Well I hope that this is my great contribution to the Fiero community! I've been here for a while and never really gave back like some..oh yeah I've posted answers to some question, provided important links to others, but never had someting I could call my own. So I hope this makes up for all of the useful advice I have taken advantage of the last couple of years! And I hope this actually helps someone! I took alot of pics as I really don't have the ability to express myself in words as well as some people, and I figure the pics would be a better help anyway. So here goes!

This will only work if the rust hole is in the side of the can, not in the top. I'm working on a fix for that and I think I have it I just need to experiment with it some more.

The Problem: Gm in there infinite wisdom (read cheap) decided to use this can

We've all got one (except those without cruise, sorry guys) and they all seem to have a strange problem....or will have at some point.

I recently noticed a post in the mall section about someone needing a cannister to replace the rusted one they have. So I went and pulled the one off of my parts car to powder coat and offer the the member who was looking. When I started to sandblast it , pinholes started to show thru, which really irritated me. Besides the fact that I had something someone needed and that I wasn't using it (not to mention making a couple of bucks ). This set me to thinking (I do that alot as I have a long ride to and from work). How can I fix that and make it so anyone can do it? I hit upon the idea out of the blue, why couldn't I use another can in place of the one GM used? But I had another problem.....how to affix the vent to the top of the new can top. I tried taking a vent off of another can, but got mixed results, I still could'nt re-attatch it to the new one and not worry about it coming off and holding vacum. Once again another long drive to work I came up with what I thought would work! A can opener! But not just any can opener, oh no... I need one that splits the seam at the top of the can and will allow you to reinstall the top. You remember the infomercial..."look you can't even cut this balloon, that's how safe the ?????? opener is". I remebered that my Mothe in law had one and begged her to let me use it. Eureka! I cut that vacuum cannister open like nothing! Now I'm on to something. I now needed a donor can, so it's off to the supermarket with tape measure, camera, and freshly cut top in hand. Within the first 5 minutes of being there I found my first specimens, and it appeared to be a perfect fit! Good thing GM decided to use a common can size!
This was my first pick

I figure I would need something with a little more brand recognition so that you would get the right size can.
So I picked these, But I hated the idea of wasting so much food.(+ they were 3 bucks apiece!)

Hey wait a second!!! These are the same size, my kids love juice, and they have brand recognition, I think I found my victims!

[This message has been edited by Fierofreak00 (edited 07-29-2004).]

So I get the little boogers home and I have to say I'm real excited, it's not everyday I have a brainstorm like this.

Well you've got to get the mounting brackets off

The easiest way I found was to use a pair of needle nose locking pliers like this.

Snap them on and bend up, If you try to pry them up it may distort the can lid making reassembly difficult in the following steps.

So as you can see, the cans appear to be identical with the exception of the ridges, wich unless you really prefer a concurs resto, will not matter.

Same height too! (7")

Here's the can opener, This one is from Pampered chef, but I think you should be able to get one anywhere.

[This message has been edited by Fierofreak00 (edited 07-28-2004).]

Hurry up im trying ot read the thread before you get done posting it all LOL

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'86 Fiero GT

www.KylesFiero.tk www.XoticRydz.tk

Sorry TarausThug I accidently hit the enter button before I wanted to!

Let's open these suckers up and see what's inside!
This is a great way to open the can it makes a perfect cut right in the center.

Empty, make sure you clean the can with soap and water and dry it real good.

Now let's take the top of the vacum cannister off (you'll notice that the can is already open, I got ahead of myself, as I wanted to make sure it would work "before" I posted, you will notice this thru out the thread)

Nice, clean cut. Came out nicely.

Let's test fit it!

HORRAY! It fits!!

[This message has been edited by Fierofreak00 (edited 07-28-2004).]

LOL

Thats An Awesome Fix ...But Kinda Sad At The Same Time That A Juice Can Fixed It ...

Good Idea Though
Even Though I Pulled My Cruise Out To Save Weight i Will Give You A Plus Anyway

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Zero C's 86 Gt Fastback
"This car is so good looking its almost indecent. - AutoWeek on the new 1986 GT"

Mods Include :Crx Cold Air Intake, Pontiacsound Box, Mustang Hood Scoop
Zeros Home Page
MSN Messanger tylercaddick@hotmail.com

Looks like alot of work but when I thought about it..what about 30 35 minutes? Anything to save 15$ right?
I cant figure out whats wrong with mine, I checked the can once but you cant always see them hole under the paint...well theres my task for the night, thanks.

It just took alot of time the first time because, I took quite a few pics along the way. Plus, I was trying to figure out if it would actually work. But, your right, it should only take a half an hour or so If, you have every thing you need in front of you. Jason

well i did it faster from lack of can with some bondo, i get good vac now, everthing seems to work beside the thing that moves the cable....it had a wire clip with 5 wires, i can take a pic if needed, how can i test this gismo? is it the servo? I got haynes and it doest say **** about cruise,,,....it worked once in my car.
break switch works,
got vac.
wiper thing works also...I hear it click,,,...
I tested all
The think that clicks is a valve or somthing right? I know its good...
this thingy is the only other possibilty right?

also, is there a way to keep my sig always on without checking the box? thanks...

[This message has been edited by SLowChild (edited 07-29-2004).]

Good thread! Faster way is to pop the vac check valve off the rusty can and cut a hole in the new can with a hole saw and epoxy the check valve in the new can. no need to solder anything, BUT you can't use what came in the can lol
FD

quote Originally posted by fierodave: Good thread! Faster way is to pop the vac check valve off the rusty can and cut a hole in the new can with a hole saw and epoxy the check valve in the new can. no need to solder anything, BUT you can't use what came in the can lol FD

That was my thought exactly. I am the world's worst solderer, so that's where I got lost following the original procedure. I sometimes have trouble soldereing a couple wires together. But a plus for both you guys for the suggestions!

I tried popping the vent off first, but I wasn't satisfied with the results, and the vent actually had to be broken to be taken out. I am detail oriented and want it to look as if it was supposed to look like that. A big dallop of bondo or epoxy, although functional, would not look good to me. Believe me, I did think of that, I even tried to solder the holes in the can but couldn't get the solder to pool, as the can side would not conduct the heat effectively enough to transfer the solder onto it. I also tried to braze the holes but couldn't get the rod to melt without melting the can sides. That is why I came up with this, I thought some people may like the idea. Jason

[This message has been edited by Fierofreak00 (edited 07-29-2004).]

Great idea. I will look at mine tonight.

So your saying I could have saved my cruise control? Hmmm where were you a few months ago when I riped out the entire system and threw it away?

quote Originally posted by ZeroC: Even Though I Pulled My Cruise Out To Save Weight i Will Give You A Plus Anyway

How many 1/10's of a second did that weight saving idea provide in the 1/4 mile?

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87GT 3.4 Turbo Best 0-60 5.2 seconds
http://www.turbochargerpower.com/turbo.htm

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: How many 1/10's of a second did that weight saving idea provide in the 1/4 mile?

He he he! That's too funny Dennis!

Great idea !
I am going to use a tomato juice can because I can
open the deck lid, point to the can and say,,,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.,,,brace yourself,,,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
."Gee, I could have had a V-8".

Thanks Fierofreak00 for the great idea.
Edit, Gave you a + for such an innovative idea.

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jetman
Silver 86 SE 2M6 4-speed, with "check wallet light" and "a good nights sleep"

[This message has been edited by jetman (edited 07-29-2004).]

quote Originally posted by jetman: Great idea ! I am going to use a tomato juice can because I can open the deck lid, point to the can and say,,, . . . . . . . . . .,,,brace yourself,,, . . . . . . . . . ."Gee, I could have had a V-8". Thanks Fierofreak00 for the great idea. Edit, Gave you a + for such an innovative idea.

LOL, I thought about leaving the label on it, but it hink it would catch fire when you tried to solder it! If someone can come up with a way to take it off and put it on with out destroying it. Hmmmmmm....... I have another long drive home tonight.

Excellent thread Fierofreak00.

I had a leaky one so I threw it into the sand blaster and cleaned off the old paint and rust.

That gave me a good clean surface for the solder to stick to.

I used a flux core solder and my solder gun, worked like a charm.

Granted the holes I had were not as big as the ones you showed which made it easier.

One other thing, that is one big a** vise, I'm jealous.

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Where will the road take you today?

[This message has been edited by fierohoho (edited 07-29-2004).]

Excellent thread Fierofreak00 and very well documented.

If you are not concerned about keeping the stock look, a vacuum canister from about a '92 Camaro is a very handy replacement for the juice can. It is a small plastic canister that is about 6" long, has a flat mounting side and a rounded top. It does not leak or rust. It is mounted above the brake boost on the firewall. It is also probably found on the Firebird as well.

While you are in the wrecking yard, you can pick up an early 90's GM cruise servo also from about any GM car. They are smaller in diameter and are a direct plug and play replacement for the stock Fiero servo.

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Bill Levin

Well here's tonight's installment. I went to Harbor Frieght to buy a new buffer (bench grinder) as my old one buffed it's last buff last night. I was thinking about what to use to attempt this repair, and found some likely tools that you could pick up real cheap. I bought them even though I already repaired mine, as I wanted to see if the stuff I picked out would also work for you.
One of the items is this pencil torch that they have on special this week, it was only $1.99! I thought it was a real good deal, and would also be useful in other applications. Don't forget to buy butane they don't come filled.
I also picked up this flux and solder set, I wanted to see if thist would also work. I only paid $5.00.

I tried this set up on the rim and lid and it does indeed work and I think that it worked better than the Snap-on torch I used last night. The solder wicked it's way into the rim easily with no problems. So I figured seeings how it flowed so well, why can't I try to repair the holes from the outside and not bother to cut the can open?
So I tried.

I cleaned the rust away from the holes making sure to get into the pitted area.

I applied the flux liberally to the surrounding area.

Applied a little heat, remember to apply the heat indirectly to the can, and don't burn the solder.
This is what I came up with. Seems to have worked out pretty well.

So I tried to fix the other holes too.
Not pretty but functional. I couldn't pick it off with my finger (well, I did later, but I forced it. I just wanted to see where the breaking point was.!)

So after adding up the total so far.
Juicy Juice can $1.99
Pencil Torch $1.99
Flux and Solder set $4.99
I think we're in it for about $10. That's not too bad I think.
I hope this second installment helps you out too. I think I may have one installment more to go.

[This message has been edited by Fierofreak00 (edited 07-29-2004).]

One bump

great post, my 87 with cruise thanks you
russ

Your welcome!

Last bump before it's off the the archives.

While all the effort is nice.... It's not needed unless you are showing the car. As you noted, a strict factory class may still knock off points. It is handy for folks that just can't find an alternate for whatever reason.

The most common alternate...
You can get plastic vacuum balls/tanks off more cars that I can count at any salvage yard. You can even get them new fairly cheap thru MotorMite's master or VacuumTite catalogs at many parts stores. You can get some really big plastic ones if you dig around. I've seen a few that could be backup tanks for power brake boosters if needed.

The canister for cruise doesn't need all that much volume. Any plastic one the size of a softball or larger will work. The purpose of the thing is just to make sure the vacuum available to the cruise servo is relatively constant. It is there just in case the cruise system needs to punch it a bit. When you punch it, the manifold vac drops off and may not be enough to work cruise or any other vac device. Under most cruise driving the vac canister is just taking space in the car.

The nice thing with any plastic one is that it will never rot out again. In rust country a metal one can go in a couple years. Maybe less for some. I've had allot of problems with metal tanks over the years.

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The only thing George Orwell got wrong was the year.

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

Just wanted to say - watch out for that cheapie blue torch... I've had 2 of them start leaking at the back end, and erupt in a fireball while I was using them... Just hoping to prevent another one.. It's not an explosion or anything, but a large fireball in your hand will get your attention, and possibly remove some eyebrows and eyelashes... Don't ask me how I know...

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Bob Williams
Multi-colored '87 Mutt, a work in progress! (3800SC installation in super-super-ssuuppeerr-slow-motion progress... Done for Kansas? Riiiiiiiight....)