Hello everyone,

I guess some people have seen me asking (absurd) questions on this forum before but it is time to tell you somethings about me and ofcourse my little pride and joy.

I am an interior designer from The Hague (Netherlands) and I have loved the Fiero for over a long time.
In Ferris Bueller's day of while everyone was looking at the (fake) Ferrari, I loved the little car his sister had, the white 1984 Fiero.

When it was time to buy my first car, I went out looking for a Volkswagen Corrado and there on that lot, put away in the corner under an orange piece of plastic covered with some rocks was a Silhouette that got me curious.. it was a white Notchback with a broken fender that hadn't run for over 2 years. needles to say that at that time I forgot all about the Corrado and went for the Fiero.. Rest assured, the money I saved by buying the Fiero (got him for 700 gilders) I spend on getting it going and making it roadlegal.

After some years I had to sell it to pay of my (study)debt and went on to other cars.

A couple of months back, I came across an advert for a Fiero (notchback) parts car and since I now make a decent paycheck the virus came back with a vengeance.
I went to look at it and bought it, eventrough the engine was shot. (sorry, no pictures found of this notchie, it was a faded red 1984 bumperpad notchie, you get the idea ;-))

My initial idea was to swap in a Opel (vauxhall or other european GM brand) ecotec engine in it but only finding out how expensive the wireharness would have been made me reconsider.. And then I saw an advert for a 1986 GT fastback and deciced to swap its body for the Notchies (I love the bumperpad notchie more than other Fiero styles)
here are the pictures of that car.

The reason I bought that car.. the V6 engine (that started up without a fuss after standing idle for over 6 years)


So there I was, having two (unfinished project) cars wich both were not quite roadlegal or drivable..
I got the fastback drivable and drove it for a couple of weeks just to get the kinks out (rear brakes were replaced by new ones, a good service with all new plugs,fluids and filters and a good washing and a set of used wheels and tires)

Good news was that -branded as the dutch forums idiot for tearing apart a ok fastback to make it a bumperpad notchie- I had no problems selling the fastback clip, that spoiler and the GT bumpers and all. and I was back in the green to go ahead and tear apart the Notchie (fun fact, that notchie is now being restored and rebuild...... as a fastback!) and start the makeover into the Fiero I almost dreamed about.. and then...

Looking on the German E-bay, I discovered an abandonned project.. stranded 16 years ago with a broken clutch... It was my ultimate dream Fiero body.. the white bumperpad Notchie!
Needles to say that I wanted that one so bad, I planned the drive of the 800 kilometers with my partner and bought it unseen.

Now.. since I already sold the Fastback parts I had to improvise and went ahead with the swap from Fastback to Notchie ( a good way to practice I tought)
This is how the car ended up for almost two weeks:




Now... There I was driving a Notchie (finally yay!) with the white body in my mind..
So we rented a car and went for the pickup. I sold the engine (a good iron duke) to one of the lads in the community here complete with 2 boxes of new (well 16 years old but in original packaging) and he currently has his car running again!
so All I was left with was chassis, interior (a brown one, just as I always wanted) and body.. after driving 800 km's here is what I found waiting for me


We took it home obviously!

and went back to do the transfer once more (and in much more detailed way this time) from red notchie to a white one...
it took us 2 days this time to do propper (we aligned the body as best as we could and with the interiorswap took care of cleaning everything before it went in)



Then I went on to erase 16 years of dirt and stuff and ended up dirt removal, degreasing,and hand-polishing with extreme polish all the way up to finepolish and several coats of wax..

I still need to figure out how to get rid of the black Pontiac letters and how to get rid of the 36 year old sticker "Fiero 2m4"

for now I wrapped the roof white, it is the wrong colour but I save some money up to have it repainted to match, we tried the white top, but it is stuck beyond believe so we just left it.
but for now I drive my dreamcar.. a white Notchie with a roaring V6!.

Last thing I did was rip out the worn and saggy rooflining and replaced it with some brown alcantara to match my interior


There are some things I have to get fixed:

There still is something wrong with the brakelights since we swapped the notchie-rear light harnass the 3rd brakelight lights up however the normal ones don't.. all other lights work fine so it is a bit of a mistery.
since I removed the airco unit my fan comes on and stays on till I turn off the ignition.

Some plans for the future..

- I currently am working on a "black out"set for the dashboard, this will be black panels once the car is turned off, but with lights on it will iluminate (think of a smartphone)
- I want to lighten this car up a bit, So I now removed the power-windows, airco and the cruise control, any more tips would be apreciated.
- I will swap from auto to manual,
- I want to lower the car aprox 1 inch in front and 1.5 inch in the rear to improve it's stance. maybe 1,5"all around and then lower tires in the front wouls also be an option (205 45 17 in front, 225 45 R17 in the rear)
- I will eliminate the "stereo" I have a custom hidden system in the works that will be controled by my Iphone.
- I want to have it repainted in the original white, or at least where it needs to be restored.
- I will buy 17" Lenso Eagle 2 wheels for this car in 7,5J in front and 8,5J in the rear.
- Beretta front brake upgrade
- Maybe a port and flowjob on the engine.

How I hope he will look once he is finished:

-

[This message has been edited by Erwin03 (edited 06-22-2017).]

Hello Erwin!

Thanks for all the pictures.

Cool Story!!

You can pressure wash those letters off or get some "Goo Gone". That will soften the glue up and doesn't hurt the paint.

Welcome to the forum

quote Originally posted by Gall757:Hello Erwin!. Thanks for all the pictures.

You are welcome! more to come since I love this car and probably will upgrade a LOT in the future

quote Originally posted by pcgold:You can pressure wash those letters off or get some "Goo Gone". That will soften the glue up and doesn't hurt the paint.

Thanks! ill try that.. were these an factory kinda thing?
they look like they were painted in later.

quote Originally posted by 2.5: Welcome to the forum

Thank you!

Welcome to our addiction. I like all the progress pictures, very nice. Keep it up.

That alcantara material is really nice. I want to do my Camaro's interior with that stuff. Problem is that it can get expensive. Where did you get your supply from.

hello sorry for the late reply, I bought my alcantara for cheap (30 euro's for 3 meters) in a upholsteryshop.. my other idea was to buy an old alvantara couch and use the rear of that couch to upholster my roof.

well some things have happened since the last time I was here, still working on the wireloom I still hope to figure out how to connect the C500 conector rear light harnass of the 1984 notchback into the 1986 fastback conector on the car

and I have installed leather seats from a Alfa romeo 156

I will add pictures soon.

Gently heat the letters with a hairdryer and peel them off. They are just vinyl stick ons.

Sign shops that produce the computer cut lettering may have a soft rubber tool that is used with a power drill. It's a rubber wheel that will buff off the 2m4 lettering without damaging the surface.

Nice job on the conversion.

Nice!

Welcome Netherlands friend. I had sold our 1965 Bonneville (2 door) to a young lady in Bergkvara. We have stayed friends over the last few years.
The Netherlands is on my bucket list to visit.

You will find this forum site extremely helpful. these guys have wrenched on the Fieros mere than the GM. So eager to share their knowledge and experience.

Sorry for the slow reply on this tread guys, (and girls if there are any)

But, to make up for it I will include pictures this time ;-)

The letters have been removed and my lights work again thanks to the people here on this forum!
first let me show how my interior is coming along..
these are the alfa romeo seats installed:

I reupholstered the old seats and just finished repainting the entire interior in a nice milk-chocolate brown.

some WIP pictures:









And finished product:





I have started work my blackout dash as well, basicly it will black out all functions to simulate black panels until I activate the lights
since my radio has been removed (Bluetooth receiver/amp) I relocated the oil and the volt meters into the radio location to keep the interior as empty as possible.

here are some pictures of that, please be advised that these are prototype plates, I will make better looking plates with better fitment




This is the idea:

OFF ON


This is the plate installed in the gauche cluster :


more updates soon!

Not a big update but I redid my roofliner to fit in the gap for the filler-wire (don't know the name) I used a rubber weatherstrip I had laying around to push it in the gap and now it looks like it always has been there.

I am Currently working on new instrument-cluster plates that would be used to replace my curent ones.

I have a 1986 Fiero so the plates are backlit now witch would allow me to make these.

As soon as I have a company I will make soms sets (friends from the Dutch Fiero forum want sets like these to)

I converted everything to metric (km/h, celsius instead of Farenheit etc.

and since I am going white when the lights are on, this is what I came up with.. What do you guts think?

I like the gauges you made, they look cool! I think it will look really nice lit up white. What did you use to design them?

quote Originally posted by liv4God: I like the gauges you made, they look cool! I think it will look really nice lit up white. What did you use to design them?

Thanks! I used paint, this still needs to be tidied up a bit but sure gives the idea of how it can be.
It is impossible to find something in the 120 mph dials converted to metric so I decided to make them myself.

It is all part of the blacked out look, once it is done the dials will remain hidden behind a black panel until I turn on the lights.
just like an Iphone (I think Steve Jobs took stylehints from the Fiero)

Cars that started in Canada are in metric. I got a parts car from Canada and the gauges are all metric. So if you don't find somewhere to make yours, finding Canada gauges could be another option.

I tried, but the Fiero is an endangered spiecies in Canada

And I want to make my own design

Hello everyone, I forgot to show I have new wheels..
And there is a mayor upgrade coming up..

lets start with the new wheels,
Lenso Eagle 2 in 7.5J et 34 17" front tires Vredestein (i am a Dutchie afterall) 205-45 in fron and in the rear 225-45's







It needs to get much lower, I will lower it by 35 mm with springs from an Nissan Almera.

(Front Gap)

Rear Gap)


Now... I just recently bought myself a little upgrade as I mentionned..
it is a rear subframe with some goodies.. as in the engine, drivetrain and.. 5 speed gertrag, computer and all the stuff needed to convert my automatic into a manual gearbox!

[This message has been edited by Erwin03 (edited 02-19-2018).]

An amazing transformation. One thing I noted is that I don't believe that's a Getrag transmission. Even though it has the Getrag cable and slave mount, Getrags have metal end plates on the transmission case. A good upgrade, nontheless. That is an 86 engine so it would be a late model year.

quote Originally posted by fierofool: An amazing transformation. One thing I noted is that I don't believe that's a Getrag transmission. Even though it has the Getrag cable and slave mount, Getrags have metal end plates on the transmission case. A good upgrade, nontheless. That is an 86 engine so it would be a late model year.

The plate is metal, I checked..I consider every 5 speed trans as an upgrade over my 3 speed auto

my car is an 86 to by the way.. I was thinking of keeping my own engine in the car over the one that came with the subframe

Very nice work. Not a big fan of brown interior but that car is pulling if off nicely. Well done.

quote Originally posted by Spadesluck: Very nice work. Not a big fan of brown interior but that car is pulling if off nicely. Well done.

Thank you! Brown is ofcourse a personal choice, I always loved it.

I love that the fiero gives its owner so much room to customise it, from bodykits to engineswaps.. The fact that no two Fiero's (other than stock) are the same is such an inspiration

Small update while I wait for the 5 speed swap..

I decided to reupholster my steeringwheel myself and stitched it by hand.

It took some time but for a first stry, I do like the results:


First find a good color leather (that should be obvious)


copy the shape and size of the old leather


Ruin your fingers


Untill you have a hoop


Take it slow and work from spoke to spoke

realize you should have learned to stitch on forehand



Consider it a mediocre succes

I will redo it once I get the kross stitch mastered but for a first time I think this is not bad at all.

Such a tasteful car. Meaning it is gorgeous in it's own right.

I removed my antenna also years ago. One of my favorite mods.

Carry on...

quote Originally posted by fierofool: An amazing transformation. One thing I noted is that I don't believe that's a Getrag transmission. ...

I would tend to agree. I think it's an Isuzu.
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F.../HTML/063783.html#p1

With that said, I have seen numerous "V6 with Isuzu" Fieros. It will be fine if you don't flog it too hard. ("Shock loading" hurts...)
And you'll get a little bit better fuel economy.

quote Originally posted by Tony Kania: Such a tasteful car. Meaning it is gorgeous in it's own right. I removed my antenna also years ago. One of my favorite mods. Carry on...

Thank you! I will carry on for sure

quote Originally posted by Raydar: I would tend to agree. I think it's an Isuzu. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F.../HTML/063783.html#p1 With that said, I have seen numerous "V6 with Isuzu" Fieros. It will be fine if you don't flog it too hard. ("Shock loading" hurts...) And you'll get a little bit better fuel economy.

I am keeping it as my daily driver, and altrough I sometimes love to drive " sporty" it is not a racecar, it is (and always will be) a 30+ car and I will keep treating it with the respect it deserves.
Thank you for clearing up what kind of transmission it is!

you car is progressing nicely. last year i went on a river boat cruise on the rhine river. nice country you live in, went to vangouf to see paintings, wow such history. and windmills.

quote Originally posted by jim94: you car is progressing nicely.

Thank you! I love working on him, and it is a blast to drive!

quote Originally posted by jim94:last year i went on a river boat cruise on the rhine river. nice country you live in, went to vangouf to see paintings, wow such history. and windmills.

Nice! whenever you intend to return, let me know.. It will be fun to be your guide!

Back to Toppic.
I decided to return to the last parts of my interior.
You might remember my Idea to make a "black out center console" to clean up the interior lines?
Well I have that finished and installed!

Here is how it was: with the panels all painted black:

This is the idea I have had, when everything is off:

and when on:


Today I took a plexiglas plate and tinted it so it would be all black when installed:

The holes you see here are there ofcourse to allow acces to the aircocontrols.

Here it is installed, I will add pictures of how it looks in the dark in the future, For now it is to bright outside


ofcourse I made one for the instrument cluster to..


Now all I need is to install my freshly reupholstered steeringwheel!
In case anyone is wondering, I deleted the radio and installed a Caliber CA75.2BT, it is a bluetooth reciever that basicly makes my Iphone my headunit. it is hidden behind the console

[This message has been edited by Erwin03 (edited 03-12-2018).]

Also made a manual gearlever boot so I can swap it when the manual gearbox is in..




and finished:

Small update..

This weekend it will be some prepwork on the new engine and transmission and then Monday we will commence the swap..
I will install better exhaustmanifolds, an enlarged intakemanifold all new filters, sparkplugs and so on. and then Monday it is go-time

Today I installed my home wrapped leather steeringwheel in the car and I am pleased altrough there is room for improvement.



I also saved some of the leather so I can repaint the seats in the exact color of the dash and steeringwheel.

I am currently in the middle of the engine/transmission swap but now the steeringcoloumn does not send a signal to the starter, it is some gremlin to figure out and I hope this will be solved soon.

Then it is on to lowering the car and driving it with my desired 5 speed manual transmission

It’s alive!!

Sorry for the delay but the car drives like a dream!

I need to figure out why my blinkers and wipers don’t work and why my temperature sensor also doesn t work and then
I am a happy guy..

I just got the loweringsprings to install and then Ill move on to the headlights..

Its always good to hear a success story!

Congratulations.

------------------
Paul

Thanks Paul!

She is lowered and I found rare seats (vanderhoef) and painted them in an all new brown color to match the dash and steeringwheel.
Also today I took the time to have her aligned again so there are a lot of new things going on..

here she is before the drop:


and after:




And regarding the seats, The Alfa Romeo seats will make another friend really happy but these are the ones I wanted all along:

after filling the holes and doing some repairs, they of course had to be repainted..
[img]https://myalbum.com/photo/oQQyhm0YNlXJ/360.jpg">


Next would be the low profile buckets from Danyel and smoke blinkers in the front that serve as daytime running lights