Gr8 thread guys! Please keep it going as I have a similar new project & new to actually owning one of these little wonders. I got mine for $300 with Iron Duke & auto (live with it). 1986. Plans are just as basic cheap daily driver and make it worth over $2000 by December for mostly reliability reasons. The issues with mine are VERY similar except it looks pretty. Only baked paint a bit on roof & rear. Side mirrors kind of crummy-looking too. Oddly, the tires look good & I suspect it's spent a LOT of time sitting for at least 10 years. Its last registration expired almost 5 years ago. Starter shot, brakes junk (one rear rotor CAKED with rust).
One big question. What is my oil capacity?! Getting conflicting reports on this. I'll find out soon enough anyway by drain & refill with stock AC-Delco filter, but my curiousity is killing me. Also struggling for patience as rent's due & other issues. My little Ranger needs a rest and body overhaul or R&R more & more everyday though. Then again, I noticed oil weeping on the truck in a wierd spot. Probably from valve cover, but didn't look like it with my bright LED headlight around 8pm. If I was right the 1st time, that engine is toast. Out the SPARK PLUG area. Then again, it could pool a bit there I think. Fiero gets top priority 10 to 1 regardless. What this thread tells me is that I really SHOULD drop the tank for a look-see. It should be pretty chilly by late October/ early November in Metro Detroit.
At least the alarm seems perfect & auto-arming - bother.

Well I ordered up the rebuild kits for the front and rear from the Fiero store. After looking at the rear calipers I think I should have just greased the sliders and left them alone. There are no signs of cracking in any of the rubber and the one 2 way valve that I didn't touch is nice soft and flexible.

I don't know if I would have been able to not touch them, I'm a bit anal about brakes, but I'll rebuild all of them since I have the parts on the way.

Edit:
What type of bulbs light up the "Pontiac" on the GT's?

[This message has been edited by Primaris (edited 09-29-2007).]

I do not remember any small bulbs in the tail lights so I am going with 1156. The 194's are the small side marker bulbs.

quote Originally posted by Primaris: Well I ordered up the rebuild kits for the front and rear from the Fiero store. After looking at the rear calipers I think I should have just greased the sliders and left them alone. There are no signs of cracking in any of the rubber and the one 2 way valve that I didn't touch is nice soft and flexible. I don't know if I would have been able to not touch them, I'm a bit anal about brakes, but I'll rebuild all of them since I have the parts on the way. Edit: What type of bulbs light up the "Pontiac" on the GT's?

I would look for a pair of used calipers to be on the safe side, just in case you are not able to rebuild at least one of them. The problem I ran into with a sticking rear caliper during a rebuild attempt was corrosion inside the seal groove that could not be removed easily and properly and prevented the seal from sitting at the proper depth which ultimately prevented me from reinserting the piston past the new seal so I wound up buying a caliper anyway. I know you are making lots of progress but you should DROP THE GAS TANK and replace the pump, after sitting for 5 yrs for the following reason; several Fiero tanks I've seen as well as a couple of my own after sitting for a few years had garbage and sludge build up I could not identify in them along with corrosion, any condensation the pump might have been bathing in might have caused some internal rust deposits. It may be fine now but a little ways down the road it may fail. It happened to me, the pump still ran it just couldn't produce the necessary pressure, that was in a Fiero with about 85k on it. Take risks with old parts you can change on the side of the road, not the pump.

red worker .. oil capacity is not correct in some manuals,,allways drain thoroughly in car that has sat or is suspect!!never trust engine oil in new ride unless you know history or oil looks and feel clean,,trust this as much as you would me delivering attractive girl friend cross country,,capacity listed is 3 quarts? pour in 2 1/2 and check,then crank engine to flow to filter,fill as needed,, many fiero have engine replace later 87,88holds 4 quarts,, if oil dirty black, if engine seem good may want to buy parts store brand oil, run 500 miles and change,eyeball oil fill hole with flashlite..to check engine remove pvc valve and press thumb over hole.do same on car with good engine and you will have good idea of blowby.. mirrors and rear heat release vents,and trim behind window can be painted metal flake black, use rattlecan I did this on my duke notch with minamal prep lasted 5 years a neato jet improvement, the tank will eventually have to come out,if you did not run pump dry, the pump will eat a lot of crap before it fails,its running it dry or AGE that kills it the car may have been run out of gas previously,, joseph upson is correct if you do not remove and clean, post report in 3 months I am curious about this issue,sooner if fails

Yeah, I DON'T trust any of the fluids & I'm thinking dropping the gas tank very worthwhile before it gets COLD here in Metro Detroit. It's also a metal type so has me wondering about taking it to a specialist down the road. As for the oil, it looks clear of deposits, but it also looks worthless as motor oil - figure deposits would have settled into oil pan gunk long ago anyway. Have not cranked it yet as I have much left to do & budget is not great. Working 6-7 days a week in aerospace machining of jet fan cases. Should be able to get it running before I freeze I hope. I'm also wondering how trustworthy the oil-pan is. As thick as the crusty rust is, there can't be much left of the good stuff. It looks as though I can drop that mess about as easily as changing the starter. I would also like to pull the valve cover for a look-see, new gaskets & perhaps plenty of paint. Probably hold off on rebuilding the TBI if it performs ok, but it's on my list. And yeah, the louvered vents need cleaning & paint. For metal-flake, I'd need to hook up my Badger modeling airbrush. Not enough practice with rattlecans. The backs of my rims look atrocious! Need plenty of wire wheel work with my little Dewalt cordless followed by paints.
Umm, as for priming engine with oil after fresh oil change, a squirt into each spark hole or something else? Figure on disconnecting coil for 1st crank anyway. Any idea of a budget needed to do this right for a reliable city use daily driver? I know a lot depends on actual condition where it cannot be seen, but thinking optimistically & thinking upgrade of top end to newer spec (s-10 perhaps) early next year as even optimistically thinking, I doubt I'd tolerate ancient valve seal issues or the like for long. Would love better overall engine tuning too that the newer heads have. I'm pretty sure it hasn't been turned over in 5 years or so at all. Last time he tried, "the starter didn't seem to be getting power." Hmm, well the solenoid cap is in pieces although it appears complete up there. I'm figuring his battery was probably pretty bad a the time, too. Wouldn't know as he didn't include it. Well I have today off, but going to my cousin's wedding in lieu of turning more fan cases. Actually have to wear a sport coat & tie. Ugh.

Does anyone have a scan of the factory alignment procedure and specifications?

What is the max camber available on a stock '88?

Are all of the STOCK bushings available for purchase?

Thanks.

[This message has been edited by Primaris (edited 10-02-2007).]

Bump and:

I greased the sliders with Mobile one full synthetic grease. The problem is when I let the calipers sit for say 30 minutes the sliders are stuck pretty hard. A lot of hand force will get them moving, and once they are moving they slide fine. I'm not sure if this will be an issue since the slightest tap of the brakes is way more clamping force than my hands. But, I can't say I like it. It's like the pressure from the seals on the end of the sliders make their own dry spot. Does the same thing happen with lithium grease?

there is a special synthetic brake grease, dark green in color,made for the extremely high temps involved with braking. all auto stores sell it in little squeeze packs for about 2$, or you can by a jar for around 10-15$. that is what you are supposed to use on the caliper slides. also, if you don;t like those funny high pitched squeels that some pads make, use grease wherever the pad plate contacts the calipers, and the piston face. works much better than that blue stickem brake quiet stuff.

for some reason those PONTIAC light bulbs are not listed everywhere, but I think they are the 196 bulbs, whic are less bright than the side marker lights. (those are only on the gt taillight assemblies)

When making a decison about restarting a car that's been sitting the driving factors behind the steps to take will be where was it stored (in or out) and for how long. I've had luck just pumping out the tank, changing the oil, oiling the cylinders and putting clean gas in with some fuel injector cleaner. Then I'll turn the engine over to get some oil pressure up and start her up. It sometimes takes a tank or two of gas before all the built up varnish and gum disappears but it can be done this way. Now if a Fiero was sitting for 10 years then dropping the tank is a must.

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87GT 3.4 Turbo- 0-60 5.2 seconds
2006 3800SC Series III swap in progress
Engine Controls, PCM goodies,
re-programming & odd electronics stuff
" I'M ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

Ok something is not right with the brakes.
When I step on the pedal the Master Cylinder is creating a stream of brake fluid ( a geyser) from the port closest to the cabin with the cap off. It spewed so much I lost the RPO codes today I'm very upset as I didn't take a picture of them. Anyway is this normal?

By the way, if no one has mentioned it yet (I don't want to re-read everything), the oil leak around the distributor is due to the distributor shaft seal. It's a large O-Ring which installs just inside of the base of the distributor. It's about $0.35 from NAPA auto parts. You have to remove the distributor to change it out, but it's really easy. When you've replaced it, the oil leak will stop. Oil literally gets pumped out right onto the top of the intake there. It pools up and then dumps down the side of the motor. Awesome....

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Todd,
2006 Pontiac Solstice
2004 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible (Wife's Car)
2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX
1987 Pontiac Fiero SE / V6 (3.2) 5-Speed
1984 Porsche 944 5-Speed
1981 Pontiac TransAm (Olds 455BB)
1973 Volkswagen Type-2 Transporter

Thanks. That oil leak is on the list, but won't be taken care of until after I figure out what is up with the brakes. Any idea on what I posted above your post?

Primaris i picked up my fathers 86gt that had sat since 02 ( just got it registered again ) Brakes were actually seized to the rotors . I bought two rebuilt front calipers i think it was about 90$ with pads and then rebuilt the rears as those are more money. Brakes on these cars are ok but not on par with todays modern vehicles . Eventually I will upgrade the brakes after I get larger rims which will hopefully remedy all the rest of the braking problems I have. I know you dont want to dump a ton of money in your car , but I would say brakes would be the most important thing on your vehicle .

Primaris , i think you need to keep the cap on to bleed brakes . If I recall older vehicles need to sealed enclosure to create the pressure . Newer cars you can bleed the brakes with the cap off , I did the same thing you did when I bled mine ........ lovely geyser fun to clean up

[This message has been edited by Kemp3 (edited 10-07-2007).]

Bump.

Looking for an answer to the MC geyser question.

Thanks

It has happened every time I have done it. I need to do it every couple of years to remember not to do that! If you step on the pedal slow you will see the fluid rise a little but not shoot out like if you press the pedal fast.

Ok, I'll take that strange behavior as normal then. I don't see how a system like this can NOT add air into the lines though. After stepping on the pedal a few times the new fluid appeared cloudy from all the small bubbles that were created.

Did you bench bleed the MC before mounting on the car? I failed to do that once and the MC later failed and almost caused an accident. oops.

The two best methods are pressure bleeding and vacuum bleeding. With the GM master being the shape it is, pressure bleeding is not easy. Vacuum bleeding then is the next best. Pumping the pedal method is the least desirable IMHO.

I didn't install a new MC. I only rebuilt all the calipers and flushed out the old fluid with new. So the MC was never emptied.

Ok, I'm still looking for help with these brakes. I rebuilt the calipers, tested and adjusted the parking brake, new fluid, and bled the system.

But, it like the rear brakes aren't doing anything. The fronts will lock up if I put enough leg into them. I need to find a dirt road and have someone look to see if I can lock up the rears, but I doubt it.

Could the distribution block be screwed up?

Thanks.