Rodney Dickman and I have been having a discussion on the rubber wheel well liners on the rear of the 88. Are there one or two designs?
He sells reproductions of the factory ones and says he never has seen one like mine and that none of his buyers have reported theirs were different than the ones he sells. The ones he sells are identical to the rubber liners in my automatic 88GTs but I was looking at my manual trans 88GT, and the rubber liners are different than the autos and the ones Rodney sells. The automatic ones' rubber liners come straight down just in front of suspension and end there. But the ones in my manual transmission ones have more material...the liners are the same on the back edge but in the front they wrap all the way up to where the emergency cable is. These look and feel stock. Same material as my other Fieros.
Here's a few pictures of what I'm talking about. All 3 pictures are of the left wheel liner, taken just in front of the rear wheel looking inward.
Does anyone else with an 88 have rubber liners that wrap all the way forward to where the emergency cable is like this or am I the only one and is Rodney right that this is not factory (even though it looks and feels like the factory material)?
[This message has been edited by reinhart (edited 03-13-2013).]
Eto, so you still have the one on the other side? If so you can see if that wraps up like that.
Is your a manual or automatic?
Also my other theory is that it might be an early or late VIN change because mine (the one pictured) is a very early build. Is your VIN really early like in the first 005000?
I just looked at my 88GT 5 spd and they both look like Rodneys that he shows on his website. They do not go all the way forward like yours. One of mine I pulled off another 88GT in the junkyard to replace my torn one but I don't remember if it was a stick or an auto. But even that one looks like Rodneys. It's possible that yours were a production line change or someone in your car's past took it upon themselves to make a different one and wanted to keep it "factory looking" by using the same type of material. Who knows? Do yours work better? Do they cover the space between the cradle and chassis more effectively? On mine it seems that a few more fasteners should have been added by GM to hold them in place or mold them better than the way they did it. I mean I have all of the fasteners installed but I think they could fit a little better than how they do. Just my opinion.
The 4 cylinder automatic '88's have a transmission mount outboard of the side pan on the transmission. This may interfere with the dust curtain you have on your car and may account for the differences.
FieroDan, are either of your GT's early build? Like first 5000 or so? I think we can eliminate the manual vs automatic but perhaps it was an early / late build change.
And yes I feel it's a superior design. It definitely keeps more dirt/grime out. Just one extra fastener to undo when working in there.
[This message has been edited by reinhart (edited 03-13-2013).]
no luck, in the process of restoring my car so, unless its in my pile of parts out back i think i might have tossed it. she's a manual, last 6 digits of the vin are 214845. i know mine was different, i help a friend with his auto 88 a while back, just happened to notice the difference. IMO i think it might be a coincidence, the guy who owned my car before me did alot of small stuff to the car, so the possibility of him making an improved version is there.
[This message has been edited by etofun (edited 03-14-2013).]
FieroDan, are either of your GT's early build? Like first 5000 or so? I think we can eliminate the manual vs automatic but perhaps it was an early / late build change.
And yes I feel it's a superior design. It definitely keeps more dirt/grime out. Just one extra fastener to undo when working in there.
No, mine came later on: #20658. Only one of 2729 other Medium Red Metallics!
My all original 88GT doesn't have this extended rubber shield. Its a 5-speed.
There are many small production changes that the 88s got. Some enthusiasts probably still don't discover them. Many liitle things have been done. Ever notice that the screws that hold the TPS on the throttle-body are better and use torx instead of the phillips head? The 88s had these different screws.
I'll be watching this thread closely as its always interesting to see the changes GM did the the 88 fieros.
------------------ fierogt28
88 GT, Loaded, 5-speed. 88 GT, 5-speed. All original.
I also have one of the last Formulas and even though mine is an auto, it does not (did not) have the extended flaps. I replaced mine with a pair from Rodney many years ago and when I overlaid new to old they were as close to identical as I could have expected.
I would like to have the extended ones to keep all the road junk and water out of the engine compartment. Especially because the I have has a 3800 in it with low mount alternator and it gets wet and acts up.
The different 88 splash guard shown at the top looks like a different material. Looks thinker but could be camera angle. Almost looks like an 87 but cut out for 88. Better picture would definitely help.
[This message has been edited by solotwo (edited 11-10-2014).]
Can't you take a wider shot?
