There's some good news/bad news involved here. The good news is I now have my dirty clown punchers on an 88! The bad news.... well....





















You may recognize this car as the first Fiero I ever looked at back in Aug. The owner was really keen on it and didn't want to let it go for a reasonable price. He had fallen into the trap of having sunk a lot of money into the car (brakes and tires) and thought the car was worth at least that. Problem is it is NOT. I tried to test drive it back in Aug and after jump starting the sad Duke in that thing, I made it about 100yd down the road before the thing quit, spitting smoke and oil from what looked like under the valve covers. I'm thinking the engine is probably shot. It's also an auto, but this COULD have become The Blue Fiero if it had just performed a bit better that fateful day. I'm glad it didn't, as it would have been a LOT more work than my current car.

I circled back today and offered the guy $500 cash to haul it away as is. I had to lean on him a bit, but after showing him a picture of the car it was going to support, he caved and I became the owner of this 88! So if I have an 87 GT with a Getrag, why did I buy this heap?

1. Suspension! The cradle is rust free and the suspension looks to be in pretty decent shape. I'm going to steal the cradle off of this thing and build my 3800SC on it.

2. Hood! Probably going to modify it with some sort of vent/scoop and if it turns out well it goes on The Blue Fiero

3. Parts! There's gotta be something else of value on this heap!

4. Harness? Since I'm planning on doing a 3800SC swap on my 87, I'm hoping I can use the harness off the 88 to build the swap harness. One of my big goals of the eventual swap is minimal downtime on the 87, so this car should hopefully go a long way toward that goal.

5. Interior? HAHAHAHAHHAAno.

LOL!

I got some parts you may just need.

All kidding aside, where did you find this it looks familar?

I posted pictures of this car on Facebook back in Aug, probably where you saw it. I bought it from a guy just north of Lousiville MS.

And I shouldn't NEED any parts with this car.... it's supposed to be a GIVER, not a TAKER of parts!

[This message has been edited by Napoleon_Tanerite (edited 01-02-2016).]

quote Originally posted by Napoleon_Tanerite: it's supposed to be a GIVER, not a TAKER of parts!

LOL!

Isn't that how they all start out?

I already offered to the wife that I would leave this 88 alone and it could be HER Fiero. I even offered to restore it and paint it pink.

I'm SO glad she didn't call my bluff.

LOL!

That makes 2 of us.

PINK!

Got the car home today and tore into it. It's about as I expected, both good and bad. The body is SHOT. The only salvagable body panels are the hood, headlight covers, driver's door, and the roof. The rest is junk. Interior is about the same minus one pleasant surprise-- the previous owner must not have had too many friends, because the passenger seat is in GREAT shape, especially considering the car hasn't been waterproof for three years. The engine is shot. It will fire and move the car enough to get it on and off a trailer or move it from one side of the shop to the other, but I wouldn't trust it on the road. One good tail light lens, one bad. Both headlight motors appear good. I rebuilt them with a pair of Rodney kits I had laying around. That's about as far into it as I got today.

Oh, and I did go top to bottom searching the car and didn't find a speck of rust. I love southern cars. You yankees and cannuks can KEEP your high taxes and rusty cars!

quote Originally posted by Napoleon_Tanerite: Got the car home today and tore into it. It's about as I expected, both good and bad. The body is SHOT. The only salvagable body panels are the hood, headlight covers, driver's door, and the roof. The rest is junk. Interior is about the same minus one pleasant surprise-- the previous owner must not have had too many friends, because the passenger seat is in GREAT shape, especially considering the car hasn't been waterproof for three years. The engine is shot. It will fire and move the car enough to get it on and off a trailer or move it from one side of the shop to the other, but I wouldn't trust it on the road. One good tail light lens, one bad. Both headlight motors appear good. I rebuilt them with a pair of Rodney kits I had laying around. That's about as far into it as I got today. Oh, and I did go top to bottom searching the car and didn't find a speck of rust. I love southern cars. You yankees and cannuks can KEEP your high taxes and rusty cars!

At least our houses don't become house-boats.

[This message has been edited by Thunderstruck GT (edited 01-03-2016).]

If that chassis is truly rust free, you should seriously consider swapping parts to that chassis.

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: If that chassis is truly rust free, you should seriously consider swapping parts to that chassis.

The thought crossed my mind, but it would be as much or more work to swap everything from the blue car (which is also rust free) over to the 88 chassis. The 88 would have to be stripped to a bare metal frame pretty much. Some of it is usable, but most is not. For example, I turned on the AC in the 88. It blew air for about three seconds, then made some kind of rattling sound, and blew dust all over the place. I think the blower motor has a bunch of mud wasp nests in it. The 88 has no power options, the 87 has all but defrost. The 88 is also a 4cyl/auto, so I would have to rewire everything.

Bottom line, in my assessment, it would be far more work to move everything over to the 88 than to take the important parts of the 88 and put them on the 87. Even more complicated things like the front suspension would probably STILL be less work than migrating the 87 over.