I have a delima that I need some help resolving that involves a Fiero (imagine that!). A little over a month ago I purchased this car from a great Fiero guy named Larry:

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum4/HTML/054242.html

For those of you who don't want to look at the link it is a 86 SE V6 4spd car with low mileage. I bought the car with intentions to get it running and use it as a daily driver so that I can sell my current daily driver. After I started taking things apart to fix the car problems started to snowball a bit and it is going to take more $ to get this thing going than I originally thought. Neither I nor the seller could have forseen the problems... just how these things go. The major issues are a bad exhaust manifold bolt hole, bad gas tank/fuel pump/sending unit, and possibly a bad clutch. Without going into to much detail, I can get the thing running without breaking the bank but can't afford to fix the engine only to have the clutch be bad as well. The hydraulics work but the shift fork took a great deal of pb blaster soaking to even move... now the pedal has full travel but just does not feel right - like the throwout bearing or pressure plate is binding up or very rusty.

So at this point I have a Fiero with a partially torn down engine in my garage and I can't figure out what to do with it. The problem is that the money I would end up putting in the car (just fixing the engine) would buy me a fairly nice Fiero (one in particular is for sale local to me). I see a few options:

1) Part this one out before spending another dime on it (interior is in perfect condition) and use money to purchase the other Fiero... but are there really buyers for the parts?
2) Fix engine - clutch works - then drive the car and smile because I am driving a Fiero again.
3) Fix engine - clutch does not work - try to sell car that needs clutch replaced... this option would require me to take a big loss on the whole deal.

Any opinions on what to do?

** As a side note - my dealings with Larry (Fieromeister) were awesome and I know he has a few more Fiero parts for sale so if you need something give him a shout!

Thanks for any replies,

Gabe

I'd check to see if it's just the throwout bearing that's shot. If that's all it is, you're looking at $25 for a new one. While you're at it, Rockauto.com has a "closeout" deal on a complete clutch kit for $68. Throw in a flywheel resurface and you should be looking at $100, tops.
Can the exahust manifold stud be drilled out and a helicoil be put in, assuming you can't just drill out the old one and clean up the threads? Shouldn't cost too much...unless you pull the heads off to do it, then you're looking at another hundred in gaskets, headbolts, etc...
Not sure what to suggest for the gas tank though, since I"m not sure what's going on there!
So far I see a couple hundred in parts which wouldn't get me even a rusted out Fiero with a sized engine, let alone a decent one...or are you paying someone else to do the work? Then it would make sense...

Clutch problem isn't what you describe. If it shifts fine engine off then it's most likely a problem with it releasing.

Front head? Broken stud? Pull the head. It's not worth the fight trying it otherwise. If you can get a head from the previous owner that has good studs/holes, then it's just a problem of getting it reassembled. If the stud is broken flush then it needs to be drilled out. See if anybody locally has Rodney's tool to drill out the bad stud. Don't plan on doing that with the head on the engine if it is the front head.

I am doing all the work myself. Have had four Fieros previously, just now getting back into them.

I have already pulled the head - it was the front one. Tried to get an angle drill in there but the hole looked so bad I was not sure if I could fix it either on or off the car. I know someone who can sell me a head in good shape for a great price so then the cost is buying gaskets as well as all the little things I found wrong while taking it apart... t-stat housing has a hole, distributor is covered in rust, cat is bad, y-pipe may need replacing, ect, ect.

The problem with having a bad clutch is that I don't have the tools to pull the cradle - so they would add to the cost of the clutch replacement.

The fuel tank is full of rust so I will either need to get this one cleaned or find one in good condition. I have an old pump sitting around that worked when I removed it so I could try that one.

phonedawgz - can you elaborate a bit on what you said about the clutch?

Thanks guys!