End of the year updates

Been working on the car over the last few days since the shop is on Xmas shutdown, its been nice cause I've gotten a few things done, mostly with the shifter, interior bits and pieces, finished modifying the brake/clutch and mounted the gas pedal. What I didn't get done was the front suspension, I was looking to finish it but since I ran into steering geometry issues I've been leaning and looking into doing a 88 suspension swap. I will have a 88 front cradle coming in early next year and I'll be rebuilding it all again, but that's another story, this is about what I did over the last 3 days.

First I started with welding the shifter bracket in place, I needed to move it since the 240 dash was interfering with the location of the stock bracket, once I got that located then I needed to work on the shifter cables, I opted to get rid of the stock ION cables for something a little easier to adjust and stiffer mounting, from my local idea store (Princess auto) I found cables, but after fooling around with them last week I noticed a fundamental problem, the cables although really nice had a problem with it not being able to allow for flex, they were too rigid. So I had to "dismantle" them, and the stock GM cables, removing the plastic shaft with ball joint that allowed the stock cable to move with the pivot action of the shifter and transmission links. After fighting all day with them I finally got them done and installed on the shifter housing, the next day I tackled the transmission mounting and with some fine tuning and adjusting of the cables the system works fairly well, although I am going to have to install a 5th/reverse lockout guide on the shifter housing, but that's a project for another day.

Next I tackled the stock ION brake and clutch switches, it was more simple, just had to cut a couple tabs from the stock ION foot pedal assembly and weld them to the Fiero assembly. The gas pedal since it is a electronic fly by wire system needed a chunk of the stock ION mounting bracket cut off and welded to the Fiero chassis and a re-enforcing bracket be welded to the brake pedal assembly.

I also got a bit more of the rear hatch done, mounted the gas lift struts although thinking about it I might go and grab a pair of linear actuators and have some lifting action put into the hatch. I did get to tackle some alum TIG welding as well, welded up some of the ducting for the intercooler so it will line up with the scoop that I will have to build into the hatch.

Lastly I started welding brackets in place to mount the 240 dash, until now it was just laying in the car with no bolts or support, also started mocking up the center console pieces with a combination of 240 and Fiero plastic pieces.

On to some pics

Its been a busy month, some progress.

Its been a busy one lately, with xmas, family emergency, work and regular day to day life, but I have gotten a few more things started.

Mainly I started doing some dash work with getting the seats semi mounted (this project is on pause right now), when I got the dash mounted I realized the stock Fiero shifter location is directly in the way of the main console, so the shifter had to be moved and re-designed. When I started looking at the shifter assembly I also started looking at better cables which I am still trying to figure out so it might not look 100% correct right now.

Also, I started working on the auxiliary gauge setup in the dash........I've got 8 gauges right now, looking for a place to maybe fit one more, also I am going to have to figure out where to mount the stereo, because there is absolutely no room left in the dash, lastly I got the rims and wheels back on the car, the last month has been really bad for moving the car around the shop on the dolly, the weight of the chassis crushed the rubber wheels and split them open making it next to impossible to roll the car.

Lastly I might have run into a problem with the front steering requiring me to have to re-design the rack mounting location, I'm not getting proper angles one the wheels when turned to full lock..........more work.

Slight progress this evening

Tonight I had some progress getting the new rear trunk/hatch setup done, I started with welding the hinges to the plates that I mounted a long time ago, then with some 2x1 square aluminium tube and some brackets I built a frame that will hold the new fibreglass work and the rear window.

Also I finally got around to welding the brake calliper tabs to the rear knuckles, please keep in mind that these are mock up callipers that I have had laying around for a few years (thus all the rust), I hope to be getting some rebuilt units in the next month or so.

 

New plans and new problems

I had a little good luck and a small set back this week, last weekend I got a 86 GT rear clip, lights and trunk, its going to save me many hours of fiberglassing and sanding from trying to create a fastback style from a notchback design. With the trunk I cut off the section that I don't need, this week I will be looking at making a fastback hatch, I've also relocated the wing further back so that it would give proper clearance for the new design, that and I think that it looks better with this design.

Now the bad, I don't think that I had such a problem mounting the engine as I have had trying to get the darn racing seats to sit properly, I've made and welded brackets just to find out that they were causing an issue with the sliders hitting the brackets of the frame. I'm starting to loose my patience with these things.........lol

Busy couple weeks

I've been trying to keep busy, doing odds and ends try to clean up some of the little things, I got the front bumper formed, curved and installed. Also I built the fan shroud to hold two 12" slim fans, why two? because I got a deal on both of them and the stock ION harness requires two fans. Today I got to working on the seating position, steering wheel height and clutch pedal/brake pedal assembly. One thing I thought that I might have a issue with was the electric power steering motor, it turned out to be true, the stock ION/delta chassis motor sits low on the column but when it was installed on a ION/cobalt/G5 it was a non issue (although I do remember striking it with my foot a few times on that car), but since the Fiero is such a low car and there isn't much room in the drivers compartment this issue is compounded. In the photo's I took a couple shots of my feet on the pedals and how close it is, although I can still use the pedals with no issue, getting in and out will require watching your foot position and getting it under the motor while you get in. Lastly I got the rear clip cut up and mounted the fastback sails via metal brackets and tek screws.

Tomorrow I hope to weld in the brackets for the racing seats and maybe mount the tabs that will hold the rear brake calipers.