And just wanted to say hi
and get re-acquainted with Pennock's and everyone here! It's been about 8-10 years since I've been around, not that I imagine anyone would remember since I can't even remember what my username was back then and I wasn't all that vocal anyway. Did get to meet Revin (he still around?) since I was living in Austin then and check out his 3800SC swapped 88GT. Also got to go to the Capital City Ruckus back in 2005 and saw some great Fieros there. Still have a shirt from that somewhere around here
Back then I had a UT orange 87SE auto that I bought from a guy in Florida off of ebay. It was a basket-case with butchered electrical all over the place and a really bad exhaust leak due to a stripped exhaust bolt and a [air quotes] cold air [/air quotes] intake, chopped springs and ragged out interior. Had like 170k miles or so. It did come with brand new 18 inch Motegi MR7's and new tires so I figured I bought the wheels and tires and got a free car!
Loved driving it even with it chugging like a diesel due to the exhaust leak (once I figured out all the electrical issues keeping it from running like the fuses replacing the fusible links) Saw a couple other Fiero drivers cruising around Austin back then and exchanged thumbs ups. Had a ton of people ask me about the car everywhere I would go since it was pretty rare to see them back then and even more so now.
The coolant pipes wound up being crushed by a Firestone while having my alternator replaced
It didn't really give me many issues before that, but afterwords was pretty troublesome. After driving it for about 2 years it was unfortunately a little too much trouble to keep it running right doe to the cooling issues (especially cause the ICM kept crapping out due to the heat) and had to garage her and get something else to drive to work. For some reason, they were tired of me telling them I was going to be late cause I had to wait for my car to cool down before it would start again! Wound up having a buddy move in with me for a while right after getting something else to drive and he needed a car to get to work which was only about 10 minutes from where I lived, so I let him drive the Fiero since it wouldn't overheat that quickly. Worked great for about a year till he forgot to check the tires for air and wound up having a tire come apart on 35 and hit a concrete barrier and wrecked up the rear end real good
Back to the garage she went till I could find the time and money to do something to ease her pain.
Wound up having to move back to Houston about a year later and was wondering what to do with her when one of the teenagers in the apartment complex I lived in saw it when I had my garage open. He came over and started asking all kinds of questions and was really enamored with her even with the damage on the back side. Said his dad owned a shop and did fiberglass work and would probably be able to fix it up real nice. I let him know I was thinking about selling her since I was about to have to move and he offered me 500 bucks when I showed him that she still ran. It was a hard decision since I still really wanted to fix her, but I knew that wasn't going to be easy at the current time in my life and driving her to Houston was out of the question with the cooling issues, so I took him up on his offer. Can't remember that kid's name, but I hope he was able to get her in decent shape again and is still making him happy! Told myself I would find another one some day when I had the means and hopefully the proper funds as well!
Anyway, that's enough about my stupid Fiero history, let's talk about the present! Picked up
this 86GT right here last Saturday! Always wanted to have a manual trans Fiero and when I saw it on Craigslist and saw the mileage, I wanted her right away, but I told myself to take it easy and wait a week to see if it was still for sale. If so and I still felt like getting her after that time, then it was meant to be! Felt like waiting for Christmas morning all week
She was still there on Saturday and so I went to take a look and test drive. She is unfortunately not as good looking in person as the photos would have you believe (myspace angles and all that I guess) but is in much better shape than my old Fiero, and pretty dang good shape for a 30 year old car. Found out that it has been in Texas it's whole life and was a one owner car. Drivers seat has the standard destruction to the side bolsters and the dash corner on the drivers side is busted, taillights are de-laminating and the paint is shot due to the Texas sun, but overall in pretty decent shape. Has the performance sound package (sub does seem to be bad though) and power windows/locks and the sunroof. Took a look at the coolant pipes and saw that they were not damaged.
My dad and I took her for a test drive and found that the engine is in great shape! She was running like a scalded cat and I had way too much fun rowing the gears and listening to that sweet exhaust (on a side note how bad ass is it that they got the Fiero to sound so dang good?) and quickly remembered what the brakes were like compared to something more modern! All in all, she was in much better shape than I was expecting so I made an offer and the dealer said sold! Of course the drive home was not meant to be uneventful as the needle fell off the temp gauge (lol!) and the shift cable decided to crap out on me about 5 miles from my place! Was able to get it in second with the tire iron and get her home without leaving second. Only had to run a few stop signs
So now she's in my garage, old shift cable is already pulled and waiting on Rodney's cable to get here so I can again get that grin on my face that I had driving her home! Already tracked down and fixed a few electrical gremlins. I'm sure there will be more but that's fine with me since I'm more of an electrical guy than a mechanic, but I'm sure that side will get better working on a 30 year old car. Already had the neighbors come by the garage asking questions about what the heck I just brought home and thinking she's pretty cool.
So yeah, hey guys! I'm glad to be a part of the family again and hopefully my new Fiero will someday soon be worthy of hanging with all the bad ass ones I'm reading about now and remember from the past! Sorry for the wall 'o text and no pics, but as soon as that cable comes in and I can move her without having to push her, I'll get some good ones to show what kind of shape she is in.
Here's a pic of her butt at least!
[This message has been edited by difluoroethane (edited 07-06-2016).]
and get re-acquainted with Pennock's and everyone here! It's been about 8-10 years since I've been around, not that I imagine anyone would remember since I can't even remember what my username was back then and I wasn't all that vocal anyway. Did get to meet Revin (he still around?) since I was living in Austin then and check out his 3800SC swapped 88GT. Also got to go to the Capital City Ruckus back in 2005 and saw some great Fieros there. Still have a shirt from that somewhere around here 
It didn't really give me many issues before that, but afterwords was pretty troublesome. After driving it for about 2 years it was unfortunately a little too much trouble to keep it running right doe to the cooling issues (especially cause the ICM kept crapping out due to the heat) and had to garage her and get something else to drive to work. For some reason, they were tired of me telling them I was going to be late cause I had to wait for my car to cool down before it would start again! Wound up having a buddy move in with me for a while right after getting something else to drive and he needed a car to get to work which was only about 10 minutes from where I lived, so I let him drive the Fiero since it wouldn't overheat that quickly. Worked great for about a year till he forgot to check the tires for air and wound up having a tire come apart on 35 and hit a concrete barrier and wrecked up the rear end real good 
