88 fiero GT front hood/bumper/fender alignment issues (Page 1/2)
Zackwylde DEC 10, 04:56 PM
Hey guys,

I bought an 88 GT few years back and put a 3800 in it. the car has 188 000 km on the body.
I finished with the engine swap and everything, the car drives great so I started working on the body. Now the hood/fenders/bumper always looked a little wonky. The spacing between them wasn't even, nothing seemed aligned really, and the front bumper had quite a sag in the middle. I always ignored it cause I figured it just needed some slight easy adjustment, and I focused on the mechanical issues first. Well I found a new bumper this week from an 85 GT, and from what I've seen and read on here the front bumpers are interchangeable between all years. Yay. The bumper from the 85 had no sag, Looks much better than my other one.
When I took off my bumper I noticed that the mounting bracket for the bumper that's up by the hood was slightly bent, and not all the holes lined up to the mounting holes on the body of the car. So I went back to the pick n pull and grabbed the bracket from the 85 who's bumper I already took. The holes in that bracket don't line up either.
I made this post that has all the pictures that show the issues:

https://imgur.com/a/RRQsO

Now, the drivers side door and fender seem to have been replaced, I sanded the car and found that those two pieces were red underneath, instead of the grey primer that's on the rest of the car. That drivers side fender doesn't line up the same as the passenger side, there isn't the same spacing, and the fender can't be adjusted further because then it's too close to the door and you can't open it.
one hood hinge also looked bend, I straightened it back out, but it's still not 100% there. Check the chase for visible damage but can't see anything noticible with the eye.
So what's going on here? Could there be frame damage? Do I have the wrong bumper fender or door? I've spent a good 7 hours adjusting everything and I can't make it sit right.
Thanks in advance for your time
olejoedad DEC 10, 05:40 PM
The ribbed molding style front fascia from the 85 GT is not a direct interchange. The side marker attachment configuration is different.
Zackwylde DEC 10, 08:08 PM
I noticed the moulding was different on bumper I originally had as well, it has the ribbed moulding but the rest has the smooth one. So I believe that the bumper, driver side fender and door were replaced at some point.
Zackwylde DEC 12, 12:46 AM


https://imgur.com/a/sviR6

So I went back to the pick n pull and I grabbed the hood hinges from the 85 because mine looked like someone modified them, slapped it on the hood and that's what it looks like. The hinge adjustment is maxed out, that's as low as it will take the hood.
What the heck is going on?

[This message has been edited by Zackwylde (edited 12-12-2016).]

Zackwylde DEC 12, 12:59 AM
This is the closest I have gotten to lining everything up

https://imgur.com/a/X3CNK

But that is with a modified hood hinge, the adjustment holes have been widened to make it sit nicely, but even then the drivers side fender/hood/bumper still doesn't sit right

Any help would be appreciated I'm losing my mind! Can anyone take pics of their 88 front end so I can compare?

[This message has been edited by Zackwylde (edited 12-12-2016).]

olejoedad DEC 12, 07:42 AM
That looks really good.
I have seen a few Fieros that had shims between the fender and space frame to raise the front of the fender to help the panel alignment. The metal stamping that attaches the front fascia top to the front top of the space frame can also be tweaked to raise the front fascia.
Good job! Panel alignment can be a real pain!
Zackwylde DEC 13, 03:58 PM
Thanks, I spend quite a few hours trying to sit everything in place, but it's still not 100% there.
So the letters on the door model sticker were rubbed off pretty bad, but you can still kinda see the writing and it says 84 on it. And since the drivers side fender and door have the same colour underneath the black paint I think they were both taken off an 84. I think that's why I'm having those issues on that side, I don't know what else it could be
olejoedad DEC 13, 07:37 PM
84 front fenders have a forward facing hole on the top front. The later years do not have that hole.
Zackwylde DEC 16, 05:51 PM
Thanks for your reply!
Oh, then this fender isn't from an 84, cause it doesn't have that hole...
I took a measuring tape to the front of the car and measured point to point diagonal measurements and they were all symmetrical.
Whats confusing me is that where the bumper and hood meet the two lines aren't parallel, there's a 1/2 inch gap on one of the sides no matter how you adjust it. The bottom hood line just has a different curve than the top of the bumper.
I noticed that the panel mounting holes like on the fenders and the top of the bumper has these square tabs that look like they are plastic and they've been drilled at certain places, can those square plastic things be replaced with new ones so that I can drill wherever I want?
olejoedad DEC 16, 08:14 PM
Or slot the body parts...
The pads were welded to spaceframe and then all milled and drilled at the same time in a giant jig ( appropriately called 'the mill and drill machine') to assure proper body alignment during assembly.
I supposed they could be filled and refilled if one wanted to.....