------------------ ( the above was the thoughts, views, and opinions of a disgruntled Fiero mechanic, and do not express or imply those of West Coast Fiero, Fieros West, or any other organization - just that of this poor bastard ) Eric Nelson Technician, West Coast Fiero 310-305-4111
A little update! 4 years ago my sister, Jamie, purchased a large horse farm and I spent much of my time for several years helping her with the day to day operations and shows, in addition to working with my own horse and working full time. As some of you know, I completed my Master's in Holocaust Studies in 2009 and then in 2011, I picked up a second job working as a Holocaust Resource Center Coordinator at Albright College. As if that wasn't enough insanity, a colleague and I embarked on a documentary creation project with our students that resulted in a feature length film, Misa's Fugue (www.misasfugue.com).
Sadly, during that time, my Fieros largely sat. I drove the Blue Demon occasionally, but it needed new brake lines and time wasn't easy to come by. Matt was also working at the local community college as an adjunct instructor so what time he did have, he spent towards getting the 88GT back on the road with its new engine build and transmission rebuild. Thankfully, that car was back on the road this spring.
In the meantime, we decided we needed a break from the insanity that had become our lives and Matt was homesick for the Shenandoah Valley. This past spring, we purchased a historic farmhouse (1839) and six acres. It is a "project" but we're now each back to one job (me teaching at a local HS, and Matt running a Manufacturing Tech program at a local community college). We have much more "us" time and "free" time to do fun stuff. The Fieros have joined us in Virginia and the Blue Demon is currently in storage while we finish our garage at our new home. Matt drives the Silver 88GT M-Th and I get to have "Fiero Fridays" - my favorite day of the week.
I'm looking forward to bringing this thread up to speed and keeping everyone posted on new things we will be doing. I've missed everyone a ton and am glad to be back!!
Back from the dead! I forgot about this car. Great to hear that life is good, and looking forward to updates. One of the first memorable Fieros when I joined.
Welcome back! I miss the continuation of https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...502-6-067054-2.html. The museum here recently received a WW-II era boxcar. https://www.facebook.com/hmczfc . I'll watch your film soon. Hope you post pics of your renovation on the farmhouse.
Hey guys, I am so glad to be back. My first question is, how do I post pictures these days? :-)
Carnot, the color was actually on the car when I bought it, albeit in poor shape. The Sessions boys paint matched it when they painted it in 2003, but it is close to a cobalt blue.
Jnco - so much crazy stuff to tell you! I assume you haven't talked to Jamie in ages?
Nice to see a familar face, guess I better start showing mine again Hope to see you, Matt & family next summer at the 30th. I miss going down to Carlisle, had a great time when it was with the Import / kitcar show & the party afterwards was always memorable.
So the story continues (finally!) It is crazy trying to remember some of this after 11 years (wow, now I am feeling old!!) but I will do my best. Of course, I may have to get Dad to make a guest appearance to fill in some of the details, but the next part I do remember pretty clearly.
As you may recall, when we got the car running by overriding the faulty fuel pump, it ended up having a rod knock. Through the years of "dealing with" Fieros, we had seen more than one 2.8L with a bad #5 bearing...of course this engine would be no different. I have my dad searching for pictures of the actual bearings out of the block, but here are some photos to hold you over in the meantime!
And one of my dad's favorites...this was the look I gave him when he jokingly accused me of breaking the car....amusing since I had never actually driven it ;-)
Nice to see a familar face, guess I better start showing mine again Hope to see you, Matt & family next summer at the 30th. I miss going down to Carlisle, had a great time when it was with the Import / kitcar show & the party afterwards was always memorable.
(insert both hands out asking for more beer here)
4 more beers! :-) We are looking forward to seeing you guys too!!
Dad brought down some CDs with old pictures on and we've spent the last hour or so reminiscing about Fiero days gone by. Some of the show pictures dated all the way back to our first national Fiero show in Columbus in 2000. I hope to post some of the pics of the cars of the past, some of which were pretty neat.
Although this picture below is from the front compartment section of the "rebuild", I missed it during that portion of this thread and Dad brought it along. It is definitely good for a laugh. At least kslish was looking at the camera!
While taking off the pan, we were sure to continue to take shots of wires. Thank goodness for dad's foresight on this end. Seemingly small paths for wires could have been problematic had we not documented them as well as we did.
We also wanted to be sure to take a close up of the water-pipe, as this would also be replaced during the build.
We also wanted to be sure we knew where this small bracket went. Although this wasn't our first rodeo, it was definitely going to be the most involved (at that point in time). I got to hold the camera and Dad did the pointing.
Missed this photo in the post above too!
While Dad was working to finish disassembling the engine, I began working on the subframe. This is what we started with:
I was wondering what happened to you as you haven't been at Carlisle in several years. Glad that everything is going well. It seems that many of the faces of this hobby are still enjoying their Fieros. Some disappear for a while but many have come back. Great to see you active again. We seem to have quite a few hobbiets that have become active on the forum again and its good time to rejoin the great folks in the Fiero community. IIRC the Blue Demon was a sharp looking car. Does your sis Jamie still have her orange Fiero?
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Powerlog manifold, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Flotech Afterburner Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
I was wondering what happened to you as you haven't been at Carlisle in several years. Glad that everything is going well. It seems that many of the faces of this hobby are still enjoying their Fieros. Some disappear for a while but many have come back. Great to see you active again. We seem to have quite a few hobbiets that have become active on the forum again and its good time to rejoin the great folks in the Fiero community. IIRC the Blue Demon was a sharp looking car. Does your sis Jamie still have her orange Fiero?
Hey Dennis!!
Jamie bought a horse farm in 2008 and we had been busy helping her getting that running. Unfortunately, the June show dates always collided with Carlisle and so for the past few years, family came before Fieros. Hopefully, this coming year, we will be getting out to more shows. I'm happy to be back in the mix and just enjoying the cars!
Unfortunately, Jamie just sold her red car a few weeks ago. She is expecting her first child in the next few weeks and decided to sell the car. She was very sad to let it go but I think it went to a good home. She now has a 45 acre horse farm outside of Reading and between that and the baby, I am sure she will be busy. My dad still has his black 85GT and 2 parts cars though and he hopes to make it out to the 30th. We look forward to seeing you sometime soon!!
It was time to resurrect it :-) But yes, seriously - and don't worry Jnco - I have some funny pics of you!! LIsa - I hope to get them up in another thread sometime today!!
I am eagerly awaiting updates and pictures. Your car is simply beautiful.
Thanks Robert! Seeing the other thread on the father-daughter build motivated me to resurrect this one. So many good memories in this project and hopefully so many more to come. Someday (in the far, far future ;-) ) I hope to turn it over to my daughter for her to love as much as I do.
~ Jen
PS - while this project was going on, Dave was working on many aspects of his car alongside of it!
[This message has been edited by Fierochic88 (edited 06-21-2014).]
So before I start Blue Demon 2.0, my OCD nature demands I finish Part I ;-)
Even with the deadline of Daytona approaching, It was also decided at this time that we were going to attempt to paint the front and rear compartments the same color as the car. What a big project! We began with the front compartment and stripped everything out of it. I never knew exactly how many little pieces were involved in that front area, but let me tell you from experience, there are a lot! After everything was removed, extensive bodywork was done to create a smooth appearing surface. Finally, primer was applied followed by enamel with hardener in black and blue depending on the area of the compartment. Once all of this dried came the most difficult part, pulling everything back! Thank goodness for digital pictures.
That Fiero is really nice. Looking even better and it looks like you now own quite a few show ready Fieros. Was very happy to see you take the "Best of the Show" award at Fieros at Carlisle this year. That Fiero had just about everything, great looks, customization and now an LS4. As MAFOA president, you have really raised the bar and set a new standard. I wish that Paula would appreciate custom cars. She looks at them as transportation, but supports the hobby, and has a practical side. She now drives a new Jeep Gladiator and that's her hobby pickup.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
I forgot about this car. Great to hear that life is good, and looking forward to updates. One of the first memorable Fieros when I joined.
