Thought I should start a build thread for the '87 Fiero I picked up in February '08 rather than posting pics here and there. Nothing major planned for the car at this point -- I bought it to drive. As of today it is officially roadworthy again after being towed home a couple weeks ago. Here's what it looks like as of last weekend:





Immediate future plans include an alignment and repairing the deck lid lock mechanism so I can eliminate the ultra-rad bungee cord currently performing that function.

Brent

------------------
1987 Fiero Coupe (Notchback) 2.5L 5-speed
1 of 4,458 Fieros in Bright Blue Metallic
Web: www.hootus.com/fiero

Spent a couple hours tonight repairing the hack job a previous owner did to the factory radio wiring harness. Amazing how long it takes to correctly repair what took someone only seconds to destroy! Turned out pretty nice and I'm marginally bummed that I taped over my beautiful soldering and shrinkwrap before I took pics, but then again it was after 11 PM in winter in Minnesota when I was working on this, so I suppose I can be forgiven for wanting to just get it done.



Question: Should I have gone ahead and soldered the new orange wire to the brown (?) factory wire as shown in the picture above? The wiring guide with the new connector said the wire wasn't used so I left it disconnected. I believe it's for illumination of a factory radio and has no analog in an aftermarket stereo like I'll be installing. (Not the sh*tty one that came with the car that you might notice in pictures if you visit my site; ordered a new Pioneer head unit last night.)

[This message has been edited by brossow (edited 03-19-2008).]

Nice car, I have medium red 87 base coupe. I am parting out the motor if you need anything.

That small 4 or 5 prong plug, pic 2 of your second post, is the plug for the short harness that runs up to aux gauges, like on the gt's and formulas, basically all the body harnesses, after 84 I think, have that plug, then there is a short harness, maybe 8" long, that has the plug that goes to the oil and volts gauge.


Chris

Thanks for the info! Was sure it didn't look like part of the radio wiring but didn't know what else it would be in that area. Lots for me to learn about this car!

Installed a new Pioneer Premier DEH-P600UB stereo this week. Works great with my iPod -- direct connection and control! I did a darn nice job, if I do say so myself, of assembling the Pioneer harness with the Scosche connector for the stock harness. Completely soldered, shrink-tubing'ed, and wire-tied the way it should be. (If it wasn't so cold out and I didn't already have the new stereo installed, I'd remove the tape from the car side of the harness as pictured above and use wire ties instead to allow more flexibility. Live and learn....)



Unfortunately, I didn't get to enjoy it for long due to clutch problems as described in another thread.

[This message has been edited by brossow (edited 03-07-2008).]

Reconditioned a GT cluster for my car last night. (I actually enjoy rebuilding instrument clusters. I've done at least a couple dozen for '64-66 Chevy pickups and pride myself on my work.) I don't care at all about the 120 MPH speedo or the higher redline on the tach -- all I want is better lighting so I can actually see the instruments at night!

BEFORE:


DURING:


AFTER:


More pictures are in the gallery on my website.

------------------
1987 Fiero Coupe (Notchback) 2.5L 5-speed
1 of 4,458 Fieros in Bright Blue Metallic
Web: www.hootus.com/fiero

[This message has been edited by brossow (edited 03-19-2008).]

By request (as if I wouldn't have posted pics eventually anyway) here are pics of the GT auxiliary gauge stuff I got from CowsPatoot in today's mail. Spent some time with the parts this afternoon and am happy with the results.

BEFORE:


AFTER:




Haven't touched the radio surround yet, so if it appears dirty or warped or whatever, that's why. (At a glance, I think it looks pretty darn good as-is, but I'll spend some time with it tonight getting it ready for installation.) I'm most pleased with the lack of warpage on the finished product, accomplished with judicious use of a heat gun on low temp and liberal use of spray adhesive.

The gauges were not included with the stuff I bought from Greg; they were from the GT cluster package I purchased previously on eBay. The entire unit was disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled.

If anyone has a near-perfect silver surround for the aux gauges, I'd be willing to trade straight up for the dot matrix bezel pictured. PM me if you are interested.

Many more pictures, as always, are in the gallery on my website.

------------------
1987 Fiero Coupe (Notchback) 2.5L 5-speed
1 of 4,458 Fieros in Bright Blue Metallic
Web: www.hootus.com/fiero • Build Thread

[This message has been edited by brossow (edited 03-19-2008).]

Nice job on the aux pod, one question. How does a radio surround which is inside a car get as rusty as the one in your pics ?
Happily mine was/is not rusted like that. Was the inside of the car exposed to REALLY high humidity or what.
Again nice job.
err maybe that's normal and I am just lucky.

[This message has been edited by 85GTV84FUN (edited 03-19-2008).]

quote Originally posted by 85GTV84FUN: Nice job on the aux pod, one question. How does a radio surround which is inside a car get as rusty as the one in your pics ? Happily mine was/is not rusted like that. Was the inside of the car exposed to REALLY high humidity or what. Again nice job. err maybe that's normal and I am just lucky.

Thanks for the compliment! As for the rust, I'm really not sure. The donor car was in North Carolina, as I recall, and the "before" pic came from the gentleman who sold me the parts. If the car was near the coast, perhaps salty sea air contributed to the rust? Not sure. Here in Minnesota, the rust destroys cars from the outside long before it ever attacks stuff under the dash.

Salty air, could be. My 85GT didn't have the aux guages, althougth I have the parts now to add them, ( not sure the wiring harness supports it by default...but splicing will happen, I am sure ). My car coming from PA and now living in NY...rust/salt a constant nuisance. Everything I clean, fix , paint , needs keeping after to stave off the rust demons.. Wish I had a heated garage.
Keep posting pics, anyones elses progress motivates me.

quote Originally posted by brossow: Spent a couple hours tonight repairing the hack job a previous owner did to the factory radio wiring harness. Amazing how long it takes to correctly repair what took someone only seconds to destroy! Turned out pretty nice and I'm marginally bummed that I taped over my beautiful soldering and shrinkwrap before I took pics, but then again it was after 11 PM in winter in Minnesota when I was working on this, so I suppose I can be forgiven for wanting to just get it done. Question: Should I have gone ahead and soldered the new orange wire to the brown (?) factory wire as shown in the picture above? The wiring guide with the new connector said the wire wasn't used so I left it disconnected. I believe it's for illumination of a factory radio and has no analog in an aftermarket stereo like I'll be installing. (Not the sh*tty one that came with the car that you might notice in pictures if you visit my site; ordered a new Pioneer head unit last night.)

not to get o/t but i have that same radio bezel in my car i couldnt find a dang black one i was angry

quote Originally posted by Foxy Fiero13: not to get o/t but i have that same radio bezel in my car i couldnt find a dang black one i was angry

I'd have preferred black myself but this is what came with the car when I bought it. Someday I'll take the time to look for a black one or get some good plastic paint and paint this one, but right now I've got the bigger issue of the car not moving under its own power (clutch issues) that needs my attention. Wouldn't be messing with these clusters except I can do it in the house at night after the kids are in bed and it's too cold and dark to work on the car outside.

[This message has been edited by brossow (edited 03-19-2008).]

well at least your baby is safe at home mines across the street in the parking lot of cars being fixed and i cant even use mine let alone fix my interior

Once the car is moving again, the next order of business is new wheels and tires. Waiting in the wings is a set of BSA Manik rims (17x7) and on the big brown truck headed my direction is a set of Falken Ziex ZE-912 tires (215/45ZR17). The factory alloys will probably be for sale as soon as the new stuff is installed. They're in great shape and the tires have a ton of life left in 'em as well, so if someone is interested drop me a line. Here's what's coming soon:

[This message has been edited by brossow (edited 03-20-2008).]

and how much are those running you if you dont mind me asking?

------------------
87 GT
~!Foxy Fiero!~

quote Originally posted by Foxy Fiero13: and how much are those running you if you dont mind me asking?

Tires were $300 from Discount Tire via eBay (free shipping, no tax, helluva deal). Rims were a private party sale at a price that would make people too jealous for me to mention.

well check out these bad boys i pulled off a pontiac sunfire in the junk yard

had 2 good tires on them and 3 off 4 have curb rash so yeah i got them all for a extremly low price of 165 for the set

------------------
87 GT
~!Foxy Fiero!~

Did I already mention that I hate you for having the EXACT car I want?

87 Blue coupe
GT wing
manual windows/locks
2.5
5 speed

I might settle for a set of grey MB Drifters or even some stock Grey GT wheels tho.

NICE RIDE!

quote Originally posted by 85GTV84FUN: How does a radio surround which is inside a car get as rusty as the one in your pics ?

I don't know either....most of the parts car is rust free, and I have no history on the car except that it was last registered in Alabama. Beautiful job cleaning it up though.

quote Originally posted by CowsPatoot: Beautiful job cleaning it up though.

Thanks! Helps to have decent parts to start with. Here's one more pic, this one from the part between "before" and "after."



That's what you end up with when you throw caution to the wind and forcibly (but carefully) rip apart the stuff you just got in the mail.

Sadly, my Fiero has been sitting in the same exact spot for more than a year now, ever since the clutch went out only 200 miles into my ownership. Still haven't been able to diagnose and repair the problem.

On the plus side, yesterday I finally got around to having my new tires mounted on the new rims. The rims I originally bought a year ago turned out to be misrepresented (sold as 5x100 but really 5x114) and I had to return them, which sucked because I really liked them, but I'm very happy with the rims I ended up buying instead. Don't ask me what the style is called because I can't remember. They're 17s with Falken Ziex ZE912s, and if I can figure out where I put the new lug nuts I bought a year ago I'll be able to put them on.





Today I finally got around to putting the interior back together with the GT cluster and auxiliary gauges I rebuilt more than a year ago. Forgot to take pics of the final installation, but got a couple in-progress pics at least. Will get some final shots tomorrow in the daylight.





Also noticed the connector pictured below when I was crawling around under the dash. It's right above the steering column. Anyone know what it's for? It wasn't connected to anything when I bought the car and maybe it's supposed to be unused in my case, but it'd be nice to know for sure.



Brent

------------------
1987 Fiero Coupe (Notchback) 2.5L 5-speed
1 of 4,458 Fieros in Bright Blue Metallic
Web: www.hootus.com/fiero � Build Thread

[This message has been edited by brossow (edited 04-12-2009).]

Nice looking Fiero I am in the Mankato area every once in a while, nice to see a close by Fiero owner. keep up the good work!

------------------

"Why is he wearing his knees outside of his legs?"

Not sure how much good work I've done, considering the car hasn't moved in more than a year, but thanks just the same.

What's the quote in your signature from?

------------------
1987 Fiero Coupe (Notchback) 2.5L 5-speed
1 of 4,458 Fieros in Bright Blue Metallic
Web: www.hootus.com/fiero • Build Thread

quote Originally posted by brossow: Not sure how much good work I've done, considering the car hasn't moved in more than a year, but thanks just the same. What's the quote in your signature from?

Any work to a Fiero is good work even if yours is sitting, it still looks better than mine...

The quote is from this online video game review website...... this guy does some FUNNY stuff...

Ha! Reminded me of something from Mystery Science Theater 3000 and "Manos: The Hands of Fate."

The Fiero started on the first try this morning after not having been started since March 2008. Impressive! Just charged the battery overnight and nothing else. That's the good news. The bad news is that I have no gears whatsoever. I can put it in any gear and start it up, no movement whatsoever. I need to research clutch replacement and figure out if I can do it myself or if I should just farm it out to a shop.

------------------
1987 Fiero Coupe (Notchback) 2.5L 5-speed
1 of 4,458 Fieros in Bright Blue Metallic
Web: www.hootus.com/fiero · Build Thread

quote Originally posted by brossow:

I think it's either the trunk release or rear defroster, pretty sure it's the defrost though.

------------------

1984 Fiero SE

[This message has been edited by RWDPLZ (edited 04-12-2009).]

quote Originally posted by RWDPLZ: I think it's either the trunk release or rear defroster, pretty sure it's the defrost though.

Thanks. I think you're probably right, since mine doesn't have that option and it didn't look like it had ever been connected to anything.

It dims the display on the original stereo. I'd keep it hooked up just so it doesn't short to ground.

quote Originally posted by RWDPLZ: It dims the display on the original stereo. I'd keep it hooked up just so it doesn't short to ground.

I've got it taped off, so no issues there. With as many other things as I have to worry about fixing, this is going to remain one of those "if it ain't broke" things.