So I got motivated and I have been working hard on it cleaning up all the underbody to paint with Rust Bullet. Rust really isnt that bad but I want to stop it now, I want my fiero to last me forever. When I originally did the engine swap I sprayed the engine bay with rubberized undercoating. It looked good but didn't work out in some of the hot spots, so I have been working hard to clean it all out. WHAT A MESS!!!. I got some new picks of my cleaning up. Pretty much anything that I could remove with out much hasle I removed.
My supports going where the coolant tubes are located. Going to make my car a Targa Top. I love the way Targas look.
Long tedious process pulling off the roof pieces. The front piece was a lot easier than normal though with the top cut off. I was able to get in the a knife real easy.
Little more done this week. almost ready to start painting. here are a couple pics. This worked well for getting into tight spots. Going on vacation next week, but I will be back at it as soon as I get back.
Haven't messed with Tuesday much lately but I did pick this up when I had some extra cash. 8lb fidanza flywheel. Also I have removed my lower intake so I can be 100% sure I have the valve lash correct.
Base coat of Rust Bullet done Plan on top coating it with Rust Bullet top coat in a couple of days. The top coat is black, I plan on doing everything black and red. I also have the gas tank done with the base coat.
Gloss back rust bullet finish. This stuff makes a nice tough shell. I was scratching at it and it takes some good effort to scratch it. Completely dismantled the front end today. I'll start cleaning it and painting tomorrow. Lower ball joints seem real stiff and scratchy sounding when I move them around. I have some front springs from an 84 that I was planning on using, but might get rodneys lowering ball joints since I need to replace the old ones. Rodneys site said 84-87 for those but I have read about others using them in the 88. Anybody got any input on this let me know please. Got new sway bar end links but they are a different length than my old ones. I'm thinking my sway bar may not be stock but not sure. Its like 1 and1/4 inch in diameter I thought stock was 7/8th in. Spring compressing done wrong but it worked fine.
Got some stuff done today but ran out of sand and then my sand blaster broke. Put my boy to work. I picked up a brake booster from a 97 s-10 for $35.00 today as well.
I got the lower control arm bushings removed rather easily. but the upper ones are proving difficult. I know it is suggested to burn them out, but that just worries me. Any suggestions on this? The bolting rod that runs through them doesn't appear to come out unless you remove the bushings and the sleeves so its hard to work around. Burning them would be easiest but I don't want to sacrifice any integrity of the control arm. Oh and here is a pick to get your interests. Red Fuel tank. Some miscellaneous parts will be this color red. The pic makes it look light, almost pink. It looks a lot nicer in person. Its a nice rich red. Looks really good next to the gloss black.
[This message has been edited by fierofinder (edited 07-09-2013).]
Got the upper bushings removed. They popped out easy with a little heat and force. Tomorrow I'll get a new sandblaster and finish cleaning so I can have the front painted by this weekend.
Been getting some stuff in the mail. Here is a pic of some of the new goodies. Still have Rodney's 1 inch lowering ball joints and upper ball joints coming. Really excited about the new shocks. Didn't realize my old ones were shot till I pulled them off there, the car always handled great. Got a new sandblaster as well so hopefully get close to done on the front end this weekend.
[This message has been edited by fierofinder (edited 07-13-2013).]
Was wanting opinions on the front springs. I have the stock 88 springs and I have a set from an 84. I was planning on using the 84s for the higher spring rate. If I cut the 84s to the same length as the 88s Im assuming it would sit higher than before because of the stiffer spring so I need to cut a little more off. I'm not sure how much extra I should go. 1/2 coil? 1coil? Already going to have Rodneys 1 in lowering ball joint but I'm thinking I still might want to go a little lower. I know too much and I have clearance issues with my stock 15in rims. Any thoughts?
Little work done so far today. I cut the pre 88 springs down. I cut 2 and 1/2 coils off. This puts it an inch and half lower than stock 88 spring. Might have made them a little shorter than I wanted but we will see. If it doesn't work out I still have the stock 88 springs. Little bit of painting done here. I messed up and painted the calipers too. This paint isn't high temp paint so it probably won't last long on the calipers. This is a comparison shot of the calipers after cleaning one.
putting the lower ball joints in proved difficult, at least one side. One side kept trying to go in crooket. Its in now but it still looks a little off. I pulled it and put it back in once but compared to the other one it just seems a little off. Since it will be welded in I don't think a millimeter difference will hurt it though. If anybody thinks differently let me know before I weld it thank you.
I got some new brake pads and was trying to get the calipers on but there is no way. The piston is only compressing maybe 1/4 of an inch. and I'm going to need at least a half inch to get the pads to slide over the rotors. The rotors are the same as the old ones so maybe the pads I got are too thick. I ordered the carbomet pads from the fiero store. Any suggestions. Should the piston squeeze in more than it is, I was squeezing them pretty hard with a clamp.
Got the brake issue solved. I got two clamps on there with more even pressure. Not much progress lately. Dismantled the cradle and started cleaning stuff. Technical question about 1 in lowering ball joints. The instructions that came with them suggested using one inch longer end links. The position of the lower control arm in relation to the cross member doesn't change so I was wondering the reason for this. With different springs the lower control arm moves up or down and I can see the need for different length end links there. Please chime in so I can make sure I get this right. for my setup. Thank You.
Couple more pics Lengthened banjo for my brake booster upgrade. Clearance made for brake booster. Need to touch up paint now. Also it is really dusty in the picture.
That picture blown up like that looks awful. The paint is glossy and is reflecting and its pretty dusty. Really looks much better than that picture. The dent I had to make to get the booster to fit was minimal.
First day with any progress in awhile. I got the engine ready for paint. I painted the rear brake calipers. Here are some pics. In the last picture are my new rotors that were black. After a month of sitting on the car they turned green.
I am fishing for a good idea on how to make my truleo intake look nice again.. What I did was cover all the welds with jb weld. There were some pin holes in the welds and this seemed like a decent way to take care of those. But this doesn't look very nice, I need a way to mask it. I was thinking of things like bedliner or heat wrapping it. Does any one have any good ideas.
more progress today. First off bracket for idler pulley. Next pics are of my slight mod to get the coolant line further from the exhaust. With these manifolds there was only a fingers width between them. I just got a longer hose and bent the lower mounting bracket a little.
[This message has been edited by fierofinder (edited 02-16-2014).]
went ahead and painted alternator even though I'll probably get a new one before long. Been working on more supports before chopping roof off. Everything is tack welded together and my buddy is going to bring over his nice welder again on Sunday to finish the job. Wasn't getting any good penetration with my cheap harbor freight welder. Once ready for final install the two sides will be connected with a piece of 1x3. Everything will be bolted and panel bonded into place when finished. I know panel bond is the easy way but I think it will do the job fine with all the bolts too. Obviously I will be changing up the interior some to work with my supports. It should all come together nicely.
[This message has been edited by fierofinder (edited 03-14-2014).]
Really nice job, I have done work on mine but I wish I could do the quality work you have shown here. I will have to watch this one to get ideas and know how.
