1988 Fiero GT 149,000 miles never wrecked 1 owner.

The story
Prominent family from the Livermore/dublin area bought the car new. Apparently they were big into the car community and local racing scene.
They died,left it to their daughter and it didn nothing as she had no interest in it.
The families mechanic ended up with it and he had a mind to not sell it to just anyone.Rather to find "Fiero people".
He did just that. He posted it on the Facebook Fiero page and also I think to a couple Members of Golden Gate Fiero Club.
Fiero people were found.
Unfortunately I am Fiero people. I have seen so many 88 GTs get sold for someones first car or to someone that just wants a cheap car to bash around in
until it breaks and they grab another.
I personally do not want or need any more Fieros. I have to be up over 40 owned now and presently have 5. 3 running good cars,1 parts car and one race/mod/experiment car.
Here she sits waiting at the Mechanics shop lot for someone to care for her.Lonely/sad and probably still grieving for her original stewards.


Martin Wilbert had seen it first hand so he gave the scoop of his first assessment of her. Shabby and dirty were some of the descriptions
When I first seen her was inside dimly lit shop on a Rainy Sunday morning. I put my hand on her and said everything is going to be alright.
I knew I would buy her even when I first seen her online. She was rough but she has all the right curves and still sat straight.
Nothing money and our Fiero Vendors can't make into a beautiful proud vibrant GT again.

Parts suppliers on this job so far to the tune of $2000 bucks are
Fiero Store Sail Panels-plugs/wires/cap/rotor/pcv air/oil/fuel filter. trunk boot weather strip. inner/outer dew wipes
Rodney's Power window upgrade.upper/lower ball joints . big brake booster upgrade kit. tie rod ends
Sluppy123 Corvette Brakes
Summit shocks/struts.Pyle front and rear speakers.
Suspension.com Poly Control Arm Bushings, Front, Upper/Lower,Control Arm Bushings, Rear
Maryland auto mats Black full floor FIERO GT floor mats
O'Reilly Auto all hoses and belts.Brake pads,all the fluids
Ned's paint ?? undetermined what will be done. It will be done though.
My Storage Barn,parts car and likely FieroBears huge assortment of Fiero stuff. headlight pucks.Seats.S10 style Brake booster and master cylinder. trim pieces.headliner.lowering springs

Our own shop will be do all the work. No need to send any work out.
Resident Professional Mechanic Louie Mcnally will be doing the heavy load of the mechanical.


There's no time for this project but I can't help myself. Love me an 88 GT and always have.

Car will be for sale after it is all purdied up and running better than new. Will only be sold to a Fiero enthusiast or it can just sit here with the rest of the stable looking pretty.

I'll keep posting pics of everything done as it gets done or thereabouts.

quote Originally posted by pokeyfiero: Car will be for sale after it is all purdied up and running better than new. Will only be sold to a Fiero enthusiast...

Perhaps Jeff might want to get back into Fieros.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 03-22-2018).]

Would be a great find for the Fiero Lover back east with a rusty frame...PLUS a road trip on I-80!

The engine has a layer about an 1/8 inch thick. Can't even see the engraved lettering on intake.
You can't see it in the pictures but it is really fuzzy and soft.

Seems the dust is so thick that the oil and grease is super loose.
I sprayed some purple cleaner out of a squirt gun and it all just oozed off. I rinsed with a hose and no pressure,literally just let the water flow over it for a couple seconds.
It will get a thorough scrubbing later.


We washed the car with just soapy water. after it was clean and mostly dry hit it with the wheel and a clean pad. The pad pulled out so much grime it was ruined.
But it turns out the paint is probably savable. The car was painted professionally somewhere before but several tiny spots are bubble lifting probably due to oil on someone's hands during prep. There are several spots that will need to be sanded down ,finished and repainted with a hot
reducer to burn it in together. A wet sand and clear spray over should make it blend perfect I think. We shall see.
I don't want to repaint a car that is 90% perfect if I can repair it. If I don't think I can do it good enough I'll send it Chris Fey. He can blend it in perfect I am sure.

You can't see anything wrong from 3 feet away. If you stick your nose in though and look around most people I think would find them.
.

Leaving it in one piece until the parts start arriving so we can move it easily.

Just waiting for UPS to start dropping stuff off.

pokeyfiero, welcome back newbie, .

quote Originally posted by pokeyfiero: Can't even see the engraved lettering on intake. You can't see it in the pictures but it is really fuzzy and soft.

And not even in the picture, .

Just waiting for UPS to start dropping stuff off.
[/QUOTE]

Well now, I am tempted to come and wait for you.

My best to you pokey.

Nice find!
I am already on the porch!

quote Originally posted by pokeyfiero: Just waiting for UPS to start dropping stuff off.

quote Originally posted by LornesGT: Nice find! I am already on the porch!

LMAO!

That UPS.....Delivery woman......Reminds me of Marshall's fantasy on HIMYM....

I am bored here in rainy weather with little enthusiastic to do. Waiting for parts is horrible.
You know you paid for them but you can't actually do anything until they are here.

So as the sun pops in and out I been messing with the paint.
A little wax remover (Paint prep cleaner) and a whole layer of crap came out. Nasty dirty crap.
Turns out there is a really nice layer of glass under the cloudy swirly hue. I am feeling more and more confident I won't need to repaint.
This is just the paint. Not buffed,waxed or otherwise. Just clean and dry.


The weather isn't good enough for me to do any real buffing or try a bit of wax.
I am that bored just to experiment around with wax.

I have I think decided to work with the stock interior. It is grey. So I figure I can introduce black into it.
Black top racing has nice black lexan gauge panels. I like the look. It is clean and simple.
Black seat inserts if I have the seats redone or order from Mr Mikes.
These with grey center

or these

Nice find. It looks good. From looking at the pics, there's no way I would bother painting that car.
The seats, I would be inclined to do a more conservative dark gray, with lighter gray inserts. Still with the "vetter" pattern. Just me, though.

I skimmed back over the original posting and didn't see. Is it automatic or manual? How many miles?

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Raydar
88 Formula IMSA Fastback. 4.9, NVG T550

Praise the Lowered!

quote Originally posted by Raydar: Nice find. It looks good. From looking at the pics, there's no way I would bother painting that car. The seats, I would be inclined to do a more conservative dark gray, with lighter gray inserts. Still with the "vetter" pattern. Just me, though. I skimmed back over the original posting and didn't see. Is it automatic or manual? How many miles?

5 spd with 149Gs.
Here are a couple spots that are bad. I opened the first one to see what it looked like under the bubble.

Looks kinda like a bit of water on the surface but that is actually a bubbled paint spot. The clear seems to keep it together.



The drivers side carpet where the carpet meets the vinyl foot pad is coming unraveled so I'll have to replace.
I have good carpet but it is all saddle so I thought I would dye it black. Maybe someone can repair this carpet or I'll come across grey carpet for cheap.
There isn't a lot of room for in the budget for this car.

It is unfortunate that the retail of our cars is so dismal. Good if you want to get one but bad if you want to sell one.
The value of the car has never been my interest anyway.

From what Pokey has been telling me, this is a really nice car. We hope it finds a good home.

Just coming back to the forum after a while of being away...

This does look like a nice car. I probably am not able to move on something like this, but just out of curiosity, what ballpark figure does a solid and cared-for 88 GT like this go for, and in what part of the country are you located?

Repairing paint is always a delicate challenge but this is a bit more troublesome as I have been unable to get the paint to match.
I found the shop that did the paint work and they really were no help. They said they would have painted it to OEm color match but have no record or they just don't want to check.
Neds paint scanned the color but It doesn't blend right. Maybe after it cures more and is hard buffed but I'm not holding my breath.
Probably going to have to do whole panels over and then it is really a flip of the coin to decide to just paint the whole car.

So I settle for a 95% job or a complete redo.

[This message has been edited by pokeyfiero (edited 03-30-2018).]

SHe sits yet again Footless because it is raining and raining. I like the rain. Just not when I want to work on a car outside.


Next shots will be with everything installed new or cleaned and painted to look new.
Then with Sluppy's 12" Corvette brake set up. I thought about the 13" brakes for a second but that is a lot of overkill and weight for a Stock 88 GT.
I still need to measure and order the stainless steel braided brake lines.

Wasn't a whole lot of cleaning need be done. Everything is in pretty good condition. Zero rust or corrosion and all the plastic and rubber is perfect.

I am just getting around to painting the suspension components now. Been busy with kitchen remodel. Poor GT been waiting with no shoes for awhile now.




It is nice to work on clean krust free mechanicals.

Its so good to see you reserecting this Fiero and NOT turning it into another parts car. I applaud you !

quote Originally posted by BoxerFanatic: Just coming back to the forum after a while of being away... This does look like a nice car. I probably am not able to move on something like this, but just out of curiosity, what ballpark figure does a solid and cared-for 88 GT like this go for, and in what part of the country are you located?

I guess I missed this. Oh well better late than never.

Around here a California 88 GT,completely rust free,no damage,everything working and in perfect condition will be over 4 grand up to 7 or 8. If it is a super low miles car expect the higher.

This 88 GT will have including purchase price over 4 grand into it and probably closer to 5 when it is done. That doesn't include labor. There isn't really a market for fixing up Fieros. I wouldn't recommend it at all.
Unless you want to save 88 GT's from the wrecker or from people that will just destroy them it is a bad proposition.

When and if I post it for sale you will see what I mean. It may stay in my stable. I don't mind. At least It will be well taken care of for a long time.

Often people will rather spend 1500 on a POS and then proceed to drop 5 grand into it over a couple years and then often still have a pos.
It is easy to drop money into the car on things that cost a huge amount but do very little to improve the car or value. If you have a shop do it then even more.
That is why I concentrate on core value. NOt a bunch of person specific likes.
This car is getting economical brake upgrade and 2" drop. Everything else is replacement parts that are better than stock but not stupid waste of money for something that is not a race car.

These are ready to go on but wont have time until next weekend.
Rust prevent paint then a coat of zinc covered in high heat. Should last a couple more lifetimes.
Got every nook and cranny on the inside spaces. They were dipped and wire wheels first of course.

When I had time I couldn't work now I have no time.I just had surgery a couple days ago so I need to finish the new kitchen addition this weekend and during the week. This GT is in my work area and I just slipped this project in. She's cramping my style!!
Going to have to give it a bit more effort to get back on track.



I should have sold it for 3 grand to someone that wanted a nice GT but I'd know they wouldn't give her what she really deserves.
What a sucker!

Good job Pokey,

Doing an absolutely effort to bring back an 88GT to a daily driver mode, and not cheaping out on the
basics.

Its nice to see that people do care about fieros.

Thanks for sharing.

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fierogt28

88 GT, Loaded, 5-speed.
88 GT, 5-speed. Beechwood interior, All original.