Just got my first Fiero a couple days ago and have a few Questions. It,s a 86 2.5 5 speed. and it also has a slight tick sound to the motor. First ? will a crank out of a S10 2.5 fit? second is there a lower gear rear end that might fit? 3. I'm thinking take doors and sway bars off and build a dune buggy, any body else done such nonsense. Thanks for any replys!

welcome to the forum.
otherwise, cant help you.

Welcome. I will let the engine questions to the great motorheads we have here. There is a off road Fiero kit that is available. Here are some pics of it. Here are some pics I took of the car a few years ago at Carlisle PA and a link to their site. http://www.cybercars.com/mnfr/fierohq/jalapeno.html

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Red 88 GT T-Top 3800 Supercharged
White 88 GT Stock
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welcome. Yes, a S10 crank will fit, and increase your durability. It looks completly different then the crank in the motor now, but it will fit.
If you want really steep gears, look into the 84's for there 4 speed transmissions, Most of them are 4.10:1 final drive, a bit steep for highway use but excelent for off the line torque, and perhaps mountian climbing to do the conversion you'd need a shifter and cables, a slave cylender and transmission brackets. (someone correct me if i'm wrong)

To tell the 4.10 from the other transmissions in the 84, open the hood (front) and there is a sticker on the drivers side wheel well, if M19 is among the list, its a 4.10. If its M17, its not. MD9 is an automatic, just incase you come across that.

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The ticking sound could be just a clattering lifter.

The lowest geared transmission made for a Fiero would be the '84 Muncie performance (M19) transaxle. It has a 4.10 final drive ratio, which drops the gearing down in every gear. That year also has an economy geared one, which looks identical on the outside, but has a 3.32 ratio, taller gearing than the gears you have now, so make sure you get the right one if you are gonna switch. You will need the shifter and cables from the 4-speed car too, and maybe some other motor or transaxle mounts, not sure about that.

While the Fiero may be a little heavy for a Dune buggy, it has the ideal weight distributiion for one, all you would have to do is remove all the extraneous carpeting, doors, air conditioning, etc. which would help raise the car up for clearance. It could be a wicked looking little Dune buggy if done right. Of course you should add a full roll cage for that.

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Gerald Storvik

http://www.8shark.com

Me and a few buddies have gone over the dune buggy idea. So far it's looking like a go ahead. But Not for another few years. We're going to wait until after collage to start into it. We're not going to use the Jalapeno because of the cost of the kit. Would you really want to take a brand new kit offroad?

I saw a Fiero at Turkey Bay LBL about 2-3 years back while riding my dune buggy up there. It was basically a ragged out car with some mildly aggressive rear tires. I believe they had the rear fenders cut back to accomidate the tires too. From what little I saw it seem to pull a hill pretty good but it was clearance limited. It had the stock 4 banger 2.5l. It looked fun but since it still had doors I'm sure it was a hot ride that day in the summer. They said the airditioning had give up the ghost.

A friend of mine and fellow dune buggyer that has been to Turkey Bay since me reported he saw a Fiero there also. He said the folks with it were towing it back to camp due to a rear wheel wobbling along. It appeared the rear ball joint had broken.

I have built my own VW style dune buggy once and considered doing it again with a Fiero powered drive train. Some of my concerns was the rear ball joint and the angle of the left rear axle between the transaxle and left rear tire. The ball joint is a very small piece of metal to take such a beating that would be passed out from a trail or hill climbing. The left axle angle would also be in a bind on full extention of the left rear suspension. This can causes CV joint stress and failure. You'd be a water slosher. Those were the items I thought that would be of most concern or a disadvantage.

The gains were that you will start with more HP from the stock versions. (65HP verses 90HP) The fiero engine is fuel injected which eliminates fuel delivery problems that can occur on an almost full verticle climb. You start out with disc brakes. Those were the items I considered to be an advantage.

All in all I reckoned that if one wanted to make a dune buggy for pleasure riding and such the Fiero has a lot of potential. On the other hand for extreme riding and compitition Much would have to be done to compete with the VW style of air cooled engines.

That was my take on the Fiero powered Dune buggy idea.

Great forum! been very helpfull. The roll bar and bumpers are nice in the picture, Curious how they done the suspension. I would like to also use a bar across the strut towers thats missing in picture. One other question what is the 1 gear ratio and final ratio on a 86 2.5 5speed.Thanks all.
86 Fiero
71 240Z Datsun
85 Turbo Dodge Caravan
74 Dodge Powerwagon

If you have an automatic, you can gear all the way down to 3.73 Transaxle ratio. (3.33 final with 1.12 chain. Read the Gear Ratio article in my cave.) This will put you almost 11:1 in first gear.

Finding that gearing in a donor won't be easy but any good rebuilder can install the needed parts.

The ticking noise could be several things. valvetrain parts loose/worn or exhaust leaks are common sources.

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11-Sept-01, The day the world as we knew it ended.

Here's a gear ratio link http://www.euronet.nl/users/fo_elmo/gearratios.htm