Well, my first Fiero was my 88 coupe. It was crushed due to horrendous rust. (The car was a surprise gift from my parents who didn't check for rust. They paid $600 and it drove fine for like 5 months, so no big loss.) Well after that one, I set out to buy a new one. I ended up with my 85 GT. When I initially inspected it PRE buying it, it seemed clean. Well my check was while I was totally excited and I admit I should have checked closer. After buying it and working on it, It was pretty obvious that there was some rust repair and/or cover up on the GT. The more I have been reading about rust horror stories the more I have been worrying. Well.... Here's pics of the damage. The area being photographed will be listed ABOVE the photo. Enjoy!

Passenger rear frame rail. Trunk to the left.


Passenger rear frame rail, looking at trunk. Frame rust is worst here.


Passenger rear frame rail. Trunk towards left. About where serious rust ends on pass. side.


Battery tray. Pass. side. (Duh)


Small hole in the cradle. Pass. side, trunk to left, this is near front cradle mounting point, sorta.


Rear bumper, pass side. Trunk can be seen in the upper right.


Driver side trunk corner, under the carpet.


Passenger side trunk corner, under the carpet, blower motor visible.


Under car shot, from the rear, facing the front.


Rear cradle, from the rear facing the front.


Another under car shot, from the rear, facing the front.


Rear cradle, rear passenger corner, closest to trunk. Small hole.


Rear cradle, Rear driver corner, closest to trunk


Rear frame rail, driver side, trunk to the right side.


Rear frame rail, driver side, trunk to the right side.


Rear frame rail, driver side, trunk is visible towards the right there.


Rear bumper, driver side.


Trunk underside, driver side, bumper towards the right.


Aaaand the car during the whole photoshoot.


The 3.4 was just looking too pretty not to take a pic of, lol.


Overall, I think the most severe spot, the like 10-12" section of frame rail on the passenger side is totally fixable, and I won't be hesitating to continue to invest in the car for years to come. What do you guys think?

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"He took my stapler. I could burn this building down."

Not rust-free for sure, but better then my current 86SE and a lot better then the 88 we parted out due to rust issues.

Poor 88-


My trunk corner before I fixed it. my cradle was rusted out too, so I had to replace that with a better one.

Ever try Ziebart? Man is that rusty!

you should wash off that salt!

Doesn't look so bad to me. That would be considered damn near perfect for an MI car.

damn i sure am happy, i dont live where theres an actual winter, my 88 gt has no rust at.

I would clean it up, get out the POR15 and have at it. Patch the holes with some sheet metal (for the trunk area). Then get some undercoating and cover it all. It won't be show pretty, but it will last longer.

Get a wire brush... get a welder.. get some steel...

Fix it.. that's not to bad at all..

once it's all fixed.. protect it.. POR 15, paint.. whatever.

quote Originally posted by datacop: Get a wire brush... get a welder.. get some steel... Fix it.. that's not to bad at all.. once it's all fixed.. protect it.. POR 15, paint.. whatever.

+1

quote Originally posted by ALJR: +1

+2

You have a PM.

quote Originally posted by joshh44: you should wash off that salt!

That's definitely next, lol, but I had no hose at the time of the pictures. Ours is missing apparently? Oh well.

And, as far as getting the rust fixed, I will be getting that done for sure. I will probably work on that this summer, and after that this GT will NEVER see winter again. I'm hoping to get a Crown Vic Interceptor for my "other" car. I've always wanted one, and I don't care if it see winter as much as my GT.

Keep em coming guys!

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"He took my stapler. I could burn this building down."

I'd say, pull the body panels and get out the cutter and the welder. This is just the obvious stuff. No easy way on this one. We're talking deep and long surgery. Good luck.

Arn

Bump to say that I have some cool pics to share when I have more than 5 minutes to a computer.

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"He took my stapler. I could burn this building down."

quote Originally posted by nutherproject68: Doesn't look so bad to me. That would be considered damn near perfect for an MI car.

X2, wish my car were only that bad. Cut the rust out and save it while it's not that bad!

I am working on my 85 SE and it is(was) way worse than anything posted here. The strut actually broke/rusted from the lower control arm assembly. The other side the lower control arm was held in by only the front bolt. Not to mention the trunk carpet was on the only thing left in the corners. I like a good project to practice my metal fab and welding skills so I'm fixing it.

To the OP, I would get that cradle looked at ASAP because it looks like it rusted from the inside out judging by the one pic. Probably easier to swap the whole cradle with a good one. If you got time take off the back clip, the lower quarter panels, and you can work on everything so much easier. Get some paint on there atleast.

oh come on, that should buff right out!!!!

sorry someone had to say it....
al