So my middle boy (16) wants a Fiero. We had looked at a running driving 1984 example locally with four speed and four cylinder. It had a painted dash, funny shifter feel and was $3,200. A little too much and the four banger is not all that impressive. Pass.
We then checked out this 1985 GT with the 4spd, V6 combo. Had been sitting a long time. Missing radiator and a few other parts. Some claim of axle trouble. The body was nice and interior ok. Pass at $2k. These are harder to find than I recall! And more expensive than I thought.
We did go by the scrapyard in Calgary and they had three Fieros that could donate parts.
A semi local small town dealership had this one we had seen a few months ago. Again a 1985 GT with V6 and 4spd manual. When we approached it I thought it had frost but the paint was horrible, most notably on the hood. We went back to take a closer look. Had been sitting for years. Interior was ok. Paint toast, tires dry rotted. We got the owner to boost and it started. Ran with high idle for a bit then stumbled and died. I wondered if it was out of fuel but he swore that no, it had lots. But no engine knock which was a good sign. It had random new parts in the trunk. We made an offer as is and got it delivered.
We shot back to Calgary and snagged a hood. Sadly had faded headlight covers from another car.
Before
First wrenching on his own car for the boy.
So much better!
Some wet sanding, polish and clear coat. I am far from a body/paint man but certainly better.
The 16 year old owner did a good chunk of the work here.
Thermostat changed. Old one looked new but was stuck shut.
Exhaust had a rattle. The rear passenger side hanger was crusty and not hanging all that way anymore. The proper one was a steep $37US + shipping. Ouch.
Generic piece from Canadian Tire was $8 but not quite right.
Turn signals now working without turning the wipers on. A bit of cleaning on contacts set them right.
Now for the sad part of the story. The car has a leak. Couldn't tell if it was engine or transmission. Went to check the fluid level in the transmission. For the 4spd it means pulling out the speed sensor. That went ok until the gear wheel fell off the end, sank down into the bottom of the gearbox. Did some searching online that said it is easiest to buy a new one and grind up the old in the gearbox. Unfortunately we drove it first then found out that I can't seem to find the right one. Bought a couple that said they would fit but don't. Anyone have one they would be willing to sell? Above is a bit of the old one.
Had been sitting for years. Interior was ok. Paint toast, tires dry rotted. We got the owner to boost and it started... no engine knock which was a good sign.
Did you check for the most important thing... rust? More specifically, rusted rear upper frame rails.
I just hate to see anyone put a lot of time and/or money into a car before making sure it's not rotted out and worthless. Hopefully you and your son's Fiero is okay.
And welcome to the forum!
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 06-22-2020).]
I had been looking for 5 years the prices of the Fiero(at least on the west coast), and it was hard to find a good one under 3k.
Is great to have the opportunity to share a hobby with your son, he has a good taste in cars!
Like Patrick said, check under the trunk carpet for possible rust, or under the battery tray. (Is funny that one of the selling points of the Fiero was the plastic panels that don't rust, as shown in this dealer training video)
We replaced the fan switch sensor the other day. The new one does not trigger the fan either oddly. A defective new part? I can trigger it manually so the wire all the back to the fan, relay and the fan itself works.
In absence of doing any real work we took a few beauty shots of it.
We replaced the fan switch sensor the other day. The new one does not trigger the fan either oddly. A defective new part? I can trigger it manually so the wire all the back to the fan, relay and the fan itself works.
The factory fan switch doesn't close until 235F which is damn close to the "red zone". The fan will also come on when you turn on the A/C.
My GT has no A/C, so the only time my fan came on was in stop-n-go traffic on a really hot day close to "the red". I replaced it with a 210F/200F switch (for 195F thermostat) which keeps engine temps more consistent. http://rodneydickman.com/pr...o.php?products_id=88
PS - I have the VSS gear from the car you got the hood from.
[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 06-25-2020).]
The factory fan switch doesn't close until 235F which is damn close to the "red zone". The fan will also come on when you turn on the A/C.
My GT has no A/C, so the only time my fan came on was in stop-n-go traffic on a really hot day close to "the red". I replaced it with a 210F/200F switch (for 195F thermostat) which keeps engine temps more consistent. http://rodneydickman.com/pr...o.php?products_id=88
PS - I have the VSS gear from the car you got the hood from.
No A/C on this GT either. I bought the lower temperature switch as well as I wasn't really comfortable waiting until the red zone either.
No A/C on this GT either. I bought the lower temperature switch as well as I wasn't really comfortable waiting until the red zone either.
The fan won't come on often if you're driving and car is moving. With the 235F switch I never heard the fan for the first 2 years - until I was stuck in traffic because of an accident in Kelowna at 29C. I wired in a manual toggle switch to ground the circuit and later installed the 210F/200F fan switch to do the job.
If fan isn't on after passing mid-point on gauge, switch may be bad (gauge not that accurate to start with). Leave hood open and idle engine while monitoring gauge and wait it out until fan kicks in.
With the manual switch what is the best path for the wires. Not too many places to poke wires through. I was thinking of pushing the wires from the engine (switch) into the cab but it looks almost easier to do from the front (replay).
Not surprisingly for a car that had sat a long time, once he started driving it the car began leaking. The worst offender was from the oil pressure sender. There are three different units for the V6 engine in 1985 for reasons only a long retired GM engineer could explain. Two cost almost nothing and one was quite pricey. His was, of course, the more expensive three-wire version but after a few (many) scratched knuckles and swear words, it was replaced. The oil leak was slowed from a torrent to a trickle. While in there I noticed the heat shield above it was not attached properly. Probably because it involved a good amount of arm contortions to get the bolt in while holding the shield in place. As a reward, the annoying exhaust rattle on cold start up was no more.
Another annoyance to be sorted out was the car did not come with a driver’s side exterior lock. This meant every time he drove the car, he had to first unlock the passenger side, then reach over to unlock the driver’s side. Do-able, but gets old fast. I was able to order a new lock fairly cheaply, but we were missing a few bits of the hardware to connect the lock to the rod in the door. Another Fiero owner to the rescue who had a couple parts cars as well as engine swapped Fiero (a larger V6, maybe supercharged I cannot recall now). He was good enough to give us the required door hardware as well as a ride for my son in a legitimately fast Fiero.
From the condition of the door paper I suspect this one had never been apart before.
A lot of owners suggest taking the outer door skin off to get the lock back together. My son managed to assemble it all without doing that, which was a relief as there were a few plastic bolts to take off in that case that looked rather delicate
My son had hoped to take his car to a few car shows this year but almost everything this summer had been cancelled due to the pandemic. One such cancelled event was the annual Street Wheeler’s Friday night cruise. Hundreds of classic cars fill the streets of Lethbridge on a controlled cruise. A large number of classic and special interest vehicles showed up regardless for an unofficial cruise night. We headed down to participate, as it is pretty easy to social distance in one’s car. There were a few in Calgary on a Friday but the timing never worked for us. Probably next year at this point.
Another such mostly cancelled event was the Great Beater Challenge, which we have competed in every year up until now. The main event was canceled but there was a single day mini-GBC that we drove the Fiero to the start line for. As previously mentioned, I had broken my collarbone in three places a few weeks earlier in a minor motorbike crash. As a result, I had to get a metal plate and twelve screws put in, and so did not feel up to a full day drive in the Fiero. We joined the small group for a short distance before heading back.
So far, my son has been driving the Fiero almost daily with only a few issues (knock on wood). It has been a good car for him thus far and has proved to be a great learning opportunity as well. The only slight bummer has been fuel consumption and a small-ish gas tank. Overall, a pretty darn cool first car with lots of sweat equity into it.
Looks awesome! My son is a lot younger - but I do have a 88 formula that was given to me from a friend. When my son is a bit older this will be our project. Love seeing these types of projects.
