I happily drove my new 1985 GT for about 40 miles and love the car but it's now time to start taking it apart. Initially I thought it just needed a good clean and paint but after starting to take it apart a little I found that as any 35 year old Midwest car I do have some rust. So far I have taken out the driver side rocker panels (damn those rivets), both driver side fender liners and the trunk carpet. And I did find some rust. There is a hole going from the trunk into the frame rails in the trunk but I am thinking the frame rails is rusty but still solid. I am not so confident when it comes to the passenger side. There are some small patches in the floor pans but I don't think they will be a major issue (other than now having to remove most of the interior, but I guess that will allow for better cleaning). There is one spot on the floorpan where it looks like the frame meets up with it that is bad but I don't think the connection between the floorpan and the frame is compromised. And finally the brackets that hold the cooling pipe to the body in the middle are really bad (are there reproductions available for these?)
So in short I think it will end up being more a restoration then a refresh but that will keep me off the street I guess.
I do want to inspect the frame much better and to do so I think I will need to take the rear clip off. Is that possible without taking the roof off? I really don't want to remove the roof since I don't want it to crack.
I replaced the rails and very large areas of the truck sides on an '84 I restored. It wasn't as bad as a lot of people made it out to be.. but I am a decent welder and have all the tools, lifts etc. I put the car on a frame puller afterward and had to slightly tweak it about 1/4" on the right rear to get the rear clip to align with the deck properly and perfect the gaps.
The new owner has put over 60k miles on it without issue, and the POR15 is still like new on the rails/trunk.
Sit down and figure out all that is needed and how much you will have in it. With good Fieros out there often many will invest more patching up a dying car.
Also how bad do you want the car and if you do invest are you ok not breaking even?
A good clean low mile 85 GT can be found for $4500 to $7000, no work needed.
A lot of people bought these cars and they were weekend nice day drivers.
I just put one on the road that had sat for 20 plus years. It needed a little work but it was only brakes and fuel system. The paint and interior will clean up and it drives like the low miles it has.
These are cheap cars to buy and enjoy but they can become money pits fast even doing your own work. Just the cost of a good paint job can be a killer.
Even other cars like a GTO anymore are a better value purchased restored as often they have more in it vs what it is worth.
Yes you can get he rear clip off without removing the roof although if I recall correctly (been a while), you have to remove the headliner (which itself requires the removal of the interior trim) so that you can get to some nuts that are in the roof that hold the rear of the roof down. Basically the rear clip 'clips' under the back of the roof section. In fact if at all possible do not remove the roof as the windscreen A pillars are attached and easily break, but lifting the rear enough to get the clip out is OK. There's probably also some black goo under there holding it all down but it's just case of taking your time. You'll also need to disconnect the fuel door cable. Lots of pics of my adventures fixing rust on an 88 on my web site under Diary, 2009-2010.
------------------ Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!
Yes you can get he rear clip off without removing the roof although if I recall correctly (been a while), you have to remove the headliner (which itself requires the removal of the interior trim) so that you can get to some nuts that are in the roof that hold the rear of the roof down. Basically the rear clip 'clips' under the back of the roof section. In fact if at all possible do not remove the roof as the windscreen A pillars are attached and easily break, but lifting the rear enough to get the clip out is OK. There's probably also some black goo under there holding it all down but it's just case of taking your time. You'll also need to disconnect the fuel door cable. Lots of pics of my adventures fixing rust on an 88 on my web site under Diary, 2009-2010.
The 2 I have done recently have not had any of the dum dum (black goo) on the rear section. However you do have to pull the 3 bolts on the rear roof section and lift slightly to sneak that rear section out from under it. There are also 3 nuts for that rear section. The last time the studs for those nuts had rotted or something but it caused the studs to spin in place and i could not remove the nuts. I had to rip the studs loose
I got the rear passenger fender liner and the bumper off yesterday and the rust looks ok. It doesn't look like the structural integrity of the frame is affected. So lots of cleaning and welding in patches and then painting the crap out of it with POR 15. Does anyone have experience with it and do you need to go down to bare metal for it?
The girl is naked now and luckily the rust is limited to sheet metal and the frame is ok. So some cutting and welding then lots of POR 15. Seems pretty straight forward.
[This message has been edited by Miel (edited 12-06-2020).]
Thanks, there are a few parts that need some fiberglass work done (New to that so it will be fun) but nothing major(mostly tabs and little a corner of the lower driver side rear quarter. I used tape to keep each little tab with the respective body panel so I can remember where everything goes. The Rear clip came off undamaged. The only real casualty was the sunroof rail. Very rusty and had to get off so destroyed. But I have a new one on order along with a new sunroof seal (seems like a good idea instead of trying to clean up a tired old seal).
Did curse my late father in law a few times for having so many rivets in the design which would have been easier if they would just have been screws (now I have to get a crap load of new rivets).
Any one have any good suggestions for a good fiberglass repair kit?
Looks like you caught it in time, fix it all now before it spreads any further. Replacing the frame rails is no fun. Well it's a little fun but a LOT of work.
Thanks, there are a few parts that need some fiberglass work done (New to that so it will be fun) but nothing major(mostly tabs and little a corner of the lower driver side rear quarter. I used tape to keep each little tab with the respective body panel so I can remember where everything goes. The Rear clip came off undamaged. The only real casualty was the sunroof rail. Very rusty and had to get off so destroyed. But I have a new one on order along with a new sunroof seal (seems like a good idea instead of trying to clean up a tired old seal).
Did curse my late father in law a few times for having so many rivets in the design which would have been easier if they would just have been screws (now I have to get a crap load of new rivets).
Any one have any good suggestions for a good fiberglass repair kit?
I just use the Bondo 8 oz. Fiberglass Resin Repair Kit 00420 home depot and Amazon have it.
