Tinton's '88 Fiero GT 5-speed

[Tinton]

Btw, anyone want a new video of exhaust and/or driving of this car?

Yes.

+1 on the headers, too.

http://www.westcoastfiero.com/headers/2 ... _tube.html
The price isn't that bad, $495, only problem is that I don't think I can do the work myself. The engine cradle might need to be dropped, and the stock bolts holding the manifold don't look pretty (they might be rusted so bad they merged with the studs? ). The car has a bad exhaust leak on the front manifold though, its about the same amount of labor to put a new gasket on as headers, so I might as well upgrade .

I also hope long tube headers fit. My engine bay is pretty cramped as-is .

[Tinton]

Well, the oil in the doorlock worked wonders. Now both my driver's side door hinge and door lock work as good as new; they've been bugging me ever since I got the car .

I don't think I can get the Corvette brakes put on this weekend though, the pads arrived at my Dad's place but the big-brake-kit is still being shipped and won't arrive til Monday .

[Bawked]

Get some headers. they should be the first upgrade people do to cars.... actually maybe brakes should be...

[Rope-Pusher]

Powdered graphite is the preferred lube for locks. Oil can gum-up after a while.

[kwak88]

curious, how much did this run you?

[Tinton]

curious, how much did this run you?

What? The car? $7500. I didn't actually pay anything really though, I met up with a couple Fiero club people I knew and basically traded cars. I got $7500 for my old red Fiero and used that to immediately get my '88 GT 5-speed. Worked out well, my old one was automatic .

[Tinton]

Update:

My last post in this thread was in May, the car hasn't really ran since then . After I got the corvette 12" brakes put on I bled the clutch and test-drove the car, it was a perfect clutch bleed but it lost all pressure in a few miles and I broke 1 of the shift cables trying to drive it back (yeah stupid mistake). After that the car sat for a while again as I ordered the new cable and eventually got my mechanic friend to help me replace it. He also helped me bleed the clutch again and I decided it was ready to drive up to school (nope). So it sat again in the parking deck with bad exhaust leaks and bad clutch hydraulics, I managed to get groceries 1 time with it back in July but even then I barely got it back to the deck. After a while I finally decided to get long-tube headers for the car ($550) because I found a new mechanic friend who could do the work very easily. This was back in late August and I planned to go on a mountain run with the car on Sept. 14-16th, but somehow it took about a month for my headers to arrive . Apparently WCF had to wait on the clamps to arrive at their place, and I also had to buy new (and better engineered) clutch master and slave cylinders, so there was no way I could make the run . Anyways there's another mountain run in October with Italian cars, and I think I'm all set for that .

Right now, the car is perfect, pretty much . I haven't been able to drive it much at all since April when it started having so many problems, right now it seems like everything's fixed . I got the 12" Corvette brakes put on it right about then I think, so I haven't even gotten a chance to break them in. They are completely AWESOME, there's nothing like having too much braking . If I just barely touch the brake pedal, the car slows down pretty much instantly, and it feels very stable. I got to drive the car a lot today (even in the flooding rains here) and for every intersection or curve I came to, I had to start braking a bit later, just because its so much easier to slow the car down. I can't wait to see how it drives up in the mountains, it also feels like a match for my MR2 in speed now so it should be fun .

Anyways, here's the thread with videos of my new exhaust setup :
Long-tube headers.

[Rope-Pusher]

nice to hear (literally) that it's runnin' agin. What was wiff the hydraulics? Too close to heat? Not up to heavier-than-stock clutch spring? leaks?

[bde]

Might wanna adjust your brake pedal movement. I imagine heel-toeing will be pretty difficult with such sensitive brakes.

[Tinton]

Might wanna adjust your brake pedal movement. I imagine heel-toeing will be pretty difficult with such sensitive brakes.

Yup having such sensitive brakes has made it almost impossible to heel-toe. I'm getting used to it though, I just have to angle my foot a little differently when I do it. It makes it harder to do in my other cars though.

Rope-pusher, most of the problems with the hydraulics were from poor engineering. The stock Fiero slave-cylinder lacks a second seal on the piston, so its possible to pull air into the system when releasing the clutch pedal. Its also cast iron so it corrodes and gets pitting on the cylinder walls really easily. I probably didn't have to change the slave because I did it a few months before, but it gives me peace of mind knowing I have a much better slave cylinder than stock. The 1 that's in there now is aftermarket and has 2 seals on the piston, along with being made from aluminum. My master cylinder was the main issue, its reservoir cap wouldn't seal right (or at all? lol) so dirt would get into the system really easily, along with air. It was just some cheap Autozone sh*t, the previous owners of this car went through like 6 master cylinders in the time they owned it (only a couple years) and I'm guessing they just kept bringing masters back to Autozone and exchanging them for the same sh*tty part . I got my new master cylinder from the Fierostore and it actually seals tight, I'm pretty sure it'll last a while .

Update on the car: I still hate it, it never works right . The way its looking, I'm not going to be able to do the Italian Car Day mountain run like I wanted to . With my MR2 boosting weird as usual and my '86 having bad bushings/balljoints/etc, this might be 1 more year I don't make it up to the mountains . My '88GT drives like its running on 5 cylinders (inconsistent, bucking acceleration; and backfiring with increased throttle) I'm going to change the sparkplugs next week, if that doesn't fix it I'm not sure what will. At that point I might have to replace ALL the ignition parts . While this car's been having neverending problems, I can just hop in my '86 Fiero and it starts/drives just fine, with the exception of having pitiful brakes and really worn out, dangerous suspension. I don't see why I can't have at least 1 car that works 100% .

[LHOswald]

backfiring is caused from a lean mixture. i don't see how changing your spark plugs are going to help the backfiring.

[Tinton]

backfiring is caused from a lean mixture. i don't see how changing your spark plugs are going to help the backfiring.

Nah its caused from a rich mixture. Excess fuel ends up in the hot exhaust and it ignites there, though really, by definition, what I'm describing is a misfire. An actual backfire goes back up through the intake, hence the "back" .

I looked on the Fiero forum and it could be anything, so that pretty much limits my research to stuff I've changed recently, or hasn't been changed in a longggggggggggg time. What's happening is 1 of the cylinders isn't burning the fuel its given and its ending up in the exhaust. Its most likely because of a spark plug not firing, but it could also be from the a/f being too rich, from 1 of the sensors malfunctioning (like TPS or IAC, etc) or because of timing. If an exhaust valve were left open during part of the compression stroke it'd do what I'm experiencing. Also, if ignition timing were off it could cause it as well. So right now, I'm just going to try simple things like a tune-up and sensors .

[Bawked]

heres an idea... run 14 pound on the 2, get rid of the bov and get it tuned. ct26b @ 20 pound should be dead by now....

[Tinton]

heres an idea... run 14 pound on the 2, get rid of the bov and get it tuned. ct26b @ 20 pound should be dead by now....

Says the Camry owner, right?

[Rope-Pusher]

I had a TPS issue that gave some of your symptoms wunce upon a thyme. It turned out they were a high warranty item in the '80s