Real Fiero Tech

I want some stiffer springs for the front of my Fiero. I looked at this catalog to find some Moog part numbers: https://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/universal_coil_springs.asp A while back, I ordered Moog 5576, as it looked like it could be appropriate (with trimming the end off). I often employ fa...

I crunched some numbers, and figure 4 M3 class 12.9 bolts should proof test to about 6 pounds. Your numbers are wrong, so re-check your work. Should be a bunch stronger than that. I use this reference chart quite often: https://www.fastenal.com/content/merch_rules/images/fcom/content-library/Torque...

Maybe. I tried ChatGPT for the first time this week, and I was quite impressed with some of its responses. When I asked it how to analyse fatigue in a shaft, the procedure it described was nearly exactly as I would have done. It did royally screw up on other questions. In addition to English, I also...

I order from mouser somewhat often.

Do Custom Connector Kits and Ballenger offer price-matching?

Does it bolt in place of the NA version?

How much rework has to be done?

My brake setup (car not presently running) is for LeBaron rear rotors at all four corners. Nevertheless, you can look at my CAD file for inspiration/reference: STEEL BRAKE BRACKETS REV 02.zip Here are my personal notes in in relation to what I ordered: STEEL BRAKE BRACKETS REV 02 NOTES.zip Note that...

I received the clamps from Amazon, so I figured I might as well use them.
The 18 mm nominal clamp worked, though it is slightly (by about 1 mm) wider than the clampable area of the boot. So it overhangs a bit.

The male splines on this shaft will be hobbed. Logically, a male spline (almost?) never exists without its female mating counterpart, which will most likely be broached (wire EDM for initial prototyping). Even though I'm not responsible for the female mating part, our customer will have to procure t...

Eventually, when I build a garage, I'll be thinking about a flat floor for alignments. I might want the floor to be planar, but still tilted in one direction (aligned lengthwise with the car) to allow water to drain. Or maybe completely flat, if I want to be able to leave the car in neutral without ...

Perhaps with large teeth, more of the tooth face is used, as there is less "waste" due to clearances for root and tip diameters. I checked DIN 5480. Recommended spline tolerances do become more precise as the teeth become smaller, but not proportionally with decreasing tooth size. I guess...

Is a clamp used where the boot touches the front tie-rod? My 1986 service manual shows no clamp in that position. Rodney Dickman's photo here implies that a spring clamp is used: https://www.fiero.com/forum/Archives/Archive-000001/HTML/20050410-2-058563.html#p2 Contradiction! If there is a clamp, is...

If we consider a tooth as beam in bending, then we can say the section modulus of the tooth is proportional to the square of the tooth's base width. The increase in strength due to the section modulus is partly counteracted by the fact that the distance to the point of force application (and hence b...

I'll start! This first question is for a work-related project. I have a 30 mm shaft that needs splines. It is subject to reversing torque loads. Following the DIN 5480 standard, a 30 mm shaft can have anywhere from 8 to 58 teeth. For a given diameter, is it better to have more small teeth, or fewer ...

Sometimes I have quick thoughts/questions, and it would be nice to have a second opinion, but one thread per subject would clutter the forum too much.

We can post short topics there.

This does not need to be strictly Fiero-related.

For this sort of thing, I like to walk row-by-row in junkyards. Sometimes, you can find what you need without the part coming from a "fancy name" car. I don't think that price/reputation of the donor car correlates to suitability of the part when used in one's project. All cars are constru...

Does your large land give you a large property tax burden that is difficult to justify without the land generating revenue?

Every time I see an F40, I wonder if the shift feeling would feel more mechanical and less numb without the inertia-increasing mass.

That said, I have never driven anything with an F40.

My cutting/working area in the basement is near my home's electric furnace air intake. It has a 20"x20"x1" air filter. If I do much dust generation, it doesn't take long to clog the filter. I often end up shutting off the ventilation system when making dust, to avoid clogging the filt...

I'm glad to see you were able to make progress on this, it's unfortunate that the zinc chipped, that said, zinc electroplating at home isn't too hard if you want to re-plate them. How have you managed threaded holes so far? Tap then plate? Tap then plate then tap again? Plate then tap? These bracke...

From online file upload to delivered on my doorstep, there was a delay of 12 days. Not bad. IMG_7235.JPG I countersunk all the holes because it makes for a better threaded hole, and on an unthreaded hole, to prevent a sharp edge from biting into the bolt shank-to-head fillet radius. I had to slightl...