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  #1  
Old 11-01-2017, 12:38 AM
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frizzen frizzen is offline
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Default 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

I was looking for another toy grade rc car that's my style, that i can upgrade to be cool. I really liked the Charger Daytona that was posted in another thread, but they're currently unobtainable. So i ran through a list of generally accepted 'cool' cars I really like, still not much luck. I finally hit gold with my back-up / weekend car. I was thinking NOW, where nobody really thinks about them. I should have been thinking THEN, where this was about the wildest thing out there.

First i found out NewBright made an '84 Fiero 2M4 4-cyl with powered headlight buckets, horn, and opening doors.
Then i found this "GT" that's from ToyState it's got the droop nose and body kit, but's more of an Indy pace car / custom GT, doors don't open, headlights are manual.
I also found out someone made an IMSA wide body version.

Some money later, this broken / non-running / parts car is dropped off. Oh, it's not a newbright and doors don't open, and the interior isn't quite right. Yes, that is a cable remote, and it has had a rougher life than the one in my driveway. Cracked windshield, both broken knuckles, missing side mirror, and probably more...



Scale looks good enough.
First order of business, steering knuckles have broken lower pivots. I pilot drilled where the center of post was, found some brass stock, final drilled the knuckle to take the brass with a press fit. Better than new.



Turn is good, let's move on to Burn.
Wheels rotate crunchy. Digging deeper, my gearbox has a stripped gear. Tried to clean up with a razor, but it's toast. So that's going to take some parts scrounging.

Goal is close to make close to a 'Mini-Me'. I wish it had the Side Intake instead of Brake Coolers so i could pull off the Indy Snorkle. Close.
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...
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  #2  
Old 11-02-2017, 07:00 AM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

One of these things is not like the other...



It smoked a 36t gear. Where have i seen one about like that?
My tamiya double motor gearbox that i picked up for a future Bruder delta Cat has 3 per gearbox, the 115:1 ratio only needs 2 per box. Grab a razor and remove the small gear off it.

Then i noticed the pinion gear is also cracked, that might have helped bind and strip the axle gear. Let's see what other motors i've got... a SuperSlicks 1/24 Crawler green pinion is direct swap, and the motors fit in the gearbox.



Then i stuck 4 cells into the control, that's really slow. Probably don't need that steep of gear reduction.
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...
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Old 11-02-2017, 09:33 AM
skeeter skeeter is offline
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Frizzy, it NEVER ceases to amaze me, the things you come up with! I'd never would have thought to do this. Will the car remain corded, or are there plans to ditch the cord, & go true RC?
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  #4  
Old 11-02-2017, 03:55 PM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Actually i feel REALLY slow that it took me this long to come up with this idea...



It will be radio controlled.
Steer, drive, lights, headlights up/down might be seperate channel, maybe keep the horn.

There are a lot more Fiero toys than i ever knew about!
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/263...06/tags/radio/
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It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...
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Old 11-02-2017, 06:06 PM
Mustang46555 Mustang46555 is offline
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

NICE! You come up with the coolest ideas.

But you'll have to have this one running by Lebanon in Jan. You can't tow a Fiero with a sling style wrecker. It does really bad things to the plastic body of the 1:1 version. Back in the day a competitor of ours took a tow we refused of a Fiero. Good thing his liability insurance was paid up!
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  #6  
Old 11-02-2017, 10:00 PM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Thanks for the support! They don't tend to make kits of what i want to make. The first couple vehicles in this scale were targets of opportunity which tripped my "I can make that cool!"

Yep, a dead fiero either needs a flatbed, or pushed somewhere safe so you can bring tools and parts to it. Don't even wheel lift them, because good luck getting a dolly under it, it's not worth it.

A guy at work is trying to convince me that it's probably time to make a tandem-axle car hauler to put behind the dumptruck.

They took a little liberty with some angles on the body, but other than the A-pillar rake, it looks pretty good to me. It's clearly a GT Notchback with some bolt-ons, plus it's even molded in "Moving-Violation Red"!
--
Premptive hate: "Yo frizzen, that cars too small for this! Ain't scale. Yo, ain't scale man!"

Math time, this body is 1/14 to 1/14.5 scale.
Real one 160.3" long, 68.9" wide, 46.9" tall.
Toy one 11.325" long, 4.745" wide, 3.350" tall.

Yeah. in traffic the real one gets kinda sketchy being boxed in by trucks.
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...

Last edited by frizzen; 11-19-2017 at 06:20 AM. Reason: Found dial caliper, better math
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  #7  
Old 11-03-2017, 05:23 AM
Mustang46555 Mustang46555 is offline
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

There was a Fiero that went to car shows in the Warsaw area a while back. The owner swapped in a Cadillac Northstar V8! Crazy fast car.
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  #8  
Old 11-03-2017, 06:46 PM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Stock gearing is painfully slow and can't freewheel, maybe that'd work if i had a 2m4 version which had the IronDuke. I've got a custom GT so that's atleast a 2.8 HO, but could even have a up to V8 Archie smallblock kit or an Eldo/torino bigblock



Still need some spacers after parts arrive so i can test that out. Better motor options, can freewheel, and more speed.
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
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  #9  
Old 11-03-2017, 06:54 PM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Nice! Great idea, Me likes it.
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  #10  
Old 11-05-2017, 11:24 PM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

I THINK it was you, friz, that mentioned NewBright somewhere on the forum? If it was, perhaps you'd like this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-198...oAAOSwaMhZ09R6
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  #11  
Old 11-06-2017, 01:07 AM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Newbright makes really great hard bodies, with absolutely worthless electronics. Crawlers have been using them to build scalers for a LONG time.

That's a really nice Ladder. I like the looks of it, but they take up SO much room. It'd be awesome to build and run at shows though! Would look good in your collection too.

I do things that make collectors sad and I've been thinking my dads good condition with box 1962 america lafrance pumper could probably be a lot happier if it eventually had a frame with tamiya semi parts under it, motorize the siren, and wire up the lights.
http://www.tnttoytrucks.com/GasTEX5.html

I was actually thinking newbright made a cable controlled square body Caprice police car, that i feel really needs cut in half, and a few other things... I want to make a landau style Hearse.
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...
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  #12  
Old 11-06-2017, 08:27 AM
skeeter skeeter is offline
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Quote:
Originally Posted by frizzen View Post
Newbright makes really great hard bodies, with absolutely worthless electronics. Crawlers have been using them to build scalers for a LONG time.

That's a really nice Ladder. I like the looks of it, but they take up SO much room. It'd be awesome to build and run at shows though! Would look good in your collection too.

I do things that make collectors sad and I've been thinking my dads good condition with box 1962 america lafrance pumper could probably be a lot happier if it eventually had a frame with tamiya semi parts under it, motorize the siren, and wire up the lights.
http://www.tnttoytrucks.com/GasTEX5.html

I was actually thinking newbright made a cable controlled square body Caprice police car, that i feel really needs cut in half, and a few other things... I want to make a landau style Hearse.
I'm afraid I'm running out of room for stuff in my collection.

Your fire truck would be an AWESOME RC conversion candidate. It's definitely be a one of a kind.
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  #13  
Old 11-06-2017, 08:37 PM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

I got another cheap chinese 20a esc with brake (like my VW T2 has) and i got it set up on the transaxle. Seems to have good torque and plenty of speed with my new motor and faster ratios.

Steering is just a horizon spms401 servo, like the vw. I'm going to have to think a while about mounts and linkages

I started hacking a cheap micro servo for a lighting control. I got the board pulled out, changed the pot to resistor Y bridge, and retested with motor still attached. That'll work great once i grab some other resistors to start building light harnesses. I'm thinking 1 servo board for light control, 1 for headlight up/down both on same channel. I don't think i really need to bother with seperate controlled running lights and headlights, just having working flippy lights should be plenty.

--
With the fire pumper it will be a big project as i'd like to go pretty hard to make it really worth doing. Normal drive function, maybe shifting, lights, siren, airhorn, deck monitor pan/tilt, water pump...
But then it needs a Fire Station to hang out at, with the ambulance. Maybe a building (with silk-flames) to respond to. Then probably some figures dressed in the right vintage.
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...

Last edited by frizzen; 11-06-2017 at 10:21 PM.
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  #14  
Old 11-06-2017, 10:07 PM
skeeter skeeter is offline
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Well, I did it.....You convinced me to get one. Here's the link to the one I got.
HOPEFULLY I'll be able to figure out how to get it to work ads a true RC, WITHOUT the cord, & WITHOUT frying any of hte electrical components! In the event I have questions, I know who to count on for assistance.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/REMOTE-CONTR...72.m2749.l2649
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  #15  
Old 11-08-2017, 07:04 AM
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Thumbs up Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Pretty cool, always loved the Fiero and the Berretta GT... both in Pace Car trim.
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  #16  
Old 11-12-2017, 05:39 PM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

"Yo boss, they got a new windshield installed."



Um, why do you ask what movie I was watching?
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...
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Old 11-12-2017, 06:51 PM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Disney Pixar Cars? I like it
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Old 11-12-2017, 07:46 PM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Cool!
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  #19  
Old 11-29-2017, 04:30 AM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

Someone said it's important to make it able to run and steer before doing anything else...



I opened it up again to shim the gearbox for my new reduced gear configuration. The slop is gone, and all teeth sit nicely middle of gear mesh.

Then i started looking at steering to see where i could try to mount the servo. Somehow i seem to have gotten confused about which steering i needed to do.

Also i learned that the Indy Snorkle is the nut for an interior retainer screw and really isn't going to be worth deleting.
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...

Last edited by frizzen; 11-29-2017 at 05:57 AM.
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  #20  
Old 05-03-2018, 04:43 AM
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Default Re: 1985 Pontiac Fiero GT / Indy

I decided to try out an sg90 for steering. Long horn dropped through the stock tierod hole, made a brass plate to adapt some standoffs, 3m vhb tape to secure servo.



---

So after all this time, i threw an RX and speed control in the chassis... and promptly learned the tires are absolute garbage. I need to true the wheels for axle hop, do something about the old hard checked tires, or look at swapping back to a wimpier motor. Also my steering tierod likes to lift on one knuckle, so that's either a linkage or i need to put in limiter slides

Not a good test run.


On hold for tires that aren't split
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...

Last edited by frizzen; 02-13-2019 at 04:45 AM.
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