Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

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Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:51 pm

originally posted by MeistroMichael on 5/8/10

Bought this GT with 50,xxx miles less than a year ago. Been working on her since then just to get her road worthy.

Things I want to do to her:
Upgrade the sound system
Different engine (possibly built LS4 with 4t65e-hd w/tap shift)
Suspension
Would like to attempt a malibu dash like rickady on pff did in his 88 except with monte, impy, or gxp wiring and gauges
Paint job

Things I have done:
New tires
Water pump, thermostat, flushed system
Heater core
Plugs, plug wires, coil
Drilled/Slotted rotors, SS brake lines

Things she needs:
Alignment
Crack in exhaust manifold needs to be welded (but of course it's the one against the firewall)


Image

Image

Image


Oh no, someone learned how to post pics. . . muwwaahahahaa
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:51 pm

originally posted by MeistroMichael on 11/18/10

So, I've got my front suspension almost completely torn apart. Removed Upper/Lower control arms, shocks, springs. My goal is to rebuild the front suspension now, save up funds, then do the back. One inner tie rod is bad, and one shock is bad. Steering rack is ?firm? with no play (if that is how you check that).

Parts on the way:
RD inner/outer tie rods <---wish I could have afforded moog, but life goes on
RD upper/ lower ball joints
"Complete" poly kit
KYB shocks

1. Should I use the rubber tie rod and ball joint boots and just slip the polyurethane over it for "the look"?
2. Is it safe to cut the springs? If so, would it be too fugly to cut one coil off the front now, and wait on the back springs?
3. Is there anything else I should do/replace on the front while I'm at it?
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:51 pm

originally posted by Trinten on 11/18/10

1) If all you want to do is go for the look, just paint the rubber red and call it a day. Poly is awesome stuff, it's worth the effort of getting it on. I picked up everything I needed to redo all my suspension in poly for about 50 bucks on ebay. If the poly fittings you get have a groove along the inside of them, you can buy grease fittings and tap them into the poly, so that way you can grease them, which will help with the longevity of them and likely reduce the squeeks that come with them.

2)Define "Safe". I would recommend to replacing the springs with the ones that have the height you want. Don't cut them.

3)Sounds like you got everything else covered that I can think of, but I'd wait for some others to chime in to be sure.
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:52 pm

originally posted by MeistroMichael on 11/18/10

Yeah As you know this is my first fiero, and I'm still teaching the wife how to allot funds for it ;)

The only reason I was going to use the rubber tie rods and ball joints was because there was concern on PFF that the poly doesn't seal and can cause damage because of debris??? If I am wrong in thinking this, do tell because I would rather use the poly.

Has anyone here ran cut springs? Is it one of the ordeals where others "advise" against it, but do it on their cars OR is it a hazard that needs to be avoided? I really don't want to fork out the money for springs (Although I wish I could get my hands on some intrax springs, but don't we all!), BUT if ya'lls advise is to go eibach over cut then that's what I'll do. I know that in the future I'll want it lowered a little, so why not do it now vs having to get another realignment in the future.
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:52 pm

originally posted by Trinten on 11/18/10

On the poly issue, I think alot of that has to do with the fact that most poly can't be greased (out of the box). So there's nothing there to fill in the nooks and crannies when the bushings are really pushed near limits. On an email group I'm on, they all pretty much switch to poly, if it's not going to put them out the class they race in. Take that for what it's worth.

Cutting springs - if you cut out a coil, you still need to compress the new spring end down near the next coil and clamp them to give a relatively flat resting surface. This is a PITA and can be very dangerous if you don't have the right tools/do it yourself. If you don't remake that surface, then you're going to have a pointy, angled coil pressing into it's "bed", which could cause damage to it and/or break the spring. That's just what I've gathered on PFF myself.
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:52 pm

originally posted by MeistroMichael on 11/18/10

Thank you for the advise. That's why I asked about the springs. Glad to know people more intelligent than me! Guess I'll save up for lowering springs. Any brand/kind ya'll recommend? I'm thinking just a 1" drop.
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:52 pm

originally posted by Trinten on 11/18/10

Almost everyone is going to tell you "Eibach". By standard, the ones they make for the Fiero are a 1-to-1.5 drop. I wish they made stock height ones myself. lol

The Fierostore carries them, SummitRacing, and surprisingly a large number of autoparts stores. Hit their online websites to do parts searches.
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:52 pm

originally posted by MeistroMichael on 1/1/11

So, extremely slow progress. I didn't realize that the inner tie rods were going to be so hard to replace with the steering rack in the car, so I have it out now. I noticed one boot was torn up pretty bad. I went ahead and ordered a new bushing from rodney and new steering rack boots from fierostore. Next weekend, I hope to attempt to tear into the rack and pinion to replace bushing and tie rods.

So far:
Upper control arms - cleaned/painted/ball joint and poly installed
Lower control arms - cleaned/painted/poly installed (need to get them to someone to press in the ball joints)
Spindles - cleaned/painted/new wheel bearings

I'm going to reinstall the stock springs for now (I'm deploying in four months and just want to get the car back on the road before then)

Should have the front back together two weekends from now, then all I need to get the exhaust manifold welded.

Before I deploy, I'll have a few free parts up for grabs. I don't know if any of it will be of any use, but I'll post them here in Februaryish. Here's an idea of what I'll have.
-All the rubber from the ball joints and tie rods that I'm not using
-The rain channels (or whatever they're called). The long black things above the door that channels water away from the doors.
-A few grey interior pieces (Probably both pieces that run from floor to roof behind seats. The ones that cover the back speakers)
-One 2.8 valve cover gasket (new)

The only pain is not having/not making the time to work on it. haha. I love working on cars. When I get back from afghanistan, I hope to start back up in body work/painting (that's what I did before the Corps).
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:53 pm

originally posted by MeistroMichael on 1/6/11

Got the bushings/dust boots for the steering rack in today!

Any reason why anyone would want pics of the bushing/tie rod install???
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:53 pm

originally posted by Trinten on 1/7/11

Hey, you never know when someone is going to be looking at something wrong. I have that issue alot, mainly because of a lack of clarity (on my part) about terms for parts. So I usually need visuals to understand. I'd say hang on to them if you don't have time to post them right now.

Cool to know about your bodyshop endeavors! When you get back I hope it takes off for you!
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:53 pm

originally posted by MeistroMichael on 1/17/11

Good and bad news:

Bad news - Wife lost the charger for the camera. We found it today, so I'm going to take a few pics and post them. Didn't get any pics of the steering rack when I tore it down, but I'll try to post some as I put it back together.

Good news - Got the lower ball joints pressed in this morning, so I'm headed out to start putting everything back together.

Leaving for EMV in less than a month. I've gotta get off the couch and get on the ball if I want to drive her again before I leave.
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:54 pm

originally posted by MeistroMichael on 1/24/11

Updates:

Upper/Lower control arms installed, and the steering rack is near completion. Due to time restraints, I'm not going to be able to take pics and do a write up. I'm down to putting piece by piece together with what little daylight I have after work. I have three weekends before I leave, and I still have to get the springs and steering rack installed, get an alignment, fix the cracked exhaust manifold, and get it inspected/registered. But, I'm getting real close!

BTW: Anyone have a recommendation on a tire shop around here. I need to get an alignment on the fiero and get tires/shocks installed and alignment on the HHR
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: Andrew's 86 GT (by MeistroMichael)

Postby Trinten » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:54 pm

originally posted by Drew-py on 1/25/11

yeah take it to Sears at J-ville mall they are very familiar with Fiero's thanks to ME and Craig they have only done 5 alignments in the past year on only 2 cars. something about the practice I got over the summer on remove and replace engines. :lol: .Thanks Craig for the driveway space
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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