Besides that, I got the distributor in it, chopped down more foliage in the front yard, vacuumed out the Jeep, and cleaned up my workbench.
I now need to get some gaskets and/or gasket material; the biggest issue is the EGR-to-manifold gasket, which has perished. (It was perished when I took the EGR pipe off, which was itself broken...and in retrospect I'd wager that was the cause of my not-at-all good idle.)
Since I'm going to O'Reilly's on Sunday, for oil change supplies, I'll get the gasket then. Once I've got that I can start assembling the intake manifold.
In October of 2012, when I ordered shock absorbers for the Jeep from Rockauto.com, I also ordered two Fiero distributor o-rings. I was about to put the distributor back in and realized, Wait! I have new o-rings for this! I was able to find them without much looking, which scares me a bit, but at least I don't have to worry about an oil leak there. Every time you take the distributor out of a Fiero you should replace that o-ring, at least if it's been more than a year since you last did it, because that o-ring is all that stands between the upper lifter oil gallery and the outside world, and it will leak if it's not in tiptop shape. Over time an o-ring will shink and harden but it will also "meld" with the distributor boss, so the seal will be maintained; but if you disturb that communion, you'd better replace the o-ring.
That's why the car--with about 48,000 on it, in June of 2002--developed an oil leak after I'd taken the distributor out to replace the pickup coil. The original o-ring's seal, having been disturbed, was insufficient to the task, and a few days after I pulled that distributor to replace the coil I pulled it again to replace the o-ring. Lesson learned.
...I just hope that the mark I made on the distributor base was meant to show where the rotor was pointing with the distributor in place, because if it's not, I'm going to be re-installing that thing before I get the Fiero on the road. Moral: always write down what you did and why. But if I'm wrong, then all I should have to do is to rotate the engine until the rotor is pointing at that mark, and then re-install the distributor the other way. (The rotor pointing at the mark just as its drive gear engages the gear on the cam.) Inconvenient, but not too horrible. I hope.
Plus side: I had been smart enough to tag the injector plugs, so they're all on correctly. Finding the parts was not too hard, and once the paisajistas were gone I was able to check the injectors for clicky noises when powered. They clicked, so in they went.
Momentum carried me past the fuel rail, as I'd expected, and I'd probably still be working on the car now if I wasn't up against a lack of gaskets. It's a good stopping point for today; Sunday I've got oil changes to do and I expect momentum will carry me farther. Here's hoping.
Right now, I want a shower. I don't want to be all oily when my wife gets home. Even though the oily bird gets the worm.
