My name is Alex and I live in Milwaukee, WI. I have owned two Fieros; a 1984 Pontiac Fiero SE 2.5L and a 1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula 2.8L. These two cars were my first cars when I was 15 years old. I am now 27 years old and I am finding myself remembering the good times I had with these cars. I sold the 1984 Fiero but my father has kept the 1988 Fiero in running condition down in Florida. I am having the 1988 Fiero shipped up to Wisconsin in May 2021 and I will begin planning a full restoration/build for it. I am planning on throwing about $15k-$20k into this restore/build. I would really appreciate guidance from those who have already gone through a full restore/full build. I am wanting to turn this Fiero into one of the most capable driving machines in Wisconsin. Please see pictures below. I will continue to update this thread as I have new information. Any/all guidance is welcome. Thank you guys.
You could buy a nice stock, low mileage for that!!
And then sink a bunch of money in it.....low miles in an old car doesn't mean that much. Things degrade from not being used.
To the OP - good luck with your project. Having completely disassembled and restored several Fieros, it is a labor of love. It doesn't need to be expensive if you are smart about it.
And then sink a bunch of money in it.....low miles in an old car doesn't mean that much. Things degrade from not being used.
I totally agree with this. I'm not sure why people put such a high value on low miles on a 30yo car other than the attractiveness of the lower wear on the engine and transmission. I just don't understand it boggles my mind. Pretty much all that low miles say to me for something so old is its been neglected in a different way. Things degrade and need to be replaced. I have been completely through my car new rubber (hoses, ac, belts, brake) new calipers rotors bearings. New suspension and polly. Polly everywhere. Remanned engine and trans. It starts runs and drives like new and i know it will be pretty solid for 10s of thousands of miles to come. Low milage if you plan to drive it just means you have to put almost that much into it and it is devalues every mile you drive it. I plan to just drive and enjoy mine.
The actual reality is there are a lot of low mile cars around some not stored well most are.
The price of a top condition 88 GT can be found for $12k to 17k easily. Formulas even less.
I have seen too many people over the years get a good buy and then put more money in the car than it is worth.
Now if you are doing a custom or engine change I get it but you can do yourself a great favor going for the cleaned original car.
With so many parts getting hard to find or replace it is getting more and more expensive to buy these parts.
The key in buying is take your time and find the right car. Too many get in a hurry and buy money pits. I have seen so many burned in trying to fix up a Fiero. In fact many cars in the junk yard are just failed project cars. It is a too common sight.
I would put my low mile original car up against any rebuild. Just because it is low mile does not mean neglected or in need of great work.
[This message has been edited by hyperv6 (edited 01-29-2021).]
Welcome to the forum! This site does have a lot of different builds and information that will be useful to you. Along with a variety of different opinion that can help you make tough decisions. Good luck with your build.
Hi Alex. I did the exact same project many years ago with the help of a close friend ( RIP ). My Fiero still runs strong a good 20 years later. This was a ground up restoration, as you seem to have planned. So to make a real long story as short as possible, heres the most important factors. For me , the Fiero Store. I depended on their products and was completely satisfied. I purchased their 88 V6 engine rebuild kit. i believe it came with a mild Crane Cam and forged pistons, along with all the other necessities. Call and check on that. I also went with their Ocelot exhaust which I also like very much. While the cars apart, remove any rust anywhere, and repaint with a good rust preventative. I treated the entire undercarrage with POR-15. This is an amazing product that I strongly recommend ! Once its on, it never comes off ! Any stainless steel replacement parts I also installed. This also goes for stainless steel bolts and clamps. All my suspension bolts are stainless steel. You can also check out a stainless steel aerosol spray paint called STEEL-IT. My point here is to protect EVERYTHING from the elements . VERY IMPORTANT ! Port out the nasty restrictions inside your exhaust manifolds !!!! I used a dremel tool, then had the exterior welds increased for added strenth . Make sure whoever does the welding bolts the manifolds down to something so they dont warp from the heat of welding. If your going all out, scoop out the front hood area right behind the radiator. This super improves your cooling , allowing the hot air passing through the radiator somewhere to escape. It equally improves your high speed cruising and handeling buy relieving air pressure under the hood. I have rear functional side scoops also, further improving cooling. Fieros like to breathe, so open up these areas and you'll notice a BIG improvement. Clean up your interior, get some decent sound system, good new tires, and a pretty girl for that passenger seat and you'll have your dream come true ! Best of luck on your project.
Hey ALEX.... on more thing that can be of MAJOR importance and help to you with any parts needed. Contact Handymanpat on here . You can find his posts on The Mall . He's come thru for me many times with excellent parts from Texas Fieros. His prices are excellent too, and best of all he's just a down right real nice guy. Handymanpat.... Pat Moody that is . Tell him Bob sent ya !
The actual reality is there are a lot of low mile cars around some not stored well most are.
The price of a top condition 88 GT can be found for $12k to 17k easily. Formulas even less.
I have seen too many people over the years get a good buy and then put more money in the car than it is worth.
Now if you are doing a custom or engine change I get it but you can do yourself a great favor going for the cleaned original car.
With so many parts getting hard to find or replace it is getting more and more expensive to buy these parts.
The key in buying is take your time and find the right car. Too many get in a hurry and buy money pits. I have seen so many burned in trying to fix up a Fiero. In fact many cars in the junk yard are just failed project cars. It is a too common sight.
I would put my low mile original car up against any rebuild. Just because it is low mile does not mean neglected or in need of great work.
I agree to disagree respectively. I think the biggest difference is low mileage and taken care of vs low mileage in general. There are a lot of low mileage Fieros. That's great, but I would say the low mileage game is heavily outweighed by people that have a Fiero under 100k or even 50k and the car has virtually sat for 20 years. Nothing touched, nothing replaced except maybe the battery. The most difficult part of a low mileage car in any type of vehicle is the maintenance part of it. 30 years old, not drove much, etc still is going to have breakdown of bushings, brakes, rotors, tires, hoses, and other parts. Is it a cleaner example, well absolutely but the preference I have always had and this is my personal preference is a fully resorted or a car that has been modified and upgraded in many ways because it usually means the car has been driven and gone through. Most think if they have a car under 50k miles or even 20k miles that the car is absolutely perfect. Also have to take into consideration the paint, paint will breakdown over time. But with anything, if it is properly taken care of, garage kept, detailed and just more or less taken care of, the car can be and will be perfect in every way. My preference is always going to be modified. If I was to get a completely stock T-Top 20k mile Fiero, you bet your tail, I'm going to swap the brakes and put a bigger brake kit on it, lower it a bit and upgrade all the lighting to LED and maybe put some wheels on it. Would I swap it and do a bunch of stuff other than what I would tastefully do, probably not, but in the end it is personal preference.
------------------ 88 Formula - 3800SC/4t65eHD 88 Coupe - 3800SC/4t65eHD 87GT - Great Blue Chop Top
Originally posted by formulaWA:You can buy my low mileage Formula for 10K. 2000 original miles. It has all those original parts that are so hard to find...
Originally posted by Rare87GT: I agree to disagree respectively. I think the biggest difference is low mileage and taken care of vs low mileage in general. There are a lot of low mileage Fieros. That's great, but I would say the low mileage game is heavily outweighed by people that have a Fiero under 100k or even 50k and the car has virtually sat for 20 years. Nothing touched, nothing replaced except maybe the battery. The most difficult part of a low mileage car in any type of vehicle is the maintenance part of it. 30 years old, not drove much, etc still is going to have breakdown of bushings, brakes, rotors, tires, hoses, and other parts. Is it a cleaner example, well absolutely but the preference I have always had and this is my personal preference is a fully resorted or a car that has been modified and upgraded in many ways because it usually means the car has been driven and gone through. Most think if they have a car under 50k miles or even 20k miles that the car is absolutely perfect. Also have to take into consideration the paint, paint will breakdown over time. But with anything, if it is properly taken care of, garage kept, detailed and just more or less taken care of, the car can be and will be perfect in every way. My preference is always going to be modified. If I was to get a completely stock T-Top 20k mile Fiero, you bet your tail, I'm going to swap the brakes and put a bigger brake kit on it, lower it a bit and upgrade all the lighting to LED and maybe put some wheels on it. Would I swap it and do a bunch of stuff other than what I would tastefully do, probably not, but in the end it is personal preference.
+1 for this. I had put together a lengthy post and listed part's that breakdown over time. Decided it wasn't worth arguing. This is one of my hobbies I don't intend to make money. I want to learn how my car is assembled take it apart and put it back together. Cars are a horrible investment.
Now that i know almost all of the bolts on my car are fastened im working on a different year and trim to see the differences and similarities.
[This message has been edited by skywurz (edited 01-30-2021).]
Thank you all for your comments and advice. I found a guy out in Michigan named Brian Welch. I will be reaching out to him very soon.
I've never dealt much with Brian, but he is fairly well respected in the community. His father (oldjoedad on the forum) is very well known and respected. I think you'll do well. Handymanpat is also a good guy. He'll treat you right.
(Not that it matters, but I'm also one of those people who can't leave anything alone. )
------------------ Raydar 88 Formula IMSA Fastback. 4.9, NVG T550 Praise the Lowered!
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