I have "acquired" my grandfather's 1985 Fiero Sport Coupe. I say that because I am doing this without my grandfather knowing yet. I was left in charge of his property while he and my grandmother were going to their place in Florida for the Winter/Spring. I was over there last week, and I decided to uncover the Fiero. After looking at it again, I knew I wanted to restore it! I loved riding around in this car with him when I was little, and I want to make this car mine! Long ago, he told me that I can have the car when I turn 25, well I'm 23 currently, and I want the car running or close to completion when I turn 25. The car was last inspected in 92, was last driven for a week sometime in 95, and has been sitting ever since with 56,804 miles on the odometer. The only reason he stopped driving it was because he was complaining about the insurance on the car going up (which I found out was only $10-15 more a month). I know that the car will need a lot of work, but I don't know where to start. I do know that none of the fluids were drained from the car, so I will need to flush and/or replace all of the lines to it. However, I don't know anything else that I will need to do, as I've never restored a car before. Over the 15 years it has sat not being driven, we have moved it twice to other locations on the property, but never started it. The last time we moved it was 5 years ago, and back then we found out that one of the wheels had completely locked up.

I have located the original Owner's Manual for the car, as well as the Do-It-Yourself Manual, and the Chilton's Guide that he has for the car, so those will help me tremendously as I have not done anything like this before.

Tonight, I ran the VIN through the Fiero.net decoder, and this is the information I got from it.

quote VIN Number: 1G2PM37RXFP249435 1985 Pontiac Fiero Sport Coupe (Notchback) 2.5L L4 Manufactured in the USA by General Motors in Pontiac, MI. Fiero 49435 of 76371 produced in 1985.

He does not want the car destoyed; I know that for a fact. He even has a custom paint job on the sides and roof of the car with his name on the driver's door, and my grandmother's name on the passenger door. The restoration of the car will include keeping this design out of respect for both of them.

This is what the car looked like last week, from where it was sitting the past five years. I uncovered it, and opened the hood and trunk to just look to get a general idea of what I might have to do to get the car running again.


We moved the car earlier this week, so that it would be easier to service.


After we, moved the car, it was a lot easier for me get photos of the car as well. Here is the front with the hood open.


The rear engine compartment and trunk I took in two halves to show the damage.

The Battery compartment has rusted out, and has had squirrels, and other animals living inside it. My grandfather was a welder for Fisher-Body/GM for 40 years, so we can easily make a new landing plate for this. I am planning on taking a shopvac over there Saturday, and getting all of this animal evidence out of here.


The engine does not look too good with all the rust. I would have figured that with the car being covered, there wouldn't have been as much rust as this. If I need any parts, and I know I will, my step-father works at an auto parts shop during the week and a salvage yard during the Summer, so I have two sources for somewhat cheaper parts.


I forgot to get a photo of the interior, but it doesn't look too bad; It just smells funky.

So does anyone know what I am looking at repairwise? Any advice about where to start? Is it possible to restore it, or is it too far gone? I want to begin restoration of this car in a few weeks when he returns from Florida.

I was hesitant to enter this thread purely by title. Its got a ton of cancer on her. I don't even know where to start. How does it look underneath the car? All I have to say is that it is even salvageable you have your work cut out for you. It might honestly be a better idea to pass on it and save yourself what I am only assuming a never ending headache IMO. I know it's a Fiero and it's right there in front of you which is very tempting. I am guilty of picking up a Fiero that I thought I could bring back but it only ended up being a money pit and a bigger pain than I ever expected. IF, and that is a big if..the frame is in good shape you have to think about how much money you are going to have to put in to it just to get it mechanically sound. It might be wiser to invest the money in to another Fiero.

[This message has been edited by Iron_Mark_2003 (edited 05-28-2010).]

From the looks of it and not to put you down about it... It might be a bit more of a project than the car is 1, worth, 2, Worth doing.

If it has been sitting in the grass that long 9 times out of 10 your looking at a major rust problem that isant worth fixing. Judging from the pic;s if theres rust on the engine parts im willing to bet you have major frame rust Pull back the carpet in the trunk and check the corner's also look at the cradel underneeth the car. If its cancerious rust you might as well part it out and get another one. again not to kill your goals's but theres some things that almost cant be done.

That is what I was afraid of, unfortunately.

I don't know a lot about cars, but underneath doesn't look too bad according to my step-father. He said that there are no holes that he could find in the frame. I knew when I was looking at it the first time last week, that it was going to be a lot of work.


I was really hoping to restore this one because of the sentimental value of it. If it can not be saved, would it be possible to get another one, and swap the panels of the cars with each other? If I did this Does it have to be of the same year and model?

[This message has been edited by EGSalms (edited 05-28-2010).]

quote Originally posted by EGSalms: That is what I was afraid of, unfortunately. I don't know a lot about cars, but underneath doesn't look too bad according to my step-father. He said that there are no holes that he could find in the frame. I knew when I was looking at it the first time last week, that it was going to be a lot of work. I was really hoping to restore this one because of the sentimental value of it. If it can not be saved, would it be possible to get another one, and swap the panels of the cars with each other? If I did this Does it have to be of the same year and model?

There's certan area's under the car you have to look at. Most parts wont rust away but the inportant ones will. Ill take pic's on my GT's tomorrow of placed your going to have to look. And yes if you got another fiero you can swap over pannels to any year fiero except 84... But if you convert a fastback to a notch back... ill be making a trip to personaly slap you JK but yes all thoes parts will fit onto any year fiero except for 84's which have diffrent door pannels.

[This message has been edited by pontiackid86 (edited 05-28-2010).]

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: From the looks of it and not to put you down about it... It might be a bit more of a project than the car is 1, worth, 2, Worth doing. If it has been sitting in the grass that long 9 times out of 10 your looking at a major rust problem that isant worth fixing.

It has been sitting in that spot for about 5 years, before that, it was on a half gravel, half blacktop parking pad at the end of the driveway.

quote Originally posted by EGSalms: It has been sitting in that spot for about 5 years, before that, it was on a half gravel, half blacktop parking pad at the end of the driveway.

5 years on grass could do it as well. Black top and gravel not to much but sometimes. Ill take them pic's tomorrow on my GT and show you where exactley your going to need to look.
judging from the rust on the engine (which i have never seen until now) you might have a frame rust problem.

[This message has been edited by pontiackid86 (edited 05-28-2010).]

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: But if you convert a fastback to a notch back... ill be making a trip to personaly slap you

I wouldn't even have the knowledge to do that. So no worries there.

quote Originally posted by EGSalms: I wouldn't even have the knowledge to do that. So no worries there.

Lol its not all that hard to do a notchie to fast back conversion, just a bit of wiring for the taillight's is the hardest part. but ill offer you as much help as i can over the internet.
If i were you if it comes down to getting a new fiero and replacing pannel's i would look into a newer V6 so you can get a bit more pep out of it. personaly i like the graphics on your fiero. i'v never seen that before.
I would be a big score if you found a red one with a red roof so you dont have to replace the roof pannel' there a pain.

[This message has been edited by pontiackid86 (edited 05-28-2010).]

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: Lol its not all that hard to do a notchie to fast back conversion, just a bit of wiring for the taillight's is the hardest part. but ill offer you as much help as i can over the internet. If i were you if it comes down to getting a new fiero and replacing pannel's i would look into a newer V6 so you can get a bit more pep out of it. personaly i like the graphics on your fiero. i'v never seen that before. I would be a big score if you found a red one with a red roof so you dont have to replace the roof pannel' there a pain.

Yeah, I really like the paint, and out of respect for my grandparents and all they have done for me, I can not remove it from the car.

quote Originally posted by EGSalms: Yeah, I really like the paint, and out of respect for my grandparents and all they have done for me, I can not remove it from the car.

I know what you mean there. but as stated. it all can be moved to a more healthy fiero. every thing that is painted on a fiero can be moved

The first thing I would do is check for rust in the common Fiero spots. The first thing I would check since its been sitting in grass like that is the engine cradle, then the frame rails (you can feel them if you feel above the wheel well), and the trunk corners. My cradle had a big hole in it, and my trunk corner was eaten up, and I your battery tray looks better then mine did, there was nothing left of it at all!
Here is my trunk corner before I fixed it. Not the worst but still rusty. If that whole area is gone, It'll be a big project.

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: I know what you mean there. but as stated. it all can be moved to a more healthy fiero. every thing that is painted on a fiero can be moved

I'll talk to my grandfather when he returns to see what he wants to do with it now. It is still his car after all. I know that he will not like what I have to tell him about the car in its current shape, but he would probably let me transfer the panels to another one. I've just seen too many other cars of his just rust away, and just be scrapped due to years of neglect (My mother's old Cadillac, 2 Chevettes, a Citation, and an Austin Healey) We thought that the Fiero would be safe since it doesn't have a steel body, but I guess we were wrong.

There are some places where it's pretty much impossible to see the rust without removing bodywork:

Rockers (below the doors), covered by plastic covers:



Upper frame rails (under the rear clip):



Trunk corners :



All the above are repairable and do not cost to much, bit of metal and some welding.

The battery box you already know about! More serious around the back end would be major rust damage to the strut tower areas or lower frame rails since those are major structural components.

The cradle is replaceable so I wouldn't worry to much about major damage to that.

Front suspension/steering is on a separate cross member so assuming the mounting points are ok on the car (or you can replace) you 'could' replace the whole front suspension unit if you had to.
The rest is just sheet metal. I guess it depends how badly it is rusted.


The only real way to know is to take the body panels off, jack it up and have a ruddy good look. Then it comes down to the question of how bad is the damage and much do you want to spend to save it.

Be great if you could save it but I doubt it will be cheap, the interior probably want's throwing away and replacing. not much you can do with mouldy carpet.

------------------
Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: From the looks of it and not to put you down about it... It might be a bit more of a project than the car is 1, worth, 2, Worth doing.

quote Originally posted by Iron_Mark_2003: It might be wiser to invest the money in to another Fiero.

I disagree with both of these. If I am understanding this correctly, there is no monetary value for this car, it is priceless. It is priceless because of the sentimental value he holds for the car, and the memories of he and his grandfather riding together in it. So the following is true:

1) He is most likely willing to put more money and time into this car.
2) No other Fiero will do. This car is special and cannot just be replaced.

quote Originally posted by Hulki U. My-BFF: I disagree with both of these. If I am understanding this correctly, there is no monetary value for this car, it is priceless. It is priceless because of the sentimental value he holds for the car, and the memories of he and his grandfather riding together in it. So the following is true: 1) He is most likely willing to put more money and time into this car. 2) No other Fiero will do. This car is special and cannot just be replaced.

quote Originally posted by Hulki U. My-BFF: I disagree with both of these. If I am understanding this correctly, there is no monetary value for this car, it is priceless. It is priceless because of the sentimental value he holds for the car, and the memories of he and his grandfather riding together in it. So the following is true: 1) He is most likely willing to put more money and time into this car. 2) No other Fiero will do. This car is special and cannot just be replaced.

Well said! If you have the time, the money and the space to do it, I Don't see why you wouldn't. You obviously have good connections for parts, and your grandfather can weld and help with the sheet metal. This could be a GREAT family project! Go for it!

Looks like cutting tools, new metal, welding, and POR-15 is going to become your best friends lol. Keep us posted on this project!

------------------

1995 Pontiac Firebird - 3.4 V6 5-Speed (Engine outta commission awaiting V8/6-Speed swap someday), 93-97 to 98-02 Trans Am body conversion My Firebird's Cardomain Page
1988 Pontiac Fiero - 2.5 I4 5-Speed My Fiero's Cardomain Page

I've seen alot worse brought back from the dead! Good luck on your project.
Korey

quote Originally posted by Hulki U. My-BFF: I disagree with both of these. If I am understanding this correctly, there is no monetary value for this car, it is priceless. It is priceless because of the sentimental value he holds for the car, and the memories of he and his grandfather riding together in it. So the following is true: 1) He is most likely willing to put more money and time into this car. 2) No other Fiero will do. This car is special and cannot just be replaced.

Because of this, I am willing to put more into the car than one would if they just bought one to fix up. My grandfather will have the final say on what to do with it, but if it can be restored at a reasonable price, we will still try to restore it. I am going to take a better look at it over the weekend, and try to get some more photos of other areas of the car.

parts are still pretty easy to get for them. alot of that rust looks like surface rust but pics can lie!

quote Originally posted by Hulki U. My-BFF: I disagree with both of these. If I am understanding this correctly, there is no monetary value for this car, it is priceless. It is priceless because of the sentimental value he holds for the car, and the memories of he and his grandfather riding together in it. So the following is true: 1) He is most likely willing to put more money and time into this car. 2) No other Fiero will do. This car is special and cannot just be replaced.

No one was arguing the sentimental value of the car. From a financial standpoint and purely JUST that, it could be a considerably smarter choice to pass. I understand that it is priceless in sentiment, but even at some point he has to take a look at this from a financial perspective. Which from the looks of it he and his grandfather will take into account. He can use it as a parts car and pull things from that carry over on to another though.

[This message has been edited by Iron_Mark_2003 (edited 05-28-2010).]

Interesting.

Get us some pictures of the trunk corners, underneath, etc. Did your grandfather ever drive this car in the winter? Or was it a summer car? Time on grass is bad, but if the car was very solid when parked there, it might still not be too bad.

I agree, a really good visual inspection of the frame is needed here. If the frame is in decent shape, then your in business. Still, this car might take a lot of investment to bring back to life. Sitting that long will do bad things to rubber seals and gaskets. At minimum, I think your looking at replacing a lot of the brake system since the calipers and cables are likely frozen, maybe the master cylinder. Then, rubber hoses for coolant. Maybe fuel lines (they tend to rust badly), hard brake lines (only mild steel and I have seen them rotted on cars with no frame rot whatsoever), and a myriad of other items.

If you are able and willing to do most work yourself, or learn to do it, the cost still will not be too bad. Fiero parts tend to be cheap by modern car standards.

Keep us posted!!

I am heading back over there tomorrow to take a better look at the car. Besides the spots already mentioned, where else do I need to get a good look at or take pictures of?

Point out a positive I see in the picture. That spare tire has some good looking rubber on it =)

Other than that like someone stated before POR-15 will be your new best friend and that stuff rocks!

I couldn't do much with the car today, but I took the shopvac to the engine compartment to get rid of animal evidence, and I pulled back the carpet and got pictures of the trunk corners. But it looks a lot better than it did when I first uncovered it two weeks ago.

After I vac'd the engine compartment:




The Battery tray still doesn't look good after ridding it of all the animal stuff. But my grandfather was a welder by trade, so he can fabricate a new one easily.


Trunk Corners:
Driver's Side


Passenger Side


The ground the car was sitting on was still a little soft, so I didn't jack it up to get a look underneath and I cleaned out/vacuumed the interior instead. I used baking soda to do so, and It seemed to get rid of the smell.

The pieces on the seat are the broken sail panel from the driver's side.



How does it look with the trunk corners? I think it looks good with only that one hole in the driver's side. But all of you here would probably know better than me.

When the ground hardens up again, I will go back over and try to jack it up to get a look underneath. My mother is recommending that I not remove anything on the car until my grandparents get home in a few weeks. Because of this, I am limited to what I can do. What else can I do right now if I can not remove anything?

[This message has been edited by EGSalms (edited 05-30-2010).]

check the floor pans I thought I had a clean car but found some holes in the floors in the drain plugs in the chasis you can reach from underneath, but the best thing to do is pullthe carpet. Good luck.

Thoes trunk corners are actuley Very not bad at all. i have seen it where i can fit my whole head through the hole and not touch the sides and i have a big a** nose so thats a big hole.. you do have to check the cradel and frame rails.. ill grap you thoes pic's tomorrow.. been a busy weekend.

I have been told that my grandparents are returning THIS weekend. So I will have a chance to to talk to him about it a lot sooner than I had originally anticipated (I'd rather talk to him about it in person than on the phone).

I still haven't had a good chance to jack it up and look at the bottom because the rain here is keeping the ground just soft enough that I can't really do anything with it, and we don't have a garage to put it in.

BEFORE you put a battiery in it take the heater blower resister out of the air box in the trunk. Remove any old dry leaves from the heater box so they don't start a fire.
You can watch my youtube vid "FIERO HEATER FIRE!" to see how to do that.

wow amazing that the trunk corners r in that condition sitting outside for 15yrs.


Just shows you how salt and brine if gone untreated on your car will do.


When i bought my indy project car the trunk corners looked like this





Luckily the frame just had some surface rust, steal brushed it off and then later did some under coating. The car will not see salt again..


Fiber glass and some paint did rather well, ive seen people on here part out a fiero for less trunk rust then that above, a real shame.

[This message has been edited by Spaxspore (edited 06-04-2010).]

I would say clean, clean, clean and if you can use a wire brush on some of the rust to see if it is just surface rust. The seats look better than mine! I bought a parts car from the Pittsburgh area nine years ago. If grandpa will let you, I would take the seats out and clean them. While they are out you will want to take the carpet out and clean it to get the mold out. I think frebreeze(sp) may be good to use on the interior. This will also give you the opportunity to check the floor pan out from the top side and see what kind of rust you may have. Good luck. You have some work ahead. I would want to change all the fluids!

Oh check under the battery tray. On my car the battery tray wasnt as bad as yours, BUT because the battery gets bounced around in that location the acid spills out and eats the frame! I had some minor holes in the frame. I cleaned the rust and sprayed it with the rust to metal stuff that duplicolor sells. I then painted that and rustproofed the area.

If you start this project you will want to take pictures as you progress along.
Make sure you get your grand father in the pictures! When you get older you will appreciate them! I used to work on my grandfathers old dodge truck and his car once in a while. I enjoyed doing it and doing it with him. I was about your age! I am now 59 and I have great memories! I miss the ole boy.

Good luck and peace be with you.

Steve W.
NE Grand Rapids, MI
88 Coupe

[This message has been edited by solotwo (edited 06-05-2010).]

quote Originally posted by solotwo: I would say clean, clean, clean and if you can use a wire brush on some of the rust to see if it is just surface rust. The seats look better than mine! I bought a parts car from the Pittsburgh area nine years ago. If grandpa will let you, I would take the seats out and clean them. While they are out you will want to take the carpet out and clean it to get the mold out. I think frebreeze(sp) may be good to use on the interior. This will also give you the opportunity to check the floor pan out from the top side and see what kind of rust you may have. Good luck. You have some work ahead. I would want to change all the fluids! Oh check under the battery tray. On my car the battery tray wasnt as bad as yours, BUT because the battery gets bounced around in that location the acid spills out and eats the frame! I had some minor holes in the frame. I cleaned and sprayed the rust to metal stuff that duplicolor sells. I then painted that and rustproofed the area.

I agree,also be sure to take pics of your progress!
Korey

Somewhat of an update on the car. My grandparents returned home today. My grandfather wants to restore the car as well, and has "been kicking himself in the ass for letting it sit that long." I have a busy summer ahead of me now that he is back. I have to help him empty (and probably dismantle) a shed which the roof collapsed on back in February. We will also be moving stuff from PA to FL several times this Summer, but the Fiero is staying up here. We might not get to the Fiero this year, but it is in our futures. We probably will however, pull it up onto the blacktop driveway so it is out of the grass, and does not sink into the ground again. If anything else occurs, I will let you know, but for now the restoration of this car is on hold.

If you're gonna leave it that long please, for the love of all things holy, do something to stop the rust getting worse...

------------------

Another area I would check is under the insulation under where the battery tray was, I've seen that go bad due to the insulation holding water and battery drippins against the frame.

Steve

------------------

Where will the road take you today?

Some helpful links I've done
How to remove inner door panels, with pics.
How to remove outer door panels, with pics.
How to make rear coil-overs using factory struts, with pics.
How to remove rear bearing hubs, with pics.
How to modify the stock Fiero radio for MP3 players, with pics.
How to come up with the right coolant hoses for that engine swap...With Pics.
Basic Fiero electrical testing "How To" and equipment...with pics.