I've got a 86 GT that I love to drive. But it failed its Vermont inspection with these comments.

E brake doesn't hold
R/R wheel bearing
L/F wheel bearing
R/F Tie rod rack loose
Exhaust baffle broke inside muffler

Given these comments and the fact that the car sees a kot of dirt roads what should be repaired vs replaced vs upgraded. I seen some post of what manufacturers to stay away from in front end suspension but nothing on a common opinion of what should go in.

I want to get to drive it again and I'm not against throwing money at it. I've usually done the work on it myself given not a lot of shops want to work on Fieros. The clutch replacement was fun and I can never seem to get the ebrake right. Any feedback appreciated.

quote Originally posted by MacDee: I've got a 86 GT that I love to drive. But it failed its Vermont inspection with these comments. E brake doesn't hold R/R wheel bearing L/F wheel bearing R/F Tie rod rack loose Exhaust baffle broke inside muffler Given these comments and the fact that the car sees a kot of dirt roads what should be repaired vs replaced vs upgraded. I seen some post of what manufacturers to stay away from in front end suspension but nothing on a common opinion of what should go in. I want to get to drive it again and I'm not against throwing money at it. I've usually done the work on it myself given not a lot of shops want to work on Fieros. The clutch replacement was fun and I can never seem to get the ebrake right. Any feedback appreciated.

The inspection is much more involved than in California where they seem to only be concerned with emissions.

Unless i'm missing something, you have a list of things to fix, if you want to drive it again. Here is the list of things that needs to be replaced.

E brake
R/R wheel bearing
L/F wheel bearing
R/F Tie rod
New muffler


Once those things are replaced with new parts, the state will allow you do drive it on the public roads so you don't kill someone.

Its called maintenance and in some states it would never get done unless the state holds it hostage.

Enjoy

Those are all pretty cheap/easy fixes.

Can also confirm California just cares about the engine looks stock and passes emissions, my Federal emissions 84 SE passed no problem with a newer non-California catalytic converter.

Yeah I'm just wondering if this would be a good time to upgrade some items and where people are getting those upgrade parts usually.

"Upgrades" of most listed will fail too.

Rear brakes has problem and first thing to fix because cost can make you choice to fix others.
start @ http://www.fiero.nl/forum/F.../HTML/143946.html#p4

Replace wheel bearings and See my Cave, Front Bearings
Need 2 inner, 2 outer, and 2 seals to do both sides.
But now is time to get new hubrotors and pads if they are iffy too. Don't put new bearing in iffy rotors.
Get Wheel Bearing Grease for Disk Brakes! This grease handle the heat from brakes and won't run like many others.

Note Fiero and many others front wheel bearing are made to have a little play but many over tighten or leave too loose. You might only need proper adjustment but nube often have no clue what to look for before trying. Meaning bearing(s) can have real problems but can't see easy often even w/ old grease cleaned off them. So adjustment may seem to work but bad bearing will fry and leave you stranded at best.

Outer tie rod end is easy... inner not so much...
Can replace either/both but Carefully measure length first from the rack you can mark or otherwise find the point again to ball stud center. So alignment is close to drive to alignment shop.

If right side... measure from stud on moving end for stabilizer to outer end stud.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

That's really not that bad.. I mean it's a lot but nothing you can't knock off by yourself. The E-brake will be the most annoying thing there IMO. If your handy you and the car isn't too rusty you can have all that done in a (long) day working in your driveway.

Does walker still make the V6 Muffler? I know the 4CYL one was getting scarce when I ordered mine a few years ago.

quote Originally posted by FieroMontreal: That's really not that bad.. I mean it's a lot but nothing you can't knock off by yourself. The E-brake will be the most annoying thing there IMO. If your handy you and the car isn't too rusty you can have all that done in a (long) day working in your driveway.

Driveway repair? That's depends on just where you live. Example: Many HOA's, Counties and Cities can ticket or tow a disable car in hours to a few days. That's including parked in private driveways, on grass or other non pavement areas. Condo's and related are often worse and won't allow you working on a car at anytime.

quote Originally posted by theogre: [QUOTE]Originally posted by FieroMontreal: That's really not that bad.. I mean it's a lot but nothing you can't knock off by yourself. The E-brake will be the most annoying thing there IMO. If your handy you and the car isn't too rusty you can have all that done in a (long) day working in your driveway.

Driveway repair? That's depends on just where you live. Example: Many HOA's, Counties and Cities can ticket or tow a disable car in hours to a few days. That's including parked in private driveways, on grass or other non pavement areas. Condo's and related are often worse and won't allow you working on a car at anytime.[/QUOTE]


I assume he is smart enough to figure out his limitations and what his situational factors are in order to make an informed decision. I'm not going to factor in everyone's personal environmental limitations, ask them about their living conditions and if they live in a HOA before suggesting that they can fix their own car at home like most of this forum does to begin with. I was simply trying to tell him that all of these repairs could be done at home, with rather simple tools and don't require a terrible amount of effort to fix. If he wishes to go to a shop that's up to him or her.