Project Overly Ambitious

[jpod999]

Good idea, I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks!

[DIIRTY-30]

I found a few drops of uv dye helps find leaks no problem at night I chased a few oil leaks/power steering leaks and was well worth the $5 for a lil bottle. Precaution I flushed the fluids out after but I don't see the harm in it since its supposed to be safe. Saves you the trouble of having to pull the intake mani off.

[jpod999]

I have been running John Hickersons plate for like the last 8 years.

[dasmanschaft012]

What skid plate u running?

[jpod999]

I took the car last week back to the exhaust shop and got another V-Band welded in to the drivers side. Now I can undo the new V-Band and the one on the passenger side exhaust manifold and drop the exhaust while leaving what is now essentially a downpipe bolted to the drivers side manifold. Things I need to do, and things I want to do:

Need:
-Pull driveshaft and get it rebalanced
-4.4L 404 dme tune
-new tires
-investigate transmission fluid leak
-get front end aligned
-fix heater core
-investigate sticking caliper
-clean up wiring

Want:
-full professional detail
-new fog blanks
-reinstall skidplate
-install 318i harness cover
-new trunk lid

[jpod999]

Well, the car made it from Livermore to Radwood today at Sonoma Raceway- about 65 miles each way. This was the car's first time on the freeway in over two years. The car ran really well and is a blast to drive. Dropping from 6th to 4th and giving it a bunch of gas is quite a bit of fun. There was one slight hiccup when I stopped for gas- the car wouldn't start up afterwards. It wasn't even turning over, so I knew it must have been something electrical. Sure enough, I tightened down the battery terminal clamps and all was fine. There was even a bit of traffic getting into the racetrack and the car idled perfectly, even kicked on the fan automatically for a bit.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I bet it feels about like an M60 E30... although the E30 has WAY more gearing and transmission options.

The Fiero ends up about 2900#, although I think I can get it down to 2700# without decontenting more than the sunroof and pop-up headlights. The engine has a built shortblock with 11.5 compression that makes 315 at the wheels with stock cams and unported heads.

Traction is ridiculous, though. Along with the 55% rear weight bias, it can fit 285/30's on 18x9.5's at the rear with no mods at all. I'm confident I can squeeze 315/30's on 18x10.5's or 18x11's with only mods to the struts.

[jpod999]

Northstar Fiero must be hilarious!

[The Dark Side of Will]

In other news- I sold the E39 M5 in late 2013. Not until this morning did I realize just how much I miss V8 torque. That V8 sound is so silly coming from an E30!

A V8 in a tiny car is GREAT! My Northstar Fiero will accelerate uphill from 1000 RPM in 5th gear at 30 mph.

[Jean]

Congrats man! That feeling is so good to finally drive the car :)

I picked up a 3.15 to try in mine as 3.46 is just silly with 5 speed !

[jpod999]

That’s the photo of my son I shared a few months ago. Here’s a few from this weekend.

[jpod999]

I've officially put some miles on the car now! I still have to figure out what the clunking is, but I'm not that worried about it. I have to finish putting the dash back together and then align the front end a bit more than just eyeballing it.

The S2.93 is definitely a low gear- flooring it in second gear doesn't result in tirespin it just digs and goes. The donor E39 had an open 2.81, so while not a super aggressive upgrade, the 2.93 should give some better acceleration. Especially since the car is lighter weight.

In other news- I sold the E39 M5 in late 2013. Not until this morning did I realize just how much I miss V8 torque. That V8 sound is so silly coming from an E30!

[jpod999]

If it’s just the core that’s bad then I’ll probably do it soon. If it’s the valve, it’s going to have to wait. I don’t want to drop $250 on the replacement.

[Pootis]

I just did the heater core in my car. While a messy and limited space job it isn't too hard luckily. Builds are always frustrating. And I'm going through the same things replacing items I did hastily just to have the car driveable. I have to redo my entire exhaust next which I am not looking forward to. I would go ahead and replace the core though. It is a pretty cheap and relatively easy job. I only found that mine was leaking when I took the carpet out and found it was soaked underneath. Luckily no rust on that side though. Keep up the hard work.

[jpod999]

I've had some hiccups since my last post. I broke the aluminum shift carrier which required ripping everything underneath the car back apart. This happened on my birthday, Feb. 21, which was also the 2 year anniversary of the M42 getting pulled . When that happened I pulled the exhaust and driveshaft, it only took about an hour so that was nice.

When I pulled the driveshaft I noticed that the shop who shortened it installed the offset CSB backwards. I split the driveshaft and took the back half to a shop to pull the CSB off, flip it around, and press it back on- now my driveshaft is straight. I guess this is one good thing about having to pull everything back apart- the flex disc probably wouldn't have lasted too long.

I talked to Jean about going the modified early model shift console but ended up taking the shift carrier to a machine shop to get welded back up because I didn't want to have to figure out a whole new setup. The dude ended up welding a 1/4" thick aluminum bar to the top of the carrier to strengthen it. I also started comparing the E39 shift lever to the E30 M20 lever (which I had installed before all this mess) and noticed that the part below the pivot ball is a bit longer on the E39 lever. I thought that couldn't hurt so I installed the E39 lever.

In pulling the exhaust, I saw some room for improvement. Eventually, for serviceability, I'll pick up another set of V-Bands and have them welded on. This way I'll have basically a set of removable downpipes and won't have to reach up into the engine bay to pull my exhaust.

Frustratingly, I found that my coolant leak is actually coming from the heater core. This really sucks as I don't want to have to pull it, and if it's the valve it's going to be an expensive fix. For now, to get the car up and running so I can try putting some miles on it, I just looped the heater core hoses. Not ideal, but I'm trying to get the car to Radwood at Hooptiecon on the 24th and cant' deal with a leaking heater core now.