G.T. Fieros

I had some free time so I dabbled on the car for a while.
Frame rails dollied straight and sandblasted.




Primed and painted the sheet metal behind the frame rails.


Primed and painted inside the frame rails.


A few 1/4" holes rosette welded and the right side is coming along.










As you can see, it's not 100% finished yet. I'll get to the other side another time.

Here's a few more pictures of the frame rail installation and fabrication. Most of the "big stuff" is done and I've decided to use a good zinc spray and coat all the bare metal. I still have to apply seam sealer and paint the primer before it gets too cold. But that's for another day, Man the time flies, it's already November.

Passenger side.






Driver side.

c'est tres bon!

Merci pour le compliment.

Sometimes it's difficult to find time to work on projects as there's always something else that needs you attention. I did manage to get a little garage time though. I smeared some sealer over the joints that needed to be protected.










I also installed the rear bumper for the last time.








To finish off the day, I added the T-top bracing and fit the glass in. I think it looks good and it seems to be centered quite nicely.






I'll make this prettier once I get to that point.








I scrapped a car and kept the seats. These Mustang GT (83-84) halo seats actually fit in the Fiero. The Fiero seat tracks could also be utilized. I set one in place and seeing the halo head rest out the back window is kind of neat. These are taller and I'm not sure I’m going to use them. I was just curious and had to try.

great stuff.

I put mine to sleep for the winter this past week. all snug and cozy. got fiero withdrawal symptoms already. and it's not even December yet.

Here's the area that the fuel filler tube goes through. As you can clearly see, we have some missing metal. Lets take care of that.

Open area that needs to be filled.


Here's the piece after a hammer and dolly session and a trip through the sand blaster. I'll weld in a patch over the small hole next time.


Looking better and getting there.


Battery tray was damaged and here's what I could salvage. I'll add more metal after I make a nice template.




While I was in the back of the car, I removed all traces of the original dog bone mount bracket.


I also added 1/4" rivets to pin the shock towers to the frame rail.


Sealed the holes in the firewall from the removal of the deck lid hinges.




I made a template to contour the left side of the firewall where the filler tube meets.


Transfer the line to the checker plate panel.


Cut on the transferred line.


If your measurements and template were good, then adhere the checker plate in place. Voila.
Note: I like the texture of the checker plate but not the shine. I'm going to paint it black to blend in with the rest of the engine bay. I want the Ecotec to be the centre of attention.






My friend is a member in a local car club in the area. I decided to fire up Solidworks and make some custom vanity plates for the guy's there. I made them out of 16 gauge steel and everyone loved them.

While scouring the local classifieds, I found two Ecotec engines close to me. Both are the same L61 family. One being 03, the other 05. I was looking for a good core engine for future mods but now I have two. One had internal mechanical damage, from what the previous owner said. It sure looks like it as the valve cover is off and the cam followers are damaged. Probably a timing chain let go. The other engine ran in the fall apparently. Again, I'll dissect them both and see what I've got. As I said, I only want a good core. Besides, getting these saved me the hassle of going to the salvage yard and pulling my own. Don't mind the snow, they were laid on their side for the ride home.







I work out of a small garage and space is sometimes at a premium. Now with two additional Ecotec engines on the floor, I need to make a little room. As you know, I have one complete, running L61 Ecotec and two mystery core engines. I want to install one as a stock runner and enjoy it for a while as-is. The next one, I'd like to have a little more power and I'd like to freshen it up.

Mystery engine "B". Notice the loose timing chain?


Rusted cylinder walls and water jackets damaged in three places!


When a timing chain slips on the interference Ecotec, bad things happen!










Holes in all four pistons from valve stem parts dancing around the combustion chamber.


Mystery engine "A".
This one turned over a little tight but it's way better shape internally than the other one




Ringland on cylinder one was damaged/missing.


All 16 valves look okay.


In all, I have one good core and I can salvage a few parts (intake, sensors, oil pan, etc) from the "parts engine".

Note: Early Ecotec engines had a poorly designed cam chain tensioner. Do yourself a favour and get the "upgraded" version. They're cheap and will prevent damage like shown above.

ya those engines look like a project and a half...where's the popcorn?

I'm still plugging away at this project despite the cold weather and lack of heat in the garage. However, I've made a little progress.
I'm looking to smooth out the engine bay a little. Nothing major, just remove any offending areas and sharp edges. (Body filler will be applied to smooth things out further.)

A few cardboard templates and then a transfer to light gauge sheet metal is in order.









In the preparation of reinstalling the rear window, one first has to remove the old urethane sealer. This is easily accomplished by using the right tools. I removed as much of the old urethane using a sharp utility knife. Then the remainder was easily removed using a Walter wire wheel. This makes the job pleasant and the results speak for themselves. Yes, I'll apply the proper primer before the window goes back in. But that's for another day.






Since I mentioned it was cold earlier, I decided to make a model of the fuel tank. (In the warmth of my house!)
Yes, I'll be building an all aluminum fuel tank for this car. It's a wee bit bigger than stock 87 tank that I used to measure from.




Note: I will be adding baffles to the inside. They're just not shown here.


I used thick cardboard to make the fuel tank body.








I installed this cardboard model into position and since it fits well, I can now commit to cutting on the laser using 5052 1/8" aluminum.
I'll make a video of the laser in action once I get to that point.
That's all for now.

I walked past it in my garage today, I didn't say a word to it and it never said a word to me, It was very cold.

_________________
SaturnTO
Alliston
Ontario

"I walked past it in my garage today, I didn't say a word to it and it never said a word to me, It was very cold."

Said the antisocial hermit living in desolate Alliston Ontario, shortly before he decided to end his life by dropping his plug-in vibrator in the bathtub full of water. The responding paramedics didn't know what to say about the middle aged electrocuted man in the tight red speedo found floating in the tub.

Upon opening a shoe box full of oddities, I found something....





On a side note, despite the colder-than-seasonal temperatures, I spent some time on the other project.
I drew up a nice adapter plate to mate the Northstar to my Porsche transaxle.
It's made of 6061 aluminum and has been cut on a water jet. I still need to machine out a register lip and counterbore two holes. But it fits spot on. I'll post this project when the time is right.

luvin the fab work L! truly an artist at work, great to see & envy.

People, stop hibernating and start working on your cars! Winter is now over.
Okay, I'll admit, I too have been a little slack. February indeed was way too cold to be out in the garage. But now, I have some motivation again.

I cleaned, flushed, inspected and pressure tested the stock dual-core radiator and it passes my inspection.
I also picked up a new rad cap to accent the now clean and ready to install rad.


After inspecting my old clutch master, I decided not to reuse it. Instead, thanks to Netcam, I just bought his new one. (I think it's a unit from Rodney Dickman).


I wanted a complete polyurethane bushing kit to replace my worn out OEM bushings. This was easily accomplished by placing an order through the Fiero store. Very quick shipping too, three days.


That leaves the balljoints. Well, the 88 upper is made of unobtanium and cannot be found locally. Instead of finding something dimensionally close, and making it fit, I chose to place an order with Rodney Dickman.


New upper and lower balljoints, steering rack bushing, new rear upright through bolts and tie rod end boots. Again, package arrived fairly quickly at my door in only four days.


Since I'm refreshing all the old, worn out parts, it only makes sense to get all new grade 10.9 hardware for the suspension.


Even though I have some new parts and I'm excited to install them, I still need to maintain the rest of the fleet for the upcoming season. I need to move to a planet that has 36 hours in a day!