The new life of the formula fastback

[NoMad]

Well Sims radiator has been a bit of a bust. They ordered me in a new brass radiator but it too was undersized. Made the drive there to find it out. The office guy called and it wasn't even to the dimensions the manufacturer said it was supposed to be. He said he would take care of it and call me.

Instead I got woken up this morning by a call from Mr.Sims himself where he essentially told me that I could take what he brought in or me could build me a custom for $200+. So with the options of an $85 one that is no closer in size than the generic auto parts store unit or pay $200. So I opted to tell him to ship back my original core and I would look elsewhere.

Has anyone else had such a rude experiance with them? I know Charlie jas had good luck but this seems a little ridiculous.

Any other radiator shops in the area thay might be better? Any lines on NOS?

At this point I might just live with the ill fitting one till it dies.

[Fierofool]

I currently deal with the one in Lawrenceville.  Run by one of the Sims grandchildren.  How much did they credit for the core?  I have a good core I'll sell you.  You can have it rebuilt for $45 at Sims. 

Their home office is located in Tucker, just off Stone Mountain Freeway and Mountain Industrial.  It might be easy for you to get over there, as opposed to Conyers.  I'm certain you'd get better service.

I would offer to take the one I have to Lawrenceville, but I'm having back trouble again and can't drive.  I might be able to get someone to take it to Lawrenceville if you'd want to pick it up there or at the meeting.  You have my number.  Call me if you want. 

[TopNotch]

If the radiator leaks where the metal is crimped onto the plastic side pieces, I read in the Helms manual that it can be fixed by crimping it some more. I'm not exactly sure how to go about that, though.

[GTRS Fiero]

Back in the '80's, I remember them using a tool to crimp the tanks on.  There is a hand tool, but they usually do the entire tank in a machine.

[Fierofool]

He did use the word "radiator" but we're talking heater cores, not cooling radiators. 

[NoMad]

Yes, sorry for the confusion. I most certainly mean heater core.

Today was fairly productive as well for the fiero.  Pulled the stereo to install a new one with blue tooth and hands free. While in there I went ahead and pulled all the surrounds. The oil pressure/voltimeter housing was barely held together and one a few of the screws even held anything any longer.

Using a two part plastic epoxy I glued as many of the broken pieces back together as I could and built up epoxy to replace the missing sections of plastic. Once it is fully cured in the morning I will drill new screw holes and hopefully have it a bit more secure. I also used the same epoxy and almost 25 clamps to reattach the skin to the housing and also the shifter surround. I will pick up more epoxy tomorrow and finish repairing the component vynal as best I can.





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I ran and installed the microphone for the blue tooth where the rear window defrost would normally be located. Not as clean an install as I would have liked but I no longer have a drill press that would have made a more precise hole possible.





Hope to start prepping some of the body work soon so I can get the exterior moving along too.

Also have everything but the bracket in hand now to do the Dodgerunner alternator belt and adjuster mod.

[GTRS Fiero]

Epoxy on vinyl?  That's a new one, for me.  Does the epoxy bond with the vinyl?

[Fierofool]

I recently used Flex Seal sealant in a tube to repair an auxiliary gauge surround and a radio surround.  A little more than a month ago.  It hasn't released yet, but due to weather and health, neither have I had time to install them. 

[NoMad]

I am using plastic bonding and repair epoxy. As of now it seems to be working well.

I did however find that parts of this console were originally Beechwood that was subsequently painted black. I do like the two tone of the black over grey though and will likely keep it.

Stereo went in without issues but somehow in the process I have created a fault in the dome light/trunk release relay circuit that is blowing the fuse instantly. Did some trouble shooting till I ran out of light and determined it was not the trunk release switch or the relay I just replaced. So now I worry I have pinched a ground somewhere. More searching in the morning.

[GTRS Fiero]

It is common to pinch a wire behind the radio.

[NoMad]

Well after an hour plus of tearing all my work out again and testing every single interior circuit on that fuse without finding a single fault..... And a check showed the only other circuit was the trunk light which was grounding out.  Pulled the light since it doesn't work at the moment anyway.  Problem solved and fuse no longer blows. So all back together and functioning. Had to run so test drives will have to wait till tomorrow.

[GTRS Fiero]

Hmmm.  If the trunk light was grounding out, I would expect that to blow a fuse.

[NoMad]

It was. Hence the search of all the related circuits surrounding the radio work I had been doing. Not sure how it bumped or moved into a grounded position but it sure did.

[Raydar]

I'm not sure what else is on that circuit. Make sure all your tail lights and etc. work.
If you unplug the trunk light from the connector, there won't be anything exposed to cause a short circuit, unless there is a pinched wire somewhere. (The trunk light is rather fragile. If one of the mounting tabs gets broken off, it can flop around in the opening, and short out. Everything behind it is exposed.)

[NoMad]

The only thing on the circuit that is not working is the remote trunk release that is down leg from the light. All else works fine. Ya this one has been loose from the jump and caused the short I was sorting out.

Today was a change of gears. Spent most of the day doing some body and trim work. Pulled the damaged and brittle vent trim plate from below the windshield. Mike had grabbed me one at the stripper party that only needed me to repair two cracks near the mounting points. A quick bit of plastic bonding epoxy made that a simple fix. It got a first coat of flexible bumper and trim black went on and a second coat will go on before mounting.



Cat also was really interested in learning the body work side of things so she helped me while I used fiberglass-reinforced body filler to repair some cracks and chips in the headlight doors. I had intentions to shave some of the logos so I went ahead and filled the Pontiac on the left headlight door at the same time.





With it being so nice out we were working in the sun and my working time was super short before it hardened up. Meant I ended up with a much thicker coat on than I had wanted so lots of sanding was to follow. Cat got in on the action and seemed to really enjoy it. Right before we had to leave for practice I finished getting the fourth coat of high-build sandable primer down on the doors.



So long as the kids from next door don't go putting hand prints in the doors, I will give them a quick sand with some 400 grit and a final coat. I grabbed a small can of color match paint that should be pretty close to what I want the final color to be. Will be a bit of a test.