I have been lurking on this forum for a couple years now, and have only had a couple posts here and there. I've decided that I would finally introduce myself and kinda tell my Fiero story. This may be a little long, but hopefully you all don't mind!
Part 1:
So the story began on my 20th birthday two years ago in September. My dad had bought a white 84 Fiero in the mid nineties from his brother, the second owner of the car because he was looking to get rid of it pretty cheap. It was immediately parked in a garage at my uncle's house. Now as a kid, I had always used to go into that garage when we were at my uncle's house to look at the car. I didn't know what it was, all I knew was that I loved it. I dropped hints to my dad for years that I would love to pull it out of that garage and try to get it on the road, but things always came up, and we were unable to find time to do it. On my 20th birthday two years ago, the last gift I opened for the day turned out to be the best gift I have ever received. In a white envelope was the title to that little white car that I had gazed at in that dark, dusty old garage for so many years! Now you can imagine my eagerness to get started, but there was a slight problem... Mere days later I was headed down to Athens, OH for college (Ohio University). I'll be the first one to say that I am extremely fortunate to have the ability to go to college and get an education, but it is just slightly disappointing that I finally have a chance to start working on this car that I have pined over for so many years! But alas, school comes first.
Part 2: At the end of winter quarter of that school year (March 2012), I was excited to get home and go see the car in that garage again and start to see exactly what gift (or curse) I had received. As I was going to be getting home pretty late, I was planning on going over to the car in the morning. As good as that plan sounded to me, fate had something different in mind. This is what I came home to: (excuse the mess I made of that patio please hehe) My dad had towed her home for me as a surprise! Needless to say I spent all of my spring break underneath or inside that car. But, as the week ended, Spring quarter was about to start, and I had to leave her behind again
Part 3 Spring quarter had ended, and I was as eager as ever to get home and really get going on this car. I had a serious goal of getting to drive it at least once before summer's end. Keep in mind, I had never driven or ridden in a Fiero in my life, but it seemed that I had already been bitten by the bug. This was also my first real experience doing work on a car mostly on my own (of course Dad helped when I asked for it), but I was really insistent on this being a learning project for me.
The summer went along, and I was making decent progress, gluing some of the warped interior pieces, redoing the headliner, cleaning all of the carpets, running all new brake lines, hoses, transmission cooler lines, installing new calipers and rotors, front wheel bearings. I also had my first real experiences with salvage yards, which I can say is now one of my new favorite things to do. I found a few 84's in bad shape, an 87 coupe, and an 85 GT. I pulled the headlight motors/harness from the 87 (they only wanted about $15 for all), and the radiator fan. Rebuilt the motors and installed them. I also collected a few Cadillac horns and wired two of them up (LOUD). I also purchased a set of grey GT rims from forum member Trivet (Thanks again Tim!).
The engine wasn't running, and it took a while for us to figure it out. It would fire up and immediately die. After fiddling with every possibility (Throttle body, bad gas, fuel filter, spark issues), we thought it could be some sort of electrical problem from mice, etc, but that wasn't the issue either. It turned out that the mice decided that instead of chewing wires, they wanted to put down their roots inside the muffler, almost completely blocking air flow. We cut off the muffler and it started right up! Pretty cool! But, time ran out and it was time to go back to school to do some learning...
Part 4: This most recent winter break had arrived, and I was ready to get some more work done on the car! My dad had just installed a new garage heater so I was excited to spend some serious time out there. There were a lot of little things that needed done, and it took a while to do them all. But I ended up getting many of them done towards the end of break. With about a week left of winter break to go, I was finally able to drive it down my road and back, my first time every driving a Fiero, my top speed was 35 mph. It was exciting nonetheless!
Now I was getting excited about getting some plates for this 84 so I could legally take it for a spin, until I got a phone call from Dad while he was at work. He asked me this question that I'll never forget: "How much is an 87 Fiero GT worth?" I got extremely excited and asked him why. He replied that someone who lives about 2 minutes from his plant has an 87 GT for sale. I immediately hopped in my car (an 03 Seville STS, not the 84 Fiero), and drove the 20 minutes (from home) to go look at it. Just a spot of rust in the trunk corner, the engine started, and the interior was decent. Power everything. The engine harness had been chewed pretty bad by some sort of animal, but it ran. My dad is an electrician and I am not horrible with a soldering iron myself, so I thought it was a great find if we could get a good deal on it. Needless to say, the next day, we drove back to the guys house, and I drove my new 87 GT home! (again, please excuse that mess!)
The paint is pretty bad, and I'm going to want to go through and replace the brakes and transmission cooler lines and everything, but it is a much better starting off point that the 84, especially since I've got some experience this time around. Now, another problem, yep you guessed it, school starts again. And this is my current situation. I am off at school, with a newly acquired 87 Fiero GT that is waiting for me to return, as well as an 84 that wants to be finished. The urge to get home to work on them is stronger than ever, and I find myself on Pennock's more than I probably should!
So anyways, this is my Fiero story, or at least the beginning... Hopefully you guys have at least slightly enjoyed reading a little about me, and I intend to be a more regular poster here on these forums. My Fieros and I live up just a few miles south of Sandusky, OH (Cedar Point). I would love to participate in meets and cruises once the GT is on the road this summer.
And by the way, shameless plug: if anyone near the area looking for a Fiero, my 84 will be for sale soon to try to recoup at least some of the cost of the GT. As much as I'd love to keep it for sentimental reasons, we just don't have the space and need to get a few bucks back after buying the GT. Thanks again for reading!
-Lucas
[This message has been edited by Leukay (edited 02-06-2013).]
Good story! Mine is similar in the fact that while going to school (University of Akron) and working on weekends, I hardly had time for my engine swap (and miscellaneous work the car needed) but I finally got to drive it my last few semesters.
If that 84 was a base Coupe with no options and the MY8 manual trans I'd consider helping you out (have always wanted a white stripped down base model with steelies) but it sounds like it's an Automatic.
Maybe I'll see you around this summer, any thoughts on hitting up some Autocross events?
[This message has been edited by KaijuSenso (edited 02-06-2013).]
That fiero bug bite is pretty contagious. That's a good story, and I am interested to hear more as you progress with it. School is more important, kudos for having your priotities in a good order, haha.
Good story! Mine is similar in the fact that while going to school (University of Akron) and working on weekends, I hardly had time for my engine swap (and miscellaneous work the car needed) but I finally got to drive it my last few semesters.
If that 84 was a base Coupe with no options and the MY8 manual trans I'd consider helping you out (have always wanted a white stripped down base model with steelies) but it sounds like it's an Automatic.
Maybe I'll see you around this summer, any thoughts on hitting up some Autocross events?
Thanks for the comment! It is about as base as it gets, but unfortunately it is an automatic... The GT is as well as a matter of fact. I have actually really wanted to do a little autocross. I have zero experience and I would need to get used to driving the Fiero in general, but eventually I would love to do it. From what I've read though it's best to have a manual trans for autocross right?
Weird thing, I know a few guys from North Royalton that go to school here. Kinda crazy haha
[This message has been edited by Leukay (edited 02-06-2013).]
Your 84 looks identical to mine, although the only power option it came with was mirrors. There is nothing like the Fiero bug. I can't tell from the pics, but does it have a tan interior?
------------------ 1984 White Fiero Sport Coupe (Juliet) in restoration https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/089093.html 1988 Red Fiero Standard Coupe (Bella) in restoration 1990 Black Buick Reatta (Noir) 2002 White Chevy Impala base(Haylie)
[This message has been edited by 1984whitesc (edited 02-06-2013).]
Your 84 looks identical to mine, although the only power option it came with was mirrors. There is nothing like the Fiero bug. I can't tell from the pics, but does it have a tan interior?
The 84 has the grey interior. It has zero power options, but it does have A/C (though of course it doesn't work right now...) The 87 GT has a tan interior in pretty decent shape. It seems that white Fieros with tan interiors always look really nice. Add that to the fact that I love white Fieros in general, so my GT will someday likely be white with matching ground effects, and the wheels will become black one way or another. I will be getting some better, non-smartphone pics of both cars in a couple weeks when I go home for the weekend for my sister's birthday.
Are you planning on keeping the steelies on the 84? Hankook makes a decent set of 13's in the right size.
Are those Hankook rims or tires? Actually the picture is of when I originally got the car. It is currently rolling on a set of grey 86 GT rims. I think I am going to repaint the steelies and put those on the car to before selling it. If I was going to be keeping the car I would actually probably try to find a set of the stock aluminum 14's to keep the stock look.
Where those steelies not stock to that car? I say keep'm on unless tires become an issue.
They were stock on this car, but I just like the look of the aluminum 14's and the gt rims better. Since I'm not going to be keeping the car anyway, the steelies are going to be going back on it after a repaint
Great story, can't wait to cruise with the GT when you get it going.
Definitely, though I doubt I'll be able to keep up haha. I've been thinking about the possibility of getting the GT ready in time to attend the 30th event this summer, and if I do end up being able to go it'd be cool to make the trip with some other Fieros. Anyone from the general area (Ohio) going/driving their cars?
I'm planning on going to the 30th. I'm in the Wilmington area.
I think I would probably drive into Indiana from the northeast if I do end up going, so it might be hard to make that cruise happen.
On another note, I'm heading home tomorrow for the weekend, and one week later I will be going back home for spring break, so I am excited to see my car and get some stuff done! I already have some headlight rebuild kits from Rodney Dickman waiting for me at home that I will hopefully get done this weekend, and on spring break I will be working on doing something on the brakes if needed, and the transmission coolant lines are definitely going to need replaced. I'm excited to get a start on it!
Finally an update to my story! I'll split this post into two parts, since there are a lot of new things going on with both the car and my life.
The car:
We'll it took a while but I've gotten the car on the road, although just in time for winter Here are all of the things we got done on it!
-totally rebuilt the 2.8 and threw in a mild performance cam -sunbird vented front brake upgrade -Fiero store stainless brake and trans cooler lines -poly cradle bushings -installed some Cadillac horns (to make the car sound bigger than it is) -lots and lots of misc parts replaced
I know people may say rebuilding a 2.8 is not worth the money but we didn't have the time, space or money for a swap right now. Also as this is my first running Fiero I wanted to really learn everything I could about a stock Fiero before I go messing around with a swap. I haven't yet gotten to the interior, but honestly not much needs done in there. Needs a new headliner but been there done that a few times before. After getting everything buttoned up on the car I drove it exclusively during my thanksgiving break at home and it was a blast! It ran great (even in Black Friday traffic) and it was a cool feeling being in a car this low to the ground. My head was below the bottom of most peoples windows! I never realized how small these cars really are I guess. Anyway, I loved the way it drove and I can't wait to continue driving it, and maybe find a nice snowy parking lot this Christmas break. And that brings us to the second part of my story!
My life:
As Christmas break approaches, I am facing one more final here at school and then I will be done! Yep, I'll be graduating and moving on with my life and that makes me excited. Even more exciting is that I'm fortunate enough to have a great job lined up in Columbus. I'll be starting work at the beginning of February, and moving down shortly before. Still looking for a place but I'd like to find a small house for rent with a decent garage so I have a home for my Seville and my Fiero. I'll be looking I n the Westerville area. I'm also going to be looking around for some Fiero people to meet, so I'd love to know if there are any active clubs in the area.
I still have quite a few things I need to do on the car, including paint, but I have a sizable break between now and when I start work that I can hopefully knock a lot of those things out! I know people here love pictures but I unfortunately don't have any. Since I was doing everything on weekend visits from home it was pretty much nonstop wrenching, no time for pictures. I'll hopefully get some this break and post them up for you all.
So that's about it, thanks again for reading and I hope to update this thread again soon. If you live in the Columbus area give me a shout, and if you know of any nice places for rent give me a bigger shout!
Ps. I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors. I typed this on my silly little ipad for some reason
Great story! Mine is similar, and we both ended up with Gold 87' GTs! If you want to check out my build, I'll leave the link in my signature! Happy Fieroing!
Milan Oh, my old stomping grounds. Where everyone smiles and waves. I miss the hill out behind the cemetery the most, how many times have I almost flew off those roads. Riding sleds in Edison park and sneaking a kiss back on the nature trail.
So much has changed in the last 30 years. Too bad you're moving I will be up for a visit this summer.
Great story, don't get so wound up in work that you forget the little town or the little car in the garage.
Great story! Mine is similar, and we both ended up with Gold 87' GTs! If you want to check out my build, I'll leave the link in my signature! Happy Fieroing!
Nice Fiero! It's always cool to see another gold GT, but you've definitely done a lot more customizing than I have. And I plan to paint mine white since my paint is super faded, so she won't be gold too much longer!
quote
Originally posted by Jake_Dragon:
Milan Oh, my old stomping grounds. Where everyone smiles and waves. I miss the hill out behind the cemetery the most, how many times have I almost flew off those roads. Riding sleds in Edison park and sneaking a kiss back on the nature trail.
So much has changed in the last 30 years. Too bad you're moving I will be up for a visit this summer.
Great story, don't get so wound up in work that you forget the little town or the little car in the garage.
Wow another Milanian! I really do love this town and it's unfortunate that I have to move away, but I'll only be about an hour and a half's drive away so I'll be back many-a-weekend. Let me know when you'll be in town, maybe I'll be home that weekend
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In other news, the car has been parked for a little while doing a little work cleaning up the gas tank and the interior and other things. I've just ordered new ball joints and outer tie rod ends all around, and hopefully after that the car should be pretty well set. Here are a few pics of her lately.
About a month ago I was able to drive the car pretty reliably, and we had a pretty decent amount of snow. I just couldn't resist taking her out to play a little bit in an empty parking lot right down the road... I know, tisk tisk.
I also got this pretty cool shot in a parking lot after all of the snow melted. You may notice the wing is gone, one of the small philips head wing stand screws was broken so I had to deal with those things. It has since been replaced with a different wing while I deal with repairing the original.
I've also picked up a rust free 88 roller (this is already the 3rd Fiero I've owned) for a swap project, but that won't be starting anytime all that soon. My whole goal with this 87 GT was to keep the stock appearance and do a simple kind of restoration. This new project will be a much more custom thing, so I will have one (mostly) stocker and one tastefully customized and swapped car. I'm trying to decide what I want to do swap wise, and I can't make up my mind. I love the 3800sc idea because it's been done so many times before, and being my first swap I'd like to have some resources to look into. The car currently has no engine/trans, but it was a 5 speed so what ever I swap in I want it paired to a 5 speed. I'm toying with the idea of an Ecotec paired with it's original F23 trans. That would eliminate some of the clutch/flywheel problems I could run into with other swaps. Exhaust would probably be easier with a 4 banger rather than a big V6 as well. But I'd also like some kind of forced induction. Hmm decisions decisions... If anyone has any input here I'd love to hear it!
I just wanted to keep this thread up to date because it serves as some kind of motivation for me to continue working on the car, hope people don't mind!
[This message has been edited by Leukay (edited 01-23-2014).]
My dad and I finally got my 3800sc / Getrag swap running in the rust-free 88 I picked up from MulletproofMonk (formerly Fieroguru's car)! Still a lot to do on the car, including figuring out why none of the gauges in the main instrument cluster are working (Edit: FIXED). Hopefully I'll be getting some more pictures of progress now that the hard part is (hopefully) over. I totally understand why so many people do this swap. Just a quick drive around the block and I'm more motivated than ever to get this thing finished and rip around all next summer!
I also wanted to give a big thanks to Cliff and everyone on this forum, without whom I would have never been able to undertake this project. Also a big thanks to Ryan (Darth Fiero) for the PCM tune, he's been a great guy to deal with and has been very patient with my questions (which I'm sure I will have more of!).
Below are a couple quick videos we took today: (Please excuse the mess I've made of my parents' garage during this project...)
Here are all of the things we got done on it!
