Does anyone else out there have a Fierro 600?

[dfhtrhjn]

That's awesome! I glad there's someone else working on these that posts pictures. I've been temped to get round lights for mine as well I'm just not quite ready to start cutting things up.

If you're looking for wheels I use Porsche RSR, ~9'' in front ~12'' in rear with 225 50 15 in front and 345 35 15 in the rear. The wheel offset is perfect and the tires fill the fenders without rubbing.

I'll post some pics. Darryl, did you keep the interior when you restored it? What does it look like behind your seats?

[Darryl Castone]

Mine still has the VW set up. it's not been put on a fiero chassis.
i did keep the interior, the back behind the seats looks like this.
BEFORE RESTORATION

that^ was the floor, this below is the speakers in the back

my door panels really sucked! and i currently have nothing on interior of the doors.

now i did get some aluminum made to remake my dashboard like this one below

now i really like his door panels a lot! i bought seats like his but they turned out to be too tall for my car even from the floor... so i gotta sell them now and get some others.
and my steering wheel is the vintage momo style

with the ferrari horn button

i do have upholstery for the inside its just not installed yet.
i do want better wheels, i loved your gottis.. if i could find those and place the yellow&black ferrari center caps on them it'd be set!

[dfhtrhjn]

I think you could get Ferrari caps for Gottis, it's probably harder to find the Gottis as a reasonable price.
Here's what the 345s look like from behind,



and from the side



I saw your door panels, these are the ones I made. I found the lightest Plexiglas at the hardware store and put vinyl over them. It was really easy, only took me two hours to get the stuff drill the holes, glue the vinyl and screw them on.





Here's the biggest shot I could get of the interior in its current state.



I've also got that aluminum dash you were talking about. If I could do it again I'd use brushed aluminum instead of the textured stuff. I put quick release steering in so paramedics can get me out if I roll the car in a rally (it's also hilarious at the grocery store).



I noticed you have speakers in the front, but but where do you keep your stereo? Are you using Porsche 914 seats? I've got Corbeau seats and harnesses and they fit perfect, I think Recaros would work as well but I've never tried.

[Darryl Castone]

I am so jealous of your interior.
I'm still using the old black and yellow VDO guages. haha
and hopefully the speedometer lights are working like my mechanic said they should be... my car's in MD, i'm in PA at the moment.
i have the materials to put my dash together, just gotta get around to doing it all.
the interior of my car isn't dirty like it used to be, but it still needs effort into making it look better. i also have the upholstery material too. i just need to get my car back in my nearby possession to get the chance to do so.
i also bought recaro type seats but the mechanic said even from the floor that they were 2 or 3 inches too tall for the car. haha
but my seats look just like your seats, just all black. and your seats look like maybe they might touch the ceiling too?
i'll visit MD and be by my car in two weeks so it'll be easier for me to tell where i have to go from there. and thanks for the door panel tips.
how all i need to know is
1- the biggest fastest engine i can put in my car. or should i supercharge the VW inside ti already and how?
2- how to install A/C, cause the east coast is way too humid.
3- how can i buy a cooling system for my air-cooled engine.

any ideas?

[dfhtrhjn]

Thanks on the interior it's not totally finished but I've got some cool ideas for the finishing points.
My seats touch the ceiling if their all the way vertical. Even still I've managed to get 3 kegs in that car; one behind each seat and one on that flat spot in the back by putting it in through the hatch.
My gauge wiring is totally crazy and I'd never try to take it apart, I don't know what yours looks like but it might be more work than it's worth.

As for the engine, I built a custom 2332cc air-cooled. It pushes around 210hp with 10.5:1 compression on a good day. I spent a lot of time on it including porting and polishing the intake manifolds to match the cnc port on the heads etc. I've got an unusual transmission as well to handle the power. I can go into more detail if you like. I used desktop dyno to profile most of it before ordering stuff. I've got an external oil cooler w/thermostatically controlled fan (mesa 72 plate fits exactly) on the left side corner so the air intake blows right on it. I've also perforated the bottom under the cooler to blow the hot air out. I'm using a vw dog house for now as the other cooler and I've never had heat issues even during hill climbs in 90 degree heat.

I have no idea how you would put AC on, I'm in Oregon so it's quite mild year round.

I've never tried supercharging either, but I would probably go to the forced induction forum and figure out what other people do. Your car is light though, I can easily light the tires in 1st and 2nd gear, haven't tried 3rd yet.

Let me know how it goes. I can post more pictures if you want to see stuff.

How are you handling heat for the winter? I think I'm gonna try a gasoline heater from an older Porsche (one of those torpedo looking things)

[Darryl Castone]

i have no clue how im going to do all of that. A/C or heat...
once i get to the point where im ready to do any of that stuff i'll just have to contact you again.
so i suppose i can still use my seats anyways. do you ever have a problem driving with the seats somewhat leaning back?
ahh.. i really need to just see my car again on the 11th and figure out everything and i can tell you further things. i'd like to see all the pictures you have though! my email is [email protected] or maybe you have a picture trail/flicker account?
my wiring was so weird i think my mechanic sent it to a WV dealership and i think they redid it all? or maybe made sense of it, im not sure cause my gauges weren't working right.
also when i bought that new steering wheel, i bought the wrong hub. my steering wheel is tilted. im not sure since i haven't seen the car in forever if its permanent or adjustable? but i bought one for a tilt column of a corvette (Code/ Part number: MOMO-HUB-2702)
and i know my column is GM but i guess maybe its from an old camaro, pontiac and not a corvette cause my mechanic said the hub doesn't fit. What column do you have? i think most of them came like.. somewhat modified where like it was something WV welded onto something of GM? at least that what the papers say that Joseph F. made himself.
when i bought my car it came with all sorts of blueprints of the car and extensive info.
HOW THE HECK can i figure out what my column is?
i also kinda feel like the steering wheel is kinda high up, like it might disrupt my vision being all up in the windshield and the windshield is slanted as it is, so it's not like i have much to look out of to begin with. haha

[dfhtrhjn]

I'm going to try and figure out the heat situation this weekend if I have time. Last year I wedged a little electric heater/defroster under the dash and hooked it up to the defrost tubing for the window. It got me through the winter with visibility but not much for heat. I was also thinking about getting a little power inverter that converts 12v to 120v and getting a stronger electric heater. I use a 75amp alternator and a 70amp battery so I can get away with hooking up more electrical crap. When I've got something good I'll post instructions and part numbers

Funny you ask about driving with the seats back and the steering wheel high. Your wheel is really really high, I don't now how that happened, mine doesn't get in the way of the window at all (probably at least 6 inches lower than yours). I have an early 70's era non adjustable ford steering assembly, the ford keys gave it away. I've got a grant quick release hub and and wheel. It looks like you've got too much stuff on the end of that steering spline. The seats are great for me, in fact this is the most ergonomic car I've ever had, I can reach everything perfectly, shift knob, wheel, switches. I've got plenty of seat adjustability too; forward-backward, backrest forward tilt-backward tilt. I even have room to move the seat more upright if I need it. I'd look for a part number on that column to find out what it is.

As for visibility I moved my rear view mirror up to the very top of the windshield which helps sooo much, I'll take a picture this weekend to show you where. I also leave the screw out so when I rally or drive windy roads I can just slide it off and toss it in the back.

I can tell you my wiring was not vw, it was some custom hookup and I spent quite a bit of time cleaning it up. I traced all the wires and put two nice new fuse boxes in, one on each side of the car. I've got gauges, switches, interior lighting (all the low amp stuff) on one, and all the higher amp exterior lighting, heating, stereo on the second running a separate set of wires. I also put 70amp switches in the dash so they'll never overheat.

If you've got blueprints I'd be excited to see them, my car came out of a barn outside of a small town in the middle of Oregon; I didn't even know what it was for the first year I had it.

Did you have air adjustable shocks in back?

[Darryl Castone]

wow, you know so much more about your car than i know about mine.
the thing is im not mechanically inclined at all.
i bought my car cause i knew it had amazing potential only to discover what i really had later on.
im an artist, i know what i want it to look like and what i expect from it as far as performance but.
i couldn't begin to imagine what it takes to install A/C or heat/defrost or anything else.
thank god i found this forum. haha
i'll just wait till i return to MD next weekend and i'll have to sit with the car and go over everything and i'll see where to go from there.
cause now that you mentioned it.. i think i had ford keys too. so i am now doubting weather my column is chevy or pontiac at all.
i don't even know how to properly buy cool new wheels for my car cause i have no clue what the bolt pattern and size on my car is...
just sad actually.

[dfhtrhjn]

I'm sure glad there's someone else out there working on one of these, even if you're on the other side of the country This is what I meant about the rear view mirror: (it's a crappy picture but my lighting was terrible)
You can see where the old mirror holder was and where I moved it.



I also saw your exhaust. I went with merged comp exhaust from CB performance; this was the best performing off-the-shelf one I could find that also fits neatly under the car. It's not very pretty but essential for going fast.



Here's what it looks like in: (dirty but you can see most of it)



Oh, the heater should be fairly easy. I measured the heater I think I'll put in (small torpedo one), and the space I've got under the passenger side dash. If all goes well, I'll have heater this week and put it in this weekend. I'll be able to post a how-to with pictures and all for you really soon.

As for wheels, yours look like a 4x130 VW pattern, mine are a disc brake 5x130 Porsche. Porsche wheels are much easier for find in a size that fits your car (think staggered Fuchs, Porsche 930, or Porsche RSR wheels). You can buy complete kits online that will convert you from drums to discs, and to Porsche really easily. They bolt straight on and are manageable in an afternoon if you have a few hours and a couple wrenches.

Oh! and you can have the rotors drilled (or ordered) for both patterns since the 5x130 pattern overlaps one hole with the 4x130. That means you can upgrade your brakes and rotors and keep your existing wheels until you find better!

I'll also measure my wheel offsets this weekend so you know the maximum total width, inside dish, and outside dish you can mount.

[Darryl Castone]

Hey! do you have any video? of it running and ect..
make a youtube channel!

[dfhtrhjn]

I don't have any video yet, but you gave me an idea so I went and bought one of those smart phone holders that suctions itself to a window or dashboard. I'll upload a short vid of the car with it running and see if I can rig my iphone up to record me driving.

[Darryl Castone]

Well, i saw my car today! it's beautiful...
the steering wheel has a lever that can lower it and my vision is a lot better!
though my column seems so dang long.. i don't get why that is but i'll take pictures of it all & maybe you might notice something.
the keys to the doors are ford, and the keys to turn it on are GM. the key says:
"For
GM cars"
"CURTIS"
"b-50"
"C"
i have no clue what that means.
the inside still needs to be cleaned, and my seats.. the new ones i bought im sure can be installed.
maybe not able to sit vertically upright but who the hell would sit in seats like ours in that position anyways?
in my car, my head is like one or two inches from the ceiling- which by the way needs some upholstery too. and i also forgot to mention i have this old Panasonic radio on the ceiling of the car. i'd rather get rid of that all together and just install a ceiling light.

Will post pictures tomorrow!
or sunday.

[dfhtrhjn]

Very cool! I'm glad you got the car back. Your radio is on the ceiling? I've got the two ceiling lights you're talking about, I'll take a picture soon.

I tried taking a video of the car with my iphone, it's here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UPsLywhMVc

My youtube is the same as shoptalk; dfhtrhjn
The engine basically sounds like when I start it. The crappy mic on the phone doesn't pick up the low rumble of the engine well. When I got out of the car the sound overloaded the mic and killed it; I had to reboot the phone to get it to work again. It's also pretty dirty since I drive the piss out of it.

My head touches the ceiling regularly, but as I've been using the seats the stuffing has compressed a little and I got an extra inch of head room Do you have a vw pedal assembly? I've got a cool trick for making your gas pedal height adjustable I'll post a pic of that too.

I have no idea about the keys, kinda funny you've got GM key for Ford though.

I'm gonna try and mount that phone today maybe and do a test video

[Sneaks]

Curtis is a blank company, you can find them at most hardware stores, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. They make blanks that can be cut for all the major manufacturers codes.

[Darryl Castone]

So if i take my keys to a key place they can tell me what car the ignition key is for?

i uploaded 5 videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWF484q7WyQ

i still have no clue what column i have but i'll just read through some papers i have on the car and im bound to find out what it is.