Real tech discussion on design, fabrication, testing, development of custom or adapted parts for Pontiac Fieros. Not questions about the power a CAI will give.
Atilla the Fun wrote:The one that Jegs sells for $250 can be had for $215 from http://www.competitionproducts.com. That'd be $35, if it applies to you.
My electric coolant pump was a fraction of that price. As Will hinted at, you're seriously underestimating the level of cheapness these cars are built with. I bought complete Prius batteries for $250, I'm looking for a coolant pump in the $10 range to make it worth the hassle of swapping out what I already have. The teams that have been multiple times will completely rework a turbo/manifold/wastegate setup or similar to save $50. They make up for money with cubic manhours. The team that won had dozens of people building the car over multiple years.
Today I had a chance to get the Fiero on some corner scales (thanks Gabe and co!). I was pleasantly surprised at how well balanced it was and it was pretty close to the total weight I expected. This is the weight exactly as I raced it in Florida, stock wheels with all season tires, almost complete interior, and about 3/4 tank of fuel. Weight without driver:
LF: 727
RF: 796
LR: 756
RR: 761
Me in the driver's seat:
LF: 791
RF: 820
LR: 837
RR: 787
For reference, the '88 Formula curb weight is around 2700-2750 pounds.
Bryce
88GT 3.4 DOHC Turbo
Gooch wrote:Way to go douche. You are like a one-man, fiero-destroying machine.
I've got my reasons to send people over to the GRM forum, I assure you that being lazy isn't one of them. Take a look at the car that I built in three months, then drove thousands of miles to compete with...is this the work of a lazy man? I'm a lot of things, but lazy isn't one of them.
Just giving you shit, I realize you get a cut of the profits made from the advertising banners. That's cool and all, but I'm too lazy to click links, so I assume others are too
88GT 3.4 DOHC Turbo
Gooch wrote:Way to go douche. You are like a one-man, fiero-destroying machine.
Aaron wrote:Just giving you shit, I realize you get a cut of the profits made from the advertising banners. That's cool and all, but I'm too lazy to click links, so I assume others are too
I wish I got a cut of the advertising profits...haven't we gone over this? Here's another link for you to click:
It's been a long since my last update! The car has been sitting dormant for several months as I have been trying to get other parts of my life ironed out. However, with the EV drags in town this weekend, I couldn't resist the temptation to get the car back in action. I had an electrical gremlin spring to life while the car sat dormant, so I started to track down the problem last week. Unfortunately, I accidentally left a drain on one of my high voltage packs for a few days and killed half of my batteries...DOH!!!
So, I did some rewiring to prevent this from happening in the future and started the hunt for more junkyard Prius packs. I'll detail the changes to the high voltage system soon when I've got a bit more time. I was able to get two fresh(er) Prius packs from a local junkyard for $150 each, my best price on Prius packs to date. Funny, the more I spend on my $2009 car, the cheaper it gets (according to the official budget!). These latest packs seem pretty dang healthy, so I'm really happy with the fresh batteries despite all the heartache I had after ruining the others last week.
Last night I got the high voltage system reassembled and got back to hunting down my electrical gremlin. As it turns out, the emergency disconnect switch (which resides outside the car in the elements) failed, so even in the "on" position the electronics weren't getting power. When I got power past that switch, everything came back to life and I was happy as a clam. This morning I drove the Fiero to work...I had almost forgotten how fun this thing is to drive!!!
The EV drags are going on at PIR tonight and tomorrow night, any locals should come check it out. The Fiero is definitely not the main attraction, there will be some MUCH faster electric cars out. I've got some used up ex-Chump Car RT615s to go on the car and replace the nasty all season tires; I'm hoping that with the tires and the fresh batteries, I'll be in the low 14s tonight.
Well, still not much faster. 14.666 (@ 82.5 mph) is the new fast time for the car. I was fighting wheelhop, can't seem to get my 60' times below 1.8. Stickier tires plus nasty old dampers is making launches tough. The batteries are strong in the 1/8th mile, but still don't have enough current capacity to finish strong in the 1/4.
I'm not sure where to go from here. I've got some poly bushings that need installed, that would probably help with the wheelhop. I could really use some better dampers, but they're hard to find used and even harder to justify the price of new dampers in the $201X budget. I also have a nitrous kit and a 7730 programmed for a 3500, so I'm kind of all over the board with potentials for the future.
Aaron wrote:Aww look at that he even copied the update
You'll probably still find something to whine about, given enough time to think about it.
decently quick but that mph is horrible. The extra weight of the batteries is really slowing you down on the top end. Post up the timeslip. 330 and 1/8th mile makes me curious.
is the front wheelhopping or the rear?
FieroPhrek working on that ls4 swap for 18 years and counting now. 18 years!!!!! LOL
I think I figured out why the car seemed to fall on its face for the last 1/8th mile. The exhaust started making some rattling the other day, and subsequently sounded like somebody stuffed a potato up the exhaust pipe. I suspect the catalytic converter has self destructed...not surprising, since it was the cheapest one I could buy a while back when I put it on to pass emissions. I'm hoping to get it fixed in time for the EV drags, which are coming back to town next weekend, and I suspect that will get me past the previous 14.666 best. I might add a second O2 bung while I've got the welder handy to prepare for the nitrous. I've never used giggle gas, so I think adding my wideband during tuning would be a good idea.
Also, GRM sent an email out with a preview of the November 2010 cover that has a headline reading, "DIY: Build your own gas-electric hybrid for less than $2000!" Looks like the hybrid Fiero will be featured in the next issue of GRM! I'm curious to see what they have to say!
I'll be curious to see if this explains my disappointing 1/8-1/4 mile experience, or if it is an unrelated fluke. Oh yeah, and if you're ever thinking about cutting a muffler shell open to make sure it's not full of catalytic converter chunks...stop thinking about it. That was a really, really bad idea with an OEM muffler that uses extremely thin sheet metal and me only having .035 wire for the MIG right now. I was REALLY wishing I had got more .025 when I ran out a while back!
For those who like seeing the Fiero in print, pick up the latest issue of Grassroots Motorsports at your nearest bookstore. The December 2010 issue has a writeup on my $2009 Challenge car. At 6 pages plus a few mentions in prior issues, I think this is the most print a Fiero has seen in a long time!
For those who might be interested, I'm building another GRM Challenger. It's not a Fiero, this time around I am aiming to see if I can beat the Honda boys at their own game. Since a lot of my budget went to the N600 shell, I won't be able to build up a bajillion hp turbo engine, but lightness should count for something.
