? And if you don't mind...around how much am I looking to spend on those fans? I noticed my Fiero getting pretty hot at lights and I would love an alternative to having the motor bake after I turn it off. Thanks

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Biznach AKA "Ditty"
1987 Pontiac Fiero GT
1998 Plymouth Neon Expresso
1968 Ford F100 352 BB

ski, i'm too far in not to finish. i've only driven it top compleatly down a few times, but i think the rubber strip helped a little. hopefully the scoops and fan will augment it. if nothing else, it's working out so that they will come off like regular vents. just an extra plug to unplug to remove them. if they don't help much here i can use them on a future project that might be running too hot.

biz, i got the fans from a dealer on ebay.

buyparts@partzfinder.com

ten inch fans. since i wanted two i emailed them and they sold me two outright. about $78 for both fans with shipping.

i meant to add before, for someone who might try this but is not worried about directing air back. using the '84 covers it is pretty clean looking without the scoops. some 10" speaker grills might finish them out if you could find some durable enough.

If your going to glass, why not fit the engine vents from an 84 hood well back on the deck of a standard hood. It would keep the heat away from the cocpit, as was mentioned in an earlier post. You could leave your fan vents that your building or use plain 84 engine covers to keep a clean look. The only problem with moving the vent so far back is it opens the top of your engine to rainfall, that could be very bad in the long run. It would also be very unique, and should look good too.

quote Originally posted by fix her up: If your going to glass, why not fit the engine vents from an 84 hood well back on the deck of a standard hood.

fear. i guess i could get another lid and try it, but i don't have that much confidence in my glass skills to try it on this lid. replacing messed up side covers won't be as hard.

anyway i want to at least see what kind of results i get before i take things any further.

i think it's working. it's not like a crisp fall day. guess it never will be. but it's nowhere near as oppressive. right now the fans aren't in but may not be nesessary. i wanted them because i knew i was blocking the normal airflow some with the vents but my temp guage read the same as before in traffic and on the x-way all day. going to put them in anyway since they are part of the plan. they might still help on a really hot day.

the last thing i need to do (besides cosmetics on the scoops) is find the recall trunk lid strip or something like it. the last of the unblocked hot air is coming from there and if i can close it off some it should make for a much more enjoyable ride.

quote Originally posted by Philphine:

Good job and the look good, too. Now all you need are some horizontal loovers to help hide that big round hole and your all set.

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Roy :D
Just another stock Blue 87 GT
Suncoast Fieros

YELLOW 1988 GT w/ T-Tops, 5-Speed, and Performance Sound.GONE!

"Philphine" I saw your post and here is some information for you.
1) I have 2 recall strips left $45each and that includes the clip and shipping.
And 2) The convertible you have is not "automoda" I had one (yellow fastback GT, sold it to build a house) anyway the story with your car is this:

A Pontiac Dealer in OH called Holland Pontiac is where the car came from, you see the owner of the Pontiac dealer and his son LOVE Fieros (till this day) but want nothing really to do with car club, Before I built my automoda convertible I was going to buy one of these, but desided I didn't want one because they weren't fastback GT's, but a Fiero guy I know bought one (the Blue one your referring to was bought buy John Depew) When he went to buy the car he said they had them in a warehouse and inside they had a couple (total 10) 88's GT's and formulas , a mera and a zimmer and they told him to don't even bother looking at any of the others they are not for sale. Anyhow the dealer thought the fiero should have been a convertible, so they flew a guy from FL. up buy them and had him take 49 base 4 cylinder 1987 coupes and 1 SE V6 (burgandy) which was for the owner of the Dealership and turn them into convetibles they sold them through the dealership as new with a warrenty and a supplement window sticker including the mark-up for the coversion.
So I hope this answers some of your questions and if you are interested in the recall strip let me know and I'll send you my address.

thanks. great info, and it lets some things fall into place because i think the car was originally brought in ohio.

as for the weather strip, i may want it if you still have them and i have some extra cash later but for now...

i was just looking for the thread to add this. had to get creative. this is the stuff that goes at the bottom of a house door. stuck it in the old clips that were still attatched. again, no real difference on the temp guage (a little higher when i got into some slow traffic) but still not enough to kick the fan on.

not quite as hot as that first day, about 90deg. or so but i can still tell the difference. i can still feel some heat at times but it's not that constant hot breeze like at first. the only reason i'm back posting this is because it clouded over and there a high enough rain chance percentage that i didn't want to gamble. i could drive it all day.

i think when i wire the fans i will have them work with the radiator fan. they don't really seem to be needed so if it gets hot enough to kick on the front fan (so far just once in very slow traffic) they can help then. that should also cut down on the noise of them running right behind me. i test ran one and have the feeling two going right behind me would get pretty annoying.

ok so thats it. there may be another thing or two i try but i feel like i've been successful. and the sun just popped back out so i may need to run some more tests. see ya.

this is old, bump lol.....