Topics

316

Administrator's Announcements / Website Up, but What To Do About Documents?

« on: June 05, 2014, 10:05:49 am »

As you are probably aware, we (gafiero.org) were shut down for a while. The reason was that there was too much access of PDF documents on our site. So I renamed the document directory, informed PowWeb (our hosting provider), and we are back up.
But now all of the document links that point to PDF files are dead. So we have to figure out what to do. Some suggestions:
1. Limit document access to paid members.
2. Buy a dedicated server on PowWeb. This will cost extra, of course, and the club isn't rich.
3. A guy on Pennock's has offered hosting with no bandwidth limit for cheap (less than PowWeb), but no email (so I would have to come up with a replacement for the admin email address). I am trying to find out more. I won't buy a pig in a poke.
4. Any other suggestions are welcome.

317

Administrator's Announcements / IMPORTANT NOTICE CONCERNING PERSONAL MESSAGES (PM's)

« on: May 23, 2014, 11:45:09 am »

If you receive an email from this forum stating that you have a personal message.....

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THE EMAIL!!!

The reply will go to me, not to the person who sent the PM. I've lost count of how many such messages I have received, and the worst part is that the intended never sees the message unless I have his email, and forward it.

318

Tech Tips, Tech Questions / All this trouble to change a $15 part.

« on: May 04, 2014, 10:22:09 pm »

There are some in the club that don't even know about my 88 t-top coupe. It's been that long since I have driven it. The throw-out bearing is bad, and changing it is a real chore.
Well, I finally found time to start the job. I found the part online for only $15 (factory close-out from Rock Auto). Here's what I have to go through to change that little part.
First, I had to disconnect everything and lift the car off the engine and transmission, which are still on the cradle...


The cradle rests on a modified Harbor Freight furniture dolly.


And now that the cherry picker has done it's job, the car rests on jack stands and a board.


Now the cradle is out from under the car, but the day is done, so the repair will have to wait for another day.

319

The Market / 87 GT, "bad motor", Athens AL, $550

« on: April 26, 2014, 09:04:28 am »

http://huntsville.craigslist.org/cto/4429471131.html

320

The Market / Free 86 SE (no engine)

« on: April 22, 2014, 02:15:32 pm »

Kevin McFall (SewPro) has an 86 SE (no engine) in his garage that he wants hauled away. It also has no back wheels, so he says you'll need a come-along and a flat bed to take it. He says it has lots of good parts.

321

General Discussion / Wouldn't you know it would rain...

« on: April 14, 2014, 04:30:00 pm »

Wouldn't you know it would rain on the day when there is to be an eclipse of the moon, and Mars is at it's closest point to earth in 26 months? I was going to set up a camera with a BIG lens and snap some pictures.
Oh, well, someone else managed to snap a good picture of Mars a few days ago. You can see the north pole ice cap and a few clouds in this picture.

322

Tech Tips, Tech Questions / Replacing your cap and rotor? Get one of these!

« on: March 08, 2014, 06:40:55 pm »

If you are replacing your distributor cap and rotor on your V6 Fiero, you should get one of these. (<-- Click here.) You'll notice that it says it's for a 4.3, but it's exactly the same as the 2.8 cap and rotor. It has quality brass contacts, and the red color looks cool in your car.
If you want to look it up yourself, and shop for the best price, it's MSD part no. 8430.

323

General Discussion / Not a Fiero, but way cool

« on: March 02, 2014, 08:00:57 pm »

We saw this today -- a Tesla roadster!

324

Tech Tips, Tech Questions / CarQuest Brake Procedure -- Specific Fiero Instructions

« on: February 22, 2014, 06:05:33 pm »

The CarQuest Parking Brake Procedure I put on our website has been mentioned recently. Here are some specific instructions for doing it on a Fiero. Obvious steps, like removing the wheel, are skipped.
1. Use a (Rodney Dickman) spring compressor to compress the parking brake spring, and remove it.
2. Remove the parking brake cable from the caliper. It will get in the way. There are little tabs that hold it in place that you have to squeeze in with pliers.
3. Replace the spring. You need it to slam the lever back to the stop as mentioned in the procedure.
4. Perform the procedure as described. You may need to do it several times.
5. Put every thing back together.

325

General Discussion / The Lightpole Hawk

« on: February 22, 2014, 09:07:35 am »

At the business park where I work, there is a hawk who likes to sit on a lightpole, and watch for squirrels and chipmunks below. He always sits on the same pole (I guess he claimed it).

326

Club News / 2014 club calendar

« on: February 16, 2014, 11:09:07 pm »

I have updated the club calendar of events. Click here to see it. If you have additions or corrections, please let me know.

327

General Fiero Discussion / Smokey Yunick's Fiero

« on: February 08, 2014, 09:30:50 am »

I received the following in my email:

Hello Fiero Club:
   I tried to go in through your message board - in order to respond from Detroit on your Smokey Yunick Fiero article. If you're interested...  I worked for GM Advanced Product Engineering (I was an APE...) as a Prototype Fabricator back in the same era where Smokey was trying to introduce the radical new technology of the Vapor Engine to GM. That was the Roger Smith era - and yeah, I see all kinds of potential problems.  I once asked one of the old-timers around the garages at the Warren Tech Center - just what does it take to win one of GM's awards for a contribution to engineering. He looked around to make sure no one was listening, and leaned forward to say that - It sort of depends on just WHO you are. -For example, they gave one major award to someone who actually had the idea that you don't need TWO PARTS in order to bolt a vibration dampener to the end of a Chevy smallblock crankshaft. You could conceivably put the washer and bolt which are normally used - together! You could use one part instead of two - and who would have thought...
   Smokey was known to refer to those he didn't have much respect for - as SOB's. -To their faces, usually. He was outspoken, indeed. "See you sons of bitches later", he said to Ford officials at Riverside raceway for official testing of the Mustang, after Lloyd Ruby had done spectacular laps in the now-famous Smokey Yunick Camaro.
   Put a dynamic person - with a mind like Smokey Yunick - together with the kind of people who ran General Motors back in the day - no. No chance there for compatibility. And if one of those officials tried to explain to Smokey just why his design would never work in the real world of making cars - then he would take his design back out, and send the vehicle back to GM. And would let it sit in a corner for over 20 years untouched. That seems to explain things nicely, the scenario which led to the end of the Vapor Motor project. The only problem is, I have a GM-designed Saab out in the driveway that I have to warm up for over half an hour before I can drive it.
   But the fact that out of all the people in America that Smokey could have willed that priceless work of art and design to - the actual experimental Vapor Motor - now that says something, also. It wasn't that Smokey didn't care about it - the design. It was just that he couldn't get through to GM management. But then again, neither could the film maker Roger Smith - either. It all makes sense - because that's just what Smokey would do - just what happened to his radical new technology and design. It got parked. And then it got left to one man in America - who probably did exactly what Smokey knew he could, and would do. He got it running - and running well according to the very-professionally written article of yours on the story behind this project, and now a real road test behind the wheel of the originally-designed vehicle.
   Smokey has been vindicated by this article - no doubt about it. This design is an important milestone in the evolution of the internal combustion engine, and GM missed it completely. And all this makes perfect sense - from what I know about all parties involved.
   Your article about this project vindicates Smokey - as if any of us needed to be convinced he was a brilliant man. -Like the time he showed up with little holes drilled in his headers. Everyone was ready to put little holes in their - too, just as soon as they could figure out why he had done this. -It turned out that Smokey was the first one to put a pyrometer right into the exhaust flow - to check fuel distribution through the manifold at speed. Incredible.
   But thank you for this article, and for your effort to enlighten Detroit by way of Daytona beach, and now garages in the South. We need this up here, desperately. We need all the brilliance and inspiration we can get - no mater where or who it comes from. We need to learn - not preach. We need to change our thinking and our ways - long ago. When we give awards for making a new-shaped bolt - and Smokey's designs get parked... Thank you all, for vindicating all of us. All of us trying up here in the Motor City, trying to make things work better in this world.
   Ron Stephens

328

General Discussion / Another mid-engine American vehicle???

« on: February 02, 2014, 11:34:16 pm »

This was parked at the local Wal-mart yesterday....

Let's see... There's no room for an engine up front, or in back, so it must be a mid-engine vehicle. I should have invited the driver to RFTH!;)

329

The Market / Stickers for your Fiero

« on: January 03, 2014, 01:39:25 pm »

JohnWPB on Pennock's forum has just about every sticker you need to make your Fiero look stock (emission stickers, coolant fill stickers, jack stickers, belt routing, etc.).
For information and caution stickers, click here.
For replacement RPO stickers (you must fill in a form with the numbers from your old sticker), click here.

330

General Fiero Discussion / Indy Track Day Pictures

« on: December 02, 2013, 09:58:01 pm »

Today I (finally) got my DVD of track day pictures from the Fiero 30th Anniversary. Among the huge collection, I found these familiar cars: