Thoughts on this potential purchase? (Page 3/5)
cliffw MAY 31, 10:30 AM

quote
Originally posted by Mike in Sydney:
... Check compression in the cylinders.



They say owning a Fiero will make a mechanic out of you / owner. I learned on this forum that one should make a "leak down" check on compression, on any car.
MarkS MAY 31, 12:08 PM
Wow Déjà vu! Bought a 53K 86 sitting for ~ 15 years almost identical to this except an automatic and the owner had it up and running when we went to pick it up in Nyack NY. When my wife & I arrived w/o a trailer saying we would drive it home (to Flemington, NJ ~ 78 mile trip) he was like uh..you sure? I said yep, it runs and drives right? It made the trip OK. Some thoughts:

1st, where is it located? If the north or northeast, I'd definitely want pix under the truck carpet.

2nd, brakes- I'd replace all the rotors, calipers and pads from a reputable source even if they appear to work like mine did but were totally unbalanced. One corner at a time & flush a lot of fluid through the lines while bleeding. Check the e-brake cables if you want a working e-brake.

3rd, something I didn't expect rust in the gas tank. Maybe the PO shoved a lot of dry gas into the tank over the years. Bought as used tank and had a locate guy with a lift swap it out. Not that bad.

4th, as mentioned- check for rust, like under the battery & apply POR 15.

If it works out, you can end up with this:
olejoedad MAY 31, 03:32 PM
Mechanical can be expensive, but a good paint job without any panel work or replacement will run $10K.

Buy the nice one.

In the end, if nothing else, you will know how to work on your car .
dizzie JUN 01, 10:15 AM
Update:

I'll respond to all the great additional remarks below. First, I'll tell you what happened yesterday. I got to drive a Fiero for the first time! It was exhilarating. I'd ridden in one before, but at the time I wasn't really comfortable enough on a standard transmission to get behind the wheel. This thing yesterday was a beast. That 3.4 block had been bored, stroked, and cammed, and I have to imagine the hp and torque specs were significantly above what's listed for that engine.

However, I passed on the car. The only Fiero I'd ridden in before was a 2m4. This GT felt like an entirely unrelated model of car - the difference was night and day. I decided that it was a bit too much car for my first rear-mid-engine stick shift. My pal was understandably nervous when I was taking it around curves. Plus, it was a project and a half due to many, many odds and ends on the interior and exterior that the sellers were very forthcoming about, as well as ball joints. It also obviously needed tires and the shocks/ struts would have needed some love at some point in the near future.

So as it turns out, I"m back to looking at the SE that has been parked for 15 years! I'll be waiting on further photos from the seller first.

Question - does your left leg ever feel a bit cramped when driving a Fiero? Pulling the seat back for more general legroom helped a lot, but the driver's legroom did seem surprisingly more narrow than in my little Toyota subcompact.


quote
Originally posted by Stingray92:

I'll just put my 2 cents in on this,

My restoration project ballooned quickly from a busted transmission, the bad cam, to iron issues, poor paint, and a bunch of other things. It was however drivable and I put 30k on it before taking on my endeavor.

I've come a long way in getting my car where I want it. Time, money, and personal satisfaction are just some of the things to consider.

The choice is yours, hope you have a good outcome.



Really appreciate that, Stingray. Wow, that sounds like a journey! It seems like there's always surprises and challenges with these vehicles, but that they're worth it and I'm sure the sense of accomplishment is off the charts when you can get the car in a state you're comfortable with. Glad to hear you were able to drive it in the process - that's what I was hoping for!



quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
I echo this too Dizzie... Old Joe is right. I've just gone through the restoration of a 1985 Fiero 2m4 SE 5-Speed with my daughter. I pay for it, she restores it. Financial responsibility wasn't the goal here, it was teaching her how to work on a car. We've spent in excess of $23k on the car. A big portion of that was on restoring and replacing parts that were missing and / or damaged.

That silver 87 SE... for all you know... it just needs all the fluids changed, with a new battery, and it might literally start right up.



Wow, now that is a restoration! To me, that's basically building a brand new car that's practically in showroom condition. I applaud that and always really look forward to seeing those great examples at car shows. Admittedly, I don't ever see myself going to those pro-level lengths of quality (although you never know lol). I'm more of a mind to get it good enough to feel safe and look reasonably nice inside and out. My little Toyota Paseo has a few too many warts for my taste, but I can accept it. The SE would be a really nice step up in condition as-is (not that it can't be even better). And you're right - with fluids, battery, gas change, and a turn or two of the crankshaft by hand, my hope really is that it will come to life! Who knows?



quote
Originally posted by Mike in Sydney:


2 years ago, I purchased an 86SE, sight unseen from The Mall. It had been sitting in a carport in Mobile, AL for almost 10 years. I paid $1000 for it, figuring that if worse came to worse, I could strip it for parts and get my money back. I had the car shipped to my property in NC and then began work on it when I visited the U.S. I installed new brakes all around including disks and wheel bearings, new rubber lines, plugs wires, new distributor & ECM, fuel tank, filter, & pump, air filter, battery and tyres. All up, got ~$3,000 in the car. High cost for and '86 SE auto? Maybe, but it purrs like a kitten and feels better by the seat of the pants dyno than my 2 '86GT's. So, I think it was worth it. So much so that I’m shipping it home to Australia in July.

Plan on new brakes all around, tyres, a battery, wires and plugs and a good tune up. Flush and refill the cooling system. Change the oil and filter a couple of times. I changed mine every 500 miles for the first three times and I'm back to every 6,200 miles (10,000 km.) now. Change the air and fuel filters, too.

If you've not done it, check for rust in the engine cradle and the rear frame rails. Surface rust if not too bad is O.K. Just clean it or convert it with POR-15. It the rust has penetrated the frame, depending on how bad it is, you may want to reconsider.

Check compression in the cylinders. About 125PSI is what you would see at 8.5:1 when new. If you see ~110PSI in all cylinder, sweet. You may see lower but the real check is that the compression should be the same or close to the same in all cylinders. A really low compression reading in one or more cylinders could mean you have a blown head gasket or ring problem. Oh, when checking the compression make sure all of the plugs are out and the accelerator is wide open. Also, since the car has been sitting for a while, the rings may be stuck. This will affect the compression ratio. I used marvel mystery oil in the cylinders before staring my SE. Added a bit to the cylinders and let it sit overnight. It smoked like a chimney but then it stopped.

Good luck if you decide to purchase. Fiero's have a few quirks but they are a hoot to drive and you don't see many on the road anymore so expect attention.



Thanks very much for sharing your journey with the SE, Mike! Mine would likely be very similar. I think that your total investment into is is a bargain for what you now have. I hadn't really thought about replacing the brakes and rotors, but that might be a good idea. I've read that the calipers are prone to locking up when the vehicle has been sitting and that the master cylinder can get really gnarly and gross when just sitting around, so I have no idea how we'll tackle that. Question - did you replace the ECM proactively, or was it giving you a problem? Thanks also for the tips on compression specs. That's for the 2.8, right? I've just recently been watching videos on how to compression test. Marvel mystery oil - that's the product name I was looking for in my original post!

I'm very worried about the rear upper frame rails you mentioned - almost enough to buy a plane ticket and go to the trouble of seeing the car in person, but we'll see.

Appreciate the well wishes and I'm in total agreement - they're a hoot. And guess what? When I was test driving the GT yesterday, I saw someone else driving a GT on the same road!! I was flabbergasted and took it as a good sign. It was the first time I have ever knowingly seen another Fiero being driven out and about.



quote
Originally posted by cliffw:


They say owning a Fiero will make a mechanic out of you / owner. I learned on this forum that one should make a "leak down" check on compression, on any car.



That seems to be the consensus, Cliff! Thanks for the note about a leak down test - I hadn't hear of it but will do some looking into it. I see that Ogre posted some resources about the test in this thread and they are all still valid links!


quote
Originally posted by MarkS:

Wow Déjà vu! Bought a 53K 86 sitting for ~ 15 years almost identical to this except an automatic and the owner had it up and running when we went to pick it up in Nyack NY. When my wife & I arrived w/o a trailer saying we would drive it home (to Flemington, NJ ~ 78 mile trip) he was like uh..you sure? I said yep, it runs and drives right? It made the trip OK. Some thoughts:

1st, where is it located? If the north or northeast, I'd definitely want pix under the truck carpet.

2nd, brakes- I'd replace all the rotors, calipers and pads from a reputable source even if they appear to work like mine did but were totally unbalanced. One corner at a time & flush a lot of fluid through the lines while bleeding. Check the e-brake cables if you want a working e-brake.

3rd, something I didn't expect rust in the gas tank. Maybe the PO shoved a lot of dry gas into the tank over the years. Bought as used tank and had a locate guy with a lift swap it out. Not that bad.

4th, as mentioned- check for rust, like under the battery & apply POR 15.

If it works out, you can end up with this:

(pic redacted - see it in the original post)



That is such a sweet looking SE - cool and exciting to see it! And wow, what a similar experience. Glad to hear that it worked out for you, and that does give me some level of hope about the possiblities. It is up north, allegedly never driven in the winter, and I definitely want to get photos under the trunk carpet. The brake work sounds daunting and messy to me. RIP to my mother-in-law's carport where the repairs would likely be taking place. Thanks for the tips on flushing/ bleeding. I'm really hoping the tank is clean, but I'm not getting my hopes up about that. Getting it out of the underbody sounds like a tremendous headache. I do luckily know a guy locally who probably has clean tanks in stock. The POR-15 stuff does sound really good, and I keep forgetting about the battery tray - good call. I've also read that some people have had good results using fluid film as a coating rust preventative. Maybe it could go on after the rust treatment does its job.


quote
Originally posted by olejoedad:

Mechanical can be expensive, but a good paint job without any panel work or replacement will run $10K.

Buy the nice one.

In the end, if nothing else, you will know how to work on your car .



I think your wisdom has come to bear, Joe. Yep - if things do work out (and that's still a big if at this point) hopefully I'll have an nice looking car, a lot of new repair skills, a wife that hasn't left me over the time spent on the car, a friend or two who haven't stormed off in a rage at me, and a penny or two left to my name
MarkS JUN 01, 11:34 AM
"The brake work sounds daunting and messy to me"

It's really not that bad at all. If you try and rebuild the old calipers and such, it could be. Replacing with quality out of the box parts, it isn't. I think your mechanic friend would agree.
Vintage-Nut JUN 01, 01:15 PM
IF to decide to buy this Fiero...

ALSO Plan to Replace the Clutch Master Cylinder and Clutch Slave Cylinder.
Patrick JUN 01, 04:15 PM

quote
Originally posted by dizzie:

Question - does your left leg ever feel a bit cramped when driving a Fiero? Pulling the seat back for more general legroom helped a lot, but the driver's legroom did seem surprisingly more narrow than in my little Toyota subcompact.



Everyone's built a bit differently... but I'm 6'3", have owned/driven much larger vehicles in the past, and have never felt the legroom in a Fiero to be restrictive in any manner (and I don't have the seat anywhere near all the way back). Over the years, there has been mention occasionally made in the forum of the floor perhaps being a little narrower on the driver's left side, but it's definitely something that is not even noticeable after driving a Fiero for any length of time.

Mike in Sydney JUN 02, 06:03 AM

quote
Originally posted by dizzie:

Thanks very much for sharing your journey with the SE, Mike! Mine would likely be very similar. I think that your total investment into is is a bargain for what you now have. I hadn't really thought about replacing the brakes and rotors, but that might be a good idea. I've read that the calipers are prone to locking up when the vehicle has been sitting and that the master cylinder can get really gnarly and gross when just sitting around, so I have no idea how we'll tackle that. Question - did you replace the ECM proactively, or was it giving you a problem? Thanks also for the tips on compression specs. That's for the 2.8, right? I've just recently been watching videos on how to compression test. Marvel mystery oil - that's the product name I was looking for in my original post!

I'm very worried about the rear upper frame rails you mentioned - almost enough to buy a plane ticket and go to the trouble of seeing the car in person, but we'll see.

Appreciate the well wishes and I'm in total agreement - they're a hoot. And guess what? When I was test driving the GT yesterday, I saw someone else driving a GT on the same road!! I was flabbergasted and took it as a good sign. It was the first time I have ever knowingly seen another Fiero being driven out and about.



I replaced the ECM with the distributor. For some reason, the distributor had gone kaput and I figured as long as I was there, I’d replace the ECM.

Brakes and rotors area a “must do” if the car’s been sitting for a ny appreciable length of time. After all, it’s your life. I didn’t replace my brake master cylinder or booster but doing so is not a bad idea. Check Rock Auto for rebuilt or new replacement “chinesium” callipers. I’ve heard good things about them but I don’t have personal experience with them.

Depending on price, you may want to view the car personally. Being in Australia, that wasn’t an option for me when I bought my SE. (I’ve got a bad habit of buying cars sight unseen. I’ve bought 3 of the 4 Fieros I’ve owned without seeing them in person, first.) Check the rear frame rails by pulling the inner fender liners off to get access. Pulling the carpet out of the rear compartment and looking there is a good indicator. If there’s no holes in the floor, chances are the rails will be okay BUT there’s no replacement for looking. If you can’t do it, consider having a friend or an independent person do it for you.

Paint jobs are expensive but because the body is non-metallic, rust through is generally not an issue. If it’s been stored inside, chances are the clear coat is okay. If that is the case, you can change colour with a vinyl wrap. You can do it yourself for the cost of the material or pay a professional to do it for you.


(edited for clarity & grammar)

[This message has been edited by Mike in Sydney (edited 06-02-2025).]

82-T/A [At Work] JUN 02, 10:59 AM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

Everyone's built a bit differently... but I'm 6'3", have owned/driven much larger vehicles in the past, and have never felt the legroom in a Fiero to be restrictive in any manner (and I don't have the seat anywhere near all the way back). Over the years, there has been mention occasionally made in the forum of the floor perhaps being a little narrower on the driver's left side, but it's definitely something that is not even noticeable after driving a Fiero for any length of time.




I’m the exact same height, and the Fiero has always been the most comfortable car I’ve ever owned. I’ve had maybe 40 cars of varying years and styles. It has as much leg room as my grandfather’s Crown Victoria that I inherited.
cartercarbaficionado JUN 02, 05:51 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
I’m the exact same height, and the Fiero has always been the most comfortable car I’ve ever owned. I’ve had maybe 40 cars of varying years and styles. It has as much leg room as my grandfather’s Crown Victoria that I inherited.


i drive my fieros wearing **** kickers personally lol. never liked driving in tennis shoes and the boots make it a little difficult to clutch in sometimes before i fixed the pedal alignment issues it had.
dizzie needs to know that fiero pedals are supposed to be 2 inches apart and not almost touching like the 88 formula was and the pedals bend in all sorts of ways over the years