I've always wanted to ask a Ford Probe driver why the hell the hood has that ridiculous looking hump on the drivers side half of the hood? I almost start laughing out loud everytime I see one coming in the other lane! Did the plant screw up the cars design at the factory when they discovered they made the engine sit too tall on that side or are they all like that from Ford mechanics heads leaving a bulging dent after they didn't prop it up right and the hood fell on there head!!

Turbo. Even though they never came from the factory with one(I believe) it gives the allusion the car has turbo. Ever seen a twin turbo Stealth, Mit. 3000GT, Mit. Eclipse, etc?

[This message has been edited by fiero56 (edited 02-13-2000).]

You COULD get probes with turbos in the early days, until they switched to the 3.0 V6 GT and then it became a 2.5 V6 GT. The eagle talon also has a turbo bump on all models. I almost bought a probe instead of my fiero....... That would have sucked LOL

The hump on the talon/laser/eclipse was to clear the valve cover on the dual cam motors! My wife's laser had the more wimpy than usual single cam motor, and no hood bump. You could get the dual cam and a hood bump, or get the bump and a turbo. On older Probes with the dual humps, they were to clear the tops of the strut towers. To me, this is very poor planning and design.

Never mind, I thought this was going to be a lewd discussion, not something about lumpy car hoods.

Any one ever heard of a GT40? The mid engine thing ford built in the 60's. Ever see one that some one tall raced? Like Dan Gurney. They had to put a hump in the roof so his helmet could fit. Hence the name "Gurney bubble"

Viper's have twin humps in the roof, too. Helmet clearance.

I had a Buick Skyhawk (Cav clone/J-body) that had a hood hump. It was to clear the brake master cylinder. The Viper GTS (coupe) has the double bubble roof to retain the same interior headroom as the R-10 (targa/original version). The hardtop option on the original was "hollow", whereas the coupe has a headliner. (I may have the original versions model name wrong. Please correct me if I am.)

What about the hump on the hood of that plastic mid engine thing pontiac built. I forget the name.

That hump is pure Engineering GENIUS!!! Perfectly designed to create the exact amount of circulation coming over/under the notchback! Not to mention that mod alone is responsible for at least a 0.10% gain in hp and 0.15% in torque! NNNNNOTT!!!!

What the heck is it for anyway?!!?

Gary Witzenberg's book "Fiero" claims the decklid hump was necessary to clear the V6 intake plenum. Rather than tool up two different decklids, Pontiac simply installed the "humped" decklid on the 4-bangers too.

Personally, I was just glad to see the 84's titanium grille get replaced. What a dumb idea. My 84's grille was cracked on both sides, and it made this cheap-sounding "CLANGGGGGG" when you shut the decklid.

Actually, Chadman, the '84 grill is made of magnesium, not titanium.

Technically, you're both wrong. It's not pure anything. It's a magnesium alloy. I think 65% magnesium and I forget the rest. I looked it up for the other thread where someone wanted to melt it down.

AWWWWWW MAAAAAAN!

Today is the first time that I have actually investigated this thread. All this time I thought this thread was about sex on Ford Probes!

William T. Thorn, III

Tom, at least the hump on Fieros goes even from side to side and not some bulging thing on just one! Some of you guys gotcha your mind in the gutter! My next question was going to be "what happens if your dipstick breaks off" but never mind!

Sounds painful.

You or someone else probably yanked it to hard.

You guys are hilarious.

For the record, Shiner's right, I'm wrong. Witzenberg, p.68: "For 1984 only, Fiero's engine cover grille was cast magnesium."

I can't believe I looked that up. There's a fine line between being an enthusiast and being a geek and I think I just crossed it. I'm going to bed. See you guys in the morning, when I'll read all your posts when I should be working.

Hope you get some shuteye, Monkeyman!

Monkeyman,

It's an alloy of magnesium. So sue me. lol
I checked out an American Racing rim at the pep boys. I thought "pretty nice rim, is it aluminum [alloy]?) That sucker weighed more than my 15" rim AND tire combined! It said "alloy" on it... yeah, probably an alloy of lead!

Alloy wheels are actually pretty heavy. By feel, I'd have to say the 15" lace wheels on my GT outweigh the 13" steel wheels on my 84 by at least a few pounds each. I was surprised at how heavy they were. But they sure do look a heck of a lot better..

Yeah, 84 decklid grills were magnesium alloy. Pontiac won a design award for that one.

[This message has been edited by Standard (edited 02-16-2000).]

Shiner--I'll be contacting my attorney in the morning. I'll be asking for your Fiero as payment in the case.

QUESTION?!!! Would a Magnesium alloy burn like pure magnesium? I had the opportunity to chop up a set of the 84 side panel, cover thingies while making my own custom vents and discovered that the leftover shavings burned pretty darn good! As we all know, magnesium has to be in really thin strips or shavings to be able to ignite with the average pocket lighter. So would an alloy burn just as well??

Did you make sure to stay close and breath the fumes for a dose of magnesium poisening. It attacks the bones. We used to burn complete vw transaxkles. After the fire was over they burn hot enough to melt the hardened steel gears

I'm not sure if the solid side panels on the '84s were magnesium. I've never delt with them, but have never heard of them being made of anything special, just the vent in the center of the decklid.

I'm pretty sure the side panels on 84 were magnesium, too. They're pretty lite for how big they are.

It won't burn exactly like pure magnesium, but if you grind it up it should still be interesting..
but,
I have never done this and am not suggesting that you do it. dangerous stuff.. you could poke your eye out!