It's come that time where I feel like I've sunk enough money into my car that it deserves a build thread. I have a lot of pictures to post from the time I bought it to it's current state so I will update it day by day. I still have tons of plans for the car but I figure if I don't start a build thread now, I'll never get around to it.
So this is it! My build thread of my 1986 Fiero SE that started off bone stock, 2.8 V6 and 3 speed auto
From the beginning... I bought the car with the help of my parents when I was about 16. My dad suggested the car, and I went to go look at it and knew I had to have it. It drove like a go-kart, was sporty looking, and nothing like the honda civics every other kid wanted. Definitely something different. At the time I wasn't aware of the GT fastback model, and once I found this forum I sort of regretted making an impulse purchase. However, at least I had the V6 I thought... and at this point, I've grown fond of the notchback
Anyways, enough of the talk, I'll give you a little walk around of my car when I picked her up!
Bone stock, equipped with cheesy stickers and extra carpet, but luckily no rust anywhere!
[This message has been edited by doublec4 (edited 02-26-2009).]
Might as well post up the first few modifications I ever did within the first few months...
These were some of the basic things that I thought needed replacing. These are also the first few things that got me hooked on modifying my car. I realized how great it could look if I kept replacing old things, and adding my own touch to the car...
First up was a new steering wheel, I had to replace the old one with broken horn paddels... I also removed the stickers from the interior, and the old seat covers... and extra carpet...
Made my own fiero horn button!
Next up was the stereo... of course being only 16 I needed a CD player, I didnt really own any cassettes....
Of course I needed new wheels as well. I went with 16 inch Motegi mr7 wheels in gunmetal. I thought the gunmetal would match the black trim well.. I think I was right
Next up was a few more things that needed replacing or modifying...
Like most notchbacks, my sail panels were broken, so of course I replaced them. I went with glass sail panels from the 84 notchback so they would be nice and strong. I repainted the frame in a semi gloss black:
I also wasn't very happy with the tail lights. I buffed the lenses, and then sanded the black grid pattern from the red reflectors. This made my tail lights brighter and look newer. I also painted the white reverse light section black.
I don't really expect this to be the most popular build thread out there.. theres been lots done to the car, but not an extreme number of "one off" items that some others have on this forum. I figure this is a good place to document the things I've done to the car, and in the event someone has questions or comments, they are of course more than welcome
Nice build man, about time! I did the same thing you did. Bought my 85 GT when i was 16, i didn't know about fastbacks :/. Luckily i found a fastback parts car, and did the conversion. I love your color scheme, almost exactly like mine. Mines red with black rims and black interior. Also getting a 3800sc swapped in lol.
I regretted not knowing about the fast backs at first... but now I'm partial to my notchback and wouldn't have it any other way. I've wanted to make my car look like the IMSA race cars
As for the 3800SC swap, I have one of those as well... but that comes later on in the build...
I might as well take this opportunity for another update
So after spending the summer driving my car around, I decided to store it in the winter. I had some spare time on my hands after school and a few bucks to spare. I figured the best way to spend it would be to change the colour of the interior. The stock grey was alright, however, I remember seeing FLASHY's interior (I think it was him) after he painted it black and silver. I thought it looked really sharp, and more "high end." My steering wheel was already black and silver so I figured it would all be a good match, and a nice theme to carry throughout the interior. The black interior would play off the black exterior trim.
So a little hesitent to rip apart my new car (everyone knows it generally NEVER goes back together exactly the same) I dove into it head first and made sure I kept everything organized and labelled.
Here are some pictures of the disassembley process:
I thoroughly cleaned everything with hand soap, and then wiped everything down several times with rubbing alcohol. I didn't want the paint to fish eye due to years of peoples skin oils rubbing on the interior pieces. Everything worked out well! These are the pieces in my basement and my garage floor:
And here they are back in the car:
If you look carefully in some of the pictures, you can see that I cut down the auto shifter, and replaced it with a manual knob. This gave it the appearance of a manual. I also put some nicer pedals on that are brushed aluminum.
I also attemped a home made air fuel ratio gauge that would utilize the blank area in the gauge cluster:
It worked for a while but I think I overheated the circuit board I made and it fried. Oh well...
Lastly, unfortunately I have very few pictures of my original seats. They were in incredible condition. For years the previous owner had them under several layers of seat covers, and when I took them off, the "carpet" type material still had the original shine! They looked brand new!
After cleaning up the interior and updating it's look, I pulled the car out of the garage for the spring... only to find within the first week that the car had developed several fluid leaks. It seemed as though the engine would need a few new gaskets. The car was also running without a catalytic converter, the brake pedal was a bit mushy, and it was riding on some pretty old shocks.
I made the decision to take it in for some work at a shop that specialized in fieros. At the time I really wasn't aware that I was paying a little too much for what was being done... If I had of known the things I know now, I could have had a fantastic swap done. However, I learned my lesson, and the 2.8 was overhauled, rear calipers were replaced, new shocks and struts, and a few other small items. The engine bay was painted as well, and at the end of it, the 2.8 was a shiny gem, and I could proudly open the decklid to show off the detailed bay.
Here are some pictures of the engine being removed and disassembled:
Next update will be the detailing of the engine, the engine bay, etc
What paint did you use for the dash etc.? Looks very very nice.
For the dash and the interior pieces I used a vinyl spray paint. It was made by the brand "U-fix-it" and it was "Jet Black" which was a flat black. I did not go with a gloss because it would make the vinyl pieces look like plastic and look very cheap.
For the silver, I just used an aluminum coloured spray paint for plastics. Seems to be holding in there pretty well!
I'm going to fix up my cradle soon, when the weather gets better. I'm using poly bushings, and going to sandblast and powder coat it. Did you POR-15 yours or what?
The engine was eventually finished, and I happily took my car back from the shop. I was excited to take it to car shows and pop the decklid now!
It looked clean and ran pretty smooth. However, for some odd reason it felt a little slower than before.. not sure why. If you notice as well, the upper intake plenum was replaced with an engraved unit.
After the engine was completed, the engine bay was painted a nice gloss black, and the old heat insulation was removed, I wanted the entire rear of the car to look new. I decided it would be a good time to remove the decklid and paint it to match.
Here are some pictures of the underside of the decklid being painted:
Next thing I will do is post some of the other things that were replaced while my engine was being completed.
The other things that were upgraded or replaced during the engine work were the ball joints, KYB shocks and struts on all 4 corners, new rear brakes, new ebrake cables... take a look
As I mentioned in the last post, I drove the car around for a while with the newly refinished engine, interior, new brake components etc, and I knew I wasn't done there. At this point I was officially addicted to finding more I could do to improve the performance and looks of the car.
The car was a sports car, it was sleek, but it had the wheel gap of a 4x4. I purchased some eibach lowering springs off of a member of this forum and had them installed. It vastly improved the look of the car, and made the suspension a little stiffer which I enjoyed.
Take a look for yourself
And if anyone has any comments or questions etc, don't be shy! Seems like this thread has lots of views but not too many posts!
I've been watching Chris, nice to see your long overdue thread unfold. I'm sure I'll see lots of mods you don't notice at first glance today. My question is how many years have you been working on your car?
It's been 6 years so far... but really its mostly been 6 summers. I'm usually gone over the winters (save for 1 I think), whether its been school or hockey, so I try to get everything accomplished in the spring. Then I can drive it for the rest of the summer and store it again in the winter. If I didn't have this car and I saved the money I spent on it, I could probably be riding around in a used C5 corvette at 22 years old... not bad, but I think its more rare to see a fiero around here anyways The corvette will be the next car
If I didn't have this car and I saved the money I spent on it, I could probably be riding around in a used C5 corvette at 22 years old...
The corvette will be the next car
Pshhh! What for? That's what I said 5 Fieros ago. For the one I'm building now I could have easily bought a new Solstice GXP, infact I almost did. I even went and test drove one and when I got back to the dealer there was a circle of teenagers around my 87 GT wanting to know what it was and if it was some sort of prototype seeing the Pontiac badges. I took that as a compliment considering the car's age, then educated the poor saps on the Fiero, and wound up selling that car to one of those guys a couple of months later ( Ha, he's bitten now ) to help fund my 6th Fiero and current project. It was that day I decided, if I was going to spend that much money, it would be on a car I truly enjoy. (the fact that the Solsice was completely uncomforatable with no where to put your left arm didn't help) Fieros may be 20 years old but they are cheap and easy to modify,ahem, like a blank canvas with lots of potential. And at least they have a frickin place for your left arm.
Pshhh! What for? That's what I said 5 Fieros ago. For the one I'm building now I could have easily bought a new Solstice GXP, infact I almost did. I even went and test drove one and when I got back to the dealer there was a circle of teenagers around my 87 GT wanting to know what it was and if it was some sort of prototype seeing the Pontiac badges. I took that as a compliment considering the car's age, then educated the poor saps on the Fiero, and wound up selling that car to one of those guys a couple of months later ( Ha, he's bitten now ) to help fund my 6th Fiero and current project. It was that day I decided, if I was going to spend that much money, it would be on a car I truly enjoy. (the fact that the Solsice was completely uncomforatable with no where to put your left arm didn't help) Fieros may be 20 years old but they are cheap and easy to modify,ahem, like a blank canvas with lots of potential. And at least they have a frickin place for your left arm.
I agree with you, the fiero has brought me a lot of joy over the years and has been a great car to learn new skills on as well as apply new ideas. It has a lot of potential and it's really versatile. There are so many things you can do to it to really make it your own. However, being a realist, the corvette is one hell of a car to start off with. I've driven my dad's C5 and it never ceases to put a smile on my face either. 350hp right out of the box is nothing to complain about. The magnetic ride control is a nice option, and the 6 speed transmission feels bulletproof.
I never want to part with my fiero and I love the fact that you barely see any on the road anymore. I still get poeple looking at the car and telling me how its great to see one in such good shape. I take a lot of pride in it, and I'll always be looking for ways to improve it.
As for the solstice, I've sat in a few and I found it to be rather cramped inside as well. Thats why I would like to add a corvette to the collection one day as well. Its not very cramped inside. Ideally I will buy a C5 ZO6 and go for the Le Mans look, as its been one of my favourite race cars. I would be looking to pump out 600hp apprx. and style the body after the Le Mans car.
Anyways, that will have to wait until I'm out of school
Right now the fiero is my focus and I have another update to make to this page soon...
You have a really clean build going. I've always thought yours was one of the better looking notchbacks around. I never realized how much similarity there was with mine though. I also picked up my red auto 86 SE when I was 16 (23 now). Also had engine issues and found out later I should've swapped then instead of going with the 2.8 again. Etc. But yeah, keep it up.
You have a really clean build going. I've always thought yours was one of the better looking notchbacks around. I never realized how much similarity there was with mine though. I also picked up my red auto 86 SE when I was 16 (23 now). Also had engine issues and found out later I should've swapped then instead of going with the 2.8 again. Etc. But yeah, keep it up.
Thanks for the compliments
I guess we all live and learn with the mistakes we make. I could have had a hell of a swap for the money I paid for my 2.8 to look that way. However, I now know whats out there and what can be done for that kind of money. I actually have a 3800SC with a 4spd manual in my car now, but I'll get to that later...
To keep things in chronological order, the next thing I did was try and clean up the engine bay a little moe. I bought a CRX intake
and then bought a new cap/rotor/wires/ and painted the EGR cover.. this really united the look of the engine bay:
No more colours that don't belong and everything looked great
I just received a shipment of interior vinyl paint and was really wondering what black would look like. It looks great in your car and now I am looking forward to doing mine. The only difference is that I have to add a few more colors to match the outside theme Your car looks really nice.
I just received a shipment of interior vinyl paint and was really wondering what black would look like. It looks great in your car and now I am looking forward to doing mine. The only difference is that I have to add a few more colors to match the outside theme Your car looks really nice.
Thanks!
The black and silver does look really sharp in my opinion, its sporty, classy, and not overstated. I think its similar to the treatment porsche gives a lot of their interiors (in terms of colours).
I hope you got a flat black though. The gloss stuff makes everything look like plastic. Good luck with your interior and post some pictures, I'm following your other thread!
Nice job with your interior. Black is a definite improvement in my opinion. I did the same to my car about 7 years ago, now I've taken it a step further and am going with black leather and suede wrapped panels. It's a lot of work but it sure looks good.
Nice job with your interior. Black is a definite improvement in my opinion. I did the same to my car about 7 years ago, now I've taken it a step further and am going with black leather and suede wrapped panels. It's a lot of work but it sure looks good.
Nice car...I'm partial to the notchies myself.
Awesome, where are you located in Ontario? I'd love to see how the leather and seude turns out, that will be luxuious
