Nice work..... thats a lot of effort in a very short time....... relax and enjoy for the rest of the summer!!!!!

P.S. I own page 3... Woo Hooo!!!!

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If I only had ONE more part it will be finished...... famous last words.....

[This message has been edited by SNAPPY829 (edited 07-14-2010).]

Thanks SNAPPY! I finally found some of the 3M tape tonight. Going to put the sail panels on tomorrow. They ahave a heat advisory here right now. I can't believe how hot it is. I just got home and its still 93 degrees.

[This message has been edited by donnie072003 (edited 07-14-2010).]

So another quick update. Couldn't sleep this morning so I went to the garage to install sail panels. I got one side done. I didn't buy enough of the tape! Came up about 12" short having enough to finish the other side! Anyway here is how the one side looks. I think it looks good. Probably buy some GT decals for the sails just to get by with.











Guess I'll stop tonight after work and grab another roll of tape!

So I have both sail panels installed and got one of the wheels finished tonight. Will finish other wheel tomorrow. Hoping to get out there early and start wet sanding before it gets terribly hot again. Took a few pics with my phone today but they are crappy. I'll get a few tomorrow after I get the other wheel finished. Have to run and get a new buffing pad too. Mine looks like its about shot and I want to get a foam one for the finish polishing. Shes getting really close now. I may even take her for a quick spin tomorrow!

Not a lot of progress to report this week. Work is getting in the way and this aweful heat we are having. I did mess with my temp gauge but still haven't got it to work yet. Going to try and get a little done this weekend.

Sorry gang not much to report as far as progress goes. Worked on the house some of the weekend. The only day it hasn't been terribly humid and hot here was monday while I was at work! Spent part of yesterday finding an oil leak in my sons car. I think the passenger side valve cover gasket slipped while changing them a couple of weeks ago. Has a small bit coming from the back and dripping right on the exhaust. Figures! Anyway hope this weekend is better. I have a really cool idea I want to try out for speaker location. Something I have never seen on here yet. Keeping it a secret until I measure it out a little more.

I should have been off work today working on the toy. Its beautiful here today!!

I also posted this in tech just for future knowledge. Hadn't hear of this happening to anyone else.
So today I finally got around to working on my temp gauge again. I had already checked everything from the engine bay forward and all seemed good so I assumed I had a bad gauge and started pulling it out this morning. So I pulled the dash apart and once I got the instrument cluster out I proceeded to tear it apart as well. I pulled the clear cover off and as I pulled the black bezel off I noticed something I would have never thought of. Under the black bezel around the fuel/temp gauge is a black rubber gasket (I assume to keep light out from around the gauges) The upper portion had slipped down just enough that the needle would touch it on its swing. This was not at all noticable with the gauges all together. Just thought I would share this little tidbit as something else to look for when you have a gauge problem. So while I was in there I reset my needle using a potentiometer set to 145 ohms (=220 degrees) I was off about 40 degrees. But, what I didn't do before I put it all back together and should have was do the wire swap to keep the gauge from pegging. DUH well I guess thats my project for tomorrow. Hope this helps someone. I know I was about to pull out my hair trying to figure out what was going on with mine.

Yesterday I got a chance to install my new GT logos on my sail panels. What a difference that small change makes to the look of the car. Will post a couple of picks later.

quote Originally posted by donnie072003: Yesterday I got a chance to install my new GT logos on my sail panels. What a difference that small change makes to the look of the car. Will post a couple of picks later.

I prefer the smoked/tinted sail panels, without the 'GT' on them, myself. They look much cleaner that way.

I would have prefered the smoked as well but I got a really good deal on this set new. Saved about $40 total. I bought them from a forum member.

Tonight I finally finished that other front wheel. I know what a slacker! LOL It was so humid here today I had to bring it in the house so it could dry. While that was drying I did unstick my E-brake cable that I pulled up while I was working on the trunk release button last week. Looks like I have a trans axle seal leaking just a bit. I should have replaced them while I had the cradle dropped. I think it was from the axles hanging for so long while I was working on stuff. Its not a bad leak. About a quarter size spot on the floor after a month or so. If its not unbarable this weekend I'll be pulling the dash apart again to swap the wires for the temp guage so it will stop pegging and then recalibrate it to the sensor. Just a bunch of little stuff to do. I have been drawing up my speaker mod that I want to try still. Have the materials at work. Hopefully I can get a bit of that done too this weekend. Well thats it for today.

Damn dude you have been doing a nice job on it. keep it up.

The finished car came out great. Nice and clean I do have a concern although you may not have an issue with this......how is your temperature with the license plate holder and driving lights covering up the entire radiator intake?

So far so good but I have not had it on the interstate yet. It needs new tires bad! LOL If I do have a problem I am hoping it is cured when I vent the hood because I really like my fog likes in that space. There is still quite a bit of room around them even though they look tight in there.

Today I got around to doing the wire swap for the temp guage. Not a hard swap but, calibrating the guage turned into a feat! lol Every time I thought I had it in the ballpark I would recheck at a different ohms reading and it would be off. I think its pretty good right now. 160 & 220 read perfect so thats what I'm going with. Son called me to let me know there is a car show going on at his work that I didn't know about. I wouldn't have torn the dash apart if I had know. Hope they have another soon. Well my list of must do items is getting way shorter. Tires and an exhaust are the last to big items for now. Who knows what winter will make me do though! LOL Took a few more pics tonight while I was letting her run in the drive. I think I've come up with a name for the old girl. Hows Wyte Nyte? Kind of a play of my last name and how good she looks at night! Let me know what you think! Thanks









Donnie

Lol i remember i had the dark knight..... That car's frame is sitting on 6x9 planks in my driveway waiting to be towed away.

Thats funny, by the way I am jealous of the IMSA. What a cool car. I'll be keeping up with your thread on it.

quote Originally posted by donnie072003: Thats funny, by the way I am jealous of the IMSA. What a cool car. I'll be keeping up with your thread on it.

Lol if you want to see it this was the build thread on the dark knight.... kinda sad how it turned out it was one quick little fiero to but i dident want to invest the time into making it right... Lol its amazing where i started fiero wise and where i am now... and in only 2 years

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/072758.html

BTW thanks for the complement on the IMSA. shes a bit of a drama queeen but i'll get it done.

[This message has been edited by pontiackid86 (edited 08-06-2010).]

Looks great, Donnie! You've done a heck of a job on it so far. Of course, I'm kind of partial to white fastbacks....

quote Originally posted by litespd: Looks great, Donnie! You've done a heck of a job on it so far. Of course, I'm kind of partial to white fastbacks....

I was to. than i went and painted it red

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: I was to. than i went and painted it red

We all make mistakes, Rick.

quote Originally posted by litespd: We all make mistakes, Rick.

Lol well my new one is yellow and white.. that count?

quote Originally posted by litespd: Looks great, Donnie! You've done a heck of a job on it so far. Of course, I'm kind of partial to white fastbacks....

Very sweet ride litespeed. Love the wheels. I figure by next year I will have a descent set of wheels I am still leaning towards black centers for mine though. I like the style of yours.

Not much to report from the weekend. I did get around to cleaning up the inside and a couple of other odds and ends. Took her for a quick spin to work. Guys at work been bugging me to bring it around so I broke down and took her for a little ride. I did notice that the throttle response stinks pretty good. Its like it has a hesitation when you accelerate. Not really sure what that is. May just be because I haven't been drving it and it needs to be blown out a little! She needs tires before I get too carried away trying to blow out the cobwebs though.

I got a line on a set of wheels today. Supposed to go look at them on Saturday. $200 bucks 215 width front and 235 width rear on 17" wheels. Tires look to be in reasonable shape from the pictures I saw. Guy also has a front aero nose I may snag if the price is right. He has an 85 GT that he started a 3800 swap and lost interest. Now hes headed for Florida to college and wants to get rid of it. He wants to sell the whole car for $1700 but thats out of my reach right now. I really just want the wheels. I'm hoping to talk him into parting a few more pieces out like the hood so I have something to play with when I try doing a hood vent! Wish me luck.

I installed my rear deck lid release switch I got from GTXbullet yesterday. Works perfect. Now when I lock my keys back there again I wount have to hot wire it open again! LOL

Took a little time tonight to clean her up a bit more. Tackled that disgusting trunk space. Carpet was too far gone to clean up perfect so it got a coat of the duplicolor vinyl and fabric paint. Looks much better. Wish I had remembered to take a before shot. LOL Going tomorrow to look at a set of wheels. Hope they are worth the money. They look good in the pictures so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If I get them I WILL be posting a few shots tomorrow with them installed.



Got that pestky trunk light working too!



Really happy with how well the interior has come along.





Funny how light the carpet looks in these pics. Its not near that light in real life!



Well all wish me luck tomorrow. Hope I'm coming home with a set of wheels!

Edit to add pic of wheel anyone know what kind this is?

[This message has been edited by donnie072003 (edited 08-13-2010).]

Well Saturday i got a chance to look at the wheels for sale. I told him I want them. He just has to find something to put on the car to keep it mobile. Hopefully they have found something by next weekend and I can pick these up. Should look really good on the car. They looked good on his black notchie. I am a little concerned about clearance in the back. he is running a 235/45/17 I believe and it looked really close to the springs in the back. Front looked like no issues at all. I asked about clearance and he said he never had them rub before while he was driving. He did have lowering springs on his too. This fella has a lot of money tied up in this car. Lowering springs all the way around, 3800SC motor, tuned ecm, wiring harnes built, cant remember what that bar is across the back from the strut towers but one of those too. Should be a beast once he gets it going. Anyway thats my updates for today. Gotta get back to work! LOL

Been a little bit since last post. I have to admit I have lost a bit of my drive lately on this car. I did buy a factory pontiac CD player off of E-bay this week. I expect it to arrive in the next couple of days. I also ordered the adapter harness to install it. Haven't heard back from the fella about the wheels I looked at a couple of weekends ago. I called and left him a message. I assume he is having a hard time finding some wheels to put on it to keep it mobile after he sold the ones on it. I guess I will just keep looking. Sure another deal is just around the corner. My funds for playing with the car are a little short these days anyway after getting kids into school a couple weeks ago. God it costs a lot these days. Spent a little over $500 just to register all three of them. Then there are the sports fees and clothes!! Whew glad thats over with! LOL Maybe I can put back a little for playing with the car again! I'd like to take this thing over to my buddies house and have him put her on the scanner again for me. Throttle has a very noticable hesitation still that bugs me a lot. Not sure if its a timing issue or what it is. I want him to scan it as well to see what the scanner says the temp is. I still am not happy with my temp guage. The car is not overheating or anything but, I don't think the guage is very accurate either. Even after setting it with resistors. On a side note I did finally see the silver notchie my boys told me was running around town. Sounded pretty good not a bad looking car either. Couldn't tell if it was an SE or early GT. It had an aero nose and a spoiler.

Well I got my new radio installed today and did a little more work on the interior. I sprayed the console since it was a different shade of grey and decided to spray the shift surround. Not sure if I like it yet or not. Had problems with the paint fisheying on me so I had to do it over. I wiped it down with thinner before had and then scuffed it a little and then wiped down with thinner again. Had a couple of small spots that bugged me so I did it over. I suppose it looks ok but not as good as I had hoped. The radio is a perfect fit but, again it wasn't without its problems too. The fader comtrols wouldn't work and the front speakers went on and off intermittently. Found out the face had been pulled off of it before and someone bent a pin when they put it back on.

Radio shots it sounds really good!




Interior shots. I really like the way the interior came out.







Thats it for now gang. Hoping to do a few small things tomorrow but money is not on my side this week! LOL

Very nice car, Donnie. You have really turned this car into a gem.

Thanks Hulki. Kind lost my mojo there for a while but installing the stereo today brought a little bit back. Still trying to catch up from getting kids in school so I had to put her on hold for a bit! LOL I have actually been watching e-bay and craigslist for cars with the 3800 in them. Looking to buy a whole car and strip it down to get what I need complete instead of trying to find everything at a junk yard. This will probably be my winter project if all goes well. I would love to have a 3800SC but those are really high around here. I can find late 90's whole cars with 3800's for under $500 sometimes around here. I think the regular 3800 is like 170 HP? Id also like to find a good cradle to play with while I do this so the car is still mobile.

Today I took her over to a buddies house to run a scan on it. Still getting a code 44 (lean). I have already tried the starting fluid trick to find a vacuum leak but no luck. My buddy has one of those ultrasonic noise detecters. We scanned all around the engine and could on;ly find one possible place that I may have a leak. Of course it seems to be under the plenum on the trottle body side. He ran a vacuum test at the map sensor and its pulling 14. My buddy says it should be closer to 18" vacuum. So here is what we determined today 1) the car is running lean and the ecm is trying to pour the gas to it 2) my O2 sensor is working correctly (new one) 3) a little propane in the throttle body makes it run better 4) my fuel pump was tested good also I think 38psi while running. Any suggestions from the masses?

I forgot to update over the weekend again on my hesitation problem. I pulled the intake plenum off and found nothing. No cracked lines at all. On a plus note though my buddy brought his fuel injector testing stuff over and we ran a full check on the fuel system. Pretty cool setup! All the injectors tested good so that kind of left us a square one again. My buddy has purchased a smoke machine and it is due in this week sometime. Hopefully before the weekend and he is going to bring it over and test it out on my car. I am really hoping that that thing doesn't find anything cuz it will mean I have something internal wrong with the engine. Another plus this week is that I sent off my guage bezels and shift surround to have that wate transfer printing done on all 4 pieces. I am getting the carbon fiber look done to them. Can't wait unitl I get them back. Ron the fella who is doing them for me says he will be at fierorama this weekend with a few display pieces for people to see his work. He told me that I should get my parts back next weekend. I was really hoping this thing would be ready for Fierorama but its not in the cards this year. Even if I got the engine running perfect my tires would still not be able to make that trip. . Hoping I can still make it up there so I can at least see some very cool cars. Lots of people up near Chicago area going to be there and I hate to miss out on putting a few faces with people from this forum. Everyone on this forum has been a huge help getting my car to the point its at now. I probably would have made it to fierorama with the car this year but the funds ran low for a while when school started back up this year. After I get the bezels back I'd love for Fiero Thomas to do my visors for me. Mine look like crap and I never even installed them after I did the headliner. Still need a muffler and a couple of odds and ends besides the tires. When thats it for now gang. Hope to see a few of you at Fierorama this weekend.

Donnie

My buddies smoke machine came in yesterday. Tomorrow morning we will be trying this test out to see if anything comes up. Hopefully not! LOL Will update again after the tests.