The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"

[Raydar]

I went to the tag office and registered the car this morning. It's now officially mine.
Fierofool thought that the engine in the car was a Series 1 3800, but after a lot of checking, I find that it is a Series 2. This means 205 stock HP versus 170 stock HP.

Good news! On both counts!

[GTRS Fiero]

I went to the tag office and registered the car this morning. It's now officially mine.
Fierofool thought that the engine in the car was a Series 1 3800, but after a lot of checking, I find that it is a Series 2. This means 205 stock HP versus 170 stock HP.

Great news.  I'm glad for you.

[TopNotch]

Today I drove the car to work. Basically, it did fine. The SES light came on a couple of times, but no change in performance. I'll have to use my scanner to see what that's about. The oil  pressure is kind of low at idle once it has warmed up, but it may be because I put 5-30 in it, and the oil cap says 10-30.
The brakes have a very light touch compared to my other Fieros, as if it had a big booster or some other change, but everything looks stock. So I'm wondering if that engine makes more vacuum than a stock Fiero engine.

[Fierofool]

I seem to remember that the 3800 does run very low oil pressure at idle.  It's by design.  Something like 5-12 psi.

[GTRS Fiero]

I'm curious what it shows, if you put a vacuum gauge on the 3800, then compare to the stock V6.

The L4 and V6 both use the same booster, but I do not have an L4 to test.

My belief is that vacuum at idle should be about 18-22".

[TopNotch]

Today I replaced the PCM (powertrain control module) with one I had bought a while back on Ebay, and took the car on a brief test drive. It ran better, and the transmission shifted better than with the old PCM. And there was no SES light. So I'm declaring the engine done for now, and it's time to think about body work and paint. There's a bad spot on one of the aftermarket side scoops, that looks like someone just slapped a little resin or body putty on to "fix" it, with no sanding or shaping, and the dew wipes are completely rotten. And there's a few places where paint layers are flaking off, but I think the paint shop can handle those. I'm not sure when I can take care of these things, but hopefully I'll have it looking good next spring.

[GTRS Fiero]

In time for the Don Hulse cruise?

If you find a good paint shop, let me know.

[TopNotch]

I bought a quart can of Evercoat Vette Panel Adhesive/Filler years ago, and it looks like it's finally going to come in handy to repair the bad spot on the side scoop. So I popped off the top, and found that it had settled over the years -- liquid on the top and the resin on the bottom. I used one of those paint stirrers that you put on an electric drill to stir it up, and after much work, it seems to be reconstituted. But when I squeezed the little tube of cream hardener that came with it, the stuff inside crunched. Fortunately, you can buy the cream hardener separately, so I ordered one. I hope this stuff works after all these years (it's expensive). This Sunday it's supposed to be a nice day, so I'll try it then.

[NoMad]

If yours is no good let me know and I can bring some all-resin and mat. If they are aftermarket scoops and just fiberglass I also have some really good shortstrand repair filler as well.

[Tha Driver]

I bought a quart can of Evercoat Vette Panel Adhesive/Filler years ago, and it looks like it's finally going to come in handy to repair the bad spot on the side scoop. So I popped off the top, and found that it had settled over the years -- liquid on the top and the resin on the bottom. I used one of those paint stirrers that you put on an electric drill to stir it up, and after much work, it seems to be reconstituted. But when I squeezed the little tube of cream hardener that came with it, the stuff inside crunched. Fortunately, you can buy the cream hardener separately, so I ordered one. I hope this stuff works after all these years (it's expensive). This Sunday it's supposed to be a nice day, so I'll try it then.

Pat, can you post a pic (or email it to me) of the damage? If it's aftermarket fiberglass you don't need the Evercoat. If it's stock RRIM you need a special product made just for that.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts

[TopNotch]

Here are some pictures. I have done some sanding on the area, because parts were sticking up above the normal surface. I need to fill in the low places, and then sand it all smooth.

[Fierofool]

All that alligatoring will need to be sanded away or it will probably come back through any paint job. 

[scottb]

Is that paint or gel coat cracking?

[GTRS Fiero]

Just paint that Fiero cammo.  No more worries about alligator paint.

[Tha Driver]

OK; All that cracking has to be sanded off (if it's in the paint), or ground off (if it's cracked gelcoat). After that lets see what you have & we'll go from there.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts