Bought this 1988 Fiero GT 118,000 km, one owner. Canadian car. Automatic. Got it for 1600. I have the chance to give back the car if it is not up my standards. Its parked in my uncles garage, and i had him take a couple of photos for me to share to see whether the rust is a problem or its just surface rust. Again the car is not with me at the moment. For that reason i am taking advice from you guys. Before i take it to my mechanic.
The trunk rust is minimal for a car used in the rust belt. It can be treated so as to stop the rust from growing. Some of the underside rust looks like it can be cleaned up an repainted with Por15 of some other good rust preventative paint. The tail pipe brackets are toast, so you may need some exhaust work, but after 25+ years I'd expect that would be something that needed to be replaced anyway.
I'd take an awl or similar pointed tool and poke the rusty spots on the cradle and see if its gone through or not. If the rust on the cradle isn't too bad, it can be repaired by welding in patch panels. The rust showing through in the trunk areas would concern me a bit. Being that the car is at your uncles place, I'd take the time to jack it up and pull the rear wheels and plastic inner wheel tubs. This will give you full access to look at the rear frame rails and trunk sides. That always seems to be the worst of the rust areas, and poking the rust with the awl will help you gauge the extent of any damage. Look at the floor pans, look at the front frame rails where the crossmember attaches.
That would be too much rust for me, but then again finding near rust free 88's isn't difficult in my area and I hate dealing with rust.
Pull the wheel well to see what the upper frame rail looks like. I would also take a close look where the lateral links bolt to the cradle. Those boxes can get rusty to the point of falling off.
"but then again finding near rust free 88's isn't difficult in my area"
isnt or is, just trying to double check. That's for sure, there are probably rust free 88 fiero gt's out there. But they would cost a pretty penny too. I'm just a college student looking something fun to ride in the summer. But i am willing to work on the car myself. Once i see what my mechanic says, i may sand the rust off from the underbody. And paint it using rustoleum paint or por15.
[This message has been edited by jon2009 (edited 01-06-2014).]
"but then again finding near rust free 88's isn't difficult in my area"
isnt or is, just trying to double check. That's for sure, there are probably rust free 88 fiero gt's out there. But they would cost a pretty penny too. I'm just a college student looking something fun to ride in the summer. But i am willing to work on the car myself. Once i see what my mechanic says, i may sand the rust off from the underbody. And paint it using rustoleum paint or por15.
Is not... this is the last one I picked up for $500 - non-running... it now has an LS4/F40 swap. The car had a 170K miles on it, but a near perfect rust free chassis.
Definitely pull the rear wheel wells and check the upper frame rails. They're usually the worst spot for rust. Just based off those pictures, it's in better shape than most Fieros in my area, as well as my own car. I wouldn't return it unless you find significantly worse damage behind the wheel wells or if you discover that you can easily poke holes through the cradle/frame.
I would say easily fixed with a little work and some time, use what you found to try and get the price as low as possible then buy it or at least that is what I would do in your place.
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DARN Cars now open with Over 30 years wiring experience between cars and trade as an avionics technician in both Canadian Air Force and civilian aviation. Over 25 years experience building and modifying cars. Over 10 years of full Fiero engine swaps and harnesses building and still going.
I agree with Guru- I bought a rust free 88 GT with no rust except in the battery box-$800, with a bad motor. I bought another 88 Gt for $2000- absolutely no rust anywhere. Refurbished it and sold it for $4600, 127,000 miles. But then again, Oregon doesn't use salt on the roads. If the camera shows some rust, you will likely find a lot more by probing around. Good luck.
thanks for the advice, but i believe in terms of price. I will never get anything to close to this, considering the snow and salt that take a toll on vehicles here in Ontario. Purchasing more than one Fiero and swapping parts and motors are not to my interest, because the lack of storage and knowledge of how to do so.
Upper Frame rails rot from the inside out. The trunk corners rot because of the upper rails ...one trunk corner looks like your frame rail could be bad. There also some other spots that rot. The front bracket and floor pan where the cradle attaches and also the mid rail where the back of the cradle attaches.
Too bad you didn't have a bit more in your budget, had my 86GT listed for 4k (firm) its got stainless steel upper frame rails, its all been sandblasted and POR 15'd, and the cradle was powdercoated. Engine is a 3400/5spd swap with 60k km.
Where is your fiero stored? There's a few fiero guys in the GTA that could probably take a better look to save you a potential headache (my first fiero was a rotbox)
Hard to say going by photos alone, but cradle appears to be surface rust, can be cleaned up and slow the process. Suspension components like control arms and tierods have heavvy surface rust. Trunk spots may be an indication of bigger problems on hidden areas of the frame. I've seen worse, much worse. I would recommend taking it to an experienced garage in your area and have them inspect the entire chassis closely for safety.
