quote Originally posted by kendallville: Ok so winter is hanging on . this is a list of thing planned for this years cleanup. in no perticular order install new shocks and struts install new ( to me ) gas gage sending unit recover driver side seat install new steering dampener install courtesy lights install new light in radio display install new horn paddles ( only one works ) move front sway bar to the back install new larger sway bar in front clean inside and out on gas tank repaint gas tank clean and paint underside of car check condition of bushings getting old forgot installing deck lid strut from Rodney Dickman ( on order ) and might think of a few more , we will have to see what I can do and can afford. hope to do the writeups well enough that they help someone else keep my favorite cars on the ROAD and OUT OF PICK APARTS

Ok just looking over my list and here is what I have in parts


allmost forgot



shocks/ struts, seatcover top/bottom, fuel gage sending unit, steering dampener, hog rings and
plyers, Rodneys decklid support, coutesy light harnes, lamp for radio, horn paddles,
got an extra vent screws, and a owners manual and deck lid poper and switch.
not bad the sway bar will have to wait .

Started today with the radio the light in the display went out so here is the radio
first I disconected the negative battery cable

started by taking of the faceplate 4 screws hold it on

four screws hold the radio in so out they came

and out come the radio

here you can see the light bulb its on the left the brown conector

and here you don't see it , to remove turn the socket counter clockwise
I used a small screw driver to turn it.

here is the new bulb ready to go in

well this is the second time I replaced this bulb and my luck ran out this new bulb does not work. I checked by putting a small led in my old socket
it worked but not bright enough . will have to get ahold of replacement radios and try to get a replacement.

Started the day by installing my Rodney Dickman decklid support, easy to do , looks good , and of course the most inportant
is that for the next project I will not be getting hit in the head by the decklid.

next went back to the problem of the decklid release, read an old post that told what the wires on the switch did.
jumped the two wires for the latch ,and the relay clicked . checked the switch and it did not rattle but was broke inside.
still no power at latch so I ran a wire from the battery , and one from a ground and it poped so solenoid was good.
next tried just the ground wire and jumped the switch , no pop at the latch so bad ground. then tried to adjust the latch
to the D ring , still could not get a ground. My next move was to run a permanent ground wire, and that will work.
Now I just have to get a switch or fix mine.



The next project was my driver seat , worn and had holes in the top and bottom

First off with the old covers qickley learned to hate hog rings.




Putting it back together I noticed two things 1 the new one is off a passenger seat no big deal just put the hardware on
the opposite side , the holes could be fixed but wont show , so some later time.
2 forgot there were two shades of gray , this is the lighter one but at least there are no holes .
so looks a little dif but can live with it.




While I was under the dash finding the wires for the courtesy lights decided to work on the fuse box , It always just hung down.
found where it went and why it was not put in place. Just missing a couple of screws and was easy to fix and put in place
ambition who knew
well I know this is a long post , has been a long day

The only thing I got done yesterday was to fix my decklid release switch.
Took it apart and found the little stem that activates the switch broken , tried different glues before I found one that worked.
well to tell the truth two I first super glued it to hold it in place then built the sides up with epoxy to add strength.
I allso had to take it apart further to clean up the corosion that had built up on the contact points over time.
My wife told me to buy a new one , but once I had started I was to stuburn to give up. So that adds another project to the list of things
that work. After that my back hurt so bad that it will be a few day before I can get back to it, and I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD
TO WORKING ON THE SHOCKS AND STRUTS. ( sarcasm works for me ) Oh and I almost forgot the sending unit, I guess it
will all be worth it in the end . Of course I will probably have to start over at that time .

On to the bottom I have it up in the air lets see what it looks like DOWN UNDER.

L

Looks like some rust lets take a closer look, to fine out what needs to be replaced.







Well there it is looks rusty but at least the frame rails look good not rusted.
Not sure but it looks like I should replace the sway bar end links . wife will not go for adding the back sway bar.
Next year it will be easyer to move if not rusty.
How can you tell if the tie rods or ball joints need to be replaced?
I tried to move the wheels by grabing the top and bottom I think some one told me that once .
everything seems tight no funny movements.
LET THE PB BLASTIN BEGIN!

got started tearing into it today got the wheelwell liners out the shocks off , and some of the front end off to see all
of the rust.





the steering damper has seen better days ,

Wow crunchy looking under there a bit. I been watching and your making really great progress! Your way ahead of our 87 with your interior work.

Keep up the great work and keep posting please. This is making some great reading and gives me tons of inspiration.

Thanks did'nt know if anyone was reading it this year or not.
that said lets get started did'nt do as much today, decided to take it easy I only had to watch my two great nephews today
instead of all 7 including gradkids and we all felt bad and slept. but I got the driverside rotor, hub and bearings off today , and started
to clean some rust off to see how hard it will be and how bad it was. Not the shocks and steering damper ( I bought replacements
from rock auto for those ). I see a lot of two seaters running around fort wayne , miatas, solstice, some little bmw and a couple
others that look expensive. In my opinion the Fiero is just as good and I would like to see them 26 years from now .
most people won't take good enough care of them for them to last , or will be wrecked because of texting. sorry time get off soap box
here is the only pic I took today, then its time for some hydrocodone and bed.

For the last couple of day I have used sanders, grinders, wire wheels , emery cloth, you name it to get off the rust.
I am allready tired of the bottom of the car . so after lots of elbow greese and trips to the store for more supplys,
I got it pretty clean and went for the primer I think it is starting to look better ( not so crunchy ).


So next I need to keep cleaning further under the car , and still planing on droping the gas tank.
Not looking forward to it but would like the fuel gage to work , and every thing needs paint over the primer.
Thinking about putting some undercoating on the bottom . Not sure because I remember some threads in the archive
where some people say that stuff is not the greatest, because it did not dry completly
I allso ordered some floor mats from JC whitney today will post pics when they arive, allso ordered a brake line for the
pasenger side front from rock auto. The hose looks as though it has seen better days now if I can find out how to replace
the rivut holding it to the control arm .

After lots of scraping , sanding, every thing under the car got two coats of primer and two coats of paint.
the new shocks are installed, as is the steering damper. I have started reinstalling the front air dam, and wheel wells.
the brakes were just replaced last fall , only have a few miles but I plan on checking the slides and adding grease to
make sure they move nice. allso have to replace the break hose on the passenger side
Then I need to check the wheel bearings and atleast repack with new grease.
When I get the front done , I will probably move to the struts instead of the fuel sending unit not looking forward
to droping the tank. Atleast the underside is not so crunchy anymore. here are todays pics showing some of what
I did.

Put the dust covers back on , repacked the wheel bearings ( they were good no wear ) , reinstalled the rottors , and wheels.
I tried to replace the ps brake hose but it was to rusty I will have to replace the hard lines ( which it needs ) or cut off the end
and redo it or I think I'll have the nieghbor do it. Either way it will have to wait for now as long as it works it is not high on my
todo list. Looked at the gas tank to see how it drops the only thing I don't see is how to unplug the wires .
Lack or room and rust seem to be the hardest part of getting it out. I want to either replace or repair the sending unit, plus it
would be a good time to check or replace the filter on the fuel pump.

the tape is to remind me the lug nuts need to be tightend when it gets lowered.

That is an amazing amount of work, but the results look great.

Madman! You went to town! No more crunchies!

The fuel sender wires will drop down when you unbolt the tank straps with the tank. There is a 3(?) wire connector near the center of the engine side fire wall. Disconnect it and unhook the wire retainer. Then loop the connector through the hole so it doesn't hang up when the tank drops.

The bear, IMO, of dropping the tank for the first time since factory will be those rubber hoses!

Great work so far!

Thanks , I will have to look for the wires. The tank was droped once that I know of , I had the fuel pump replaced in 2008.
The straps and bolts have some rust but the hose clamps look good .
I know hoses can be a bear , from replacing radiator hoses in the past. I don't know how much gas is in it but tried to run it
down as close to empty as I could . Just know that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Not a lot of room under the car ( it is up 6" but when you are under it thats not a lot, and then there the wieght of the tank ,
and gas. my nieghbor has a lift but being a fiero owner I am broke , and he wants to be paid also he does'nt allow time
to clean and paint . He does loan tools though there is also the fact I was a volunteer fireman for 8 years and have no
desire to get toasted.

Found out today how old my tires are they are original to the car.



They looked good and I don't have the money to buy 4 tires , so I never changed them .
Two of them say they were made in 86 and two say the begining of 87.
26 years and 150,000 miles I am not sure what ro replace them with that will last as long.

I recieved my floor mats today they look good, and fit good.


compared the material to the ones in my sons 86 close to the same look

a little different loop but close enough and the logo looks great.

quote Originally posted by kendallville: Ok I hit another job I can't get done. tried to start dropping the tank I can get the hose clamps loose. But I could not get the hoses to come off . so I decided to skip it and go for the struts I know it is goeing to be a bear . Will have to wait on the fuel sender untill I decide if I am going to try to pry them off, or cut them and order new ones . that might be the best way but when the wife saw the matts today she said no more parts. I did get it off the jack stands and ramps for now so I can jack up the rear to try the struts.

Compared to those fuel tank hoses the struts should be a breeze! Just make sure to mark around the factory bottom strut bolts for reference during new parts install. I use one of those white out paint pens and make a circle around the washers. It cleans off easily and stays on just enough. This way you can get the alignment pretty close.

Very nice looking floor mats! Where did you get them from? I want, no need a set!

I got them from JC Whitney, they were $71 after %10 discount and free shipping .
they have some that were more and a few that were less, this was the clasic loop, smoke color.
Now I just have to find out what to use on the strut bolts, they are probably torked pretty tight,
and a little rusty ( little being a relative term meaning I wish a relative would remove them ).
off to the search function

What? JCshi%me has Fiero logo floormats? I did not know this. I wonder what their black looks like?!

edit..any chance you have a link to those mats? TY

[This message has been edited by weloveour86se (edited 04-27-2013).]

http://www.jcwhitney.com/fr...odel=Fiero&year=1987
The matts are shipped from the manufacturer which is Lloyds.
I allso got the struts off today not to bad a job once I got the right tools.
I could not find a real good post on removing them , so might post details seperate to try to help
anyone who tries to do this in the future.

[This message has been edited by kendallville (edited 04-27-2013).]

Went to a local tire shop today and got the struts done. Cost $50 to have everything transfered to the new struts not bad
the GM dealer wanted $80. My shoulder is way to sore to even try to put them back in so it gives me time to make
sure every thing is painted , clean and ready to go.

I checked several places and they all wanted the same for a four wheel alignment $ 89 so after I get them back in that will be next.

[This message has been edited by kendallville (edited 04-29-2013).]

I dropped my gas tank in December and had a heck of a time getting the hoses off, especially the big one. I ended up using a box blade to cut a slit in the hose longitudinally. Since those hoses were 25+ years old they were as hard as rock.

The struts are back in the car , and the wheels are back on . My next move is an alignment if I can come up with the
money . Medical bills are hitting hard might even kill my chance of going to the 30th. old and stupid never a good mix.
The projects that will have to wait include brake lines , fuel gage sending unit, and finish the a/c system. Well there
is always next year to do more .

[This message has been edited by kendallville (edited 05-06-2013).]

Nice work. Yes I'm still lurking your thread! Your giving me all kinds of inspiration and a long list of to do's on Momma's 87 base. Not to mention a few things that my 86 needs. I really like those seats!

Any chance you get a few extra minutes you could post a new full view shot of the car? It's been awhile since we have seen one IIRC.

Thanks for taking the time to share and post!

Anything for my greatest fan ( ok my only ) , if it was'nt for this forum I probably would not have done
very much of this work. I would not have know how to do a lot of it , and would not of done as good
a job. Just hope this helps to save more of them. I see very few and the one I do could use a lot of
TLC . I know be quiet and post the pics already

quote Originally posted by kendallville:

Hmm interesting. Our 87 base has the same trunk popper harness in the rear decklid. We however don't have the option. Did your car come equipped with a trunk popper? Even more interesting, (to me) is our popper harness was hanging out of the decklid just like yours. I have had other years hoods that did not come pre wired for the popper. Perhaps in that year they started wiring all decklids for it? Hmm.

Still your biggest fan!
Andrew

edit to ask another question...How well does your air cleaner hose stay on the in fender canister? I can't get ours to stay on very well. Almost like ours is to short or something.

There is a reason I have been lurking...Information.

[This message has been edited by weloveour86se (edited 05-07-2013).]

The harnes was already in the car for the popper. Never could understand why they would go to all the trouble of
putting the wires in and not hooking them up. I just added that this year , all I had to do was by the switch and popper.
I still need to work on it some. The popper works but I could not get a ground so I had to run a seperate ground.
It is just temperary for now I need to run it thru the decklid .

" How well does your air cleaner hose stay on the in fender canister? "
I have never had a problem with it comming off, However I still don't know why it does'nt . It seems to be
an odd shape at that end . Maybe it needs a special hose clamp.
If I remember from having it off last year it was made a little different than the ones you buy in stores.

edit to add the wires and connector for the popper was in the dash . I did however have to take the back of the dash pod
off to look for them they were burried deep.

[This message has been edited by kendallville (edited 05-07-2013).]

Just found your thread today and looks great so far! I'll need to do what you did with the front cross-member because those "crunchies" aren't my favorite thing either. Keep up the good work and I can't wait to see what you do next.

Interesting history report , I tried the free vin report that was posted https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/091853.html
I had never seen a report on my car and had always wanted to know what it had gone through in the past.
any way the car was built in Jan 87 by the sticker in the door but since then.
It shows no accidents so that is good .
A year by year break down shows some interisting things
Indianaplolis, In
87 - 89 nothing , no title ,no registration , nothing
5/1990 title, no registration odometer reading 49,000 miles ( I am thinking the dealer had a plate on it and drove it.)
6/1990 title , no registration
91-95 nothing
10/1996 registration
10/97 registtration
10/98 registration
10/99 registration
2000-2003 nothing
10/04 title , registration
2005-06 nothing
6/2007 title registration Greenwood , in
6/07 new title no registration
3/08 registration
I bought the car 5/2008 title registration Kendallville
registration in 09-10-12-13 no plate in 2011 car was parked ( in reality it sat for 10 months in 2010
all of 2011, and 8 months of 2012.
So out of the 26 years since the car was built the car has sat for atleast 17 years
No wonder it still has the original tires.

[This message has been edited by kendallville (edited 05-10-2013).]

You have done an awesome amount of work!
Great looking car. You must be a mighty patient fella.
Tires look good but sleeper problem is dry rot... No speeding on those...

~Zep

just wanted to know what it would look like with new wheels 17"
I have to save up for tires anyway and 14 " are getting harder to find.
not bad but still like the stock look , but would probably mean I could get better tires.
will decide by next year when I work on it again.
almost time to store it for the winter ( an up north thing )
need to save a lot but don't know much about what will fit
would these fit?
http://www.discounttire.com...FINT&productId=37046

[This message has been edited by kendallville (edited 09-13-2013).]

Getting car ready for winter , starter went out so it goes into hibernation early.
500 miles and a little over a year old and it stuck when trying to start . Just
Hope it didnt damage the fly wheel. Makeing my list of repairs and updates for
Next spring if I have any money . I will be hibernating also due to minor surgery,
Hope they leave me some money for next years parts and to get my computer back.

Just wanted to pop in and say I am a fan of your thread as well! As awesome as some of these crazy build threads on here are, there's just something about a good restoration. I'm currently doing the same to my 87 GT, although you're doing a much better job! I'm in college so I'm kinda rushing on weekends to get as much done as I can, but one day when I have more time I will be going through the car again more thoroughly. This thread is great motivation to take my time and do things right rather than rush through it. Hope the recovery from your surgery goes well!

Thanks i am sure it will. The cars are a lot of fun , and need to be saved. Hopre you get time to restore your car ,
The way you want. Some times you can only do so much do to time or money, and school will help with the
Latter. Glad that my thread helps sometimes its good insperation when you can follow someone who has to
Work thier way through it. Eventualy i would like to remove the skin and repaint the fraim but we are back to the time
, money thing.

Spring is not here yet ( still buried in snow ) however it did get warm today for the first time in awhile.
So my attention turned to my car today , I was able to get in the tent .
This year I would like to do the following , brake lines, tires, new starter, fix the radio, new clamps to hold up
the coolant pipes, repair the A/C and just clean more of it up.
After that I will just have to see if anything else comes up plus I doubt I get all of that done.
I pulled the radio out of the car today and sent it to Southern Electronics today .
they paid shipping to get it there , and estimated $ 90 to get it fixed so UPS has it now. I also ordered a new
starter from Rock Auto it should be here tomorrow. I hope it did not damage the flexplate last year .
Sorry no pics this time , and it is supposed to snow another 6 or 7 inches wed so I don't know when
restoration season will actually get started. I have been reading the posts of events this year and would like to
get the car to at least one of them . Well with any luck winter will die soon

[This message has been edited by kendallville (edited 03-17-2014).]

Got the starter , now just need good weather to be able to work on the car.
After reading about upgrades to starters in some posts , I decided to try one . So I went with one from
a 98 Grand Prix 3800. I decided if it starts it faster that would be a good thin. It always seemed to spin slow,
and take a few cranks to start. so here is a pic


I hope it works. I also plan on pulling the accumulator for the A/C and the orifice tube while I have it in the garage.
That way I can order replacement parts , and clean out the mouse trap ( fan resistor assembly .
Still might try to replace the fuel gauge sending unit but might have my neighbor help ( he has a lift ). I hate watching
the mileage never works the best , it always varies at least some.

So today the new starter went in Started by pulling the car into the garage, surprised the battery was not dead
the old starter sounded bad. Disconnected the battery , and jacked up the back of the car , and put it on
jack stands. two screws hold on the shield on around the starter.



There is not a lot of room to get to the starter, or get it out.


I found it easier to use a ratcheting box end wrench to get the screws out of the guard size 10mm

there was also a bracket on the back end of the starter that was a bit of a pain to get out of the way.
Two bolts hold the starter on size 15 mm a socket with a long extension worked well. Tried to remove then
unwire , but the smaller wire was just to short to move it very far but did help.
The old and the new

Installation was easier than taking it out but still had some problems lining it up and getting the wires back on.

starts the car but does not spin as fast as I hoped , but at least it does not make the noise it did before.
the battery could be low and needs to charge more to do better. maybe next time I will have more room
to take some better pictures

Battery will Probably have to go after all. Tried to move the car this morning and nothing but clicks from the starter.
jacked the car up ,checked the wires , put a volt meter on the battery -12 volt. gave up let the car down turned the key,
started right up. let it run till up to temp moved it , tried to restart and heard clicks. Borrowed the neighbors battery tester,
12 volt , under load well not so good . Sometimes it would drop to about 11 volts some times drop all the way down.
Neighbor told me the battery probably froze ( which it did sit out all winter ) , and to say it got cold was an understatement .
( 19 days had subzero temperatures and 7 of those days were double digits below zero.)
Not sure if I want to try to charge it or not.
Any suggestions on whether to charge it or replace it are welcome Never had a battery freeze before ( that I remember ).