It is time for the blue lady to be reintroduced. She is on to the fourth chapter in her life.

Chapter One

I am not sure about any details from chapter one from her life which I would define as her OEM Fiero GT life cycle. I have never heard the stories or legends as to where she came from, who owned her, or how she came to fall into the hands of V8 Archie. Maybe Archie could fill in some details on that side of things or the chapter one owner could chime in here. I am just glad she found her way to mad Fierokanstinian mechanic. This is how she fell into her second chapter in life, the Great Blue Chop Top, or GBCT.

Chapter Two

It was a dark stormy night…no wait…. A cold snowy white day…or maybe it was a sunny summer afternoon. I am not quite sure but regardless a man named C. Archambault, or as we lovingly know him V8 Archie (screename Archie) got his hands on what would soon be a legend in the Fiero community: the first chop top. Once the lightning was done and the storm had subsided the “thing” Archie had built was shocked into life…and this is what he came up with.











Archie built the car in 1998 and sold it to Joel (screename Falcon Fiero). He owned it from either late 99 or early 2000 to 2002. His contributions to the car were new exhaust system, painted underside of hood and trunk, painted most of the interior black, new black carpet, Mr. Mikes floormats, steering wheel from Austrailia w/ custom chrome adaptor hub, and taking a crap load of pics of it!He spent his time with it taking it to shows, and cruises. Loved every minute of it.

Chapter Three

She was the lady of dreams and one man had to have her. A beautiful car with a shorter roof and an LT1 motor mated to a 5 speed manual transmission. The interior had been changed over to black and she was given some details which made her stand apart. Dave Bagwell (screename DL10) was the man that managed to woe the lady away from Falcon Fiero. Again, I don’t have many details as to the story of when, why or how I am just glad she ended up there. He loved and cherished that blue lady over the years. At some point Dave decided the lady had become “long in the tooth” and could use with some cosmetic surgery. The surgeon? Who other than Archie! Back to the mad mechanic for a complete teardown and reassembly. Here is what she went through.












And went from this to this:




Again, at some point the owner DL10 made a decision it was time for the next chapter in her life. I will let Dave chime in as to why that decision was made. He wanted someone from the Fiero community. Someone who had the same passion for the car, the community, and the heritage that our little cars have. He reflected internally, searched his heart, searched his soul…and chose me. Again, I can’t tell you why so he will have to chime in but I am very happy to be the chosen one. And that brings her to chapter three.

Chapter Four

She needed some attention…broken transmission, broken axle, leaking radiator fluid, and some various little assundries. Her first stop was on to Whodeanies. Why not the original builder? Well, Dean was closer to me so I could go visit. She arrived on the back of a car carrier and Dean got to work analyzing what was wrong. Here she is in Dean’s shop. We were kind of surprised noone asked any questions when she showed up in some pictures of peoples cars in the background



Dean had to have axles made before he could bring her back to life. This is where we found the transmission problems. I vaguely remember Dave telling me about a hole in the tranny that was plugged with JB weld but that is where the problem was. Dean tracked down a freshly rebuilt 5 speed, had the axles made and started surgery. It took awhile to track the parts down but went together quickly once they were gathered. While he was under her he found some rusted body pieces. He removed them and replaced them for me knowing I was anal retentive and would have been calling him to source those parts once I received her. Dean cleaned her up and drove her for a week or so taking her to a car show and ensuring her mechanicals were as strong as when Archie built her. Everything looked good so she was loaded onto a car carrier and delivered to me sometime after midnight. I unloaded her and just put her away in the garage. I found time to assess my likes and dislikes, things I would keep and things I would change, and quirks the girl had. Now, it’s my turn!
First and foremost, she had to get bathed to include engine bay, trunk, and front storage area. I am not a fan of pure black interiors or bright colored ones so there will be some changes there. Thanks to Paul Vargas (screename Paulv) for his commitment to the community and the fact that he had a complete interior in great shape for me. Unfortunately the dash was damaged in transit so that aspect will have to wait. The interior got striped out and an original gray was cleaned and reinstalled.























During this process ever screw, nut, and bolt was rust reformed, primed, and flat enameled along with the brackets behind the HVAC area. There was lots of blue overspray to be cleaned off. For example the bezels and window switches had it on them and took some scrape time with a fine exacto knife and some scrubbing with magic eraser. This also cleaned them up from the whiting that all grey switches suffer. All the seat rails were dealt with at the same time. They were removed and treat along with a lubricant to blend them into the black carpet better. The seats were cleaned and conditioned with McGuire’s and new Dot Matrix bezels were installed. I am still working on getting a 5 speed one but it will happen in time. Long way to go but I am on the journey.

This is a work in progress. You can see some areas were treated with cleaning and reconditioning but some have not. They will all be gotten to...just a matter of finding the time to do it. We already have interior mods in the process of being made and then she will be going to Russ88TTop for some interior loving. What do you think so far???

[This message has been edited by johnyrottin (edited 11-04-2012).]

This is one of my all-time favorite Fiero's, glad to see it's in getting the attention it deserves

I raise my hands as the current owner of the original rims and wing. Love the gbct

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1985 Fiero GT 4speed 1986 Fiero GT
1997 BMW 328 1984 Porsche 944

FieroNews

You might need to add a chapter to your story, You are the third owner of the GBCT after Archie built it. Archie built the car in 1998 and sold it to Joel {Falcon Fiero} I bought the car from Joel in 2002.
There have been many cars built since the GBCT was but it's still one of my favorite. I always had a Love-Hate relationship with the car........there were things I loved, but there was also always something I hated about the car.
I never really had room for the car at my house so either the Predator or the GBCT had to be in storage. When I did drive the car I tended to drive it rather hard. I loved taking people for 0-100 to 0 rides.
I decided the car needed a better life and I didn't want just anyone to buy it so I picked someone who I thought would give the car the Love it needed and made him a deal he couldn't refuse. I've never met John in person but from reading his threads I knew he was the man to get the job done.

[This message has been edited by DL10 (edited 11-03-2012).]

Very cool thread to see!

I believe I owned it from either late 99 or early 2000 to 2002.

My contributions to the car were minor, new exhaust system, painted underside of hood and trunk, painted MOST of the interior black, new black carpet, Mr. Mikes floormats, steering wheel from Austrailia w/ custom chrome adaptor hub, and took a crap load of pics of it!

I spent my time with it taking it to shows, and cruises. Loved every minute of it.

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I'll be looking forward to the progress on this. I got to drive the GBCT many years ago. It was the first time I drove a non stock engine fiero.

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SSFiero@Aol.com 87 Gt-5spd-62k miles.

quote Originally posted by Fiero Thomas: I raise my hands as the current owner of the original rims and wing. Love the gbct

Actually the original GBCT wheels and wing were different. The TSW Blades wheels, and wing risers came later:





Or, to be even more specific, it had LACE wheels during the build.

[This message has been edited by Falcon Fiero (edited 11-03-2012).]

quote Originally posted by johnyrottin: We were kind of surprised noone asked any questions when she showed up in some pictures of peoples cars in the background.

It had to have been the wheels. The Blades(?) are very uncommon. It's how I always recognized the car, in other pics.
And the high wing is gone. And it appears to be a darker blue.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 11-03-2012).]

I give Joel credit for helping Archie's chop tops take off. Joel took lots of really good pictures of the GBCT and those are the pictures that Madcurl first saw......then others saw pictures of Madcurls car and the cycle keeps repeating.

quote Originally posted by Falcon Fiero: Very cool thread to see! I believe I owned it from either late 99 or early 2000 to 2002. My contributions to the car were minor, new exhaust system, painted underside of hood and trunk, painted MOST of the interior black, new black carpet, Mr. Mikes floormats, steering wheel from Austrailia w/ custom chrome adaptor hub, and took a crap load of pics of it! I spent my time with it taking it to shows, and cruises. Loved every minute of it.

I remember seeing these pics back in 1999 or so and becuase it's a fastback I knew what mine would look like. I drove the next 900 miles to V8Archie's. I liked the Purple Pavement Eater, but it was hybrid of a fastback with a notchback-like top with a twist of tweakness so I there's was no connection except for the wing tips.

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"Friends don't let their friends drive stock."

Today I disassembled the dash...again. Removed the triangular bracket behind the radio area and reinstalled the radio per FrizzleFraks reccomendation. Fits perfectly now!



Maybe I will keep this radio for a little while. i still prefer the stock look of the Monsoon.

I see you still have at least ONE of the blue pedals I added Loved the MOMO Raptor shift knob too.

Still have the shift knob, the three pedals but one has fallen off. The set will be coming off and be sold soon.

I don't come to PFF much anymore, but looked in today and I noticed your thread. I'm very happy to see that you've got the GBCT.
Everybody always wanted to have their car next to it, and somewhere I have a pic of my car next to it when we made a stop on
a cruise in Texas, when Joel owned it.

When I was organizing the 20th anniversary event, I tried out an idea for what I called "autograph cards", where people could order
business cards with their car's photo, and they would sign them and exchange them at the event. Well, nobody wanted them, but
the point is I used the GBCT on the sample. I gave Joel the sample cards that I made, so he might still have them. Of course, that
doesn't mean they're going to be worth anything, LOL, but I just thought you might find that at least a little bit interesting. Or not.

Anyway, congratulations!

[This message has been edited by Cheever3000 (edited 11-05-2012).]

quote Originally posted by Cheever3000: I don't come to PFF much anymore, but looked in today and I noticed your thread. I'm very happy to see that you've got the GBCT. Everybody always wanted to have their car next to it, and somewhere I have a pic of my car next to it when we made a stop on a cruise in Texas, when Joel owned it. When I was organizing the 20th anniversary event, I tried out an idea for what I called "autograph cards", where people could order business cards with their car's photo, and they would sign them and exchange them at the event. Well, nobody wanted them, but the point is I used the GBCT on the sample. I gave Joel the sample cards that I made, so he might still have them. Of course, that doesn't mean they're going to be worth anything, LOL, but I just thought you might find that at least a little bit interesting. Or not. Anyway, congratulations!

I basically did that at the 25th using the deck of playing cards that NIFE produced. I think I got 10 to 12 autographs from people in attendence.

Jeff

Today my son and I sorted out some more details on the GBCT. First we installed the correct short torx screws in the aux guage so the screws no longer stick out. (Thank you Raydar!!!)





Then we removed the old 5 speed bezel



With a new bezel (Thanks Indyellowgt!!!) in darn near perfect condition.



Of course we first cleaned it all up and loaded it with conditioner as it had typical dry ashtray doors.



So the interior is coming together nicely! Takes a bit of time but worth it.

Nice!
I like it!

Why the dot matrix instead of brushed silver?

Another rare GBCT item.





Interesting thing about the Mr. Mikes floor mats... The reason they say LT1 Fiero and not something like GBCT
was that I was not a member of PFF when I bought the car, and had already ordered the mats from Mike, and thought the LT1 part was the unique aspect of the car (besides the chop), as I believe it was the first LT1 conversion Archie did. (someone correct me if I am wrong on that one...)
When I picked it up from Archie, he mentioned some online Fiero forum but I didn't really know what he was talking about.....I had never been on any sort of a forum at that time.
Anyway, eventually I found PFF, and saw a thread about V8 Fieros, and then learned the car was widely know, and referred to as the "GBCT."

[This message has been edited by Falcon Fiero (edited 11-10-2012).]

No reason Raydar. I just like them. But....maybe I will have to get a set of brush silver and see what it looks like. Nice Jones soda! I have one as well. That would have been a coold add on with GBCT mats. Maybe next ones???

quote Originally posted by Falcon Fiero: Another rare GBCT item.

I got one of those too.

Along with one for the Stinger & the PPE.

Thanks Dave (DL10) great memories.

Archie

Good to see it still has the unusual steering wheel I supplied for it, and the custom made adaptor I had done to make it work. Still looks good with all that chrome.

quote Originally posted by johnyrottin: No reason Raydar. I just like them. But....maybe I will have to get a set of brush silver and see what it looks like.

I understand. (In retrospect, I guess I came off as kind of harsh. Certainly didn't mean to criticize. The car looks great!)
I guess that because most everything I've bought since I sold my 85 GT has been an 88, I just got bored with the dot matrix.
The real clincher was the radio faceplate. The 88 faceplate has a larger radius on the inside corners of the radio opening. Got in the way of some of the controls on my headunit. Hence the change.

I've never seen the Jones Soda before. Cool!

quote Originally posted by johnyrottin: Chapter Two It was a dark stormy night…no wait…. A cold snowy white day…or maybe it was a sunny summer afternoon. I am not quite sure but regardless a man named C. Archambault, or as we lovingly know him V8 Archie (screename Archie) got his hands on what would soon be a legend in the Fiero community: the first chop top. Once the lightning was done and the storm had subsided the “thing” Archie had built was shocked into life…and this is what he came up with.

Correction: The GBCT was not the first Fiero chop top or even the first fastback chop top...the Purple Pavement Eater was. None the less, a great car. Thanks for the interesting thread.

quote Originally posted by newin55: Correction: The GBCT was not the first Fiero chop top or even the first fastback chop top...the Purple Pavement Eater was. None the less, a great car. Thanks for the interesting thread.

The GBCT was Archie's first chop.........The PPE was the first home brew chop and was done before the GBCT. There are a few people who claim to have seen one built before the PPE, but they have not provided any proof.

Learning things every day. Thanks for the info guys!

The PPE is the GBCT's daddy. Check out the "Rich Warber’s Purple Pavement Eater story" thread on this forum if you would like to know more! There are a few mentions of the GBCH, particularly about the hood scoop, as I recall.

[This message has been edited by newin55 (edited 11-11-2012).]

We had a torrential downpour yesterday so I did the unthinkable: put her out in it! My intent was to see if she was leak free. Sure enough, not a drop. Not even the sunroof. Open and closed it a couple times in the rain just to see what would happen. Uneventful.

Here's a little tib bit that I remember about the GBCT from before Joel owned it. Archie originally made the rear window to tilt open but ultimately decided that wasn't a good idea due to the heat from the engine bay coming into the car. Ultimately it was changed back to the solid piece of glass that it has now.

quote Originally posted by Jefrysuko: Here's a little tib bit that I remember about the GBCT from before Joel owned it. Archie originally made the rear window to tilt open but ultimately decided that wasn't a good idea due to the heat from the engine bay coming into the car. Ultimately it was changed back to the solid piece of glass that it has now.

The back window was still removable when I bought it. It was not the heat, as much as exhaust fumes that came in through it. I had it sealed up pretty early on during my ownership for that reason. Otherwise, it was a pretty cool feature.

bump

anything on this?

Are you going to make it to Indy for the 30th ?

I am trying to sort out the details now. I am not done with the interior but she is perfectly drivable; Lots of Fiero maintenance in my near future. GBCT needs a radiator, steering wheel needs recovering, headliner, visors, a and b pillars need covering ans some other bits but she looks good. Kids sports will be my other issue. Both have tournaments that weekend and wife will be driving the daughter back from Massachusets. Indy needs oil leak fixed, new visors installed, and a few other tiny things.

Is this still alive?

Of Course!! The GBCT will live indefinitely! I am getting new seatcovers from Mr. Mikes as my last big step for the completely redone interior. There will be a few small changes to finish up this summer such as:

Grates for all vent openings
Leather for all the choptop interior trim
New visors (existing will not stay up)
New 3 Core radiator (this one is weeping a little)
Drop the engine and have valve covers (new or redone) installed. (existing are chrome and show rust)
All I can think of off the top of my head.

Any updates?

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Hmmm. Looke good when I saw it in March of last year, but the battery was dead, IIRC. I think the valve covers had been redone already.

quote Originally posted by Falcon Fiero: Any updates?

Mr. Rottin has been busy and, as of this week, the car is now back in the possession of Dave/DL10.

I wish I could've been the one to start chapter 4 but life got in the way of opportunity.

quote Originally posted by skuzzbomer: Mr. Rottin has been busy and, as of this week, the car is now back in the possession of Dave/DL10.

Really? Had no idea GBCT was up for sale again.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Really? Had no idea GBCT was up for sale again.

It never was publicly, that I'm aware of.

We were talking and John asked me if I was interested about a year ago but I couldn't swing it; no matter, as I could never treat that car way it deserved to be taken care of anyway. I got the impression that John thought Dave should have first dibs again, as did I. Wish I could have, though.