Thread: Followed Me Home, '33 Build

Tweet

Originally Posted by Mike52

Roger, are these the Fiero seats with the speakers built in, plans to use the speakers? I worked for Pontiac in the '80s during the Fiero years, I thought they were very cool cars, especially when the V6-5sp GT came out. It's a shame that by the time the cars were becoming fun Pontiac pulled the plug.

Yes, the driver's seat has the speaker perforations in the headrest - will have to see about them when the interior is stripped off. I'm not sure about the passenger seat - as I look at them the passenger side is a slightly lighter shade of gray, likely just age, but then again it could have been changed out in the 24 years it's kicked around I had not really thought about using those speakers, but it is probably a really good option - those and a woofer in back might be enough for my non-discriminating ears. The tinitus blocks all the real highs, anyway...

If you have a good interior guy, he can make new foam to replace any of the foam that is bad. I seriously considered Fiero seats when I was planning my '32, but I opted for a bench.

Originally Posted by rumrumm

If you have a good interior guy, he can make new foam to replace any of the foam that is bad. I seriously considered Fiero seats when I was planning my '32, but I opted for a bench.

Actually found a place that makes seven or eight different designs for Fiero seats, and his package includes a full array of parts, pieces and instruction to bring the foam back from the dead. http://mrmikes.com/ Have not ordered yet, but leaning towards this over custom for twice the cost. I think (hope) I can follow DVD instructions.

Saturday bolted up the flywheel and got it torqued, and moved on checking the bellhousing register bore for alignment. The check showed us to be within 0.0005 of the allowable 0.010 total runout, so we elected to move on to the clutch. Having been told that my flywheel was tapped for both metric and SAE I had metric bolts with dowels. Flywheel is not tapped metric, but has three sets of spaced holes, all SAE - 2 sets 5/16x16, one set 3/8x18 (Mike Forte says this means my flywheel is Chinese, but I am waiting for verification from Scott Sehr. Bottom line, it is balanced to my engine, so it is what it is...) Our overall goal for the day was to get the engine & tranny together for a first fit into the chassis, so we decided to just stab the tranny without the clutch/pressure plate and do them later. After fighting it for 15 minutes we took the bellhousing off (again), set it up on blocks for floor clearance to the tranny pilot shaft, and set the TKO in place to be sure that they would couple up at the register hole. No joy - the tranny would not come close to dropping into place. Going back to our register check, we realized that the readings showed that the hole was oval about 0.011, and a quick caliper check seemed to show an interference fit. Some internet action found a forum post (Mustangs) about a bad run of TREMEC bellhousings this Fall, but there was only one mention of it. Gave up the fight and son Ryan snapped a shot that I think is a keeper.

Talked to Mike Forte Monday morning, and while he had never seen any problem like this he agreed that our approach was right, and that it pointed to a bellhousing problem. Mike put a new bellhousing, personally checked for register bore fit on a shop TKO, in a box to me Monday afternoon - great service (Thanks, Mike!) Hopefully the new bellhousing is the key to first fit of the power train in the chassis. Hoped it would be here this week, but UPS says 12/21 predicted. :-( Guess it is the Christmas rush....

OK, today was a day of progress. Ryan (son) came over and we got the engine & tranny set into the chassis for the first time!! Yeah!!! We had to do some mods on the transmission support that N&N provided, and the clearance between the tranny and the body hump is veeeery tight, but it is in place and looks good! I have 5" of clearance from the water pump boss to the fans, so the next task is to look for accessory mounts. Ordered a Tanks, Inc gas tank from Pete & Jakes and it arrived Saturday but was not set up or EFI return - have to chat with them Monday. I received the Edelbrock ProFlo XT system last week, and we're working through some issues with missing pieces, but he package is very complete from a plug-and-play perspective, at least for now...

You're making progress my friend, if you can keep the winter gremlins away so you can spend more time in the barn, this thing will be running soon. Good luck.

BTW, love the B&W pic!!

Mike

Looking really good Rog, going to be a way kewl coupe!!!! The EFI system really looks great, anxious to see how it works!!!

Well, I finally got over my fear of cutting into a pristine, unblemished floor and used a hole saw to gain shifter access, first dropping the tranny down several inches so I could bolt on the shifter plate. Of course, when I attempted to raise it back into position the hole needed to be enlarged to clear the new shifter stub A cutoff wheel in a die grinder fixed that - once the first hole is there it is lots easier to cut Also bolted in the ratty Fiero seats so I can get the column ordered, but also thinking of getting headers in place before cutting the firewall to see what I have to miss with the column. I already have a set of sweet black covers for those seats, along with a great instructional CD from MrMike's in Florida - he specializes in Fiero seat re-upholstery as well as some other sporty car buckets - but I'm going to leave them in their original tatters until I am more complete.

looks like a good fit to me Rog! going to be a nice set up with the 5 speed!

I wish the truck that followed me home looked half as good!
That is going to be fun to drive!

Roger, what's that on the seat, wouldn't happen to be the March '09 issue of Street Rod Builder with their bad ass N&N '34 coupe?? The seat shown on page 15 is what I have for mine but I think I like the Fiero buckets better, I just can't find a set around here.

Mike

Ya ..... I wish stuff like that would follow me home ..... nice rig.

REGS

Roger,

I'm pretty much green with envy. That frame/body set-up is exactly what I was hoping for when I got mine. Unfortunately, mine came from <he who shall not be mentioned> in Darlington.

I'm surprised about the wheel/caliper interference. I had no problem with my Torque Thrust IIs. Is that what you're running?

Also, is that a 9" Ford rear axle? If so, there usually is a spacer that needs to go between the outer bearing face and the retainer plate to keep the axle from moving in and out.

Is that a 9" Ford rear axle?

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

Roger,

I'm pretty much green with envy. That frame/body set-up is exactly what I was hoping for when I got mine. Unfortunately, mine came from <he who shall not be mentioned> in Darlington.

I'm surprised about the wheel/caliper interference. I had no problem with my Torque Thrust IIs. Is that what you're running?

Also, is that a 9" Ford rear axle? If so, there usually is a spacer that needs to go between the outer bearing face and the retainer plate to keep the axle from moving in and out.

Is that a 9" Ford rear axle?

Hey Jack,
Great to see your name pop up, and hope all is well with you. Yes, it is a John's Ford 9" rear with Explorer disc brake setup. I think a set of 16's would have cleared fine, but I'm running 15x10 Cragar SS, and they had some drag on the top of the calipers. I've all but got it whipped, but did have to do some grinding on the calipers. The rear came minus center section with the roller package, and I then picked up a 4.11 center section with a Detroit TrueTrac spiral gear posi unit from Just Rear Ends in Reno, which I believe will stand up to 400+HP without any problems. Not sure about a spacer, may need to look into that before I declare it done.

Your '34 profile was my screen saver at the office for more than a year, and I always got questions, "Is that your car??", to which I replied, "No, that is my DREAM!!" But for you I might still be sitting back, wondering if I should do this or not, with about $30,000 in my pocket that is now gone

Roger,

If you use Explorer brakes on a large bearing 9", the spacers are absolutely necessary - unless you're using a set-up I haven't seen. They make up the difference between the outer bearing race and the retaining flange. Disc brakes fit on the axle differently from the drums. Without the spacers, the axles can move in and out about 1/4".

Currie stocks them, and so does Johns. The bad news is that they need to be installed between the bearing and the axle flange. I had to have my bearings pulled, then reinstalled. Of course, I had to do that anyhow. I had to replace my bearings with special units with an o-ring in the outer race to take the place of the stock axle seals. Whoever narrowed my axle hosed it up, and the seals wouldn't stay seated.

The spacers are a bear to keep in place while you bolt in the axles. I used a couple of dabs of silicone and essentially glued them to the outside edge of the bearing race.




Linky is here.

Of course, Kyle forgot them on mine . . .

I still haven't finished the interior of my '34. I kept intending to send it to a shop, but I couldn't quit driving it. Further, it won't get finished for a while. I'm heading to Naples, Italy for a three-year tour (civilian) with Navy Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), and the car will be in storage all that time. Downside is no hotrodding. Upside is a chance to have all my living expenses paid for three years, and a chance to see a bunch of Europe.