As you know, I recently picked up an 88 GT at the Junkyard that had hit a pole or something behind the right door. Thread is here when we got it.

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Archives/Archive-000002/HTML/20060811-1-054991.html

I've been working on this car in spare time since. This is where my progress stands. Interior has been gutted, rear body panels are off, and broken rear glass has been removed and cleaned up. When I pulled the carpets, I found this:



Anyone ever came across one of these, looks like my carpet was the one in the delivery that got inspected.

Since I've gotten all the panels off, here is what I've found in the damaged area.





Frame pushed in 2 inches, sheet metal in corner of body spot welds broke, Alt belt wrapped up inside A/C belt pulley (A/C belt still on, just rolled.... ?)

Time to get down and dirty........

First I drilled a hole inside the inner sheet metal that lined up with the crease in the frame rail, set up a wood block on the left inner frame and fished the porta power between the engine and firewall, going thru the hole against the bent frame rail.



And started pumping. Had to move the power ram around a few different places and configurations but by the time it got dark I had this:



Still got a ways to go before it will be finished and ready to weld some brace metal to the frame, but i think it's coming along nicely, a lot faster than I envisioned it would. Gotta love friends who don't mind loaning out heavy pushing tools.

Have a great day,

Max

[This message has been edited by Max The Chainsaw (edited 11-10-2006).]

Yeah, I like my Portapower. Have broken many welds with that.

JazzMan

So thats what that popping noise was......... LOL JK

Something else I found out today, the right rear wheel was turned inward at the front. I was afraid it had damaged some of the 88 suspension though I couldn't see any bent arms. Well, I found the reason, the bolt that runs thru the spindle and both toe links was BENT inside the front toe link!! Anybody know the size of that long bolt?

Thanks
Max

Max,
I just pulled the carpet on my 87 Gt last month and didn't see any stickers like that. What a lucky find. Things like that are like finding a hidden treasure. Good job on the frame too.

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Collins & Aikman is an automotive vendor that supplies carpets, fabrics, and interior parts to GM. You may have seen there name before on the side of the Pontiac Fiero GTP car as a sponsor along with AT&T.

Now we know were the carpets came from and they are still in business....

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8T6 GT

[This message has been edited by red GT (edited 10-22-2005).]

quote Originally posted by Max The Chainsaw: So thats what that popping noise was......... LOL JK Something else I found out today, the right rear wheel was turned inward at the front. I was afraid it had damaged some of the 88 suspension though I couldn't see any bent arms. Well, I found the reason, the bolt that runs thru the spindle and both toe links was BENT inside the front toe link!! Anybody know the size of that long bolt? Thanks Max

That's a very unusual bolt lots of luck finding one. I would suggest either your local GM dealer (probably just a $25 part ) or call Bob Parker at Kick Hill Farm on the phone. He's sure to have a few laying around.

You're making some good progress there!

quote Originally posted by 1MohrFiero: Max, I just pulled the carpet on my 87 Gt last month and didn't see any stickers like that. What a lucky find. Things like that are like finding a hidden treasure. Good job on the frame too.

Thank you for the kind words. I have found several "Hidden treasures" in Fiero's I've bought. For example, under the passenger seat of the ZR-2, I found a 14K Gold womans ring..... wife snatched that one up though...

Max

For those of you who may not know what bolt I'm talking about, here is a picture of what one looks like after car slides sideways into a pole:

No wonder the wheel was turned inward 1 inch!! At least it wasn't one of the toe link rods bent.

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Well, got a bit further along today (Sucks having thrusday and Friday off for a weekend... )
Went out and rented a welder, my first time using flux wire welding, I'm used to stick and MIG. Found out I don't like flux wire, hard to keep it from spattering. But when I was done this is what the frame looked like:

Looks a lot better than what I started with!! As of now it's been given a couple coats of everybodies favorite rustproofer and is drying.

I think I might get this thing road worthy yet!!! Now if I can just find a toe link bolt!!!

Have a great day

Max

It has been a month since I updated this thread so I guess I should report my progress.

I found a toe link bolt!! (Actually got 2 of em now... ) I was told of a yard an hour away from me with an 88 coupe. Thanks Mike!!!

The body panels have been coming off, cut out the broken windshield. Actually got the solid hardtop roof section off in one piece, and the headliner in one piece. Hope I can get the sunroof panels off my 85 in one piece so I can put the sunroof in this car. I got a rear glass with defroster from the same 87 the clip came from. Still need to go to a yard and cut out a replacement windshield. There is a yard close by with 4 84's that been there forever, I think the windshields are good.

Work on this car will quickly come to a halt as winter closes in on me, I only have a carport to work on this car in, so there won't be much to see anytime soon. I'll probably work on interior parts inside over the winter (Gorrilla glue on radio surround......etc) Got wife a set of blue glow guage faces for this car since she has such an adversion to red... LOL

Well, enough rambling.....

Have a great day

Max

quote Originally posted by Max The Chainsaw: Got wife a set of blue glow guage faces for this car since she has such an adversion to red... LOL Max

Hey!! Blame the Taurus ascendant!! You know bulls don't like red... it makes them angry!! And you really don't want an angry wife all the time do you? laugh... Man it's gonna be tough picking a color to paint it... course it may be awhile before that happens anyway... that's gonna be a chunk of change... oh well... gonna be hard to do the interior with no clear cut color planned for the exterior... laugh... purple comes to mind...

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Damn Max.....I'm impressed. Good work. Also, thanks for saving another Fiero, particularly an 88, from that great scrapyard in the sky.

I'm enjoying the progress, thanks for posting pics. Keep us updated.

quote Originally posted by Frizlefrak: Damn Max.....I'm impressed. Good work. Also, thanks for saving another Fiero, particularly an 88, from that great scrapyard in the sky. I'm enjoying the progress, thanks for posting pics. Keep us updated.

Thank you very much. Like I said before, we can't let an 88 GT die in a Junkyard, especially one with only 34,000 miles on it!

Not a lot of progress lately, as I said, with only a carport to work in, winter kinda slows me down a lot. We have decided that it would be cheaper to just buy a large compressor and do the painting myself than to have someone paint the car for me. I have painted several vehicles in the past, so it should come out fine, and it would cost me less money and I'd still have the compressor as well!!

Here are some pics of what I'm doing in the meantime to hold you all over (As well as to bump the thread... )

I am reglueing the center console parts, common fiero problem. First thing to do is remove the loose foam from between the plastic and the vinyl covering:

Then you fill the void with good old Gorrilla Glue. Remember that Gorrilla Glue swells to about 4 times it's original size when it dries, so don't fill it completly up or you'll have a mess!! Don't ask me how I know this.......

Then you simply clamp the parts in place and let it sit a day to set up. I use 2 pieces of scrap aluminum 2 inches wide I had laying around. I ground 1 corner of 1 piece round to match the curve in the console and clamp them with an old "C" clamp:

In this shot you can see the half finished product to compare the original loose side with the Gorrilla Glued part:

And here is what it looks like glued together:

As you can see, I still have to clean off the remaining Gorrilla Glue with a scraper. Next will be the radio surround, glove box.....

Hope you liked this update, I know it's not much, but it does keep me out of the archives!!! LOL

Have a great day

Max

Edit because huked on foniks didn't help me one bit....

[This message has been edited by Max The Chainsaw (edited 12-29-2005).]

Yeah, I forget that winter slows you Northern folks down a bit. I won't rub in the fact that It's 70 degrees here today.

On the other hand, when you're enjoying a nice moderate summer, it's 110 in this sweltering desert hellhole.

Thanks for the update. At least you can get some of the interior stuff done while old man winter is upon you. I'm anxious to see how this one turns out. Guess I'm a sucker for a story with a happy ending.

Max, I need to fix my interior pieces as well. How does the Gorilla glue hold up? I have never used it before. Any tips or hints not already mentioned above during glueing and clamping process??? Thanks for your help. Oh by the way, nice save on that GT!

quote Originally posted by Frizlefrak: Yeah, I forget that winter slows you Northern folks down a bit. I won't rub in the fact that It's 70 degrees here today. On the other hand, when you're enjoying a nice moderate summer, it's 110 in this sweltering desert hellhole. Thanks for the update. At least you can get some of the interior stuff done while old man winter is upon you. I'm anxious to see how this one turns out. Guess I'm a sucker for a story with a happy ending.

Thanks, Yeah, winter slows us down... sigh. But on the good side, there is a good bit I can do. And last week it was in the 60's most of the week, now it's back down to the 30's though. But in all, I think I'd rather have this than 110 degrees.

Max

Keeping it alive.

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400HP out of a N/A SBC? Now thats just crazy talk.

If you decide you dont wanna keep the hardtop roof panel, let me know, i could use one to replace my sunroof panel (i hate leaking sunroofs)

it can be cut at the pilars and i can graft it back together if that makes shipping easier.

price?

matthew

quote Originally posted by m0sh_man: If you decide you dont wanna keep the hardtop roof panel, let me know, i could use one to replace my sunroof panel (i hate leaking sunroofs) it can be cut at the pilars and i can graft it back together if that makes shipping easier. price? matthew

I'll keep it in mind. It will be spring before I start dismantling the 85 to get the parts for this car. (I'm driving the 85 for the winter season, not much frame left for the salt to hurt.... )

If the sunroof panel comes off good, I will then be able to sell the hardtop. If the sunroof panel screws up, I'll need this panel... LOL

Max

Small update on my progress. We had decided it would be cheaper to paint this car myself, and since Tsukiko wants her 86 Gt painted, we went out and bought some stuff to do it with. Always wanted a compressor anyway.

So why not one that will do the job?

Here's a pic of the car in it's current condition. I was surprised at hpw little rust I found. Only a couple small surface spots on the bumpers. The car now has all the body seams covered with roofing patch (The fiberglass reinforced stuff ya gotta put on with a trowel) and sprayed with undercoating. Entire spaceframe has been painted black. The suspension bolt replaced and damaged glass cut out. Reattached the front bumper support. Even with only 34,000 miles, all but one of those plastic rivets were broke out of it. What could had made Pontiac think those plastic rivets would hold that up? It now has 5/16" bolts and flat washers.

Here is a pic of the repaired frame rail:

It too has been sealed with roof patch and rustproofed, and painted.

Here is the hood as it sits now. I showed Amethyst (It is to be her car after all...) some different hood vent options, and thankfully she liked the least expensive option best (THAT don't happen with a woman very often, does it?) So I am in the process of making my first Warber type hood vent:

And last but not least, a picture of the horridly messy conditions I work under, (Yeah, the mess IS all mine, but I know where every part is....)

If you look to the middle right area, there is the left quarter panel off the black 87GT from the junkyard. The one on this car was cracked. If you remember, a few years ago I made a thread called "I think I'm gonna be sick" about an 86SE in the yard painted metallic green that was destroyed in the yard for no apparant reason. Well, when I started sanding this quarter panel, under the badly painted black paint, I found some of the green from that car! So I guess in away I did end up with part of that poor car after all!!

Have a great day

Max

Did you just cut the hood and push the cut section down?
Nice and simple if so.

quote Originally posted by TennT: Did you just cut the hood and push the cut section down? Nice and simple if so.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. You do have to cut off the inner brace panel on that flap and pull it off the flap. Only thing left to do is fiberglass the sides and the front to lock it in place and cut out the holes for the vent. Also gonna fiberglass in a piece of engine grille screen from an old notchback grille so the openings have a hexagonal screen in them.

Here is a picture V8 Archie uploaded some time ago with the dimensions for cutting the hood:

Pretty simple really, and very effective.

Max

Edit, pic didn't show up.

[This message has been edited by Max The Chainsaw (edited 02-10-2006).]

quote Originally posted by Max The Chainsaw: Here is the hood as it sits now. I showed Amethyst (It is to be her car after all...) some different hood vent options, and thankfully she liked the least expensive option best (THAT don't happen with a woman very often, does it?) So I am in the process of making my first Warber type hood vent:

That's only because everything else I want for the car is going to be EXPENSIVE!! laugh... no, because we really don't have it to spend right now... so you're going to have to start parting out Night Wolf soon so I can start having some stuff for Armond... like new rims, scoops with the windows, oh yeah, and an MP3 player... but I can always do without any of that stuff other than the MP3 player!! laugh...

Oh, so that's what you've been doing lately... that's cool.. I should wander out to the barn to see first hand one of these days... or not... laugh...

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Wow, it's been awhile.... what a slacker!!!!

I have been working on some mechanical stuff. Had no fuel, ended up replacing fuel pump and sending unit. Got a 0-90 ohm unit from Summitt and made it to fit. Had no spark, ended up having to replace the distributor with one I got from a Junkyard car that had a fairly new rebuilt one in it. Now got saprk and the car will fire for a second and die. I'm thinking, since I found so much corrosion in the fuel pump and sender, I may have to swap out injectors. May just swap the entire injector rack assy out the the 85GT, that way fuel pressure reg will be good as well. I know the fuel system in the 85 is good, it starts and runs best of most all my fiero's.

Well, since my 85 GT died, I started pulling parts for this car. And I guess I can say "I got it off!!!"

Sunroof section. I've heard these are very hard to remove without breaking, but it didn't seem too hard to me. What I did was get a putty knife with a VERY thin blade about 1 inch wide and a can of penetrating oil. Spray the oil into the areas where the rubber goop is and slide the knife in. Keep spraying in the oil. The oil will help keep the rubber from rejoining, and in some spots it made the rubber pull completly out of the car. Worked real slick. The rubber on this panel was just inside the edge at the side windows and just behind the edge of the windshield. Any one know where I can get some of this stuff to reinstall after I get the panel painted? Speaking of paint, Amethyst may have finally settled on a color!!!! Maybe later you'll find ot what it is....

Oh, and she decided on wheels.... Can't afford new ones, and we found these from a Cavilar/Lumina Van on an 86 GT we saw in the junkyard. She doesn't lke the spoke style wheels you see at all. And 98% of the wheels out there are spoke design, go figure, she never was one who liked the same thing everybody else did. Maybe that's why she married me, no one else would..... LOL

I'm going to fill the centers ,on the inside, with fiberglass and then sand the Chev emblems smooth. Then I plan to cover the flat spots with the Fiero emblems that have the clear plastic dome over them. I think it will look pretty good. The rims are 16". I was thinking of 205-50-16 for the front and 225-50-16 rears. Do these sizes sound right? I have no idea how tire sizes work. But these seem to leave the drive tires wider and about same diameter as the stock 15's for speedo calibration. And the steers will be a bit smaller diameter to offset the "Nose high" attitude of the 88 as well as thinner to some what offset the "Stick out" look of an 88 with the same wheel offsets. Someone let me know if I'm way off base here or not, especially before I buy any tires!!!

That's it fon now. oh, I am selling some parts off the 85 GT to fund this project. Mr Mike seats and McKibbin sail panels are on Ebay. The rest. let me know if ya need anything and I'll see what I got.

Thanks

Max

IT RUNS!!!!!!!

After fighting this thing for some time. No spark(had to replace distrubitor, plugs, cap, rotor, module), no fuel (New fuel pump, sending unit) was still getting no fuel. Swapped the injectors out of the 85 GT, along with the fuel rail and pressure regulator. Still no fuel.

It finally hit me, the back window was broke out of this car when I got it and no telling for how long. I swapped the ECM out of the 85 into it. Fired right up. ECM musta got rained on while window was broken. Car runs real good. Still need to set the timing as soon as I can borrow a timing light but it sure feels good to hear it purrrrrrrrrr.

What a great day!!

Max

Congrats!!! It do feel good!!!!! I hope to have the same feeling soon with mine.

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The Steel Lady: Pix to follow........

Super Bowl XL CHAMPS!!!

Small Update, Hood is almost ready for finishing. Vent looks pretty good. I used aluminum pieces to hold the vent open and glassed them in place. I think it will be better than using wood as so many have in the past. At least aluminum won't draw moisture and rot out and crack the glass.

The wheel centers are finished. I filled them inside with fiberglass and sanded the outer dome flat. Then filled in the Chevy bowtie emblem, sanded, primed, painted, installed vinyl Fiero decals and clear coated. I think they turned out pretty good.

I think we may get this thing looking pretty good yet.

Thanks

Max

Those wheel centers turned out very nice.
Where did you get the vinyl pegasus decals?

quote Originally posted by Steven Snyder: Those wheel centers turned out very nice. Where did you get the vinyl pegasus decals?

Thanks.

The decals came from Ebay. Wife had the link. They had a choice of about 6 different designs and colors. She liked the simple pegasus without the shield badge or "Fiero" logo on them. I think she made a good chioce.

Max

Bump time...

Not a lot of progress to see, mostly been sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and let's not forget, sanding...

Here are some shots of my work area and some of the parts I'm working on.







I got tired of sanding to hood and it was in my way, so where to store it?



Dang, fits like it was made to go there.....

Have a great day

Max

quote Originally posted by Max The Chainsaw:

Hey, I used the same ones on my wheels! Great minds think alike....

quote Originally posted by AutoTech: Hey, I used the same ones on my wheels! Great minds think alike....

That would be directed at me... lol I picked the emblems for the wheels... Max found the rims, but it was my call on those as well... I did talk the guy down $50 on them due to the curb rash especially on the front rim.. but Max polished that right out...they look brand new!!

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quote Originally posted by AutoTech: Hey, I used the same ones on my wheels! Great minds think alike....

Sure do..... Sadly it was my wife's mind that chose those emblems..... So I gotta wonder....

Went to the junkyard today, got some stuff to sell, (Another 87 Headlight harness... no motors though, someone tore them up getting the bushings out , and an almost new brake booster and master cyl.) Pulled the distributor out of a 2.8 that had been dropped on the ground and left to get the tranny, figured if Fiero Store was offering core credit for them, why not. This is what I found when I pulled the cap off it:



It looks to me like the distributor had been replaced recently, and if I'm not mistaken, this distributor is a better quality than the original one with the tangs bent downward over the coil pieces. Am I correct here? Is this a better distributor, if so it's going into the 88 instead.

Also found an 84 that had just hit the yard, got a wonderful condition black trunk carpet and some interior stuff. It also had a new O2 sensor on it I took as a backup for emergencys. Had to knock out the trunk lock ot get into it, guess that's why all the tools in the trunk hadn't been gotten yet as well.

On the way out of the yard, I found this on the ground:



It's got pockets in it for a flashlight, and stuff like that, as well as areas for owners manuals and supplies. Thought it would be a nice addition to one of the Fiero's.

Well, enough rambling, I gotta run. You all have a great day.

Max

Good to see work progressing on the junkyard save.
Cheers Beers n Gearz. Joe

Yeah, right now it's slow... laugh... lots of sanding, sanding and more sanding... looks like the primer painting is on hold now for about 5 more weeks... had a stray cat have kittens in the barn... well, I guess she's not really stray, she's been living around here for the past year or so now... and eats on the front porch, we call her One-toe because she's lost all but one toe on her front left paw, probably from some trap set down by the creek... happened last fall when it was cold... probably a good thing or she'd of bled to death I suppose... Anyway... kittens are now 3 weeks old, momma lets me hold and pet them, and pet her... so we'll find homes for them, get her into the vet to be spaded and she can just continue to live outside... can't bring her in, got 7 cats inside now... lol... and the next door neighbors cat has taken up residence under our porch... so we feed her too... plus 2 others that run the neighborhood... hmmm one of those belong to the neighbor too... laugh... Wish this one belonged to the neighbor... maybe she'd spay her for free!! (she's a vet) laugh...

Anyway... I'm getting impatient... I want to see progress!! Well, I want to see something that resembles a car anyway... can't do anything with the interior until windows are replaced... the exterior is in pieces... I ordered blue tinted windows, but they aren't available yet, so that's got to wait.... decided I needed tires more than windows right now, and don't need those for awhile yet cause the car isn't ready for them... laugh... I have all these bits and pieces for the car and I really want to get some idea how it's all going to look together... (new stereo, drink holders, new gauges, need new carpet yet, etc. etc... ) sigh... still not even sure about the paint color yet either...

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Amethyst; This is the stage that will try your patience, the more time put into the prep work the better the paint will turn out. Besides it's not like your ready to shoot the paint yet anyway as to shoot the paint you first need to chose the coloer. That should be a nice car when done. Joe

quote Originally posted by motoracer838: Amethyst; This is the stage that will try your patience, the more time put into the prep work the better the paint will turn out. Besides it's not like your ready to shoot the paint yet anyway as to shoot the paint you first need to chose the coloer. That should be a nice car when done. Joe

Thank you, she wouldn't listen to the same thing coming from me!!!!

Max