Real Fiero Tech

neophile_17 wrote:

Are you referring to the interface where the male spline on the CV joint housing slides into the hub cartridge?
The S10 spline is bigger? Have you looked at Dustbuster minivan (U-body) outer CV's for compatibility?

The fit problem is where the axle shaft from the disassembled Fiero axle assembly would slide into the outer CV. The spline that passes through the hub/bearing assembly is the same between the S10 and the HD A-Body. I haven't looked at any Dustbuster stuff- maybe if I don't find an HD A-Body, but they seem to be plentiful in the yards near me.

Ahh, ok. The same spline from CV to hub cartridge, but the S10 uses larger axle shafts.

I managed to get a pair of HD A-Body outer CVs on Monday and got my axles together last night. Everything appears to fit together. The plan is to get this in the car this weekend.

Is there any particular detail that would be helpful to get a picture of?

Don't forget to put zip-ties on each of the CV boot folds to keep the boots from growing at speed.

Don't forget to put zip-ties on each of the CV boot folds to keep the boots from growing at speed.

That's interesting. I'd never heard of that. What problem does this prevent?

Does this apply if the boots are plastic and not rubber like the newer stuff.

Since we're talking about boots. I was able to re-use the stock Oetiker clamp for the big end but I'm planning to use metal ties for the small end. This seems is one of the solutions suggested by the internet. Anyone have a bad experience doing this?

Yeah, the original plastic boots are fine, it's the replacement rubber ones that can balloon out at high speed and rip themselves on adjacent parts. Mostly in endurance racing when the CVs have time to get warm and the rubber softens.

Another tip is to slip a WD-40 spray tube between the boot and the CV as a vent.

Install went fairly well with one little hiccup. I vaguely remember this from another thread but can't be certain. The tie rod ends used in the Fiero Track Rod have the same taper but are slightly smaller than the HD A-Body tie rod. It might be OK but looks like it might bind at the ends of suspension travel. Luckily I found Moog A-Body tie rod ends on clearance so it's not too big a hit to my injured wallet.

The 17 by 9.5 Corvette wheels look good but will probably require a slight fender flare to get us though Tech. If the body wasn't slightly tweaked from an incident I might have tried to get away with it but scrambling to get through tech is painful. I did add a 3/8" spacer to get the wheel to clear the shock. I wish I had tried it with the stock strut but I had already cut the spring perch off for coil-over sleeves.

18x9.5 C5 Corvette wheels with 1" adapter tuck under the stock bodywork with (at least some) 285/30-18's.
17x9.5's should work about the same.

18x9.5 C5 Corvette wheels with 1" adapter tuck under the stock bodywork with (at least some) 285/30-18's.
17x9.5's should work about the same.

If our body work was less crunched on the driver's side and we weren't racing wheel to wheel it would be fine. However the tech inspectors are very mindful of tires that stick out past the bodywork, especially on the front and back of the tire. Aesthetically only the top matters. I've seen the aftermath of tires catching each other, and it's not pretty. I'm not going for a huge flare, just 3/4" at the top and a little more where it matters.