Colinb17's Little Red Rocket Build: 1988 Fiero

well, here goes nothing.

just ordered the parts to try my hand at a front splitter. at 70+ mph, the front end of a fiero can get very light, especially with the bumper I have on mines (fieros came with ~4 different bumper styles). a number of folks who regularly drive their fieros at higher speeds have found a splitter, sometimes paired with diffusers, to be a very effective way to keep the front end heavy at speed. I may only ever go 85 in mine, but those 15 extra MPH would be nice to have at the same level of control.

in order to create downforce on a car, you want the air going under the car to be moving fast, causing "suction", just like how the air going over a plain crates lift.

but that's just the first part of the equation. the suction is caused by the fast moving air under the car causing a low pressure area. unfortunately, while the air that goes under a fiero has plenty of velocity, due to the shape of the front end, the air that is directed under the car is of a relatively high pressure due to the "funneling" effect of the shape of the front bumper.
so what I'm currently getting is high speed, high pressure air. what I need is high speed low pressure air.

with the design of the fiero bumper a splitter actually serves a second, unintentional purpose. with the location of the radiator and where the radiator fan draws air from, a splitter will not only correct the air flow, put cause the higher pressure air to direct right into the radiator.

more suction, more cooling, more time.

here's the build I took some knowledge from when looking into the "how" of installing solidly installing one. The piece I have coming is not quite as big, but based on the principles of how a splitter works, it should still do the job.





Before he had the vinyl wrap done

 

Some canards would also help. I like where this is going. Next step - track day.

 

canards are on the list. I just don't want to order them until I get the splitter sorted out, or else I guarantee you i'll have a pile of canards in the corner of my garage that aren't the right size/shape.

I am also in desperate need of some fog lights on this go-kart, so I'm thinking the space between the splitter and factory bumper will be a prime location for those. low to the ground like they should be, but more protected than they would be without the splitter.

 

A man always with a plan.

 

Well shit, that was quicker than I thought. Guess I have to get my butt moving on making some brackets, and hunting down some hardware.

 

Ha. The mod Gods favor you.

 

Actually got a lot of different parts in today. Probably get the daily driver functional stuff done tomorrow, and the splitter during the week.

 

Wohoo!

Not the final version, but it's drivable. More details and pictures tomorrow, when I'm not posting from my phone

 

Spider Man's Fiero. At least what comes to my mind.

When is the speed test?!!?!

 

Hah, better than barbie's jeep I guess.

I need to stiffen it up a little more before I hit highway speeds. There is still more play in it than I want. Mostly due to the center two braces being too short. They really need to go vertically, to the bottom of the factory bumper, not out horizontally like the outer ones. They were about an inch shy of reaching though. I have longer ones ordered, and they should be here tomorrow. Bad news is that tomorrow has a low temp of 16 degrees, and my garage isn't cleared to fit the car. Might have a cleanup night tonight in preparation.

 

Frieburger & Finnegan FTW I love that show!

 

I love this thread! I lusted after this car when it was introduced, and was pretty sure I was going to get one...but we had a son instead, lol. As I near retirement, I'm thinking this might be a nice project car to look for.

 

for how few there are out there, there are plenty for sale, at reasonable prices, running and projects. on that same note, there is also a surprisingly large amount of aftermarket support, for an old, relatively low dollar car.

it certainly makes for an enjoyable project, which the hassles of parts availability are mostly non issues.

 

Probably have a harder time finding performance parts for the Tacoma.

 

So with your one injector, new fuel filter, and no cat, have you logged any miles to see a performance gain( running smoother) and or mileage change?

 

I actually didn't get to install the new filter this weekend like I had planned. had the wrong size O-rings. hoping to knock out the fuel filter, plugs, and wires by the weekend, so I can get some more non-commuting miles on it and look for any changes/improvements.

 

When is the pre-move yard sale?

 

tossing my resume out to some contacts in Charleston this weekend, so within the next couple months if all goes as as planned. need a 60 gallon upright compressor (240V)? wife says that's the only thing in the garage that she doesn't want to have to move. and I do agree, as it would likely cost nearly as much as the compressor did to have it moved

unrelated note: I'm getting close to doing some more electrical work on the fiero, so those blue sea boxes you gave me are about to come in handy!

 

Hah, damnit. it's always something. a well versed fiero enthusiast that has experience racing them, informed me that I may need to look into a hood vent.

after air goes into the front bumper, and over the radiator, it gets directed over towards the headlights, and then out into the fenderwells. apparently if you push too much air over the radiator, it cannot escape into the fender wells quick enough, and the excess gets out by pushing up the headlight covers. so you're doing 80 down the highway with your headlight covers waving at everyone you're passing

to counter this, a hood vent or louvers, are the easiest solution. he sent me this picture as an example. being that my splitter doesn't protrude past the front bumper, I may not have crossed the pressure threshold to require this, but I'll certainly have to keep it in my back pocket.

 

hoping that I won't need to do a hood vent just yet, but if I do, here are some of the more well done ones I've come across. your two options are to either cut and manipulate the hood with the aid of fiberglass, or to just cut a hole in the hood and bolt on an aluminum of carbon louver. most folks do it because they stuff a V8 in the car and can't cool it well enough with out increasing flow over the radiator.