88GT HOK BrandyWine over Solar Gold and restore thread (Page 2/2)
hercimer01 DEC 30, 06:52 PM
Just wanted to bump this thread.
I still have the car. I have been driving it in the summers and really haven't wanted to paint it yet so I can drive it. The car runs great, the motor has been bored and stroked by the Las Vegas Fiero Club. The block is from a 2.8L Chevy S10. The reason for this is the crank has a longer stroke so more torque. The block was bored .030 over with a healthy cam. Any one who knows Fieros and drives it always make a comment about how it good feels to drive.
There is absolutely no rust underneath and the R12 freon blows super cold. I quit driving it so much this year to preserve the car. So, therefore I am open to the direction of the future of the car. I have the HOK BrandyWine and Solar Gold for a base coat. The car is not painted yet. I also have a low mileage L67 and 4T65EHD with a 98 GTP harness and computer. Not sure what I want to do now.

------------------
Project Genisis Lo Budget 3800SC swap SOLD
12.840@104.8 MPH Intense-Racing 1.9 rockers, 3" exhaust, 3.4 pulley, ZZP tune and 18 year old tires.

88 Coupe under construction SOLD

88 formula 3.4L 4t60 swap SOLD

88GT resurrection in progress.

hercimer01 JAN 04, 12:57 AM
I did buy an industrial walker foot sewing machine so I can do upholstery. I am also doing a 1966 AMC Rambler full restoration. So I figured I will start practicing on the Fiero. I have decided The car (Fiero) will be for sale, I have some prep things I want to do first to pretty it up. It's a rock solid car, just ugly as hell. So here is the start.




















The color of the 88 Fiero headliner is supposed to be medium Beech wood I believe. they're all different so please correct me if i'm wrong. I didn't know this when I did the head liner that is why is the wrong color. The color I used was from Jo Anne fabrics and its a tan color. The old visors pretty much match the new material I mentioned a few posts back. Medium Beech wood.

[This message has been edited by hercimer01 (edited 01-04-2024).]

hercimer01 JAN 07, 04:18 AM
Here's the before and after.
hercimer01 SEP 17, 11:51 PM
And so it begins. Body panels need to be replaced because this car came from the desert and is black. Also the car has been painted in the past with some sort of single stage enamel paint. They are all warped pretty bad. I have already replaced the front bumper cover, driver side door skin, and front hood. I have the passenger side door skin, rear clip, and rear bumper cover. All of my replacement panels have OEM paint on them at least. The fenders, lower quarter panels, and rear deck lid are all salvageable.




One of the threaded studs spun out, I had to cut he skin off.
82-T/A [At Work] SEP 18, 06:21 AM

quote
Originally posted by hercimer01:

One of the threaded studs spun out, I had to cut he skin off.






We had this exact same problem on my daughter's 85 Fiero, and even on the same stud as well. I was able to cut it off using a sawsall, and then miraculously, I was able to re-weld the same stud I'd cut off, using my mig-welder, and then epoxied the base of it on the fiberglass so it wouldn't spin. We were able to get it all back together like new without having to cut.
cartercarbaficionado SEP 18, 07:57 AM

quote
Originally posted by hercimer01:

And so it begins. Body panels need to be replaced because this car came from the desert and is black. Also the car has been painted in the past with some sort of single stage enamel paint. They are all warped pretty bad. I have already replaced the front bumper cover, driver side door skin, and front hood. I have the passenger side door skin, rear clip, and rear bumper cover. All of my replacement panels have OEM paint on them at least. The fenders, lower quarter panels, and rear deck lid are all salvageable.




One of the threaded studs spun out, I had to cut he skin off.







lucky for you it's not difficult to repair that panel afterwards.
lots of chamfering on both parts and getting that cut out center peice sanded much shorter to them use a fiberglass epoxy or a specific boat resin and standard fiberglass sheets to make it strong before sanding it down and using gold filler then icing and spot filler before filler primer
Matthew_Fiero SEP 18, 09:21 AM
You don't have to cut the skin off for that spinning stud. There is a retainer in there that keeps the bolt shoulder (square) held against the skin to prevent the stud from moving up and coming loose. You just need to apply some force on the skin upward to keep the stud down as you remove the nut.

I found my retainer sitting on the roof of the car rusted out. Replaced it before putting the clip back on.

[This message has been edited by Matthew_Fiero (edited 09-18-2024).]

hercimer01 SEP 18, 08:04 PM

quote
Originally posted by cartercarbaficionado:

lucky for you it's not difficult to repair that panel afterwards.
lots of chamfering on both parts and getting that cut out center peice sanded much shorter to them use a fiberglass epoxy or a specific boat resin and standard fiberglass sheets to make it strong before sanding it down and using gold filler then icing and spot filler before filler primer




quote
Originally posted by Matthew_Fiero:

You don't have to cut the skin off for that spinning stud. There is a retainer in there that keeps the bolt shoulder (square) held against the skin to prevent the stud from moving up and coming loose. You just need to apply some force on the skin upward to keep the stud down as you remove the nut.

I found my retainer sitting on the roof of the car rusted out. Replaced it before putting the clip back on.





Thanks guys. I wasn't planning to save that skin anyhow. It was cracked and sunstroke rotting.
I did try to save it, in one of the pics there is a crowbar under the skin in one of the pics. The rear clip has been replaced before and not very well at that. It was garbage to begin with.

Heres my replacements. They are from northern Illinois here so they are very straight. The rear clip I got from Paul Vargyas when he moved.


------------------

Project Genisis Lo Budget 3800SC swap SOLD

88 Coupe under construction SOLD

88 formula 3.4L 4t60 swap SOLD

1988 Fiero GT Medium Red Metallic Paint Job Maybe HOK Brandy Brandywine SOLD

88GT resurrection in progress.

[This message has been edited by hercimer01 (edited 09-18-2024).]

hercimer01 SEP 24, 11:46 PM
I took the last few days off to start painting the car, but I did find a bit of rust. I had to repair it before I could move on. For a desert car this isn't to bad.







hercimer01 NOV 04, 11:33 PM
I wonder if this is what its like in Alaska with short daylight.