I come from a long line of idiots who restore cars. I have fond childhood memories of going on trips in my Uncle Everett's Model T, and my Dad has restored cars for 60+ years. Sadly my Dad had to hang up the towel and give up on his most recent Corvair Monsa project last year thanks to Dementia. Somehow, I managed to stay out of the hobby for the first 31 years of my life but now, in 2018 I've finally caught the bug and bought myself a car.
When I started looking at project cars I decided I wanted to have a car that would let me party like it's 1999. The obvious choices for partying like it's 1999 would be either a Delorean (very very $$$) or a Fox Body Mustang (becoming $$$). However, I quickly fell in love with the Pontiac Fiero for its 80s quirkiness, and most importantly, the fact I could afford one. I've read through the forums here and found lots of great info (thanks a ton), and would like to hear your input on my car. I was originally going mainly to ask about restoring the emission systems to the car, but I figured I might as well detail what I've gone through with the car after a week of ownership, the problems I've found, and see what you guys thought.
Guy Fiero's Story Last week, I bought this hoopty 86 Fiero SE V6 Auto off Facebook that has sat for at least a year. The worst thing so far is the poor emission systems and vacuum lines full of discontinued parts have felt the full wrath of a sadistic cash strapped hillbilly shade tree mechanic. I was told by the third owner it had passed to since it was parked that he was told "it was running rough" before he bought it and that he had too many projects and not enough time to fix this one. He also said it was too low and too small for him to get into. I'm only 5'6", so that's not much of a problem for me. Anyway, that lucky bastard found me with a pile of greenbacks while I was suffering from all the symptoms of project car fever, and after some shrewd negotiation it seemed like a good deal. After pushing it in my garage and posting some pictures to the facebook Fiero Club group, I christened it Guy Fiero and now the name has stuck. However, now that I've spent $$$ on parts, fluids, and registration, I'm starting to understand what I've got myself into. I should have haggled better... much better.
The Good
I named it Guy Fiero
it has a clean green title
It's not been "riced" up and has a perfectly straight body/frame
little to no frame rust because fiberglass and Oklahoma
the fool who owned it 3 owners ago put 4 brand new General Altimax HP tires on it in 2016
it still has a donut in the frunk
the interior is in pretty decent shape (good seats and headliner, dash is still in one piece but cracked)
the engine turns over and there's no milkshake oil
the radiator is still full of fluid
the atf looks decent and doesn't stink
the master cylinder is still full of brake fluid
there's not been any visible leaking since I pushed the car into my garage last week.
it seems like most of the stuff that's wrong with it is all pretty common issues that are well documented
The Bad and the Ugly
173k Miles on odometer (although the fact it made it that far is also pretty good)
Car was shoddily repainted like 20 years ago
the door key is broke and the deck lid has to be opened with a screwdriver
the hood won't latch shut because the hood release is gone and the wire has been pulled with pliers
the power cords to the radiator fan have been spliced with wire nuts, the ground goes to one of the headlight screws, and the "positive" wire has been routed into the driver side A pillar
the headlight motors appear to be shot, but I haven't tried them yet
the taillight housing is heavily cracked
the engine bay vents have no screws
the window and sunroof seals have the consistency of sand
The engine looks like it has sat a long while, but the dipstick showed it still having some oil
However, the dipstick and spark plugs smell like gas.
The spark plugs were black as night when i pulled them.
The distributor was sitting loose in the engine bay and needed rebuilt
the air filter was black, and the air filter tube/elbow has been hillbilly re-engineered.
The Front Valve Cover Breather Tube looks like it was remade from parts at home depot and is covered in duct and electrical tape, and the pre-recall air filter elbow has been hacked open to accommodate it and a vacuum line from the intake manifold/plenum that's supposed to go to the charcoal filter
the car didn't include a battery, and the battery holder was replaced with a folded piece of black paper and a prayer.
The Fuel Vapor Canister and the EGR Valve have been shoddily "bypassed"
I assume the fuel vapor canister got overflowed by the black stain on the old bottom filter
the EGR solenoid is covered top to bottom in nastiness and corrosion, won't show any resistance with a multimeter, and is probably borked beyond repair
There's a whole lot of clamps and patchwork covering the remaining vacuum lines
The e-brake is broke
There is a suspicious tube of used gasket maker in the trunk that I have no clue what it was used to fix
Interior stuff: No radio, lots of well aged buttons and switches, the driver seat won't slide, the radio/ac faceplate has no bolts and cracked corners, and the shifter/cig tray plate is scuffed up and has cigarette burns
The State of Oklahoma wants me to offer my firstborn to get the title transferred to my name and get a tag sticker. The previous three owners from the last 6 months didn't bother to notarize the title when they sold the car, and the tag's been expired since May.
If you have any suggestions for any of these issues, please let me know.
What I've Done so far
I've moaned to the Tag Agent about how expensive it is to register this otherwise cheap car.
spent money on a bunch of tune-up parts and fluid
removed the decklid which was shockingly easy
pulled the really nasty firewall insulation stuff out of the sides of the engine compartment, drilled out the spot welds on the rusted remnants of the battery holder, ground the rust (only a couple small spots), sprayed rust reformer on it, and sprayed underbody coating on that. I ordered a new battery holder from the fiero store which is arriving tomorrow.
Replaced the insulation with Reflectix
replaced the PCV Valve and Gasket
cleaned up the distributor, replaced the distributor pickup, and replaced the rotor
What I'm planning to do
Screw in new battery tray, install new battery wires, install my walmart battery
Find TDC and reinstall the distributor
Spark plug wires,Spark plugs, oil change, air filter
drain fuel tank and replace fuel filter
Try to start Guy Fiero
Time the engine
Coolant flush
Brake flush
Replace belts
replace turn signal/wiper stalk
Give the state of OK my first born
Take a trip out the junk yard in the boonies that claims to have 3 Fieros I can pull parts from
Get the fuel vapor canister working, get the EGR valve working again.
If I can't find a working EGR valve for much less than $565.15 (WTF?!?!?!?!?!!), block it off properly and get a modded ECM chip.
Fix the e-brake
Fix the broken hood latch and deck lid lock
If it's still running rough, clean/replace the fuel injectors (will probably do that anyway)
and while I've got the plenum off get a clean new set of vacuum lines from Rodney Dickman or Fiero Store
Fix the interior issues
Replace all the remaining nasty looking sensors
Get Guy a fresh new paint job, replace the nasty rubber gaskets all over the car, and replace the quarter windows
???
Profit!
[This message has been edited by wwcvel (edited 09-14-2018).]
First off, welcome to the madness. You know you can never leave now! The main problem with these cars is that they've have the best part of 30 years of 'just keep it on the road' maintenance. so basically they are screwed. Your job now is to reverse all that that turn it into the great car it really is. Engine wise, it's just an engine, same as any other car and the same stuff applied. A lot of the components on this car are parts bin so pretty easy to come by and this forum is a great resource. If you've you've got a problem you can bet someone else had a) had the same problem and b) solved it.
Have fun
------------------ Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!
Originally posted by ltlfrari: The main problem with these cars is that they've have the best part of 30 years of 'just keep it on the road' maintenance. so basically they are screwed. Your job now is to reverse all that that turn it into the great car it really is.
That's a great way of putting it. I hope I can do it justice and return it to its prime.
What do I think ? I love stories like yours and hearing about another Fiero being resurrected from forgotten-land. You got a long list of things to correct, but looks like nothing you cant handle. take things one step at a time, and eventually you'll have the beautiful little fun car you dreamed of. I reciently bought my "dream" 87. Like you, it had its own list of stuff to be tended to. The usual dew wipes, to a new head liner and all the common tune up stuff. The car now has 131 K on her, and runs EXCELLENT. Its my daily driver now, and I love the fact of being able to drive around EVERY DAY in my fun little 4 banger. I get loads of comments from people who love seeing this car. I also have an 88 Formula that I only use for "pleasure" trips. So enjoy your project and set your goals with that car. Once she's done , if you're like the rest of us, you'll be so glad you did.
What do I think ? I love stories like yours and hearing about another Fiero being resurrected from forgotten-land. You got a long list of things to correct, but looks like nothing you cant handle. take things one step at a time, and eventually you'll have the beautiful little fun car you dreamed of. I reciently bought my "dream" 87. Like you, it had its own list of stuff to be tended to. The usual dew wipes, to a new head liner and all the common tune up stuff. The car now has 131 K on her, and runs EXCELLENT. Its my daily driver now, and I love the fact of being able to drive around EVERY DAY in my fun little 4 banger. I get loads of comments from people who love seeing this car. I also have an 88 Formula that I only use for "pleasure" trips. So enjoy your project and set your goals with that car. Once she's done , if you're like the rest of us, you'll be so glad you did.
I dig your writing style! I’m excited to see how far you come with it. We’re glad you’re here, there is a lot of information. I had a parts Fiero that had 283k miles on the odometer. If taken care of, these things can last a while.
I have an extra egr valve if you’re interested. I’d have to test it?
I dig your writing style! I’m excited to see how far you come with it. We’re glad you’re here, there is a lot of information. I had a parts Fiero that had 283k miles on the odometer. If taken care of, these things can last a while.
I have an extra egr valve if you’re interested. I’d have to test it?
Thanks! I appreciate the offer, but I don't think the valve is the problem (in fact, it looks like my shady tree friend swapped a different valve onto it trying to fix the issue). The issue is the solenoid that operates the valve with a vacuum line, which has become very corroded. I don't have a picture of mine, but this is pretty close to what it looks like, plus the outer casing is covered in rusty corrosion. Even if the valve is good, it won't work without this thing-a-ma-bobber I'm going to the junkyard this weekend, and hopefully I find one in better shape there. Someone posted a thread about fixing corroded EGR solenoids so I'll try that if I can't find anything at the junkyard. If that fix doesn't work, I'll block off the valve and get the ECM chip that deletes the EGR.
But seriously though? $565.00?!?! Is this thing really worth more than unicorn blood? It also really fries my butt when people post things on ebay at exorbitant prices and then tack on $5 for shipping. At that price I expect it to be personally hand delivered next day FOR FREE to my door step.
Originally posted by fierofrenzy: The usual dew wipes, to a new head liner and all the common tune up stuff. The car now has 131 K on her, and runs EXCELLENT. Its my daily driver now, and I love the fact of being able to drive around EVERY DAY in my fun little 4 banger. I get loads of comments from people who love seeing this car.
The headliner in this thing is perfect. That's part of the reason I pulled the trigger on buying it.
As far as comments go, I've noticed on trips to the parts store that older employees aren't terribly impressed when I tell them "86 Pontiac Fiero" when they ask for my info, but the younger people working the counter always make a comment like "Sweet!" My neighbor who is around 50-60 yrs old also likes to make comments about it being a Firey-ero and how he remembers them catching on fire. Yet my millennial friends all seem to love the car. Moral of the story: I think Pontiac made this car 20 years too early, lol.
[This message has been edited by wwcvel (edited 09-14-2018).]
Fact : there was never a fatality due to a Fiero catching on fire. the problem was corrected, and a very interesting car ( at least in our opinion) was produced for 5 years.
Drove 45 miles out into the boonies to the junkyard on Saturday where I was given carte blanche to loot what I could find. Of course both Fieros were on opposite ends of the lot about a half mile from each other. I took my dog with me and he absolutely loved peeing and pooping all over while I wandered around lost and confused in the MASSIVE junkyard.
After walking around in circles for an hour trying to find the cars, gawking at the random cool cars I kept seeing, "LOOK AT DAT SWEET 70 FIAT 124 SPORT SPIDER!" "HAWT DAMMM, DATS a 53 BUICK!", getting rained on, and accidentally mistaking a gen 1 Toyota MR2 as a Fiero from behind the weeds, I finally found them:
This 85 Iron Duke that's the same color as my car... how convenient.
And this 86 V6 that looks like it was repainted for Dale Earnhardt.
R.I.P. Let it be known they have served the greater good.
After 3 hours of fun, I made like a bandit with this box of goodies for a grand total of $55. There's still some stuff left to loot on the cars, but at least next time I'll have an idea where to find them at.
I arrived home Sunday evening to discover my hot water heater was leaking all over my garage. After calling my landlord and cleaning up the mess, I just barely managed to get a couple little things done last night.
I popped in the air cleaner hose and manifold tube I looted from the junkyard.
and I finished installing my new Fiero Store battery tray.
Looks like everything's coming up Milhouse.
[This message has been edited by wwcvel (edited 09-17-2018).]
Well, my car wouldn't crank so I made a post on the TD&Q Forum with the assumption I was going to have to rip all the wires, the neutral safety switch, and the ignition switch out and that the sky was falling. Thankfully, they pointed me back at the right tree to sniff and I managed to get GUY FIERO STARTED FOR THE FIRST TIME LAST NIGHT!
Of course, our friend Shady the Tree Mechanic decided to throw a wrench at me while I was troubleshooting my no crank issue:
quote
Originally posted by wwcvel: HOWEVER, the biggest issue which I honestly didn't notice when I first removed the starter was that it was not mounted properly, and I imagine that played a big role in preventing it from being grounded and working. It looks like the previous owner had taken a trip to Shamrock Logo Parts Store and spent $150+ on a new starter. For God knows what reason he decided to use the bolts and shim from the original starter. The original bolts were nasty, covered in soot/dirt/corrosion, and they wouldn't go all the way back into the bolt holes. He had solved this problem by using oversized nuts as washers so he wouldn't have to screw the old bolts all the way back in. I imagine that might have worked at first, but vibrations from the engine probably worked the starter loose? I took my own trip to the Shamrock Parts Store and spent $10 on new shims and starter bolts. When I got home, I went into the house and got my gun cleaning kit and ran a wire brush coated in PB Blaster up the mounting holes to remove the nastiness. After that, the starter mounted without any issue.
I guess the moral of the story is if you're going to spend $150 on a brand new starter, you might as well spend $10 more on some damn starters bolts that aren't covered in nastiness.
I assure you this won't be the last time his handiwork will be featured in this topic.
[This message has been edited by wwcvel (edited 09-24-2018).]
