Fiero Spindle Measurements

Click on photo to enlarge.


Click on photo to enlarge.

Photos of Rusty Fiero Spindle

Click on a photo to enlarge it.

Click on a photo to enlarge it.

Some measurements from the spindle:

1. Hub face to center of hole upper mount = 5.75 inches
2. Hub face to center of hole lower mount = 4.75 inches
3. Top of upper mount to bottom of lower mount = 6.25 inches
4. Bottom of lower mount to center of spindle = 1.875 inches
5. Top of upper mount center of spindle = 4.375 inches
6. Steering arm (center hole) to lower mount (center hole) = 4.625 inches

Received My Ordered Fiero Spindle

Got home last night (Tue 1/2/07) and UPS had delivered my Fiero spindle that I had ordered on Friday 12/29/06 from Deer Creek Auto Parts located in Williamsport, OH. I didn't have time last night to take some photos of the spindle but will get some soon and post on the blog.

I'm very happy with Deer Creek Auto Parts because it was a fast delivery (less than 2 business days) and besides just getting a "plain" spindle, the part also include the hub with integrated disk brake rotor. Of course the part is rusty, but the hub did spin very freely on the spindle. I'm thinking of just ordering the right hand front spindle right away from Deer Creek Auto Parts so that I have the pair ready to go when I actually start the build. Hmmmm....

Ball joints or tie rod ends? Now I have to think about whether I want to use normal Fiero ball joints or possibly heavy duty tie rod ends on the suspension arms. I'm really leaning towards tie rod ends because of adjustability and they also seem to me to be easier to incorporate into the design of the upper suspension arm. I'm thinking of my upper front arms to look similar to this photo:

Ordered Fiero LH Front Spindle

Part of my initial design for Neo was to use the Neon's front spindles in the rear. Since the Neon's hub is a 5x100 mm bolt design (not very typical), I needed to decide whether I was going to use a Neon front spindle with some alterations for my design or utilize another spindle that had the same hub bolt pattern. It so happens that spindle for the Chevorlet Chevette and Pontiac Fiero (actually same spindle) has the same bolt pattern and is also a highly respected front spindle when building scratch built cars. The spindle is designed specifically for a RWD car and this fits very well with my utilization of the spindle in the Neo.

I ordered (1) left hand 1986 Fiero front spindle today for $15 and about $10 for S&H. If you don't know about Car-Parts.com check this website out because it links to several "junk yards" (used vehicle parts) around the country and most will ship small to medium parts to you for a reasonable fee.

Why did I order only one? I am going to use the one spindle to get measurements so that I can begin designing the front suspension a-arms. I plan on starting to use Staniforth's string computer technique, but will eventually move to using a software program built to simulate suspension components and their respective measurements in relation to the car and the ground.