Recently I was looking for a project Fiero ( I tried to escape the Fiero world but always get sucked back in) and GTGEFF out of Minnesota happened to be selling the car both of his kids drove through high school named affectionately "Petey". When discussing this car with Jeff , I could tell that there was a deep connection between him and this car. A connection I would love to develop with a car again. Was the car perfect? No, it was in good shape and well taken care of, but lets face it.... A Minnesota daily driver with 160k will have some issues. The most concerning one is rust.

After a week or so of chatting we struck up a deal and off to Minnesota I went. It was only fitting that I decided to drive to Minnesota in a snow storm with a borrowed truck and trailer. Took me about 5 hours to get there but in my opinion it was well worth the drive. The car was what I expected, maybe a little better than expected ( the interior was in exceptional shape) the real gem was chatting with Jeff.

We just sat and chatted for about an hour (going to go get straps my buddy said he threw in his truck but didnt) and talking about cars we have had in the past. This was probably my favorite part of the project so far. Jeff discussed the car at length with me, talking about all it had been through and all the years he has had it. I could tell he really didn't want to sell it. So I promised him I would keep him up to date on all the progress and projects with the car. He gave me some Tyler Shipman & 35 year anniversary badges and we shook hands. I am proud to say I consider him a friend now.

On to the car... A white Formula Auto with 160k.... I promised myself I would never have an auto again... I loathe the TH125, ive only had one other out of the 30 some odd fieros ive owned and swore I would never have one again. That being said beggars cannot be choosers... I decided before I even picked it up I would be swapping it out. That got me thinking.... I have a 3.4l DOHC sitting in my shop as well... I am going to be doing a lot of work swapping trannys and repairing rust... so what the hell... might as well swap that in at the sometime. So here we are... 88 Formula auto conversion to a 3.4 DOHC with a "shifty boi" as my friend Larkin would put it.

Got the car home, Jeff threw a couple of bumpers in the deal with replace the damaged front. First thing was unloading it and getting him into the garage. It was a great feeling to have a Fiero in the garage again. I have something with these cars... I must be a mental case... My first car was a Fiero and I have typically always had one since. Including some unicorns I should have never sold.

Here are some pictures of Petey on the trailer on the way home...

Here's Petey with Jeff

Car looks nice- hopefully it is not rotten to crap underneath from being winter driven... I have seen far too many FIeros ruined by salt. Good luck with the project!

After a long overdue bath... It was a long wet, snowy drive home from Minnesota

My first , OK, only, swap was a DOHC so I look forward to watching yours.

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Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!

Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

quote Originally posted by ltlfrari: My first , OK, only, swap was a DOHC so I look forward to watching yours.

My biggest concern is the wiring... Parts are becoming more scarce for those engines as well. I probably should join some grand prix groups to assist with parts. I have always wanted a 3.4 DOHC in a fiero though. Here is the engine sitting in my shop.

[This message has been edited by jessesmith121 (edited 04-13-2020).]

I loved it in my car, mated to Isuzu 5 speed trans.First gear was a bit short but on the freeway it was great.
There's some wiring diagrams for how I did mine on my web site 'somewhere ' in my DOHC section that may, or may not, be of some help. They made sense to me when I did them, not so sure now
Basically I took the Fiero Factory Service manual and a Cutless Supreme Service manual and figured out the common stuff then custom built my own harness. took forever but it worked which is all that matters!

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Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!

Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

Thats the Transmission I picked up for the swap... an Izusu 5-speed

[This message has been edited by jessesmith121 (edited 04-13-2020).]

There was an ultra rare Getrag 284 (I think) for sale recently in Colorado. This is the 5 speed that came with the DOHC 3.4 motor. Very rare, but would be a great score to pair with this engine- probably a lot stronger than the Isuzu. Not sure if rebuild parts are available for it- probably not

quote Originally posted by cam-a-lot: There was an ultra rare Getrag 284 (I think) for sale recently in Colorado. This is the 5 speed that came with the DOHC 3.4 motor. Very rare, but would be a great score to pair with this engine- probably a lot stronger than the Isuzu. Not sure if rebuild parts are available for it- probably not

You have the contact info for that....? Worth the road trip

[This message has been edited by jessesmith121 (edited 04-13-2020).]

Just make sure it is not rotten to crap before putting hundreds of hours of work into it...

Too many people get a cheap or free Fiero, but then spend hundreds of hours and painstaking work into trying to get it on the road, when there are still a good number of rust free southern cars or winter stored cars available for a bit more money, and without the frustrating hassle of trying to repair rust

I will see if I can find the contact info for that transmission. Apparently it is the "holy grail' of transmissions for 60 deg V6 motors, but ultra rare, since the vast majority of Grand Prix GTP and Lumina Z34 cars were girlie-matic..

quote Originally posted by cam-a-lot: Just make sure it is not rotten to crap before putting hundreds of hours of work into it...

Yeah, Im probably going to pull the rear clip this weekend just to see how big of a mess I am in. I am very confident its not rotted beyond repair. The saving grace is the preview in the trunk... A little bubble but ZERO show through. Tells me its probably not beyond repair.

Also... Side note... I am not opposed to doing some repair, I need to teach my son some of these skills so he isnt worthless when it comes to cars. lol...

All the cradle mounting points are solid as well. Suspension looks great. I am felling good about it. I will post pictures.

Jesse,

I just hope you're not overwhelming yourself with too many things at once.

Thanks for the update. Please keep the progress pictures coming.

Jeff

quote Originally posted by GTGeff: Jesse, I just hope you're not overwhelming yourself with too many things at once. Thanks for the update. Please keep the progress pictures coming. Jeff

In for a penny.... in for a pound... I dont think I can add too much more lol. I am excited to make forward progress every time I work on him

Okay, progress update.

Got both rockers off today. The fenders, the rear bumper and the two lower panels on the rear clip. Pics in each post below. Found some rust in places I didn't expect... And no rust in places I did expect. Not to mention a few spots the car has been hit. All is below

Got my new to me oven for powdercoating today!

Finally found some additional parts needed for the Ttops.

quote Originally posted by jessesmith121: Hood, driver fender and bumper off, excuse the mess in the garage... I've got a few other house projects going on as well... It's getting cleaner all the time. Lol

A wise person once gave me this advice :

quote Originally posted by jessesmith121: I have a philosophy, any project I start working on I MUST work on it every day... even if its only for 5 min or so. If you dont ...

Good luck with Petey.

Thanks Cliff... I believe there will have to be a little luck involved. The rest will be fueled with pure determination (or as my wife calls it Obsessive stubbornness) and encouragement.

I appreciate the kind words.

I know it would be cheaper to buy a car the way I want. Ive always appreciated a car with sweat equity though. It wall also be nice to teach my 12 year old to work on projects as well.