Prepping for tomorrow’s meet and...

So I'm trying to get the Formula ready for tomorrow to take to the club meet and decided to first up change the oil and give it a quick tune up.

One of the places I took a quick look was the air filter, and this is what I found:









So, as you can see, this car has been sitting for a little while. It actually doesn't look so bad all around, this air filter is definitely one of the worst places, and by far the worst air filter I've seen.

yes, it ran. We'll see what kind of difference it will make later on when I'm finished changing the spark plugs and wires. Probably need to clean the contacts in the rotor too.

I managed to replace the spark plug wires and clean up the rotor and dist cap (need to replace them really..) the distributor itself is a mass of rust. I've actually never seen one that isn't, so if I actually drive this thing that is another item that will have to get replaced.

I also got the 3 front spark plugs out but the back ones just weren't possible. I think there is a pile of junk in the sockets which stops the socket wrench from getting down and around the spark plug. How would I go about cleaning that out so I can get those spark plugs out?

All in all it runs much better now. Starts on the first crank and idles fine. I can hear it miss every once in a while and I'm sure it's either the dist or the back 3 spark plugs.

I should have no problems getting it to the meet tonight, I just hope the rain holds off because the wipers aren't the greatest.

Yeah, I thought of that too. The oil wasn't so bad though (black of course..) and I didn't see any particles will cleaning up. I'm sure there were some though.

It doesn't seem to burn oil, I can't smell it at least, and the car itself runs nice.

But like I said, I don't know how I'm going to get those back spark plugs out. The socket wrench just won't make it down over the spark plugs properly. Hopefully I'll get it worked out when I get a bit more time to tinker.

Under the dist rotor there is a yellowish round donut with 2 wires going to a connector, it is plugged into the black ignition module.  It is a cheap part (15 bucks) however is a pain to replace as you have to remove and dismantle the entire dist shaft to change it.  They should be changed every 3-4 years depending on the amount you drive the car.  It can cause a weak ignition and intermittent miss.

Dr. Fiero, you got any pics of the new style dist shaft, I had no idea there was a redesigned dist shaft for the Fiero.  That sound like it would make it worth while to change rather than rebuild.

I just got done working on the 85, and still have lots to do on the 88.  If I am not working tomorrow I will go and pop the cap off and see if it is diffrent.  If it is, I will take a bunch of pics.   I know you and Ryan rebuilt the motor in the car, do you think you would have used the same dist shaft?

Graeme and I went and checked it out, it appears to be the same as any other Fiero dist I have ever looked at.

At least you didn't hit any rounded off ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(been there - done that - NASTY!!)

I used a slightly smaller 12pt impact socket.  Pounded it on, and got it out of there.  What a PITA though!