Picked this car up a few weeks ago from What About Bob on the forum. It came with a bunch of new parts but was non running and needed the brakes finished. It’s a well optioned 84 SE with a 4 speed manual and a DGP widebody kit with the correct offset centerline wheels. Had new brake lines, calipers and rotors on the front, came with all the parts for the rear. I got the car home, ran the lines to the rear and installed the new calipers. Got a new master cylinder and bled the brakes. I removed the fuel tank and found a half tank of old stale gas. The pump and level sensor were rusted away and the inside of the tank was pretty bad. I cleaned the tank the best I could and installed a new pump. After installing the tank and filling g it with fuel I installed a new battery and got it started. Runs really good. It’s probably one of the quietest dukes I’ve ever heard. I got it registered and insured and started driving it. After 100 miles the clutch started to act funny so I replaced the master and slave cylinders. Feels like new now. I also flushed all the fluids, installed a new thermostat and radiator cap. Gave the engine a tune up with new cap, rotor, wires, plugs and filters. Installed a dual exhaust and replaced the valve cover gasket. It also got new shocks and struts and was lowered in the front a little. I also installed new engine and trans mounts. Charged up the ac and it blows cold. I cleaned the interior, fixed warped trim, installed a late model Pontiac radio and removed the purple tint from the rear window. I’ve also painted the mirrors and trim black. I’ve got a plasti dip complete car kit to paint it for now. Have a couple different colors I want to try before I spend money on a professional paint job. I’ve put about 500 miles on it so far and it drives great! I’d like to do an engine swap eventually but can’t decide what. Either a turbo ecotec, turbo 3400 v6 or a 3800. I also need to figure out how to restore the centerline wheels because they look pretty bad.
Here are some pictures. I’ll update the post as I work on it more.
FM88 Hey, that Fiero is gonna look great once she's all painted up. I like the body kit and the wheels look cool too. I remember seeing a wheel recondition ad on the side of a passing van once. google this and maybe something will pop up in your area if you want those rims looking brand new. They look great on the car. Im curious. I sse you put a lot of parts into this. Where did you buy the majority of the parts if I may ask ?
FM88 Hey, that Fiero is gonna look great once she's all painted up. I like the body kit and the wheels look cool too. I remember seeing a wheel recondition ad on the side of a passing van once. google this and maybe something will pop up in your area if you want those rims looking brand new. They look great on the car. Im curious. I sse you put a lot of parts into this. Where did you buy the majority of the parts if I may ask ?
same interior that was in Stickman's IMSA before he sold it
I didn’t like it at first but it’s kinda grown on me. Seats are pretty comfortable and stay cool in the summer and warm on cooler fall mornings. The car really needs a 3800 swap. I wonder how it would do with the 4.10 trans?
Don't they also work against the natural air flow through the engine bay vents? If you don't like the "look" of these scoops, why bother with them?
It’s a 84 so the side panels are solid, the vent is in the decklid. Thinking they will look better black. I’m planning an engine swap for this car with a turbocharger so I’d put the charge air cooler and oil cooler under them.
[This message has been edited by FieroMaster88 (edited 11-18-2018).]
It’s a 84 so the side panels are solid, the vent is in the decklid. Thinking they will look better black. I’m planning an engine swap for this car with a turbocharger so I’d put the charge air cooler and oil cooler under them.
Finally found a good used fuel tank with sender, just have to go pick it up. Will be the first car project in the new pole barn in the spring replacing the tank. I’d like to install some rear coil overs too. Still thinking of an engine swap even though it probably won’t be this year. I have four engines I’m thinking of. Ecotec with a turbo, 3400 with a turbo, 3800 sc or a Cadillac Allante 4.5L V8 that would probably end up turbocharged.
Picked up these scoops for a really good price. Not 100% sure they look good on the car.
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Originally posted by Patrick: Don't they also work against the natural air flow through the engine bay vents? If you don't like the "look" of these scoops, why bother with them?
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Originally posted by FieroMaster88: It’s a 84 so the side panels are solid, the vent is in the decklid. Thinking they will look better black. I’m planning an engine swap for this car with a turbocharger so I’d put the charge air cooler and oil cooler under them.
Nothing wrong with the scoops. As I keep telling people, they were designed for the '84 with the center decklid vent.
Yes that’s my brothers 86 SE. The barn is 30x48x14. Still have to buy an air compressor and hoist. Have a tire mounting machine and tire balancing machine.
Plastidip time. Not sure what color to get it painted so I decided a plastidip paint job would be good to try out different colors. This is slate blue and I really like it.
That looks fantastic! Can you give some details on the Plasti-dip? How difficult, cost, prep work necessary, where to get it, etc?
It was not too bad to do. I have the dip your car sprayer kit. Purchased it a couple years ago when I dipped another car. The dip I used came from www.dipyourcar.com. It is their performance series dip in slate blue. They have a ton of colors to choose from. I got the small car kit. It came with one gallon of gray base which did two coats and two gallons of slate blue which did 4 coats. The kit comes with a bottle of pre dip car wash so I used that and washed/ dried the car thoroughly. I let the car dry inside overnight. The next day I removed the tail lights, marker lights, sunroof glass and seal, sail panels, mirrors, and antenna. I taped off the windows, wheels, exhaust tips and anything else that I didn’t want over-sprayed. After that I wiped the car down with pre dip spray that came with the kit. I did it twice. It takes any oil or grease off from touching it during the masking process. I then mixed up the gray gallon, put it in the sprayer and sprayed the first light coat. After that every coat was a wet heavy coat. After the last coat of blue was sprayed I peeled the tape closest to the body. If you wait until it drys you might start pulling the dip off the body. Make sure it’s not too humid when you spray the dip. Mine turned out cloudy due to the humidity. I read online that giving the car a naptha bath would correct it. It was scary to spray the freshly painted car with naptha thinner but I did it. Sprayed a nice even coat on the car. After it dried the cloudiness was gone and the dip was smoother. Would have been easier to just wait to spray until it was less humid. A couple days after application I sprayed the car with a good spray wax.
So basically it was 2 evenings to wash, prep and spray. The kit was right around $300. I would do it again, it turned out really nice.
The kit was right around $300. I would do it again, it turned out really nice.
That's a really good price. I do have a question and maybe this will help others. Does this paint have a heavy chemical smell while spraying or can it be done inside a closed environment with no respirator?
I'm also curious as to what it feels like. Is it "rubbery"? I've never actually seen a plastidipped car. How durable is it? My Fiero has some peeling clearcoat. Would I have to sand the whole car or just those "bad" areas?
haha
I would keep that color.
