My name is Pete and I just purchased an 84 black se. My research of the car has lead me to believe that the suspension on the 84 was not all that good. Now my question is are all 84's the same? What is the difference between se and 2m4? More specifically did the se come with a ws6 suspension package and if so what is the difference and is it still a poor package? This is my first Fiero but I am a long time Pontiac fan. I live in PA between Scranton and Williamsport and was wondering if there are any Fiero owners close to me? Thanks in advance for the input and I look forward to hearing from you guys.
According to the original 1984 brochure & the Enthusiast's Guide to the Pontiac Fiero, the WS6 package was standard on the SE & Indy & optional on the rest. I understand the springs & shocks were stiffer.
I've had an '84 SE since new - it has 363,000 kilometers (225,500 miles) on it now & I'm more comfortable cornering hard in it than my '88 Formula with 24,000 kilometers (14,900 miles). It could be the tires & the engine power; the '88 tends to go straight. (I should add that I seem to be the only person who expresses this kind of opinion...)
The 84 shares essentially the same suspension as the 85-87 models, with the exception of slightly differing spring rates and shock dampening. Your research results have most likely stemmed from the fact that the rear suspension was a slightly modified front suspension from another GM car ( the Chevy Celebrity I believe) and the front suspension was taken from the inglorious Chevette. In 88 the suspension was upgraded to a suspension, actually designed for the Fiero, with 3 link rear and improved front geometry. That said, the 84-87 suspension isn't horrible but also isn't great. The ride on the 84-87s is, in my opinion, a little more forgiving, but the handling on the 88s is much improved by the updated suspension design. Hope that helps and welcome to the Fiero family. Mark
Before buying anything... See my cave, suspension section.
------------------ 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)
Thanks for the info. It needs some minor cosmetic stuff but I am gonna enjoy the ride for awhile. First thing I need is headlights and don't have enough loot for leds so I was considering a projector style unit with the built in city light. I have played with the light switch and found that after turning them on I can back the switch out enough to keep doors up but lights out. This should have a cool look with the city lights on with the parking lights.....any thoughts on that??????
People have done that. I like to cut the white wire to the headlight switch and install a switch. The white wire is the signal for the lights to go down. Without that signal they stay up. I've used an on/off switch, but a pushbutton might be even better. When you want the light buckets down you just press until they're down.
So lights will go up and on when switch is on and lights will go off and doors will stay up when switch is turned off? And a separate switch to control the doors going down ? When splicing white wire do you need a power source as well?
Black84SE, there's no need to cut and splice wires to do what you want. The switch is designed so that when the lights are on, you can catch the top of the main rocker switch and pull back on it with the pad of your finger. It will cut power to the headlight bulb but leave instrument, side marker and parking lights on, but will leave the assembly raised. Pressing the bottom bar will power the headlight assembly down and cut power to the bulb.
I think that is what I was doing when I was playing with switch. Only down side is it was requiring me to use both hands. I will take another look at switch and try it how you mention. Thanks for the input.
So lights will go up and on when switch is on and lights will go off and doors will stay up when switch is turned off? And a separate switch to control the doors going down ? When splicing white wire do you need a power source as well?
The second switch just interrupts the signal that tells the lights to go down. You don't have to have any power because the headlight system has power at all times. Anytime you turn the extra switch on, it's as if you had never cut the wire and the headlights will do what they would have done in that circumstance. So if the headlights are on, or off and down, nothing will happen. Otherwise they will go down. If I get out of work early I turn the switch on to put the buckets down, otherwise they just stay up.
I use a push/pull switch, but like a pushbutton, I only turn it on to lower the buckets. That protects against battery drain due to a bad gear or limit switch because without the signal the headlights aren't trying to go down even if the weak gear or bad limit switch thinks they should.
Make sense?
Look for the Michigan Fiero Club pdf file. That's where I got this trick.
just basically interrupting the circuit on the white wire with a switch. should be fairly easy to figure out. Also gonna see if just backing the top part of switch back a bit is gonna be a sensible solution. Thanks for the suggestions guys.
I always modified my lights to be permanent without doors opening. I cant help but think that those in cold states have the most door motor failures from trying to open or close when frozen with ice. I recommend those people leave their headlites up by unplugging them in winter. I dont think the plastic gears take that abuse well. Cars that have nylon ribbons to operate power windows also have the same problem. Both those motors are a lot stronger than you think.