Turns out the blown engine in my car was actually a blown head gasket. There was no hole. 😂 Dumped four grand into this car for no reason.

Wow, long time no post Hailey. Are you driving it yet or still have more work to do? I know you have worked your butt off on this car.

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 10-23-2025).]

For Those Don't Remember...

New owner of a Fiero by AngelOf86
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/100754.html

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Original Owner of a Silver '88 GT
Under 'Production Refurbishment' @ 136k Miles

The op stated that a newly acquired Fierohad a blown engine but if you read the first post on the link he/she was going with a 3800 swap. If the cost was $4000 for a 3800 engine swap that was a pretty good deal.

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" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: The op stated that a newly acquired Fierohad a blown engine but if you read the first post on the link he/she was going with a 3800 swap. If the cost was $4000 for a 3800 engine swap that was a pretty good deal.

I was going to buy a 2001 Buick regal GS that had 106,000 mi on it. But the deal on that one fell through, I found a stock Fiero V6 for sale for $600 so I bought that one completely rebuilt that one redid the suspension for my Fiero redid all the engine components. Got my AC working redid my AC lines. My brake lines My brakes in general. I've never driven a fiero before so I figured I might as well learn it stock first before doing any major upgrades and potentially making my vehicle more dangerous. I'm going to drive out this V6 till it busts and then continue with my previous plan.

quote Originally posted by AngelOf86: I'm going to drive out this V6 till it busts and then continue with my previous plan.

Why?
Either drive the car with a 2.8L, service it and enjoy it.
Or do the swap.
If you blow the engine because you don't look after it, what's it going to be like if you get a 3800? You gonna blow that as well?

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"Turbo Slug" - '87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. - The fastest Fiero in France! @turboslugfiero
https://youtu.be/hUzOAeyWLfM

quote Originally posted by Frenchrafe: Why? Either drive the car with a 2.8L, service it and enjoy it. Or do the swap. If you blow the engine because you don't look after it, what's it going to be like if you get a 3800? You gonna blow that as well?

Forgive me if I'm reading your message wrong it's coming off passive aggressive. I didn't break the car, the kid before me did he didn't give me hardly any information just kinda handed me the title some spare parts and dipped. He lied about almost everything about the car so don't blame me for being careful. It's not my first rodeo. I do all my maintenance regularly, currently got a 91 firebird 5.0 with over 387K miles original motor, transmission and everything running perfectly don't say I'm a bad owner when you don't know anything about my first project fiero.

quote Originally posted by AngelOf86: Turns out the blown engine in my car was actually a blown head gasket. There was no hole. 😂 Dumped four grand into this car for no reason.

Don't feel bad.

I had a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am GT... I LOVED that car.

It had a 2.4L Twin Cam engine with a 4T60E in it. It was a decent car, actually pretty damned quick too for being a 4 cyl sedan.




Anyway... it suddenly started driving really poorly. No matter what I did, I could not get it to run properly. I replaced the fuel pump, replaced the timing chain, all the ignition coils, you name it.

I ended up selling it to someone for $3k (as it looked there). The guy spent another grand trying to figure out what the problem was. He finally pulled the motor and was going to completely rebuild it... and then discovered the catalytic converter had melted and was blocking the exhaust.

Both myself, and the next owner, had spent thousands, needlessly... because of a stupid catalytic converter.


When I sold it to him, I asked him to tell me what was wrong with it when he found out... we both couldn't believe it. Anyway, he reinstalled the engine since it didn't need anything, bought a new cat, and had it back on the road the next day.

Ok, sorry for my previous message.
I put my comment before reading the whole story.
I take back anything nasty or jugemental that might have come across in my message.
My apologies.😉

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"Turbo Slug" - '87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. - The fastest Fiero in France! @turboslugfiero
https://youtu.be/hUzOAeyWLfM

quote Originally posted by Frenchrafe: Ok, sorry for my previous message. I put my comment before reading the whole story. I take back anything nasty or jugemental that might have come across in my message. My apologies.😉

tu es pardonné