Hello all,
My uncles brother passed away last week. My uncle is in charge of selling his brothers belongings and one of those items is a 1988 Fiero Formula. I went to look at the car this evening. Ity has set outside unmoved since 02. Its setting in a gravel lot. All of the tires are very low to flat. The driver fender got hit and in that accident the front nose of the car is moved over about 1/2 inch. The hood cannot be opened because it catches on the headlight. The front would need to be pulled back over to fix it right. The gap between the fender and hood on the passenger side is also wider toward the front of the car. The car has 47,000 miles on it. It has the sunroof (hasn't leaked), power windows, cruise, A/C, power locks and all the good stuff as far as I'm concerned. The lace wheels are in fantastic condition. The interior as far as seats and carpet are excellent. The headliner needs replaced and there are a few dash items that need attention. The door between the seats that comes down that has the soft top on it is kinda bowed. The car needs painted, its faided. There is a new fender in a box, new front (dont know what to call it) facia?, new formula stickers, new headlight cup, new side lamp marker for the new fender. The wheels in front look straight, but one man that new the owner of the car said that it was thought the upper control arm on the drivers side where it was hit, was bent.. I don't know..
I looked where the oil cap is and the calve springs and that area is spotless! I took the battery out of my truck and put in the car. I put the key in the ignition and it maybe cranked 3 seconds and fired right up and idled just as smooth as could be. All the guages worked except the oil pressure read way over the max which I think was 80? The radio, windows, locks and all worked. The air didnt, but the blower did. Before I started the car I pushed the brake pedal and it still had vacuum and didn't bottom out, then it stiffened up as normal. After I started the car however the brake pedal goes to the floor. Don't know what happened. I put the car into reverse and drive and the transmission reacted like normal. I put it in drive and gave it enough gas to get the car to budge. We shut it down and locked it up.
What is this car worth. Is it worth 1000.00, 500.00, 200.00? I really need your advice here and it is appreciated.
George

wow. sounds like you might have stumbled on a heck of a find. as cheap as you can get it for would be great. post some pics.

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No man that fishes is a failure
87' notchie-NA3800-4T60E

Try really low around $500. You also need to look for rust. A fiero can run as good as it wants but if theres bad rust on the frame/ cradel its a parts car. best place to look as where the engine cradel connects to the frame towards the front and pull up the carpet in the trunk and check out the trunk corners. Welcome to the forum by the way.

First, pull the trunk lining away in the corners of the trunk and look for rust/rot. If it is minimal to none, and a look underneath reveals solid metal, the chassis should be good.

That said, if you need to fix damage and get paint done, I would not offer too much for the car. At least initially. Sounds like overall condition must be good based on mileage. However, paint and bodywork can be pricey too!

It does sound like you found yourself a promising project, but it does sound like a bit of a project too.

i am in the same postition you are and im about to post a thread on it. i found a 88 formula the other day that has be in the same town as me for the last five years and i never knew about it. im going to buy it tomorrow hopefully it starts right up like the owner says it will if it does im gonna give him 500 like we agreed on if not im gonna offer 400 and get a buddy to tow it home. but im really excited about it P.S. good luck what ever you decide to do.
jordan.

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to go this weekend and air the tires up so I can see under the car and check the things that has ben mentioned here. There is a lot of stuff in the trunk including new oil for the car, cleaning supplies and a bra. So unload the trunk and pull the carpet it will be. I will also check under the car. I'm really also wondering what the heck happened to the brakes. I may end up bringing it home this weekend. We will see. I will let you know the outcome.
George
P.S. Nice to be here!

I guess the main question is what's under the front end damage. Is the damage just cosmetic or is it something more serious? Worst case is that it's not repairable but you could still part it out and make money on the deal and its parts would go on to help others continue to run. Low mileage front wheel bearings alone are probably worth a 100 bucks or so.
Upside is the damage is cosmetic and you'll end up with a nice little car. All the help you'll EVER need is on this forum.

Oh. and welcome to the madness. You can't stop at one!

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Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

I'm wondering if there was a weak brake line that finally went when you started it up and pushed in the brake. Brake lines went on my 86 GT last winter just sitting in the shop. Went to start it up one day and had brake fluid all over the floor.

I hooked up my trailer and took a generator to run my air compressor and also took my tool box. The car is sitting in a big gravel lot so theres not an outlet close by to power my air compressor. I picked up a battery earlier today, so I was prepared. My uncle met me out there and the first thing was to pump up the tires. It was cool watching the car raise up and the flat tires come out of the ground. All four tires aired up well. I put the battery in and the car started with barely turning the key.

I drove the car around the parking lot. The brakes work when the pedal is pressed to the floor, however very weak. The passenger front wheel would lock up and skid in the gravel. I got up to a whole 4 MPH!

My uncle just said to consider the car mine. He said earlier today he would just give it to me. He said his brother would be happy that it was going to someone that would fool with it. I have a hard time with that. I don't want him to give it to me. For now...He has...I want to do something or give something. I wasn't looking for free. They have always been good to me.

I have the new fender and all the parts in the boxes. I am borrowing a car trailer tomorrow morning and tomorrow I bring her home. I am excited. Sure enough, the mileage is correct at close to 47,000 miles.

I think I might enjoy this! I have a body shop owner that owes me some favors. This may be the thing that settles us up.

I just sold a car I had for over 15 years. I had a 87 Turbo Buick that I thought I would never sell. I have looked at the empty space in the garage for a few weeks. Now I guess there will be another car to take up the garage space. I will be visiting here quite often trying to find answers to the many questions I will probably have. I will be asking questions and probably quite a few at that. I appreciate in advance your help. I will try to post pictures once I figure out how...

How do you post pics?????

quote Originally posted by formulageorge: How do you post pics?????

I upload all of my photos to www.photobucket.com

After you finish uploading, it will have a place for you to grab the photo's link as well as the forum code to link it.

quote Originally posted by formulageorge: I drove the car around the parking lot. The brakes work when the pedal is pressed to the floor, however very weak. The passenger front wheel would lock up and skid in the gravel. I will try to post pictures once I figure out how... How do you post pics?????

Please try to use Pennocks Image poster in the box at the bottom of this page. If you use photobucket the pics will disappear from the thread eventually.

The brakes act like the line to the rear has blown. It goes across the front, down the right side, and Ts off to the passenger rear wheel. Then goes across the trunk wall to the driver's side. Somewhere in that area should be evidence of a brake fluid leak.

Good luck. I would love to have a project like that now.

p.s. Don't trust those tire too much and when you can get it jacked up to get under it, take a close look at the rubber fuel lines off the end to the tank. They dry rot also and could put high pressure gas right onto the exhaust.

[This message has been edited by 2farnorth (edited 05-29-2010).]

George...BUY THAT CAR !!!! Its an 88...the best year of them all. Mine started out in somewhat the same fashion. I had it completely rebuilt. If you have rust issues, POR -15 withh tighten that up immensely. Anything bent can be replaced...there are Fiero parts suppliers all over the country. Before you even think of cranking the motor over any more, CHANE THAT OIL. immediately ! Brakes on a Fiero are a simple fix too.
So get out there right now, and BUY THAT CAR !

Thanks again. I appreciate the words of wisdom and experience. SHE IS HOME IN MY GARAGE. Thank God
When it was on the trailer I was able to see under it just a little bit. It looked great, but it was at a glance. I have to work a few hours and when I get home I will look it over a little better. Hopefully I can get a few pics up here. I want you all to see it. I will probably start a new thread at that point.

If you haven't thought of it yourself, in addition to the excellent advice you gotten so far, I would recommend you change ALL the fluids and filters before running it any more. You have, at best, 8 year old oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid and coolant. None of them are doing you any good. Once you get it back on the road I would change everything, except coolant, two or three times with in about 1000 miles just to clean things out. Good luck. You have aquired and very desireable car. Do some research and you'll find out just how few of those were built. Appreciate what your uncle gave you and welcome to the forum.

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1988 GT
Manual
Medium Red Metallic
Gray Leather

I have worked on it Saturday afternoon and Sunday. I changed the oil and filter (once I found the filter.....LOL). I had to repace the master cylinder, then all the brake lines was bled of air and black fluid. The heater core is leaking so I bypassed that for now and added about 1/2 gallon of antifreeze. Its a work in progress. To go from flat tires sunk in a gravel parking lot a few days ago to today is a nice change. I like it so far! I just can't wait till its all fixed.

sounds like fun!!
do the tires have any flat spots?

The tires seem to have flat spots. It has a nice rythym of bump going down the road. I will be replacing those tires. With all of the body work and painting I will keep them on there till thats all done.