Fiero rocker panels (Page 1/2)
1985 Fiero GT MAR 14, 11:17 PM
My lower Aero rocker panels are damaged, not bad enough to be cracked, but bent/stressed, like plastic can get, very close to being cracked, but not quite a crack, of you get my drift. Paint is slightly cracked, but I can touch that up. So my question is, is there any way at all to repair this? Would careful application of heat "melt" the plastic enough to smooth out the "bends" or would that damage the paint or straight up not work?

Before you ask, my coolant tubes are perfectly fine, this happened before my ownership, and it is just slightly damaged, the underside of the drivers side rocker has a hole in it, but clearly they stopped before damaging anything other then the plastic. This seems to be only on the rear, any damage on the front is small enough that I haven't noticed it, but on both sides in the rear.

If this isn't repairable, what are the options for replacements, I would be looking for something that looks original, no twists or wings, etc. and I wouldn't want to have to paint it, paint is a future issue, if I would need it painted, I would just keep my bent ones!


Patrick MAR 15, 06:31 PM

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Originally posted by 1985 Fiero GT:

If this isn't repairable, what are the options for replacements...



I'd say they're quite "repairable"... not that I'm any sort of body man. If you don't wish to go that route, your only option would be to get some used ones from a wrecker... or The Mall. The biggest hurdle would be any shipping required, due to their length (and the fact that you're in Canada where we all get burned on shipping fees).

1985 Fiero GT MAR 15, 06:54 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

I'd say they're quite "repairable"... not that I'm any sort of body man. If you don't wish to go that route, your only option would be to get some used ones from a wrecker... or The Mall. The biggest hurdle would be any shipping required, due to their length (and the fact that you're in Canada where we all get burned on shipping fees).



Yeah I would most like to repair them, shipping isn't so bad for me, I live where I can see more of the US then Canada, and have a USPS box, so shipping isn't too bad, I'm actually crossing the border tomorrow to pick up some Fiero stuff.
Patrick MAR 15, 07:12 PM

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Originally posted by 1985 Fiero GT:

I'm actually crossing the border tomorrow to pick up some Fiero stuff.



I've been using a drop-ship location just across the border in Washington State for years (to save on shipping), but my Enhanced BC Driver's Licence had to be renewed last December, and the "Enhanced" licence program has been phased out... and I've never had a passport. So, I need to either now apply for a passport, or maybe instead look into NEXUS. Such a nuisance.
1985 Fiero GT MAR 15, 07:21 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

I've been using a drop-ship location just across the border in Washington State for years (to save on shipping), but my Enhanced BC Driver's Licence had to be renewed last December, and the "Enhanced" licence program has been phased out... and I've never had a passport. So, I need to either now apply for a passport, or maybe instead look into NEXUS. Such a nuisance.



Interesting, I've had a passport longer then I can remember, go over to the US about once per week, gas here in NB is $1.65 or so, in the US, 7 minutes away, it's $1.20 cad, they have so many Canadian customers they list the price in CAD/liter, and US/gal on their sign, and take Canadian cash. And for just gas in your tank, there are no taxes coming back across. Win/win situation, and on top of that they have ethanol free gas, whereas it is very hard and out of the way to find ethanol free here in NB. Interestingly enough I met another Fiero owner (the only other one within 100+km), a border guard, when I paid taxes on Fiero parts!
Patrick MAR 15, 09:07 PM

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Originally posted by 1985 Fiero GT:

...gas here in NB is $1.65 or so



The cheapest regular gas here in Vancouver today is $188.9 per litre... so you'll be getting no sympathy from me.

Even when I was still able to cross the border, it wasn't worthwhile for me just to get gas. With distance and lineups both ways factored in, it's about a three hour round trip... and that's if I didn't get some power-hungry border agent who wished to send me inside for a chat/interrogation. I really dislike crossing the border due to that nonsense. I always made sure I had the maximum value of merchandise just below what they'd want to collect duty on (usually just under $200) to make my trip worth the aggravation.
1985 Fiero GT MAR 15, 09:11 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

The cheapest regular gas here in Vancouver today is $188.9 per litre... so you'll be getting no sympathy from me.

Even when I was still able to cross the border, it wasn't worthwhile for me just to get gas. With distance and lineups both ways factored in, it's about a three hour round trip... and that's if I didn't get some power-hungry border agent who wished to send me inside for a chat/interrogation. I really dislike crossing the border due to that nonsense. I always made sure I had the maximum value of merchandise just below what they'd want to collect duty on (usually just under $200) to make my trip worth the aggravation.



Ouch, I assume you mean $1.889, it is definitely worse the closer you get to the coasts, in Ontario where I'm from, and where all the laws are made that raise the gas prices in other provinces, gas is like $1.25-$1.40, and that is considered high (to the people that live there with no reference to anything else)
Patrick MAR 15, 09:25 PM

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Originally posted by 1985 Fiero GT:

Ouch, I assume you mean $1.889...



Yes... but that's the way gas prices are presented here. Not there?

1985 Fiero GT MAR 15, 09:27 PM
It can be represented in a dollar amount, $1.459, or in a cent amount, 145.9¢
1985 Fiero GT MAR 15, 09:29 PM
Stations often use cents just to be more "precise" but when taking in regular conversion, people usually convert that to dollar amounts, or if not they have to dig through their phone/computer keyboard for the ¢ symbol