Posted: 29 November 2008 at 10:34am | IP Logged

I wasn't sure if I should put this in Build Threads or Members rides or General, so General gets the win.  Well seeing as it is a new purchase and not yet a build, I figured this is where I should put it.

The car is an 87GT V6 5spd.  Full load.  Power windows, Power Mirrors, Power locks, A/C interior is an 8 out of 10.  I think with cleaning and minor repair to the drivers bolster it could be a 10 out of 10. 

Front body damage is cosmetic only.  I have a different hood to go on, different fenders and other misc parts for it.

          This is the car that I am going to build to (makes me sick to say this) replace my 85GT which frankly needs to much chassis work to make it proper.   

I am going to take the interior out, wrap all the parts in plastic and put them in storage.  The 87 is going to get my full black interior from my 85GT, shifter, stereo, amp, seats with speakers.  When I climb into the 87 I want to feel like I am climbing into my 85GT. 

I am going to move the entire rear suspension from the 85GT and move it to the 87GT cradle included.  The 5spd Getrag will be the only drive train part being kept in the 87. 

I am going to install my black cowl hood on the 87, along with a black deck lid, possibly my black doors as well. Black Fenders, too.  Pretty much the only body panel staying on the 87 is the fastback clip.   Which will be sanded and painted black.  The entire trim will be painted white same as my 85GT.     The 3 spoke wheels will also be moved to the 87GT.

     If you are a member of the chat list, you will have a good idea of what is going on.  I love my 85Gt and never wanted to ever give it up.  To be honest, I said, when I die, bury me with the steering wheel from my 85GT.   

           Because of the stress fractures in the chassis of my 85, as much as I love it, I have to let it go.  However the heart of the car will be saved and moved into the 87GT I just bought.

  Now for the bad things with this car.  There are no keys.  The owner locked the keys in the car, and before he was able to get them out, someone broke into the car, and tried to steal it from the parking stall it was in at his apartment.  Little did the thief know, the clutch was totally gone.  The car would not move.  Apparently the thief got out of the car, took the keys and left.   The battery is dead, but I ran a jumper wire into the cabin and tried to pop the trunk, I can hear the relay fire, but the trunk is not moving.  As much as I hate it, I may have to drill the lock to get the trunk open.  I don't have keys so killing the lock is not the issue, I am worried about damaging a good deck lid. 

I am going to sand around the nose, then fill in any cracks. To be honest its worse in the pics than it really is.  For the most part it is just paint missing from being towed.  I don't know what he did to the fender, but the metal under it is perfect.

Well enough talking here is the car.

Edit to add in fine print.  I paid $300 for the car and $95 to have it towed to my house.

Posted: 29 November 2008 at 12:29pm | IP Logged

This car will make a fine looking V8 Fiero GT.

Congratulations on the purchase, Dave!

Posted: 29 November 2008 at 12:54pm | IP Logged

    Due to the really low purchase price of $300 for the car, the owner asked if he could keep the rims and I said that seeing as I won't be using them, he could have them back.    They are just a plain jane 17" wheel with bald tires on all 4 corners.   If I end up keeping them, and then selling the, I'll let you know.

Posted: 29 November 2008 at 3:49pm | IP Logged

looks alot better in the day light I can tell you

Posted: 29 November 2008 at 4:02pm | IP Logged

LOL, glad you made it home in one piece.  Chris was with me when we went to look at the car and do the sale papers and such.  We were outside in the pouring rain, freezing our buts off for an hour.  When we got there the brakes were frozen up from sitting, the steering would not turn as their were no keys.  Chris had the great idea, to hook a strap to his Truck and loop it around the engine cradle and drag the car out into the middle of the parking lot.  His truck barley went off of idle while dragging a complete Fiero in a semi 45 degree angle.  Was pretty impressed with his truck.  Chris had brought a flat deck car hauler that we had planed on using, but this Fiero sits way too low and it would have torn the nose right off.  Really kinda sucked, but DNR Towing was able to pick it up and arrived in 10mins, hooked up the car we were on the road in 20mins. 

Its going to be a long process, ah Hell who am I kidding.  I want my V8 BACK.  I am going to throw a party over here and anyone that wants to learn about Fiero mechanics can come bring tools and we are going to go to town on it.   I figure if we get an early start, we can damn near swap everything in one day.  As long as I have everything pre-prepped. 

Posted: 30 November 2008 at 9:27pm | IP Logged

Well we finally got the deck lid open today.   Had to drill the lock, as the solenoid would not fire, even hooking my jumper box up to the power wire for the solenoid.  Chris aka Fire451 was carefull not to even crack a tailight.   I really hated to have to drill it, but we did not harm the deck lid.

Now I have a question, can anyone recognize the cables.  The previous owner told me they are brand new and said he paid almost 500 for them. (not sure if that was installed or just the cable cost)  However I know they are not GM Originals.  They look to be fairly new and strong.  

Posted: 01 December 2008 at 3:59pm | IP Logged

    Thanks for tip Chris I'll probably email Rodney and ask him

fourpoint9 wrote: Capt Fiero wrote: keeping the nose, just going to mod it a bit.  Need any help?  I've got some fiberglass mat I'll donate to the project.

     Steve I think between yourself, Car2Lo and Clynt, you can explain this to me, I went out today just looking over the nose to see how much I am going to have to do to fix it up.  I noticed something.  The leading edge on both corners feels like foam rubber.  Squishy.  Maybe like wet Styrofoam.  Not really sure how to explain it.  But thats why the paint is so chipped.  The nose flexes but the paint does not and eventually just broke off in places.   I remember someone once saying you need to use extra flex agent when painting Fiero panels, and this is much softer than a stock panel.

        As for the offer of fiberglass mat I'm betting, the gas to go and get it will cost more than buying locally. LOL.  Unless I am totally out to lunch and fiberglass mat is really expensive.   I had Car-2-Lo at my house during last summer and showing him the fiberglass work I want to do to the hood on my 85GT.  I really think this combat nose will look good with the cowl hood.      At the very least it will be an interesting combination.  Old School Cowl, with new school body kit, and old school V8 with a stick shift.    

So any idea what the nose foam stuff is?  In the beginning I thought it was just fiberglass and I was going to sand it and re-paint it, now I am not so sure what to do with it.  I'm probably going to pull it off the car to repair it.  I can't even lift the back of the car high enough to pull the motor with the nose on the car as it will scrape badly.

Posted: 01 December 2008 at 8:11pm | IP Logged

Steve aka fourpoint9    did some tweaking on the nose.  Here are the 3 variations we came up with.

Posted: 01 December 2008 at 8:39pm | IP Logged

i like the last one the best