2005 .....Here's to a better year ....
January 2005
And saving.....
February 2005
I got the motor back this month and FORTUNATELY the damage was mild. Here is how I tote the motor around.
The empty spot where the motor should be.
The set up.
March 2005
I put the motor back in went back to my "To Do" list. Naturally I have tons of things I want to add. To name a few....
- Add a G-Tech Pro for lateral g's
- Add a center hold-down for the lower center of the windshield.
- Add a starter button to the engine bay.
- Add a positive and negitive lead for the timing light in the engine bay.
- Add a mark to the flywheel so timing can be set by looking at the back of the motor.
- Add a full belly pan for the engine bay to help aerodynamics under the car.
- Add a tranny temp sensor.
- Move the oil temp sensor to a better pickup location for accuracy.
- Add a temp sensor for the return coolant line. (have both in and out flow now to monitor cooling better)
- Many more I have forgotten.... : )
April 2005
I got to some shows this month! Didn't win anything at this one, but got lots of good comments. For those who know me.... yes they ARE touching my car. They did it before I could ask them to pose beside it. Makes a good photo anyway.
Here are some pictures from our local Gateway Fieros Club Show. We all had a great time! An All-American line up!
My thoughts for an advertisement: "The 1987 Pontiac Fiero GT: Race heritage included...."
The UN-Bodied Fiero. Completely street-legal.
My wife with the car... (doesn't she look better than the Hooters Girls posing with the car!?) : )
May 2005
Early this month I finished preparing the car for a track day on the 21st at Gateway International.
Some time ago I made my own alignment system that I have found to be reliable. Here are a few pictures. For the caster and camber I use a digital track gage. It was about $250 and worth every penny because it is easy to use and can be done anywhere. The toe was a little more tricky.
I decided to mount lasers on the wheels for a straight line.
I also determine the chassis center and shoot a laser straight down the center line of the car.
Once this is complete, I take a reading on a scale (as shown) and deterine the position of the wheels at 200 in and 350 in from the front axle. From this I can determine the angles and set my desired tow.
After preping the car I went to the track, I am happy to say that they placed me in the "Expert" group (I have some 2 stroke kart experience but hardly an expert) and the car felt GREAT!
That all came to an abrupt halt with the beginning of the second round I think you can see what I mean by the pictures.
I broke the lower A-arm mount off of the hub carrier. Not good. I nearly hit the wall. Anyway I found that the original suspension design had a large amount of fore/aft loading and shock mount brackets were being used. With the engine and braking power of this beast, these needed a serious beefing up.
Here is the damage to the wheel. It was rubbing the frame and I had a tough time "dragging" the car into the trailer.
June 2005
This is what the hub carrier bracket looked like before with the broken piece on the lower side of the part.
This is after a beefing up and power coating.
All of this fixing (3 weeks) was done to get the car preped for a show in Kansas City the 3rd week of June and then Auburn Indiana over the 4th of July holiday.
The Kansas City Fiero Owners Group puts on a great show. This year was their second. The coolest part about this show (other than the people) was that is was held IN the mall.
This worked out great since it started to rain later that day. There were about 22 cars and they were all driven into position (except for mine). I wanted to drive it in but I thought that the fumes would just be too much.
I am VERY pleased to say that I won BEST OF SHOW! This is the first time I have ever won an award like this and I was just thrilled. If I ever win best of show again it won't be quite like the first time. Thank you KCFOG! I'm making plans to attend next year. I encourage others to go as well. Being in the mall was great.
July 2005
The "Fieros at Auburn" show was on July 1 and 2. There was a cruise downtown that I decide to "partake" in even though the car does not have a plate, insurance, VIN #, street legal tires, wind shield wipers, headlights... you get the picture. The truth is that I figured the cops would not mind me in a group of other fieros as long as I didn't "hotdog". I was right. Below are a few pictures.....
After parking downtown we ate at Munchie's Emporium. Pretty good food.
The show was great. About 70 cars showed up and the weather was perfect!
I took the chance to set up my swaybar display in hopes of selling one.
The car above was one of my favorites. This thing started as an INDY. A custom 3.0 SD4 was then installed complete with chrome and LOTS of hand made parts. This guy did a fantastic job with the detail. I would amazed that I won "Best Engine" with this car at the show.
I was proud to take home these awards with such a great group of cars. Very stiff competition. I received Best Engine, Best Engineered, and Best in Class. Unfortunately I was the only one in my class so the last one was a "gimme".
Two days after my family and I returned home, we had a main water line break in the house. The basement (finished) was filled with 2" of water. The carpet was floating. Fixing it would require gutting the basement and starting over as well as repairing structural damage to the front of the house. I had planned on compeating in the Kit Car Mag. "Run & Gun" in August, but my better judgement told me to hold back and not enter. If I broke something on the car it may be a very long time before I would have the money to fix it. I'll stick to shows for a while.
September 2005
This month I decided to participate in Fierorama X, up in Chicago on September 11. The show featured 5 prototypes from GM including the 1990 Fiero GT. I was lucky enough to be there when the cars were unloaded and got some fantastic video of the cars running. All of the engine sounds were caught on tape! Anyway, about 165 cars attended. I didn't win anything (display only), but I was parked next to the prototype tent along with Fred Bartemeyer's yellow PPG pace car. Since the Huffaker / GM Goodwrench 55 car was not able to be brought from GM with the prototypes, I was asked to have my car take it's place as an example of a Fiero race car from the period. I was honored!
November 2005
Well, the basement is well under way (70% complete) and it is again time to think about mods for next year. Most of these items are "nice to have" so no big horsepower changes. Below is a list of what I had in mind:
1. Add valves to drain coolant from both the block and the lines.
2. Reroute the coolant tube from over the valve cover to allow for valve lash checks while the engine is hot.
3. Make an adjustable throttle to allow better control of the car in SOLO II.
4. Add an Accusump system to pre-oil the engine. This will eliminate the need for me to prime the motor after setting.
5. Install collapseable steering column
6. New plugs and wires
7. Fix loose rack and pinion
8. Add a Roof Scoop (if I can manage the custom fiberglass).
December 2005
Well, this month I'm working on the list. Below are some pictures:
Upper coolant tubes removed.
This how I learned to fabricate tubing. Cut everyting to the proper position (a little big is better for safety). Excess metal can be removed in small portions as the fit gets close. Then use a hose clamp with holes punched in it. The tube can be spot TIGed in the holes and the clamp removed for the final weld.
The "holey" clamp. :)
Another view.... That engine seems closer to the seat every year.. hum...
INDEX:
Page 1 = Overview, Vehicle Summary, History
Page 2 = 2001 - The Dream
Page 3 = 2002 - Getting Going
Page 4 = 2003 - It's ALIVE!
Page 5 = 2004 - Making Improvements
Page 6 = 2005 - Here's to a better year...
Page 7 = 2006 - The Story Continues...
Page 8 = 2007 - Wider is Better ; )
Page 9 = 2008 - Wider is Better - TAKE TWO ; )
Page 10 = 2009 - All Systems GO!
GO TO THE NEXT PAGE TO SEE THE PROGRESS IN 2006 ----->
