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Thanks, but it isn't paint...I vinyl wrapped it. I ran out of summer and patience for paint so I decided to wrap it. It turned out ok for a first try I think.
Jessica
So much awesome in this thread! Thanks for sharing and giving me much needed motivation!
Thanks, no problem. Its more like a stream of consciousness and an account of antics at this point
Oh and there is nothing new done on the El Camino
The motor mount in my S10 failed and the engine tried to spin around, so I've been dealing with pulling the engine out enough to change the engine and trans mounts. Since it was such a catastrophic and potentially dangerous failure I decided it was time to replace the original ball joints, steering components, bushings, and shocks that are all original '97 junk. Plus the Fiero needs a 4th gear clutch hub shaft (I think thats what its called anyways) because it won't shift into 4th but shifts great and doesn't slip in any other gear...so thats where all my time is going for at least the next couple weeks.
Thanks, no problem. Its more like a stream of consciousness and an account of antics at this point
Oh and there is nothing new done on the El Camino
The motor mount in my S10 failed and the engine tried to spin around, so I've been dealing with pulling the engine out enough to change the engine and trans mounts. Since it was such a catastrophic and potentially dangerous failure I decided it was time to replace the original ball joints, steering components, bushings, and shocks that are all original '97 junk. Plus the Fiero needs a 4th gear clutch hub shaft (I think thats what its called anyways) because it won't shift into 4th but shifts great and doesn't slip in any other gear...so thats where all my time is going for at least the next couple weeks.
Thats the exact same thing I told my Dad when I figured out the mounts were shot, then I told him again when he was running the hoist and I was under the car trying to get the bolts through the motor mounts
I've got most of the parts already and everything is torn apart so it should be back together fast once everything is here.
Jess
Thats the exact same thing I told my Dad when I figured out the mounts were shot, then I told him again when he was running the hoist and I was under the car trying to get the bolts through the motor mounts
I've got most of the parts already and everything is torn apart so it should be back together fast once everything is here.
Jess
Yeah but that ls1/t56 setup with longtubes and positraction tho. lol
it would be, but trying to find a decently affordable t56 is darn near impossible.
Isn't that the truth!
Anyways, I'm still fighting with the little S10. I've got almost all my parts in and should have the front end done tonight (I need to put the springs back in and put cotter pins in everything). I also had to cut the exhaust off to get the engine to line back up and found out the cat is hollow and the muffler has something clanging around inside of it. The after cat O2 sensor was stuck so I had planned to change things anyways, so I'm going to fix that problem and dump the exhaust out the side.
This situation with a broken daily is a lot more stress and a lot less fun than I like in my car hobby.
Jessica
so true. sometimes i'm tempted to just buy a little silver toyota box and just drive it....but then i remember i'm a gearhead lol
I feel the same way. I bought a Ford Explorer a few years ago to have something practical and good in the winter...I kept it 3 months and it sucked every time I drove it so I bought the S10.
Should have the S10 fixed this week though and it'll be back to the normal crazy.
Jessica
So I finally got the S10 working, I still need to pull the bed and figure out why the fuel sender unit isn't working and also fix an exhaust leak but that can wait for better weather.
I'm back at work on the El Camino!
I'm still scared to tip it a lot (and the fenders are on the bed cover right now)
The pictures aren't a lot of cool stuff to look at but if someone finds this thread and is thinking of doing this kind of thing maybe they will be more prepared for the annoyance that is undercoat than I was.
This section of the bed floor, and some other little spots I missed before took me 4 or 5 hours to scrape off
I went out the next day and spent about 3 hours on it, but decided to use brake clean in addition to the scrapers.
The next day I used some brake clean (and fumigated myself and had to quit)
The brake clean helps so you don't have to scrape as much and really hammer on the panels, but it turns the undercoat into goop a little and that makes it easier to scrape but can leave more residue. I ended up using it on these sections because they are hard to get under and have a good angle to scrape from.
Anyways the Fiero is running strong and I've been playing around with little stuff, like chasing a missfire and getting the cruise and speedometer to work.
Its been a really helpful experience and I think its given me some ideas for the El Camino! Its also made me really sure I want to buy HP Tuners so I can troubleshoot and tune my cars myself. Also I'm addicted to boost now...
I'm still on the right track to have the body back on the frame this summer/year I just need to decide how much I want to test fit and finish before I put the body back on.
Jessica
So I'm back to work on the El Camino, I picked up a b&m quicksilver shifter the other night and started to get a bracket made to bolt it in the car. I had a heck of a time finding a shifter that had a good balance of performance features and daily driver looks. I'd had a T handle shifter in the car before, and it worked but looked a little bizarre. This time I wanted something that would ratchet up and down, as well as work just in drive. This one seems to be the right balance I was looking for, and it fits nicely in the Camaro console I'm trying to use.
This plate will get spot welded to the tunnel, after I weld nuts on the back to bolt the shifter onto
Its just going to put the shifter up off the floor a half inch or so that way I don't have to bolt directly through the floor.
An added bonus to this whole thing is the shifter fits in the manual trim plate and looks amazing! Also this should be a good theft deterrent because it looks like a manual, there isn't a clutch pedal, and its a little tricky to figure out how to shift
Subtle and it looks right at home.
Of course I couldn't help trying out the T-handle for that 70s vibe.
I'll get this welded in, and primed, then its the console front bracket and last will be welding the E-brake mount so it fits with the console placement.
That will take care of the majority of the welding in the cab, so it'll be ready for paint once the bottom is all done!
Not much else to post, I've been cleaning the underside of the body some more, and I welded in the shifter bracket as well as the front console mount. All this stuff takes time to measure and figure out and then make. Then I have to wait for paint to dry and weld it into the car. Its all pretty tedious and I haven't been taking pictures. So between that and life and work I've kind of slowed down. I'm still shooting to have the body ready to go on the frame by April/May and I think I can hit that mark. A lot of it depends on the weather as well, because I'm working in a garage without any HVAC I'm going to have to wait for good weather that will be around for a few days to help the paint cure right.
Then there are the other projects I started getting the fenders ready to go on the dually and I've been filling trim holes. Its really helped my welding skills level I think. When I'm done filling the holes and grinding down the tacks its hard to tell where I was working. I figured working on those would get me ready to tackle the firewall on the El Camino as well as the rear Caddy light on the truck. Don't worry I'm still picking away at things its just slow going doing it by myself on my schedule ;-)
Thing really came together this weekend and I got a good bit done for a change.
Decided the simplest mount would be the best mount.
I had to cut out a couple spots on the factory brace for my mount to fit.
I stitch welded it in, then I added the extension on the rear portion and I added a brace on the passenger side so its solid.
Started to fill the little holes on the firewall
The old fuse panel was removed long ago for an aftermarket one so this hole is totally useless and hard to seal up.
I'm basically stacking tack welds around until its all welded.
I'm not sure if its practice or the welder but I'm getting the hang of this. The prep work and fitting the piece is really crucial too.
Pretty much hidden, just needs a skim coat of filler.
I hate filling these round holes, the square one was much easier.
Same process, I still need to grind down these welds.
I'm going to cut out a panel to cover the HVAC hole and I'll build a cowl gutter extension to go on top. I'm not going to weld this one in, I'll just bolt it in like original.
02-07-2017, 10:58 AM
that would be nice! 
