1988RedT2

I recall having some interest in the Fiero when it was first introduced back in, I believe, 1984. Much like the Corvair of the 1960's, it was a car that gathered some negative reviews in the early going. GM worked out the bugs and succeeded in making a rather competent little car, then discontinued it. Chalk it up to a long line of bad decisions on the part of GM management.

Lynn E. Hanover

Looking at the Chassis you picked, I hereby withdraw my suggestion for the Chevett/Corvair/Fiero subframe. Better used in a car where it will be out of sight. Kind of GM klunky looking. Your chassis deserves an elegant solution.



Go to WWW.Colemanracing.com and order a catalogue. Hundreds of great ideas for folks who build circle track cars from scratch.



In you case I would use pinto or similar spindles. A Coleman upper A arm in anodized aluminum. A Coleman lower lateral link and strut in steel with a monoball. Slip on coil over kit on Bilstien shocks. Perhaps a Ford Fiesta steering rack. That is what I used on my last car. Shortened to about 10". Far easier to do than it sounds. All of the parts are available if ever needed. No too bad on prices. Brutally strong stuff. And it will look good out in the airstream. There must be a source for front fenders similar to the Lotus, to complete the illusion.



Lynn E. Hanover

sen2two

how would you go about shortening the steering rack?



im looking at miata spindles and hubs since i know there is brake upgrades. plus im already using the miata sub frame for the rear, so the braking will match. i'll be making my own a-arms for the front also.

mazdaspeed7

Even with stock miata brakes, the car will suck your eyeballs out of their sockets. Its a light car, it doesnt need big brakes, big wheels, big tires, etc. Actually, its the opposite. All of those things will only make the car heavier and not perform as well. Start adding unsprung weight, and you need to start stiffening the chassis to let the suspension work properly again, and it just snowballs. Look at the Mercedes-Mclaren SLR. CF chassis, no penny wasted in performance, and it weighs 2 tons. And then the lotus elise. Despite being less than half the weight, its every bit as competent on the track as the SLR, and arguably even better. In the terms of performance, bigger doesnt necessarily mean better.

Lynn E. Hanover

I use large lower A arms to get minimal roll steer. So both loer As pivot on bolts side by side in the center of the car. Just in front of the crank pulley. So, just above that I hinge a long tiller bar to carry the steering rods, also bolted side by side. The steering rack is mounted well to the left in a more convenient location and just the right side steering arm going to the tiller bar. So the steering box has no left side arm at all. And a shortened right side arm.



Crank the rack to full left for front steer arms, count the turns to full right lock. Return the rack half way. Clamp the rack where the steering wheel shaft will clear all of the clutter. Determin how long the rack needs to be, to get about the same length steering arms. For a street car they need not be exact.



Should the right side be too long, mark on the steering arm where the hole in the spindle arm goes under the rack arm. Tape that point. From there to the tip of the arm is the overage. Let us say that it is 4 inches. Install a rod end in the cotrol arm. Mark the rack arm where it would bottom in the rod end.

Say that is 2 more inches. So the rack needs to be 6 inches shorter.



Disassemble the rack. From a smooth area on the right side of the rack, (as smooth as is possible) cut out a 6 inche section of rack tube. From the rack cut off the right end 1/4" inboard of the threads.



Measure along the rack from the cut off point, and cut off 6". Chamfer both pieces and weld or braze the threaded end back on. Smooth to original. Weld the rack tube back togther. Assemble the rack, now 6 inches shorter. Works well for steel or aluminum racks. When welding the rack tube, install the rack to keep the bearing sleeves aligned. Piece of cake.



Lynn E. Hanover

Lynn E. Hanover

The Fiero is a mid engine.



Its the driveline from any X body front engine car. Remeber those awfull things?



There is a hill holding requirement for cars sold in California, in case any fools park on a hill in SanFransisco. So that testing is done at the transportation research center in Marysville Ohio where one of my drivers works as a test driver instructor.

The X bodies could not stay on the hill with the emergency brakes set with the standard pull on the lever. So, GM added larger rear drums as the fix, with no change in brake balance valving. All was well until some idiot drove one in the rain, and touched the brakes, and discovered the rear wheels passing the fronts with the rears locked up solid. Every single car manufactured had to be recalled.



One of the engineers we race against drives a Ford Probe tube frame, and is a driveline engineer for GM. His department is empty. He ships all of the questions to a company in India where they answer all engineering questions. He knows that half of the answers are bull ****, but he must pass them on to production anyway. GM is dead. The UAW has beat the last penny out of GM. There is nothing left.

They just need to bury the casket. Now tell me where the retirement checks will come from for thousands of retired UAW. They will get half payments from the US Government. That would be your tax money. Thank you UAW. Same thing at Ford. They just sold Jaguar and Rover to Tata in India. Does that give you a warm fuzzy feeling?



Lynn E. Hanover

j9fd3s

yeah ford could not actually design a brake system if you asked them too. they would just call bosch, or ate, or one of the other companies, and say "we've got a xxxxlbs car we need to stop"

1988RedT2

Since we're on the topic of building cars.... I found this on the Neon forum. Looks a bit crazy to me, but what do I know?

Lynn E. Hanover

Looks like a kit car Chassis. Has a later beetle front suspension. It is a mid or more probably a rear engined piece. That chunk of donor car looks to have a side winder engine. So guess a rear engine 5 speed with IRS. No clue on the bodywork.



Another kit started but never finished.



Lynn E. Hanover

Lynn E. Hanover

Here is another gag on building upper A arms. Don't. Just drill out the upper ball joint hole to 1/2". Make up two lengths of 3/4" water pipe, or EWR steel tubing.



Turn down two 1/2x20 long lug nuts leaving a shoulder about 1/2" from the end. Press the nut into the tube and weld.



install a sleeve on a 1/2" bolt. Slip the bolt through two rod ends screwed into the lug nuts. Another sleeve and through the hole on top of the spindle. Big nut tight as possible. Mount the opposite ends on tabs about level fore and aft and a bit lower than the outer ball. Instant upper A.



I can make drawings of anything if you need them.



Lynn E. Hanover