Hello everyone,
I guess some people have seen me asking (absurd) questions on this forum before but it is time to tell you somethings about me and ofcourse my little pride and joy.
I am an interior designer from The Hague (Netherlands) and I have loved the Fiero for over a long time.
In Ferris Bueller's day of while everyone was looking at the (fake) Ferrari, I loved the little car his sister had, the white 1984 Fiero.
When it was time to buy my first car, I went out looking for a Volkswagen Corrado and there on that lot, put away in the corner under an orange piece of plastic covered with some rocks was a Silhouette that got me curious.. it was a white Notchback with a broken fender that hadn't run for over 2 years. needles to say that at that time I forgot all about the Corrado and went for the Fiero.. Rest assured, the money I saved by buying the Fiero (got him for 700 gilders) I spend on getting it going and making it roadlegal.
After some years I had to sell it to pay of my (study)debt and went on to other cars.
A couple of months back, I came across an advert for a Fiero (notchback) parts car and since I now make a decent paycheck the virus came back with a vengeance.
I went to look at it and bought it, eventrough the engine was shot. (sorry, no pictures found of this notchie, it was a faded red 1984 bumperpad notchie, you get the idea ;-))
My initial idea was to swap in a Opel (vauxhall or other european GM brand) ecotec engine in it but only finding out how expensive the wireharness would have been made me reconsider.. And then I saw an advert for a 1986 GT fastback and deciced to swap its body for the Notchies (I love the bumperpad notchie more than other Fiero styles)
here are the pictures of that car.
The reason I bought that car.. the V6 engine (that started up without a fuss after standing idle for over 6 years)
So there I was, having two (unfinished project) cars wich both were not quite roadlegal or drivable..
I got the fastback drivable and drove it for a couple of weeks just to get the kinks out (rear brakes were replaced by new ones, a good service with all new plugs,fluids and filters and a good washing and a set of used wheels and tires)
Good news was that -branded as the dutch forums idiot for tearing apart a ok fastback to make it a bumperpad notchie- I had no problems selling the fastback clip, that spoiler and the GT bumpers and all. and I was back in the green to go ahead and tear apart the Notchie (fun fact, that notchie is now being restored and rebuild...... as a fastback!) and start the makeover into the Fiero I almost dreamed about.. and then...
Looking on the German E-bay, I discovered an abandonned project.. stranded 16 years ago with a broken clutch... It was my ultimate dream Fiero body.. the white bumperpad Notchie!
Needles to say that I wanted that one so bad, I planned the drive of the 800 kilometers with my partner and bought it unseen.
Now.. since I already sold the Fastback parts I had to improvise and went ahead with the swap from Fastback to Notchie ( a good way to practice I tought)
This is how the car ended up for almost two weeks:
Now... There I was driving a Notchie (finally yay!) with the white body in my mind..
So we rented a car and went for the pickup. I sold the engine (a good iron duke) to one of the lads in the community here complete with 2 boxes of new (well 16 years old but in original packaging) and he currently has his car running again!
so All I was left with was chassis, interior (a brown one, just as I always wanted) and body.. after driving 800 km's here is what I found waiting for me
We took it home obviously!
and went back to do the transfer once more (and in much more detailed way this time) from red notchie to a white one...
it took us 2 days this time to do propper (we aligned the body as best as we could and with the interiorswap took care of cleaning everything before it went in)
Then I went on to erase 16 years of dirt and stuff and ended up dirt removal, degreasing,and hand-polishing with extreme polish all the way up to finepolish and several coats of wax..
I still need to figure out how to get rid of the black Pontiac letters and how to get rid of the 36 year old sticker "Fiero 2m4"
for now I wrapped the roof white, it is the wrong colour but I save some money up to have it repainted to match, we tried the white top, but it is stuck beyond believe so we just left it.
but for now I drive my dreamcar.. a white Notchie with a roaring V6!.
Last thing I did was rip out the worn and saggy rooflining and replaced it with some brown alcantara to match my interior
There are some things I have to get fixed:
There still is something wrong with the brakelights since we swapped the notchie-rear light harnass the 3rd brakelight lights up however the normal ones don't.. all other lights work fine so it is a bit of a mistery.
since I removed the airco unit my fan comes on and stays on till I turn off the ignition.
Some plans for the future..
- I currently am working on a "black out"set for the dashboard, this will be black panels once the car is turned off, but with lights on it will iluminate (think of a smartphone)
- I want to lighten this car up a bit, So I now removed the power-windows, airco and the cruise control, any more tips would be apreciated.
- I will swap from auto to manual,
- I want to lower the car aprox 1 inch in front and 1.5 inch in the rear to improve it's stance. maybe 1,5"all around and then lower tires in the front wouls also be an option (205 45 17 in front, 225 45 R17 in the rear)
- I will eliminate the "stereo" I have a custom hidden system in the works that will be controled by my Iphone.
- I want to have it repainted in the original white, or at least where it needs to be restored.
- I will buy 17" Lenso Eagle 2 wheels for this car in 7,5J in front and 8,5J in the rear.
- Beretta front brake upgrade
- Maybe a port and flowjob on the engine.
How I hope he will look once he is finished:
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[This message has been edited by Erwin03 (edited 06-22-2017).]