Real Fiero Tech

Good to know, thanks!

Well I'm back from Charlotte and started some work on the trans. I got it cleaned up and then I painted it. I have a plan for mounts and the shift linkage, I'll know for sure later this week.

Time to drop the cradle and get to putting stuff together.

Sorry Isuzu, there's a better trans in town now...

Better, only on paper... I personally would love to go with a 283 trans off an early DOHC 3.4 if I was still going to stay away from a performance built trans like the f35. The real question is, can you get these trannies for dirt cheap, because if thats true you can just swap them out every summer.... that would be the ultimate option (thats why I love my autos, I get them for $40 each in bulk orders of 5-6 from a junkyard I know in town, CHEA!)

Those cables look like a serious serious pain the the ass, I would not look forward to converting those to work, I would cry.

The slave TO bearing should work fine, I would just make an adjustable banjo on the master, so it just bottomed out when it disengaged, then just give it a 1/2inch play room after that point so it gets a full disengage all the time. The short throw clutch will suck for traffic, but your clutch should love you for it...

I got the trans bolted to the engine today. After looking at things sitting on the cradle, the mounts won't be hard at all to work out. As far as the shift linkage stuff, The only thing I'm worried about is the connection to the cables.

For the firewall mount, I plan to unbolt the poly part from the Rodney mount and drill the cradle to bolt it to directly. Then I have to just make a simple mount bolting it to where the 3 bolt holes are

does the dipstick clear the crossover?

Come oonnnnnnnnn John, you're 6 hours past due.

6hrs? Bleh, I'm in no rush. I've taken the time to adjust some wires that I wasn't happy with the first time around. The engine hasn't been out since I initially wired it, and I've found a few things I'll feel more comfortable with now that I've made some improvements. Between maintenance on the other fieros, my pick-up, and other common errands, I'm surprised how much time I've been able to spend on this. Hopefully I'll be driving it this weekend.

august 12th is coming up.

Take ur time. I wish I could flip a switch each time I wanted to have the cradle out of the car. Do what you can while its out. :salute:

Wow, that trani case looks way stronger than my old 282. Looks like the axels might be the weak link after this baby is in.

I redid the wiring on the back of the motor. I also cleaned up the engine bay some more. Its still not complete but its a good step in the right direction.

I started to get the trunk side mount made up. As it turns out, GM didn't tap all the mounting points.

Should have ordered one from McMaster-Carr. They ship fast and another couple of days wouldn't have killed you.

My car has big balls!

try mcmaster.com

Ok, I just found a UT and a RB cable. They both have small ball ends. I'm going to swap those in and see if they'll be long enough.

Finished up my mount. I'm still using the poly lower half that I got from rodney, just without the angled steel section. I just have to paint this bracket first thing in the morning, then the cradles goes back in the car.

Tomorrow I have to finish with some basic engine install stuff, hook up the computer, coolent hoses, fill the system, etc. I need to put some spade/bullet connectors on my wideband and my oil pressure guage since I had to cut those wires to pull the engine. I could have just unhooked everything but putting the removable connectors in will make things easier in the future. Also I need to soldier the wires together for the new plugs. The reverse switch and the speedo are at about the same location, and both two pin weatherpacks.

I finished the hydrolics today. The clutch pedal is VERY stiff. I think losing the mechanical advantage of that cast arm is causing it. It feels like pressing on the brake after the car has been off and the vacuum run down. Its really stiff for the first inch and a half or so, then it 'clicks' and shoots to the floor. It'll take a little getting used to, but I think I'll like it better in the long run.

The speedo and the reverse switch have both been wired in today, so thats one less thing on the list.

My engine sits a little higher with the new mounts than it used to. I don't think it'll cause an issue, but its something I've noted now that the car is back on the ground.

I had to cut off a small portion of the ball side of the shift arm. The larger heavy side of the cast piece is still fully intact. I'm not sure what advantage that weighted arm gives, but its still mostly intact. The select and shift motions are fully accessible with the modification and now I just have to make brackets to hold the cables. I'm going to try to use a 4spd cable and an isuzu cable. I'll know later this week if it'll work out.

Tomorrow I have to work on a shift cable.