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.
