The new life of the formula fastback

[NoMad]

I am actually really happy with the shifter, though the cables feel a little stiff on the left to right action.

Went ahead and hit send on the order with a note. If I get a few bucks back great, if not I am still happy.

So far I have some replacement switches on the way for ones that have become brittle.
The slotted and cross-drilled C4 Rotors for the brake conversion. Full poly-bushings all around and new poly end links for the rear swaybar, and their ultimate dogbone.

Should be a good start to getting everything handling right and ready for the fun.

[GTRS Fiero]

Just FYI, Rodney's front sway bar bushings are the way to go, over those from TFS.

[NoMad]

I went poly all around. Since TFS is a reseller on those they should all be the same so it should be a good match.

[GTRS Fiero]

Rodney's front bushings stay in place better.

[NoMad]

So after 5 hours today dealing with the state of Georgia to get licenses and tags sorted....

I drove the car to work. Well I tried to. About 1/3 of the way to my second job I got a service engine soon light and then began to lose clutch pedal pressure. I opted to hang a right and head over to Northlake and see if Mike would mind me borrowing some tools to sort out the clutch and possibly get a read on the code.

So a quick check saw a leak coming from where the master cylinder meets the clutch line. Pulled it and found no obvious  issues except that the angle looked off. A quick bend got the line-up better and screwed it back in. A quick pump of the clutch showed no leaking from fitting any longer. Pumped the clutch a bit and felt it leak down agan in 12 or so throws of the pedal.

That brought me to task two on the possible issues the clutch slave. A bit of finagling got the old unit out but not disconnected. The fitting into the bottom of the slave was good and stuck. I went ahead and mounted up the new slave and got it ready to go. Removing the flare nut required getting a littl old school and using two pairs of visegrips and some extra leverage. Bolt up went well and a gravity bleed and some clean-up made the clutch come back to life.

I really wish I had thought to take photos of the old slave..... the boot and pushrod came off and showed a mix of water and brake fluid trapped by the boot. It appears a small amount of brake fluid was passing the piston in the slave and wreaking havoc on the pushrod. May be Mike can still see it and snap a photo for you all to horror in.

As for the check light.... I assumed it was an O2 sensor from sitting so long. Durimg the clutch work the light appears to have cleared and as of yet has not returned.

Also done today was new wiper blades.

New stuff on the list, the dash light for the speedo is out. The odometer works but the trip meter doesn't. The parking brake light worked yesterday, but now doesn't. The fuel vent appears to have an issue as filling the tank causes a quick shut off of the pump and a large backsplash of fuel out the filler neck. Topped it up with premium just to get some octane back in her. In tapping the gauge, which was reading 7/8 full, to see if it might bump the needle..... the temp gauge needle flipped back into place and began to work again. So win some lose some.

But damn does this thing pull when you give it some gas!

[NoMad]

Oh, and does anyone have the black plastic panel the sits below the windshield and has the wipers passing through it. Mine is paper thin and cracked badly.

[GTRS Fiero]

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

You can check the dbrake switch or the bulb.  The easy way to test the switch is to set the dbrake, and see if the chime comes on when you start the engine.

[GTRS Fiero]

Oh, and does anyone have the black plastic panel the sits below the windshield and has the wipers passing through it. Mine is paper thin and cracked badly.

Pisa carries the cowl.

[GTRS Fiero]

Since the tank was recently out, I suspect that the vent tube was crimped or otherwise blocked.  I don't believe that the hoses can be hooked up incorrectly, and there would have been leakage if the vent tube was not hooked up.

[Fierofool]

The vent tube for the tank is just the right length to connect, so it can't be crimped.  Mike had filled the car without incident.  Hope it was just the pump at the station. 

When I installed the MC, I threaded the fluid line in by hand until it seated, then tightened it with a wrench.  I thought I got it tight enough.  I didn't find any fluid leak at the back of the old MC and I suspected the slave was the problem but didn't get to it.  You might want to slide a length of the plastic wire harness cover over the fluid line between the slave and frame.  This helps to insulate the line from the heat of the coolant line and exhaust downpipe. 

If the CEL went off after turning off the ignition, it probably wouldn't be the Oh2.  More likely the EGR system.  I have 1 good EGR solenoid and Scott's parts car has one on it that's probably good.

I saw at least 1 cowl cover in the parts barn pictures.  You would need to get TopNotch to check the barn.  The one on ScottB's parts car might also be serviceable.  The tree fell on the roof of the car at the right front corner, so the cowl may not be damaged.  You would need to contact him about that. 

There are also a bunch of instrument panels in the parts barn.  Fuel and temp gauges are easy to swap.  Trip odometer isn't a hard thing, either.  The tach is easily interchanged, but you should be sure you get one that redlines at 6K.  That would be the one for the V6.  The only difference is that the ones we have are reflectively lighted, while the 88 was backlighted.  Otherwise, they display the same. 

Why did they give you so much problem with registering the car? 

[NoMad]

Most of the trouble wasn't in registering the car. Getting my Georgia driver's license was the majority of the tine spent. There were multiple conflicting sets of information given and I ended up having to run all over for different proofs of address.

[Fierofool]

It used to be that a new resident had something like 30 days to get new plates and new license, but I think they've changed that to 10 days for each.  That makes it hard to have phone and utility bills to show proof of your residency. 

I have some people in my neighborhood that have been running South Carolina plates on their cars for many years.  Tax and insurance must be cheaper there.  I guess they just register them at a relative's home.  Thing is the lazy-a** city police just ignore it unless they catch you in a traffic stop. 

[Raydar]

All of the V6 tachs with the 6K redline at 12 o'clock should be backlighted. NOT just the 88s.

Do you know how to pull codes? Take off the plastic cover where the lighter sticks out of the center console/armrest. The ALDL is on the right.
Short the two pins on the bottom right (A and B) and then turn the key on. You will see the CEL flash once... twice... once... twice... once... twice. (That's "code 12", three times. Essentially checks the system.)
Then it will flash the codes that caused the check engine light. Any stored codes will flash three times. Code 32 is the EGR system. Usually happens at highway speeds. Before you spend a lot of money to fix the EGR system, I know a guy who can disable the EGR function in the ECM.
If you don't have any luck, I might have a cowl cover, too. Think I got it from the parts barn, and then didn't use it.
They all seem to be "slightly compromised", by now.

[GTRS Fiero]

My cowl was out and in at least 6 times since I bought the Fiero.  The cowl seems to be solid.  I am sure there are many out there like mine.

[MikeMac]

I filled the car with non ethanol gas using a 5 gallon gas can. It was literally filled to the brim since there isn't any type of auto shutoff on a can! I stopped pouring when gas poured back out of the filler neck, so it was literally full.