I removed the accelerator pedal yesterday. Cleaned out the old grease and reapplied silicone grease to the pedal rod and bracket. Then I stretched the throttle spring at the throttle body just a little. Now the throttle works as it should. No more drag race starts when doing stop light to stoplight. Hope it is a lasting fix. The throttle cable seems smooth when it is disconnected, so this may well fix it. Installed a new fuel filter today. Not sure how long the old one had been installed, so figured it was good insurance. I've driven the car about 100 miles now, and no more oil leak. Seems the motor is not using water, at least not yet. I also installed a nice chrome exhaust outlet. It was one I removed from the SC car when the WC Fiero 3" exhaust was installed on it. Nearly the stock look, but much nicer than the factory painted steel one that was on there. Waxed the car today as well. Figured enough time had passed since the new paint was applied. Added a bit to the shine. I think that since there is some serious droning going on in back, that I will replace both wheel bearings as well as the drivers axle assembly when I remove the struts to replace them. Have the parts, so might as well do it when things are apart. Fiero Lucas will be dropping off my new to me dash pad and the hand brake area trim piece when he stops by on Sunday. Things are getting close to being done, of course until the next thing breaks! Still on the lookout for factory seats, but doesn't look like much available.

My friend, Lucas and his wife stopped by today to deliver the hand brake area trim and my dash pad. We had a great visit and I took him for a ride in the V8 Fiero. We have been friends and casual business associates for about 8 years or so, but he had never been for a ride in the V8. He has been slowly building a V8 Fiero for himself, hopefully the ride will get him to pick up the pace on his project. After they left, I installed the trim piece along with the hand brake boot my wife had sewn for me. Worked great.

Hand brake trim and boot finally installed.


A couple pictures of the nice dash pad Lucas delivered.




Chrome exhaust tips similar to factory ones. Look a lot nicer.

Nearly finished with the new dash pad install. Not as bad a project as I had originally thought. It took about an easy 1 1/2 hours to remove things. When I got the the dash out, I realized that the quadrant thingy, that controls the various vent flaps on the heater/defroster system, was bent and not closing the doors correctly. It took an extra half hour to remove the heater controls and repair the bent quadrant. Then today I transferred the passenger side vent from the old dash to the new one and transferred the dash pocket so that the original one stayed with the car. Installation took about 2 1/2 hours to get everything hooked up. I still have to replace the lower steering column cover and the interior will be finished. While I had the speaker grills out, I sprayed them with fabric color to get a pretty good match to the dash, though it doesn't look too close a match in the picture.

Out with the old.


First time I've seen this view of a Fiero interior.


In with the new!



Much better, worth the effort.

Finally an update. I found a pair of seats that match the original. Only problem was that they were nearly 200 miles away in Morton, Washington. So my wife and I decided a visit to her brother near Shelton and a visit to a friend in Bothell would get us real close to the location of the seats. Anyway, once we got to Bothell I called the seat owner and he offered to deliver them to me in Bothell. Worked out great, weather was good , timing was good and the seats were as expected. So today I used the best parts of the purchased seats along with one of the backs from the original seats and came up with a very respectable pair of original style seats for the 84. Didn't think it was going to happen! I actually bought two pair of seats from the seller, the other being a set of 86-87 GT seats in fair condition. $75 for four seats which I feel was a really decent price.


Finished seats-still a little damp after cleaning.



Installed in the car.

[This message has been edited by bjc 350 (edited 10-23-2016).]

One last appearance item finished. When the car came to me, it had old,old pinstriping on it. So, in the spirit of keeping things as near original as possible I replicated the striping. I am making the assumption the striping was installed by the selling dealer, since this was a base model that they likely wanted to coax a little more money from. I was told the original owner had purchased the car as it was being displayed at a local mall in the Portland metro area. So, anyway following are a few pictures of the new stripes.

Finally, an update. I replaced the struts and installed a new driver side axle. The axle replacement has helped with the rear droning problem I had experienced. Not sure it is 100% resolved. I no longer plan to replace the engine/trans assembly since the engine does not consume coolant like the PO suggested. The thermostat cap was the culprit for the lost coolant. So, I don't usually like to bandaid things, but , has anyone used the bearing helper, that takes place of the rear seal, with results. I'm pretty sure the output bearing for the differential should be replaced because there is still some looseness in the axle where it enters the diff. However noise has been reduced dramatically when driving. Trans was about a quart low, as well. Attached are some pictures taken today in a bit of a drizzle. For some reason, the pinstripping barely shows. Still need a final alignment, but it drives good.

Just read through this thread. Man did you get that at a good price. They all need work don't matter how much you paid for it. It's looking good

Really nice. I always loved the 84s. Had a few. My dream was to have a carbed v8 in one with some nice rims on it.

Really nice. I always loved the 84s. Had a few. My dream was to have a carbed v8 in one with some nice rims on it.

I'll take this Bra off your hands if you don't want it.

Wow, what a restoration! Nice work. Maybe I should have you restore my Indy!

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

88 Coupe: 2.0L Turbo 4 Cylinder, W2A, T25 Turbo, water/meth injection
84 Indy #64: Restoration Project
01 BMW 525i: The other summer car
03 BMW X5: bad weather car

Thanks for the interest, been a fun project. Sorry, sold that bumper cover/bra on EBay. Our club has a car show on April 29, hope to get it there for the show.

Went to the Clatskanie Heritage Day car show today. Drove the 84 base, thinking since it was such a warm day, it would survive better than the bigger engine stuff. To my surprise the car won Best 80-89 stock class and a trophy for best "RED" Hot Car at the show. The latter trophy is sponsored by the individual club members, and passed out to the car that they personally feel fits the category they sponsor. First time ever to win two trophy's in one day. That is the good part. Upon driving home in what for us is hot weather(90 plus), I pulled into the shop driveway, put the clutch in, and the engine died. Will not restart. Added fuel, no start. May very well be a no spark issue. Got me home, though! Thanks Clatskanie Cruisers Car Club!

This is where it sits, but made it home. No indication there were issues.


Trophies of the day. Who would have thought a base 84 would win a trophy at an all comers car show with 230 or so cars.


No room in the display case. Not because I've won a lot of hardware, but because I fill it with memorable car models and other stuff of no interest to anyone but me.

Just saw this thread.... you have really brought that 84 back from the brink. Congrats on the 2 trophies!

Thanks for the congratulatory reply. I think these trophies were appreciated more than others I have won. When someone builds cars like a V8 or 3.8 sc car or others, we seem to expect accolades because we know how much work it takes. But to buy a car for $250 and spend maybe another $1500 on it and to keep it stock is just a labor of Fiero love. To win a trophy means others appreciate the Fiero as it was designed. Not sure we would ever see that day come. I always liked the basic design, maybe others are appreciating it , too.

Very awesome to do what you did. I do not know if I would have the restraint to just leave it stock like that. Good on you. What is the end goal here, keep it or sell it? Show it more?

Spadesluck, it is hard to not modify things, especially the ride height. I sometimes have to look away when observing the wheel gap and have to resist lowering the car a bit to get rid of it. I had planned on using it as a daily driver, but it has turned out so clean I hate to do that. I since have purchased a PT Cruiser for the daily duties, so don't really need this car. A few shows this summer, and then likely will try to sell it since I have my "Mini wide body" project to finish up. Just not enough room for things, and my wife says no more adding on the shop. I will just fill it with junk (cars)! Those are her words.

It has been a while since I posted about the 84. The car had a rear end noise, so it took some chasing and parts throwing to get rid of it. I ended up installing the Fitzall bearing/seals on both sides as well as replacing both drive axles with good used ones. That didn't solve the problem entirely, and since the right rear appeared to be the area creating the noise, I replaced the rr wheel bearing and guess what, it is now quiet. Interestingly, the bearing was not loose and didn't show any signs of noise when being rotated. It felt nice and smooth/tight. Guess not really.
Also installed new front upper adjustable ball joints from Rodney Dickman, and adjusted the right side caster as well. That allowed the less than stellar alignment shop to get the four wheel alignment within spec. Interestingly the car still pulled right, but after switching the newly balanced and rotated tires, side to side, on the front it no longer pulls. Two visits to the alignment shop to get it driving correctly.
I had new motor and transmission mounts in my inventory, so changed them out as well. Now that spring is coming, somewhere, I am putting the car up for sale so that I will have room to finish my "mini wide body" project before I die! If anyone up here in the Northwest would like a decent 84 Fiero, this could be it. Link to Craigslist ad:
https://portland.craigslist...iero/6534502534.html

quote Originally posted by bjc 350: ..it is hard to not modify things, especially the ride height. I sometimes have to look away when observing the wheel gap and have to resist lowering the car a bit to get rid of it.

Yeah, the dune buggy look doesn't appeal to me at all ... but full credit to you on a fine restoration job!

Well, this story has ended for me. I have had the 84 for sale on craigslist for almost a month. The car turned out really nice and I'm glad I kept it stock. But when it came to selling it, not much activity other than scammers. Well, I finally got that call from a guy down in Salem, about 2 1/2 hours away. Wanted to see the car. Finally! Somebody looking. So he was waiting at my house when I got home from my semi retired job yesterday. I pulled the car out of the garage, worried that the high cold idle on the duke might make him nervous. I mentioned to him that it is typical of these Fieros. He said, "Oh I remember the 86 I had in high school did the same thing." What a relief. Anyway, long story short, he bought it. He had looked at several others and they had all been modified so he wasn't interested. He made me an offer which I refused and he said that was all the money he had brought. I said well , I would hold it for him until next week and he could return with the money for the agreed price and pick it up then. No , he wanted to take it with him. Ok, so he drove 30 mile round trip to his local bank branch ATM and got the final $300 Kinda glad he bought it because he wanted to keep it stock. So, since I had put maybe 400 miles on it in the year and a half that I owned it, I worried that a long trip back to Salem might get interrupted with a problem. No, this morning he text me a picture of the car in his garage parked next to his Jaguar. He said it would stay inside and his new Dodge Ram would be outside! Guy had his priorities right anyway. Sad to see it go, but at 74 years old, just too many cars and not enough room. And I think it went to a good home. That has not always been the case when selling cars I have refurbished. Tough to see them a year or two later and in sad condition. But it has freed up space to get my "mini wide body" finished up. Thanks for looking.

quote Originally posted by bjc 350: Sad to see it go, but at 74 years old, just too many cars and not enough room.

You've got 12 years on me, but I know the feeling of "too many cars". Congrats on culling the herd.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 04-20-2018).]

An update on this car. I got a text from the buyer today.He says he has to sell it because of health issues. He is going to post it on Craigslist soon, so I will post a link once I see it. It was a nice clean 84 stocker when I sold it. The buyer changed out the throttle cable, put in a water pump, I believe and did some other small things. He really loves it. and would update me now and then about the car.

Well, Chris has finally put the 84 up for sale. He said it is too difficult for him to get in and out of it, and he doesn't want it to sit. Here is a link to the Craigslist ad for sale. If you like stock, they don't get much more stock than this one.
https://portland.craigslist...find/7108152880.html

I never thought I would be updating this thread again. I had communicated with a fellow on Fiero's Northwest Facebook who was looking for a 4 cylinder engine, since the car he owned had a rod knock and water in the oil. I told him I had one, he said he was coming yesterday to get the engine.
When he arrived, we introduced ourselves and then he said ,"let me get my phone and show you what I'm working on". Small world, but it was my old 84 featured in this thread. Pictures looked like the car was still very nice after all this time, just a sour engine. Still only 88,000 miles.
His goal is to get his 13 year old grandson working with him to refurbish the car's engine and a few other niggling things. The grandson has shown a lot of interest in the car. Ramon and I visited for quite a while after loading up the motor. Glad to see the car is ending up in good hands once again. We plan on keeping in touch.

That's an awesome update! You did a really great job on that car!

quote Originally posted by bjc 350: I never thought I would be updating this thread again. I had communicated with a fellow on Fiero's Northwest Facebook who was looking for a 4 cylinder engine, since the car he owned had a rod knock and water in the oil. I told him I had one, he said he was coming yesterday to get the engine. When he arrived, we introduced ourselves and then he said ,"let me get my phone and show you what I'm working on". Small world, but it was my old 84 featured in this thread. Pictures looked like the car was still very nice after all this time, just a sour engine. Still only 88,000 miles. His goal is to get his 13 year old grandson working with him to refurbish the car's engine and a few other niggling things. The grandson has shown a lot of interest in the car. Ramon and I visited for quite a while after loading up the motor. Glad to see the car is ending up in good hands once again. We plan on keeping in touch.

That's so wild. I had a similar thing happen to me... I had a 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. I sold it on eBay to some guy in New Hampshire that had it towed up there from Florida. Three years later, I see this car that's exactly like my old Cutlass driving around Fort Lauderdale, and a few days later, this guy posts on my old YouTube video and says... "Hey, I own the car in this video..."

Those rims... I hope he keeps them. They aren't fantastic for performance or anything, they're basically 13s... but they're so rare that you don't really see them anymore. I have a set in storage... no idea what I'll do with them.

Congratulations and thank you for saving one of our little gems! What a fantastic job!!!!!!!