I had to move my Fiero from where I've been storing it. Hopefully this is the kick in the pants that I needed to finally start working on it. The reason it was taken out of service was a fairly significant oil leak and an overheating issue (temporarily remedied by removing the thermostat). Flash back to 1999 having just graduated college and starting full time employment I needed reliable daily transportation. Then life happened, married, built a house, babies, etc. The car was started periodically, probably less than it should have been. On Saturday it was loaded up and moved to it's new temporary home. Surprisingly it started right up, with the help of a battery pack, and hearing the sound of the 2.8 purr reminded me why I have held on to the car for so long.
I plan on dedicating one Saturday a month to working on the car and will update this thread with some progress.
Hard to believe that a year has passed. Unfortunately life happens and I have not made any progress on the restoration. I don't have the access that I thought I would to the garage that it's being stored at. I'm still hoping to get it to my house and get moving on it.
I can understand the boat you're in. I get very little time with mine as well due to life, kids, etc. Took me all summer to get the front poly, new shocks/ball joints done. Even an hour or two at a time, stuff eventually can get done.
------------------ Past: 1988 base coupe sold 1984 base coupe rust Present: 1986 SE 2m6
Where does time go? It's been a long time coming, the Fiero is finally "home". The setup is less than ideal, in a shed style garage, but I've seen builds happen in less. I would like to say that I'm going to commit to working on it. Realistically it will be like eating an elephant.
[This message has been edited by fierojunky (edited 08-09-2021).]
Your overheating issue; A) Check your hoses, and pipes, B) check your radiator, C) Check your water-pump, D) Check for full fluid- with no air trapped in it.
Critical possible problem with symptoms; Does the car start and cool fine in driveway but suddenly overheat when up to freeway speed? I had my Fiero overheat 3 times in exactly the same location on my commute to work...Changed the thermostat, checked everything, going crazy (Short trip).....Finally read about new water pumps having PLASTIC impellers.....The impeller, exposed to the hot coolant, expands while the shaft (Metal) doesn't expand as much nor as quickly, causing the impeller to not turn. (I had changed the water-pump while changing my 2.8 for 3.4 F-body long-block...>>>As "Insurance"<<< (Arggggggggg!)
A lot of newer cars use plastic impellers>>>>>Properly designed to eliminate this situation<<<<< But the cheapish replacement water-pumps have not had the design effort to solve this problem.
cvxjet - thank you for the suggestions. It will be a while before I start trying to track down the overheating issue. First order of business is to get it moving on its own.
Thanks Jen, enjoyed reading through the history of the Blue Demon always a favorite of mine.
I pulled the battery last night and was disappointed to discover this.
I’ll need to do some inspection and see how extensive the rust is. Just out of curiosity I put the battery on charge over night to see if it could be revived. I was excited when I tested it, but after letting it rest a few hours: Next project is getting it off the ground and getting the fuel tank out.
Little progress made, spent a few hours looking for the key to remove the wheel locks. I always stored the key along with a few spare lug nuts under the spare tire. It wasn’t there nor could I find it in the loft with all my Fiero parts and it wasn’t in the house garage. Not wanting to spend any more time looking I decided on an alternate removal method. 20mm 12 point fit nicely with some persuasion. Got all four removed and replaced with regular lug nuts for now. Hopefully I’ll have time this weekend to investigate rust a little further and get started with fuel tank removal.
[This message has been edited by fierojunky (edited 08-14-2021).]
Did get to remove the gas tank this weekend. I had a few minutes so I investigated my rust issue further. I was expecting worse, I do have a hole in the passenger side trunk compartment.
Definitely a difficult job. Best advice I can give is be patient and wear gloves. Mechanic’s gloves, not the sterile nitrile gloves. A lot of sharp edges and not a lot of room to maneuver. Right now I’m deciding if I want to have the tank professionally restored/coated or do a diy kit like the POR15.
Wow, once again didn't realize how long its been. I was hoping to get the Fiero back on the road this year. The plan was to reinstall the fuel system, get the wheels freed up, and have a running/driving project. I dug a little deeper and the rust has me depressed. I searched the forum and saw others with worse rust, but I'm not a welder. I'll post some pictures. Anyone know anyone in the Pittsburgh PA or surrounding area that can do some fabrication? It looks like I'm going to need a cradle also, if anyone has a rust free one for sale. This was my first car, so it holds some sentimental value, otherwise I would probably look for a better candidate.
[This message has been edited by fierojunky (edited 05-03-2025).]
Took a wire wheel and some sandpaper to the passenger ride area then hit it with some Permatex, hope to get the rust from getting worse while I determine what direction I’m going. Still need to get the rear clip and bumper off.
I got the gas tank back. Had it media blasted and sealed.
My personal opinion... the subframe is in really, really bad shape. The rust on the rest of the car is not horrible. To correctly fix it, you'll want to remove the rear quarter (which is not that hard, let me know if you decide to do it and I can send you a really good youtube video that my daughter and I used). Once you remove it... you can basically grind the old rusty metal away and clean it up... and weld in any patch panels as necessary. The nice thing is that no one will ever see it, so it doesn't have to look like original... just be structurally sound.
The Fiero Store has replacement battery trays too which you can weld in. If you're curious about welding... it's not hard. You can buy a "Flux Core" welder from Harbor Freight for pretty cheap, and you don't need gas and all that stuff... just gloves and an auto-darkening welding mask.
Anyway, the car is definitely repairable, and the paint is still pretty decent on your car too.
But that subframe / cradle is really bad looking. I would try to get a replacement. E-mail Mr. Fiero on here and see if he has one that you can pick up.
Took a trip to my local you pull, was disappointed that they only had one Fiero. I was curious about the condition of the cradle so they lifted it up for me to inspect. I was excited to find that it was in much better condition than mine. Total cost was just over $130 including removal. Just picked it up. Need to clean it, but it appears to be in very good shape. Big shoutout to Marsh Auto Salvage in Dawson PA.
Originally posted by fierojunky: ... Took a trip to my local you pull, was disappointed that they only had one Fiero.
You are lucky they had one. I used to frequent one and asked if they had any. I was told people buy cars just for scrap metal. That's where Fieros went, which I could not understand because the bodies were not metal. They are also not a car the general public want parts from and are taking up space.
