So as some of know I’m working on a fiero. I’m 17 years old and this is my first project car, (86 fiero gt). Just want a basic understanding but where should I start? Should I make sure it’s fully running first then strip down and clean and restore everything or what should I do? Eventually I wanna make this puppy fast either Ls swap kept stock or turbo the 2.8L v6 it has in it. Much help will be appreciated!

------------------
Kaiden Meade

Well... I remember being 17 (yep there goes your guard). I have questions i would have to ask you before giving my opinion.
Is this your only car? IE are you going to need it running and driving more than not?
Something my dad always said and turned out to be true was keep your daily driver a daily driver and have your fast/track car that can be out of commission for awhile. When I was your age I had a couple cars and my Fiero was my daily and my other fast car would be fun but not as reliable.

I eventually grew out of the fast car stage of life. (Not to say I don't have fast things just got smarter about what I picked to be my "Fast" thing) This is why I lean more on the purest side with the Fiero and try to appreciate it for what it is and not try to make it something its not.

------------------
See my Fiero Proluge on my personal site: http://skywurz.com/node/114
See my GT Build https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/144556.html
See my Wife's 85SE Build https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/144704.html

My daily driver is a 99 Honda Accord and yea my fiero is my project car. I’m working on a 68 type 3 squareback as well with my dad.

------------------
Kaiden Meade

Ohh we had a 69 type 3 it had fuel injection (not sure what year they started that). doing the heads on that without just dropping the engine was a PITA.

Well if its your project car the next question is do you want to drive it from time to time while working on it? If this is No just pull it all the way down and put it back together.

If yes

I always start with stopping. These all have old rubber on the brakes and suspension. I would start with inspecting and replacing the rubber brake lines. I would inspect the caliper seals then do a full flush of the system.

Then Suspension Inspect and replace all of the rubber on the suspension. Inspect and replace the shocks/struts. Before you rip anything apart inspect the ball joints for clicking so you know if you need to do them while you are there. Some would just do it while they are in there. Check for play in tie-rods and probably replace the dampener on the steering rack. Poly kits are great and not too expensive.

Now it rolls and stops. You can do whatever to the drive train and not have to re touch these parts for awhile.

[This message has been edited by skywurz (edited 04-01-2021).]

FYI 69 was the first year for VW fuel injection. The L-Jet was a pretty good and very reliable system. The Bosch D-Jet was a better performer on the years VW used it yet there weren't as many and the parts are EXTREMELY expensive for it. The D-Jet parts almost DOUBLED the money I had in my Porsche 914 back in the day and those parts are non-existent now. Wish I still had the 914; it is what inspired me to buy a Fiero in the first place back in '85.

My thoughts: skywurz is right. Get the non-engine stuff done FIRST, such as brakes, suspension, steering and electrical. The temptation is too great when you get the engine and tranny working to "just take it around the block" only to have disaster strike because those other systems suddenly fail. Dry rotted tires are not fun.

Also, I would reconsider the boost, either supercharger or turbocharger UNLESS you completely rebuild the 2.8 FIRST. The reason is that engines wear in based on their "normal" conditions. Adding boost to any naturally aspirated engine with significant miles on it places loads on the engine that it hasn't experienced before and tends to shorten the life greatly. Think of how the wear increases tolerances and then picture additional forces that cause uneven stresses; many high mileage engines with boost added at that point have suddenly thrown rods or pushed bearing out of shape. Don't get me wrong, I like turbos. Adding one on an engine with 10K miles on it is great. Adding it at 100K is a crap shoot. Adding it later than that is likely a costly mistake.

Enjoy it! Restoring or resto-customizing a car is half the fun! Good luck.

quote Originally posted by meadeka: So as some of know I’m working on a fiero. I’m 17 years old and this is my first project car, (86 fiero gt). Just want a basic understanding but where should I start? Should I make sure it’s fully running first then strip down and clean and restore everything or what should I do? Eventually I wanna make this puppy fast either Ls swap kept stock or turbo the 2.8L v6 it has in it. Much help will be appreciated!

Did you have someone go thru the car looking for Rust and other problems Before you bought a used car? If not, you may have a junk car and the rest of your plan is pointless.

Most to All States in the Great Lakes Region use a F'd lot of Road Salt that even affects cars "only drive in good weather." Road salt may never get "wash off" of roads either even if only drive on pavement in good weather. Summer Rain and Dew can carry salt off roads etc. to the car almost same as weather in Winter or Spring. Many States Uses so much salt that only Snake Grass and other plants normally living near the oceans grow along many roads.

Fiero can have worse rust problems then many others because "Plastic" body hinds a lot of rust.
"Fixing" a rotten "frame" is a huge problems for DIY crowd and most "Frame Shops" either won't touch them or cost $150 - $200 or more per Hour plus materials.
Because Rotten "frames" and how fixed often affect Front and Rear Crush Zones.
Crush zones are big reason why people "Walk away" after a wreck like in this tread... Legendary Notchie Wrecked https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/099712.html
Between rear of Fiero crush nearly completely when Rear Ended then nose drive under car in front, Crash Energy was eaten by the cars not people.
Watch YT for Fiero Crash Test videos too.

------------------
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)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 04-02-2021).]

Hello, I am also 17 and right now my Fiero GT is basically all done mechanically, just gotta wait for stuff to break and fix it lol. My plan is to drive the car with the stock 2.8 until it blows, then put a 3800 SC in it.

Honestly, the stock 2.8 isnt actually as slow as you might think it is, it doesnt really leave me wanting more power. But also I am more of a touge guy so if you do straight line type of driving it might be a little disappointing.

I have a blue 87' Fiero GT with a 5 speed transmission.

[This message has been edited by Xenoblast (edited 04-03-2021).]

Sweet!! So you think a good way I can go it put a fresh tranny in it, restore the 2.8L and supe it up from there?

------------------
Kaiden Meade

What transmission do you have? I would definitely recommend swapping to the 5 speed getrag transmission especially if you have the 3 speed automatic right now. Also, this transmission can take quite a bit of power, probably over 250 even if you are hard on it. Not sure about that tho

the only way really to get more power out of the stock engine easily is to port the headers, which gains around 5hp. I was saying that the amount of power it makes for me is sufficient, but if you want more power then yea a swap is needed.

Honestly, I would fix it up and drive it for a while with the stock engine, then decide what you want to do after that.

[This message has been edited by Xenoblast (edited 04-03-2021).]

Hey!

Welcome to the Fiero Community! Here will you find (literally) more than a decade of knowledge, experience, and hotly defended personal opinions!

Besides the mall here, places you should keep in mind for parts are fierostore.com and of course good ol' Rockauto.com . Since you're working on other cars, it's likely you already knew about the latter.

Some things are getting tougher to find, like rear brake calipers. As suggested, take the time to check out your frame first, if you have the room, patience, and skills, taking all the body panels off and checking everything out would be good. Including pulling out the carpet!

Also, yeah, pushing the limits of the stock Fiero engine with power adders is not a popular idea. There is a book out there - "High Performance Fieros" written by Robert "Greg" Wagoner. It's worth checking out, has a lot of solid information in it. Also MANY enviable build threads on here. Some people put in excellent details, down to the part numbers of things they used, or where they sourced them from.

Good luck!!