If you can find someone on the Forum who can do it and doesn't live too far away, that's the best way. Otherwise, you're looking at a pretty stiff bill (as Daffy Duck would say). I don't have any mechanical skill, so I had my dew wipes installed when I had my car painted; I paid $150, and was glad to pay it. Mine were virtually disintegrating, so I had The Fiero Store dew wipes installed. There are several vendors on this site, of whom "infitewill" seems to offer the best quality. But check the PFF mall for offerings. Ebay is not a good choice because of the price and unknown quality, but that's only my opinion. You can do it yourself, but set aside a weekend and lots of visits to your Priest to absolve you of the resulting profanity. bb
For one of our club members, if they want to come out and hang around and talk and give a hand where needed, I do them for free. For non-club members, about $25 per side. I'm not trying to make a profit or living off them, just trying to help a fellow Fiero owner keep his/her ride in good condition. It can take up to 2 hours per side, so the labor rate is far below having a shop do them. Like Bruce said, find someone close by that has a Fiero and become friends. Watch and learn how they're done and pass along the good deed to someone else.
The last ones that I put in took on hour on the driver side and two hours on the passenger side. Point is that they do not always go in easy. Figure three hours of labor. Door handle, door lock handle , inner door panel, inner dew wipes, window stops, rear window guide, side view mirror all must be removed before you can access all of the screws to remove and replace the dew wipes. End screws can easily be removed and replaced, while the center screws must be reached by lifting the window up past the stops and getting a screwdriver on from below the window. Be sure to use a magnetic pick up tool as you remove the screws . If they fall into the door it is hard to find them and its a special size screw with a shallow head. IMO, a fair price would be $150 in labor around these parts.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Assuming a 4 hour job , expect most shops to charge 350 to 400.
Yes Ed that is correct but most of us on here do not run full time professional automotive repair shops and are here to help each other out. I would never pay that much to have dew wipes installed but if a full time pro installed the wipes, they may be able to do it in about 2 hours so we are back to the $150- $200 figure, then add in another $125 for the parts and you are over three hundred for two rubber wipe strips.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
On topic, but just an observation...I really dont see their purpose other than just trimming out the window opening. They dont keep water from getting into the door. They do keep out debris like leaves and whatever though I guess. So much water runs into a car door from the window, factories even put drain holes in the bottoms for it to run out of. Some older cars ive had were usable, just had lots of splits and crack just along the top edges. I just used a metal straight edge and a sharp razor knife and trimmed them off straight enough to get all the splits out. On my Ferrari and Lambo kits, I just put a strip of the black self adhesive wheelwell opening rubber molding on them. It stuck on the inside of the door by the wide side and the wrap around edge just barely came over the top. Looked great.
On topic, but just an observation...I really dont see their purpose other than just trimming out the window opening. They dont keep water from getting into the door. They do keep out debris like leaves and whatever though I guess. So much water runs into a car door from the window, factories even put drain holes in the bottoms for it to run out of. Some older cars ive had were usable, just had lots of splits and crack just along the top edges. I just used a metal straight edge and a sharp razor knife and trimmed them off straight enough to get all the splits out. On my Ferrari and Lambo kits, I just put a strip of the black self adhesive wheelwell opening rubber molding on them. It stuck on the inside of the door by the wide side and the wrap around edge just barely came over the top. Looked great.
The dew wipes on a Fiero serve two purposes; to keep debris out but more importantly they have felt anti-rattle pads that also control the window movement and apply inward pressure to the windows so they seal better on the door weatherstrip. If you are just interested in cosmetics a member here took a house door bottom weatherstrip and glued the rubber to the old dew wire with silicone sealer. The result looked great for a temporary fix.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
A good dew wipe keeps lots of water and debris out of the door. Not all, but most of what would normally go into the door without a dew wipe weather seal up there. The drains in the bottom of the door are there because, again, the wipes don't keep out everything. Imagine the pine straw, leaves, dirt and even the yellow pollen from pine trees that would go into the door without the dew wipes. Water will run to either end and if the two end rubber pieces are in place, the water runs off into the door jamb area, outside of the door weather strip.
