I'm new here but have been lurking around for a while. I bought a beater 1985GT back in September. I had been a mechanic from 1984-2001. Then worked as a sheet metal construction worker. Most of which was historic buildings. Got laid off in January 2012 and now working as a mechanic again. I carried 5 ASE certifications before and will be going for them again in the spring. Suspension, Brakes, Heating/AC, Electrical, Manual drive train, Engine performance L1 L2. Also had certifications (Md. state emissions 3gas, Gm CCC carburator, Ford EECIV, Ford Edis, GM DIS, GM SFI and MPFI). I hope I can be of help here. 4 weeks after returning to wrenching again the tranny went out in my 1995, 175,000 mile Blazer. Using up what was left of my 401k, put a remanufactured 4L60E in it, only to have someone make a left hand turn into it 6 weeks later. After getting screwed by the other peoples insurance company for less than I had into it I had to put together something else. Being 52, kids grown, working less than 6 blocks from work and the wife having her car, I didn't have to be family oriented as before. With little extra money, but know how, I thought, why not a Fiero(I always liked them) Someone had a 85gt with the top end off for $800, so I went for it. Put the intake back on, new rotors, rims, tires, and made it driveable again. Inspected the suspension, replaced a few things and I'm happy. I looked at a 86 fast back first, but pulled out a lb of rust from behind the rear struts when I looked at it. The 85 has light surface rust on the body reinforcements but not thru the metal. There is some thru holes at the bottom of the radiator support and some non thru at the rear sway bar brackets. The floor is almost rust free. The engine is showing it's age, but it handles like a go cart. The paint is all full and will take a while for me to deal with that. I currently have a 3800 SC series I engine and PCM that I plan to have in it by summer with a 4t60E. I don't need the supercharger, but that's what the engine and PCM is made for. I pulled the bottom end apart and it is in good shape. The limited funds is making take longer than I want for the harness, transmission, and axles, but I'm not in a real hurry.
So I'll most likely be posting suggestions and other things for the Poor Mans Fiero. I hope I can help, not offend anyone, and post in the right places.
Thank you all for the information I have gathered from here and I hope to add some
Chris cmechmann
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05:15 PM
PFF
System Bot
Khw Member
Posts: 11139 From: South Weber, UT. U.S.A. Registered: Jun 2008
I haven't taken any yet, because it is that fugly. The person that had it 2 times before me sprayed it with Krylon outdoor textured paint. The stuff you spray your lawn chairs with. I'm in the process of trying to get it off before priming and don't have a garage. They laid it on very thick and on the rear cover it had three other layers besides the original. You have to remember I am of limited funds. The Pt Cruiser Rims don't look that bad. You almost can't tell they were for a Chrysler unless you had a set. They look like S type Oldsmobile Achiva rims. Hey they were $80.00 for all 4 in the boxes. At first the wife was, what the hell did you buy that for, after a few rides, it is growing on her. I might leave it cosmetically so-so and call it the Millennium Falcon. I need to get it mechanically right first. if you don't mind having to turn away, I will try to get some pics in.
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05:37 PM
Gall757 Member
Posts: 10938 From: Holland, MI Registered: Jun 2010
[img]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/688/fiero7.jpg/">[img ]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/836/fiero6.jpg/[/img]Ok I took some pics. I'm working from 7am to 6pm so they were taken at night. So please excuse the quality. Just have to find out how to upload them here. I'm not subscribed to a image hosting site.
As for the PT Cruiser rims. From 2001-2004 if you had a PT cruiser. Chrysler had a special to upgrade the silver rims to chrome. Only to find out later the chrome peels. Up to about 2009 they were still available from the dealers. There were so many people trading them in that some of the dealers were selling them as little as $28.00. These were rims that came off before you received your car, and the updated rims were installed. The person I got them from, kept his original rims in his garage and had them in the boxes. They look like the later rims without the dimples near the outside. These are 16"x 6". The offset is only 10mm more than the stock 1985 14"x6"GT rims. That I can tell only the later 15s" were 7" wide. My original rims had bad curb rash near the center. 5 spoke Pontiac cyclone type. I was going to use late model stock Grand Am Gt rims, but they changed the bolt pattern in 2001. They were 16"x 6.5" 4" bolt pattern https://www.fiero.nl/forum/icons/icon8.gif Someone ended up stealing them out of my back yard before I could give them to my mom for her Impala LTZ. For a spare set. She is 74 and doesn't need 18" Z rated tires Another reason I scraped the OE rims was that the only tire available here was the Goodrich TA 215/60/14. And that was $137.00 each my cost. I work for a tire company. I could get a much better tire at 215/55/16 at almost half that and I was looking for future availability. At 215/55/15 it only changes speedometer readings at 60mph 1.6%. So PT Cruiser rims it was.
[This message has been edited by cmechmann (edited 12-28-2012).]
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09:42 PM
cmechmann Member
Posts: 981 From: Baltimore Md. Registered: Dec 2012
As you can see by the rear pic someone had used regular spot bondo instead of epoxy type to fill voids in truck. There is also some under the left door handle, but I haven't started on the doors yet. I'll have to pick it out, sand, refill with the right stuff, resand, before priming. That's the original paint on the hood and left fender, but the clear coat is gone. I tried some of the bumper paint stripper on those areas and the Krylon just soaked it up then dried back out in about 5 minutes. I used standard stripper to get off what I have, but I don't know if I can trust it on the softer material on the bumper covers. I talked to a few people at body shops and they say what I'm doing is the only way to be safe. They work on a lot of Saturns. Yeah by the way the car was running with the wife trying to warm up.
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10:14 PM
PFF
System Bot
Dec 29th, 2012
ltlfrari Member
Posts: 5356 From: Wake Forest,NC,USA Registered: Jan 2002
Welcome to the madness. You're right about it being fugly (sorry) but that can be fixed and it is a notchie so +1 for good taste! Look forward to reading more about your adventures in Fiero land.
------------------ Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!
First off do not use ANY paint stripper on these cars. The stripper will embed itself in the panels and will be impossible to paint over. You have to sand the paint, not use chemicals. It's a pain in the ass but that is the only safe way to do it and not have your new paint bubbling up or failing at a later date.
The other thing....just a pet peeve of mine.....have your tire guy put the tire weight on the inside of the wheel, not the outside. It ruins the clean look of the wheels.
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01:46 PM
aFiero Member
Posts: 58 From: Mount Vernon Washington US Registered: Oct 2012
First off do not use ANY paint stripper on these cars. The stripper will embed itself in the panels and will be impossible to paint over. You have to sand the paint, not use chemicals. It's a pain in the ass but that is the only safe way to do it and not have your new paint bubbling up or failing at a later date.
The other thing....just a pet peeve of mine.....have your tire guy put the tire weight on the inside of the wheel, not the outside. It ruins the clean look of the wheels.
The state of your paint is also fine for just simple spraying over.. I dont see a mess of buildup on most of those panels.
Also, i HIGHLY suggest spending the extra time and money and putting in a series2 3800... its a much better platform to deal with and the cost over the series 1 is fairly minimal compared to the results.
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02:37 PM
cmechmann Member
Posts: 981 From: Baltimore Md. Registered: Dec 2012
The reason i'm staying with the series I is I don't have much extra time and no extra money. I have the series I engine already, with a PCM. Iv'e been trough it to check it's condition and it is in very good shape. I would love to have a series II but I would have to have a complete donor. I would even go with a non SC. This area has a few U pick it yards with trannys cheep, but you just don't know what you are getting. I do go to them a lot for body parts and researching usable interchange items. Around here no one is letting them go reasonably without a crap load of miles. I patiently waiting for someone with a blown motor donor car for the right 4T60E. That's why I'm researching data on what I can make work. I see a good deal of 3.1 N bodies and cavalier type cars that people have roached out the engines by letting the intake problem persist. It kind of ticks me off, I have 3 brothers still hanging around at my moms house, fully capable of doing a intake gasket, and my step father just told me the other day he thinks he blew a head gasket on his 2001 Lumina 3.1. One of them just scrapped a still running, intake leaking 1999 Lumina. Too new for what I need/want. He also has a 2006 Monte and I think, 2003 Indy edition Monte. None of the 3 have had any kids and they are still leaching off my mom in there 40s. GRRRRRR.
[img]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/688/fiero7.jpg/">[img ]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/836/fiero6.jpg/[/img]Ok I took some pics. 
