My BABE rally 09 Car - Fiero En Fuego!

We leave for BABE on Sunday, and the car is just about ready, only finishing a special electrical project tomorrow.

We've had a lot of Fiero talk on here today, so this is appropriate.

Here's our team website: www.teamenfuego.com. I still need to upload the latest version, what is up now is really crude. Stupid FTP.

The team is my girlfriend and I, who met on last year's BABE rally. My team came in in 2nd, her team came in 1st. This year we wanted something sporty enough for Deal's Gap, something with good parts availability, and something never on the rally before.

Here's the guy I bought it from, it was on Craigslist in NJ, the guy was moving and had to move it. For the princely sum of $400, I bought a decent shape 86 2m6 with the 2.8 V6 and 3 speed auto that seemed to be all there.

On the tow back, my 99 Land Rover Discovery II decided to blow a head gasket a few miles from home, so I limped it home with the Fiero in tow, and proceeded to do a full head and valve job on the Disco, delaying repairs on the Fiero, which hadn't been on the road since 2004.

Once I finally got to work on the Fiero, I had to rebuild most of the front suspension, as most of it was shot, but fortunately, I had a ton of parts in the trunk, including a full poly bushing set, balljoints, etc.

We finally tore into it, put in new speakers, etc

As our team name is "En Fuego", we needed to make it flaming, so the rattle can paint job ended up with this

I've since driven it enough to know it needed a new LF caliper as the old one was sticking...replaced that tonight. Right now I'm working on a secret electrical project that I'll post results of tomorrow.

It really is a fine piece of crap, can't want to hit the road for BABE. It is such a great time, with some of the best people I've ever met. We'll post updates from the road on the site as we go.

Fieros are blowin up. They're everywhere, all the way from the Big Apple to the Big Easy now.

Hey nice score and nice job. Looking forward to the updates.

Sonic wrote:

Didn't this guy sell another BABE vehicle? He looks awful familiar

Great write up, well done.
Great score on the car and Chrissy as well.

So what was the secret project?

I was hoping you had a Renault Fuego, but this is cool too.

We've made it to New York, the Fiero is running like a champ, after I cleaned out the 3" of gunk in the bottom of the radiator overflow that was blocking it from doing anything. The Misfit Toys 69 Olds put up a bit of a fight as crud dislodged from the gas tank blocked up the carb some, but about 1/3 of the teams are here.

Now the fun starts.

The secret project is yet to be revealed, as it isn't completed yet, pics and vid once it works, though

Here's the Fiero all dressed up in full rally livery

we need the secret project to be unveiled

Yea...the story of BABE Rally.

The secret project was flamethrowers. I built a nice junkyard spark controller, welded in the plugs into the exhaust with separate ignition coils from the junkyard. Spark worked very well. The problem I ran into was fuel related. I didn't want to wash fuel through the motor, so I planned to inject alcohol into the exhaust. I bought some brass tractor fan pattern spray nozzles, JB welded them in to the exhaust and routed them to a windshield washer pump/reservoir in the trunk (from a 91 Subaru).

When engaged, the fluid would just pour out of the exhausts, not atomizing enough for a good burn. I managed to light the fuel as it poured into the ground and set the parking lot on fire, but that was it. Oh well.

The car itself had an interesting time as well. All the way through the rally it ran great, was great fun on Deal's Gap, got 23 MPG, hit over 100 mph, and was the parts chaser for our co-teams, and I actually enjoyed driving it. It made it to the post-rally BABE Vs. Lemons drag race grudge match, and ran 2 runs with a best of 17.1 @ 79. I parked it, packed it up, and we set off to return to PA. Just outside New Orleans, about 40 miles into the trip, it quickly developed a rod knock that got very bad very fast.

We had to abandon the car in a Motel 6 parking lot just off the highway after stripping out all of our gear, plates, and luggage and packing it into our co-teams cars. The next day I was able to get in touch with one of the Lemons teams running a Fiero that needed parts, and they went and picked it up.

Here's a beer to En Fuego, ran great through the rally and when her time was up, she checked out with no drama.

Sonic wrote: Here's a beer to En Fuego, ran great through the rally and when her time was up, she checked out with no drama.

Even in the end she was the polar opposite of the Lincoln.

For those not completely up to speed on the ordeal that the Lincoln put us through, just go read Connie's Butcher's Bill on the BABE Rally forum.

TheWake wrote: Even in the end she was the polar opposite of the Lincoln.

Yes, you guys experienced both ends of the spectrum. At least the 4th is around the corner, and Connie can go out in style. I'd suggest a viking funeral, but I don't think the EPA would be to pleased...

captain_napalm wrote:

TheWake wrote: Even in the end she was the polar opposite of the Lincoln.

Yes, you guys experienced both ends of the spectrum. At least the 4th is around the corner, and Connie can go out in style. I'd suggest a viking funeral, but I don't think the EPA would be to pleased...

What they don't know won't hurt them.

That car soooo needs to be cleansed by fire (the Lincoln)

But it would have been an uneventful trip otherwise.

In reply to 16vCorey:

Also, I forgot they're in NJ... I don't think the EPA would even notice

captain_napalm wrote: In reply to 16vCorey: Also, I forgot they're in NJ... I don't think the EPA would even notice

I think it's actually encouraged there.

Holy Thread Resurrection Batman!

The Fuego was a fun car for the rally. I hope to see many more Fieros on the BABE in the coming years, along with other "F" cars.