A History of the Blue Demon (Page 10/17)
Fierochic88 JUL 26, 09:28 AM
The rest of the crew stayed up for a while cleaning their cars. By 1:30 I was so exhausted I said “the heck with the car, I’m going to bed." The interior, front compartment and engine bay were clean but the car badly needed a wax. By that point I only cared that the car ran and would make it to Carlisle the next day. Imagine my surprise when the next morning I woke up and found Fleabit down in the garage next to a gleaming Blue Demon! Flea hadn’t
been able to fall asleep so he waxed the car! I was ecstatic and happily packed everything up and assembled the crew to leave for Carlisle.

We had quite a large crew assembled that rainy morning. I was driving the Blue Demon, Jnco had his red car, my friend Tim was driving Dad’s car so Dad and Mom could take the truck and trailer (in case of emergency), Ken had come in from Pittsburgh with his red coupe, Flea had his car and Jamie and Joe had her 86GT. We drove up to the gas station and when I went to restart my car I had a dead bat- tery! Not a good way to start the morning!

We quickly remedied the issue and set off down Route 12. As many good things go wrong quick, luck was definitely not on our side! I had made it about 3 miles down Route 12 when all of a sudden my battery light came on and my car shut off! I pulled off the road under the Fifth Street underpass and parked the car, since it was pouring rain and I didn't want anyone working on it to get wet. Everyone else pulled over in suit and it was quickly determined that I had lost an alternator belt! Not good!

Dad quickly turned the truck around after uttering some choice words and ran home for a jack. We were determined to get to Carlisle with the car running on it’s own power! Dad returned and with some struggling on the wet ground, the alternator belt was reattached and we were finally on our way!
Fierochic88 JUL 27, 09:32 PM
I certainly sounded like a strong candidate for the hard luck award, but as “luck” would have it someone else was actually worse off than me! Though the Blue Demon didn’t get a hard luck trophy, it did capture first place in its class, Custom Notchback. It was certainly the best college graduation present I could have received, as I had skipped graduation that day to attend Carlisle and it made all the headaches worth the trip! It was made even more special as my dad and sister also captured First Place in their classes. 19 years later, sharing this memory, I am still smiling brightly with the memory of this being one of my most special days with my dad.



We ended the night with a small party at my parent's followed by an epic post-Carlisle picnic the next day that was also a graduation party. Several weeks later, I drove it all the way out to the Dells for a tremendously good time - even when I locked both sets of keys in my trunk and learned that I hadn't reconnected the automatic trunk release. I also drove it to the last FOCOA show in Osage Beach for another wonderful time with friends and family. The show season ended with the Fiero Dutch Classic but my enjoyment with the car continued as it would be my near daily driver throughout the next year.

The next phase of this story will cover what happened when the now-christened Blue Demon met Matt - and Bill and Earl!
Fierochic88 JUL 28, 09:17 PM
Throughout the remainder of 2002, I drove the Blue Demon almost daily. It took me to work throughout the summer, out with friends and on many cruises to High Street in Pottstown. I went to a lot of cruise nights and also frequently drove it that Fall/Winter as I started my new job as a high school History teacher. My students enjoyed seeing the car parked outside my classroom and we even did a Saturday morning "Cars and Coffee" type event so everyone could enjoy each other's vehicles.

That December, I met my future husband. I was getting ready to do some minor upgrades to the Blue Demon and in our first conversation when he asked what I was doing the day after we met, I am sure he was surprised when I replied, "Working on my car." Poor Matt didn't know that by dating (and eventually marrying) me, he'd inherit the possessed piece of blue plastic and all its' problems as well.

His initial introduction to the car was good - he enjoyed driving it as a switch from his 97 Tahoe and soon he was diving in to Fiero projects with Dad as we were at the height of Dad's Fiero fixing days. I'll never forget one night when I stayed late at school. Matt was on second shift and had driven an 86GT that Dad was in the process of working on. I left school at 10 and 30 minutes later, got a call from Matt that the car's alternator had gone bad and he was in the parking lot at my school. Thankfully, it was an easy drive there from my parents and I picked him up so he could return in the AM and get the car going again.

The plan for the Blue Demon in 2003 was paint. The car's original paint was a gorgeous color but it really needed to be redone. By this point in time, I learned that the car's previous owner before Steve and the dealership was a guy named Jeremy who lived and worked near Coatesville, PA. He painted helicopters for a living and the Blue Demon's color came from a helicopter paint line. Unfortunately, after Jeremy painted the car and had it running great he broke up with his girlfriend who decided to get revenge by stealing the car and trashing it. Her new boyfriend drove it on fresh yellow paint, burned off the tires, ran it out of oil and gas and then they gouged the seats and beat the exterior with a baseball bat. After learning all of this, I was surprised the car actually looked semi-decent when I got it. Jeremy was so depressed that he sold the car which is how it ended up on the path to me.
Fierochic88 JUL 29, 09:34 PM
The next phase of the car was exterior modifications and the addition of Mr. Mike's seats. I knew that I wanted a lower extension on my chin spoiler and had just planned to do the traditional removal of one from a damaged nose, flip it over and add it to my car's front end. After sharing this idea with Matt, he came up with an even better idea - filled in the gap so it flowed better with the bodyline of the car!

Chopping up the existing nose with a pair of metal shears turned out to be the easiest part. The project got progressively harder from there as Matt worked to engineer a stable fastening system and install the flipped over nose ground effects in a level fashion. This took some plexiglass and fasteners but soon Step 2 was complete. Then came the real fun - molding it in. We knew the nose would need some amount of flexibility and the contour had to be just right. We employed a 3M Filler (I need to figure out exactly which one) and Matt spent a lot of time overseeing the process. When it was done, it looked great and I was eager to see it in paint!

Before we took the car to Waldorf, Maryland to get painted by Bill & Earl Sessions, we also installed the first ever produced Aus Stage 3 side scoops. I was super excited as we had done a photoshop run of them prior to their shipment from Australia and they looked sharp!

We loaded the car up and took it down to Waldorf. I knew the car was in the best hands with Bill & Earl and was excited to see its transformation! In true Blue Demon form though, the car wanted to throw a curve ball. Apparently the initial application of filler hadn't dried properly (okay, so maybe that wasn't the car's fault) and Earl had to dig it out and redo it. The end result was worth it though and it came back even better than ever!

[This message has been edited by Fierochic88 (edited 08-07-2021).]

Fierochic88 JUL 30, 07:22 PM
Carlisle 2003 brought more Gilbert family fun with Dad, Jamie and I again capturing our classes. This was also Matt's first Carlisle and the first Carlisle for my good friend, Rob Bartlett (aka MinnGreenGT) from Minnesota. There weren't any memorable antics from the Blue Demon that time around (thankfully) but it would only be a matter of time before the Blue Demon showed its colors for the Fiero 20th Anniversary show. Even before the event, when I took the car to get appraised, I ended up flexing the front fascia and getting a small crack so it would only be a matter of time.



One of the highlights of the 20th Anniversary Show would be the road track event at Waterford Hills. By that point in time, I had drag strip experience under my belt but had never tackled a true road course, as the winding roads of Berks County PA didn't officially count (although we did run up Duryea Drive more than once!). My dad was a bit of a skeptic about the event - despite his largely fun-loving nature, he was always the person that said, "What are you going to do if you break it?" I, being the optimist" claimed that the car was well-built and it would hold up just fine. Of course, first we had to get it there.

The plan for show travel was entertaining to say the least. My dad and I would leave early in the morning and drive the Blue Demon to Pontiac. Matt and my mom both had to work, so they planned to leave that day after Matt worked a half day of his second shift position. I feared this would be interesting - my relatively "new" boyfriend being in a car for 10 hours with my mother, pulling a trailer loaded with my Dad's car. His 85GT ran perfectly fine but he wanted to bring the trailer just in case my car broke during the road track or drag strip events.

The Blue Demon was prepared. Less than 10 miles from home, driving along Lake Ontelaunee, I said to my dad, "Do you hear that? It sounds like bad hubs?" Dad initially shook it off but I was insistent. We decided that our best bet was to turn around and head home. When we pulled in, I woke Matt up from his nap to help my Dad pull the car apart and then began calling area parts stores. Thankfully, they had two front hubs in stock and within a short period of time my two master mechanics had Dad and I back on the road. Matt ultimately decided to take a day off work and my mom took a half day so they only ended up being a few hours behind us and our uneventful drive.
Fierochic88 AUG 01, 03:39 PM
Our first major adventure in Pontiac was the track day at Waterford Hills. Since Dad's car arrived earlier than planned, he decided that it would be fun to partake in the event himself. More on that in a moment.



Our day involved 3 total runs. I overestimated my level of "balls" and signed up for the mid-range group and quickly realized that I was not nearly as brave as I had hoped I would be. Tearing around the track with so many beautiful Fieros with a new paint job on mine got into my head a little more than I had hoped. I realized that for the second round, I needed a little assistance and took up an offer from Steve, a Fiero owner and track instructor to accompany me on Round 2. I learned a lot of fundamental skills which I still utilize to this day!





By the time Round 3 rolled around, I was ready to go...and apparently so was Dad. He was in the group just before mine and as he went around the top of the course, we noticed a puff of smoke and a bit of hesitation on Dad's part. He had done in his #4 rod bearing, fulfilling an ironic predicted that a 20 year old car might have issues on the track...the funny thing was, it was his car not mine that would need to go home on the trailer. Still, as he pulled off the track, he had a giant smile on his face and knew that there would be another engine pull in the near future.

I guess this knowledge should have slowed me down a bit; however, I was determined to put my new found skills to use. I went out for this set of laps ready to go - and go I did. So fast down the backstretch that apparently I didn't engage my brakes quick enough before the turn. I soon found myself donuting into the grass - grateful that Rob Bartlett and his quick-thinking skills were behind me, leading him to avoid striking my baby. After I stopped, a little shaken up - I laughed, re-enaged and drove only a bit more conservatively through the remainder of the round.
Fierochic88 AUG 02, 10:03 PM
The following night, the Blue Demon performed acceptably at the Milan Drag Strip. Although I don't have the slips handy, I believe my best run was around a 15.5 - the launch was slippery and given that the spot on the trailer was already occupied, I didn't want to beat on it too badly. Still, I had fun.

The entire 20th Anniversary was a fun event minus the food poisoning Rob managed to send my way. The remainder of that show season and the next few brought lots of great memories with the Blue Demon, including the one below.

[This message has been edited by Fierochic88 (edited 08-07-2021).]

Fierochic88 AUG 07, 09:29 AM
I found some pictures of the underside of the front fascia, although I don't have the "in-process" photos yet.
Fierochic88 AUG 07, 03:40 PM
An update previously mentioned but not pictured, the Mr. Mike's seats we installed in 2003:



I also brainstormed the idea of embroidering the speaker covers with Dave Horst (aka Sktime) and am pleased with how mine turned out. I'll get a better shot in here shortly:



Leading up to the 25th Anniversary show in 2008, I was also able to obtain what I considered to be the finishing piece to the car's exterior - having received a set of rims for Mother's Day from my dog (lol) in 2004 - a whaletail spoiler from Fiero Warehouse. Many have nicely bolted on the spoiler in the past; however, in keeping up with the theme of the front fascia, we wanted to blend it in for a more dished look. Once this work was complete, our friend Russ Lagler applied the finishing paint coat (since he was a bit closer than Bill & Earl). It turned out great and really made the exterior look balanced.
Fierochic88 AUG 07, 04:06 PM
Between 2009 and 2016, the car was unfortunately not on the priority list. In 2008, my sister and her then-husband bought a horse farm which required a lot of family support and time on the weekends. In ;ate 2011, we made the decision to relocate to Staunton, Virginia where Matt had grown up after falling in love with an 1839 farmhouse on 6 acres. We The selling of our Pennsylvania house, job transfers and move ate up most of 2012. We also sold our two project Fieros - keeping only the Blue Demon and my silver 88GT.

Moving into 2013, there was hope and desire to get the Blue Demon back out to events but my mom's breast cancer diagnosis followed by learning I was pregnant in early June 2013, removed the possibility of making it to the 30th Anniversary Show. Thankfully, 8 years later, I can report that my mom is cancer-free and we have a beautiful, now 7 year-old daughter who loves Fieros too!

My Silver 88GT was on the road and being enjoyed but the lack of an adequate garage at the house kept the Blue Demon in off-site storage until 2015. Finally, that Summer/Fall, the construction of our 40x40 garage was underway. I was ecstatic that the Blue Demon was finally coming home!