Hello Everyone,

So, I have this girlfriend, but none of you know her, as she lives in Canada. I bought Italo's old car, and Quad GT (GREAT guy) has been helping me get everything sorted, and even picked the car up from the previous owner for me and arranged repair because it was having some starting issues. Seriously, I can't say enough good things about this guy.

I'm flying into Toronto in a week to pick up my new Fiero. I'll be driving it back to Houston. Yeah, I know, I could have had it shipped. The cost for sh ipping was as much as I paid for the car though. About $2,000 including brokerage fees to get it across the border. No, I'm not kidding, the most basic (cheapest) quote was $1,500 without any of the additional required fees. I only paid $2,200 for the car, so I'm trying to get it here for less than $1,000 if I can, which means driving it.

I'm scheduled to depart next Friday the 14th (as long as my Passport gets resolved by then), and plan on driving it back from the 14th - 16th, as it's about 1,600 miles. This car has had a ton of work done to it, no expense spared, and is supposed to be super reliable, which means I have no idea whether or not I'll make it back without issue. It already had a clutch line issue just in the past couple of days.

I'm entering back into the US at the Detroit area of the border, and am planning to drive down I-57 to I-40 to I-30. This will take me through Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and of course Texas. I was hoping I could start a lifeline of members who live near this route that would be willing to pass along their contact info to me, just in case I have an issue somewhere in their neck of the woods...? I have roadside assistance but it would be nice to know some people along the way. I might even be able to meet up for lunch or whatever the meal is called at that time...?

I'll post here in this thread (and probably on FB) to keep people updated as to what's going on during the trip. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to be a part of the saga.

I live right off exit 232 on I-57 in IL and work right off exit 192 (M-F). Not sure when you plan to driving by, but feel free to give me a call and stop by. I will pm you my cell.

I live in Toronto in case you dont make it out of your driveway

I'm not much help to you now, but I live in Houston and I have a car trailer parked in my back yard. If it were me I would have borrowed a trailer and towed the car home.

But having said that I bought my first Fiero in Niagara Falls and drove it back to Houston. If the car is all sorted out you shouldn't have too many problems. But make sure you have AAA, a credit card, and a working phone. No problem that money can't fix.

Oh one last piece of advice, I would strongly suggest not driving past normal business hours. If you do have a problem, you don't want it to be in the middle of the night or late evening when everything is closed. It will make for a miserable night. When it gets evening time, get a hotel and rest up and start fresh again the next day.

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 07-07-2017).]

When you drive through the bootheel, keep the windows closed. Mosquitoes like it down there.

If your legs need a stretch, you can check out Garden of the Gods in southern IL. It looks like Zeus and friends played with boulders.

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: I live right off exit 232 on I-57 in IL and work right off exit 192 (M-F). Not sure when you plan to driving by, but feel free to give me a call and stop by. I will pm you my cell.

Good to know, thanks Guru

I drove mine home 6 hours, previous owner failed to tell me the gas gauge didn't read correctly, so I ran out of fuel on the highway.

Hopefully yours works!

quote Originally posted by busa_powered: I drove mine home 6 hours, previous owner failed to tell me the gas gauge didn't read correctly, so I ran out of fuel on the highway. Hopefully yours works!

This is true for most all Fieros. They didn't work that well from the factory and 30 years later almost none of them work.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: This is true for most all Fieros. They didn't work that well from the factory and 30 years later almost none of them work.

My other fieros gas gauge was spot on, oh well, lesson learned, just passing on my experience to save others grief lol

Taking I-94 from Detroit to Chicago? You will not love the traffic in Northern Indiana.....but I will watch for your progress!

If you miss a turn and end up in the Inland Northwest, I will light up the BBQ for you and yours.

Way cool, a road trip in a newly purchased car! I've done it. Its an adventure
I'm actually on I35 so probly cant do you much good but there are a lot of Fiero folks in the "Midwest".
If you have trouble I also recommend posting on the facebook group just called "Fiero".

I am just off I94 at Jackson MI
Good luck on the trip We drove one home from Florida

quote Originally posted by busa_powered: I drove mine home 6 hours, previous owner failed to tell me the gas gauge didn't read correctly, so I ran out of fuel on the highway. Hopefully yours works!

Yeah, I am planning on stopping every 175ish miles just to be sure.

quote Originally posted by Gall757: Taking I-94 from Detroit to Chicago? You will not love the traffic in Northern Indiana.....but I will watch for your progress!

Would it be better to go 94-23-24-69-70 onto 57? There is another route as well, but it takes me through too many larger cities, and I'm sure I'll end up stuck in traffic more.

quote Originally posted by Tony Kania: If you miss a turn and end up in the Inland Northwest, I will light up the BBQ for you and yours.

If I end up there, it won't be an accident, I'll be on the run, and intending to permanently relocate.

quote Originally posted by 2.5: Way cool, a road trip in a newly purchased car! I've done it. Its an adventure I'm actually on I35 so probly cant do you much good but there are a lot of Fiero folks in the "Midwest". If you have trouble I also recommend posting on the facebook group just called "Fiero".

I made a post there.

quote Originally posted by Flyboygt86: I am just off I94 at Jackson MI Good luck on the trip We drove one home from Florida

Good to know, I'll make contact.

I would take 94 to 69 to70. You have a lot of traffic at Indianapolis but way less than Chicago. I go that route with truck and car Tralier I also have found going through Indianapolis not during rush hour is quicker than the perimeter route.

If you take a wrong turn I will be on the lookout for you. :-)

quote Originally posted by Flyboygt86: I would take 94 to 69 to70. You have a lot of traffic at Indianapolis but way less than Chicago. I go that route with truck and car Tralier I also have found going through Indianapolis not during rush hour is quicker than the perimeter route.

I'll look into this, thanks.

quote Originally posted by PK: If you take a wrong turn I will be on the lookout for you. :-)

Well, I might be taking many wrong turns in the not so distant future now. I finally got through my appointment at the Passport Agency. It wasn't as bad as I thought, other than having to make an appointment only to stand in line like being at a DMV. The passport should be ready tomorrow at 2:00. It looks like I'm actually heading to Canada, eh.

I would have trailered or dollyed it myself. But if it shows no problems, just take it easy. No need to set the cruise on 80 to get home fast. Take at least a small toolbox and make sure you have a good, and aired up spare with jack and wrench. Even take some oil and coolant with you. I always try to carry a spare fan belt too.

If you should come thru Ohio and have any trouble feel free to give me a shout. I have a shop and a dolly in Columbus.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 07-12-2017).]

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: I would have trailered or dollyed it myself. But if it shows no problems, just take it easy. No need to set the cruise on 80 to get home fast. Take at least a small toolbox and make sure you have a good, and aired up spare with jack and wrench. Even take some oil and coolant with you. I always try to carry a spare fan belt too. If you should come thru Ohio and have any trouble feel free to give me a shout. I have a shop and a dolly in Columbus.

Thank you sir. I thought about driving, but that's 3,200 miles and I'd still have to do it in three days.

At the airport waiting for my flight to Minneapolis, then on to Toronto.

Just wanted to wish you good luck! I will be rooting for you...hope you have a safe flight as well.

Well, you should be on your way. I'm guessing you'll pass a few hours from me some time tomorrow.

Have a good trip.

Thanks everyone. Timing is way off. I am just now getting to Flint. Delays and misinformation from my traitor GPS. I'm going to have to make up some time tonight if I can but we'll have to see what kids be of stamina I can muster. I already had to pass a few members by. I wish I had more time. A meet and greet tour would be pretty cool. As said before Quad GT came through in spades. Great guy. Gonna eat now and see if I can get some more miles before I have to seek out accommodations.

Well, 8 hours or so should put you in Marion, IL. The problem with driving late, aside from less help available in case of issues, is not getting a late start the next day. Don't overdo it.

How's the Fiero?

quote Originally posted by tshark: Well, 8 hours or so should put you in Marion, IL. The problem with driving late, aside from less help available in case of issues, is not getting a late start the next day. Don't overdo it. How's the Fiero?

I took the advice of doing Indiana instead of Illinois. I managed a couple hundred more miles and made it to Fort Wayne. Just got up and am going to head out after I shower and get some fuel for the car and myself.

So the car.... at some point black "racing seats" were put in. I thought they were still the red ones pictured from before. The problem is they're uncomfortable and whoever put them in put two passenger seats in. The driver's side can't be adjusted forward or back, and is currently in a position for someone with longer legs than I own. I'm having to over extend my leg and ankle every time I push on the clutch. Oh yeah, the clutch, it's one of the stiffest clutches I've ever driven. To the point that between the seat and the clutch, my left leg is starting to complain. There's also something up with either the clutch, shifter select cable, bushing, or all of the above. It's difficult to find first and fifth is hit or miss Oh, and I was in stop and go traffic for two hours yesterday constantly having to restart in first if I could get into it.

Engine-wise the car seems to be doing well so far. I'm seriously wondering if I shouldn't have said anything about that, as I don't want to jinx it. Cigarette lighter doesn't work, so no juice for my phone, but I brought a couple of batteries. Not optioned for cruise, but I probably wouldn't use it with the clutch / pedal issue anyway. It's optioned for A/C but I'm honestly afraid to even turn it on with the recent fires that people have had with their cars from the blower motor issue, as I don't know what it looks like under there. The bodywork and interior both need to be completely redone but I knew that coming into this.

I didn't, however, fully comprehend the status of the suspension. The car drives like a track car or a go cart. It's fast but has absolutely no road manners. On a nice flat open road you start to think , "yeah this isn't bad", then you hit some uneven road or bumps. At that moment it's like being racked and punched in the kidneys all at the same time. You recover and start looking for the lane that has the least bumps, god forbid pot holes. After the first fuel up, I was glad I wouldn't be expecting "the boys" to try to create any more kids, as I wasn't sure if they'd be up to it. After the second, I was wondering if they'd even be up to the act itself. Yeah the car sits pretty low too, too low honestly, so I have to watch what I try to drive over. Pretty sure hitting a squirrel would look like I hit a deer at this point.

I have a very low mileage F23 sitting at home, with the shift bracket and bushing kit from BV Motorsports and Euro Pacific. I have a complete and running '85 GT to pull parts from as well as a small parts hoard I inherited from another member. It will get better. Eventually. After I find new kidneys and nads.

I'll try to update more. I'll have more details on the performance, mileage etc.

I'm glad you're making good progress. I'd have cleaned the heater resistor before I went anywhere. You can probably adjust the shift linkage when the engine is cool. You can use a ruler to adjust the seat on the driver's side. That should help a bit.

Illinois roads are not very good. I don't know about Indiana roads.

Michael it was a pleasure meeting you and im glad that I could do my small part in your journey home.
I didn't realize how loud the car was, I heard you as you were 4 blocks away LOL

Hope it all ends well as im sure it will
Apart from the rough suspension and very unpleasant seat the car has no mechanical issues.... well the rear treads are 50/50 so keep an eye out on that

Gonna miss this look in the driveway lol

What is that on the speaker cover?

I think it says Pioneer

"Rear tires are 50/50. Guess which 50 I just got. Passenger rear gave outside Olathe Kansas. If it had done it 50 miles sooner I could have addressed it at Chris's place. Guess I'm done driving my for the evening. Waiting on AAA to take me somewhere to a tire place that will be open tomorrow with a hotel nearby. Oh well, if this is the worst then I'm still ahead of the game. I need some rest anyway. Got some pretty nasty eye strain driving it today.

How're the leg and back?

Those 50/50 odds never work in my favor, either.

I take it you're short. I usually adjust the seat all the way back to start with, then wish for another inch or so.

Where are you in relation to your destination? If you plan on keeping the current wheels, of course replace both rear tires; if not, sometimes you can get them to put on used tires that are in the discard pile. When people get a flat, sometimes they replace 2 or 4 tires. These tires are often fairly good, but go in the disposal pile. Unfortunately, Fiero-sized tires are rare, these days, but used tires should get you home. Just a thought.

[This message has been edited by tshark (edited 07-16-2017).]

quote Originally posted by tshark: How're the leg and back? Those 50/50 odds never work in my favor, either. I take it you're short. I usually adjust the seat all the way back to start with, then wish for another inch or so. Where are you in relation to your destination? If you plan on keeping the current wheels, of course replace both rear tires; if not, sometimes you can get them to put on used tires that are in the discard pile. When people get a flat, sometimes they replace 2 or 4 tires. These tires are often fairly good, but go in the disposal pile. Unfortunately, Fiero-sized tires are rare, these days, but used tires should get you home. Just a thought.

A member swapped me wheels to get home. The tires were $320 + tax and install each. I'm not keeps my the wheels so it didn't make sense to spend that much on shoes. I'm now in Pittsburgh, KS, going to catch some sleep. More info later.

KS!? I had no idea you were heading West. Somehow, I thought you were heading down the Eastern route. You probably drove right by me. I'm guessing you took 44.

Kansas??

Having driven from Toronto to Houston I went nowhere near as far west as that. I guess you have your reasons, but no GPS would ever suggest that route

Just woke up. Got home at about 6:45 AM and immediately caught some sleep. I have to work tonight, so there's that. No my gps had me going a different route but I swung over and met Chris since we've been talking about having him clean up the swap and Alex is probably going to address any bodywork I need. It was a good thing too as I'd still be stuck there if Chris hadn't come out and swapped me some loaner wheels to get home. Those tires would have run me about $700 installed, which wouldn't exactly have broke me, but it would have punched my travel budget way over what I was trying to get by on. The tire shop didn't even want to touch the car though, as they were sure they'd damage the body or the rim trying to get the tire off.

I have to get ready for work, but I wanted to thank everyone for the offers of assistance and well wishes. I'll start a new thread about the car itself after I've had a chance to compose my thoughts a bit more.

Glad you got home safe

I go to Dallas all the time using 70, 44 and 35. From Columbus to Dallas is usually about 20 hours. I drive straight thru only stopping for gas and take out food/snacks.