G.T. Fieros

With a customers car finally done I have been working on my own cars when not in Peterborough setting up new place and as of today my 88 Formula with its 3800SC F23 is now running just a few small things left and it will be done and going up for sale, my 86 GT with its 3800SC 4T65E HD is almost finished with just a day or so more and it will also be running and possibly also up for sale.

there he is!
back to Peterborough huh? much better winters I think

I got most of my car back together finally (for now) Still a few little things to do but ready for a road trip tomorrow for Ohio.

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Forum Admin
87 GT 3400 Green
88T-top: WIP

sweet Adam!

Hey Adam
that paint looks great. What color is it? Did you remove the panels to do it?

More front end work continues.
The front bearings felt good so I cleaned them up with a wire wheel. Removed as much of the original grease and repacked.


Added some anti-seize to the body and threads and reinstalled.




Caliper spacer bracket installed.


Nylon concentric ring installed.


Having done various big brake upgrades on other vehicles in the past, I too wanted to enjoy the benefits on this car.
It's quite simple really. Find a suitable rotor, make an adapter for the stock calipers and enjoy.




Tap the holes and apply some paint.


Same brackets for the rear.


Cheap rotor for testing/fitting purposes.










A quick visit to Canada Brakes landed competitive pricing, no tax and free delivery to my door. Oh, despite having "Canada" in their name, they've moved to California. So I ordered a set of drilled, slotted and zinc plated rotors for both my Fiero and my LS1 powered Formula Firebird.


I make a jig to ease the drilling of the 5 on 100 bolt pattern that must be done to the rotors.


Install the new rotors.




I picked up the wheels from the powder coater. They're semi-gloss black with UV protection.


Then I installed some 225/45/ZR18 Continental tires all around.


On the front, they do clear the battery box despite the angle of the photo.

Today I put just over 450kms on it just cursing around and loving every second of it.

Well not just today as it was raining but last week I made some progress.

My recent paint job left a lot to be desired with shy spots...runs...over spray and fisheyes.
so I decided to paint some items myself.
just using rattle cans...I used trembled professional in flat black on the mirrors and spoiler.
The paint is awesome. Covers great, lays flat, no stripes...my wife told me she thought I dipped it. If anyone is thinking about doing a rattle can paint job, this is the stuff to use.



Then I took my dash out...which had typical cracked corners and top. Quite some time ago I bought a replacement dash that had only minor corner damage so

I repaired it using magic putty (as seen on TV).

Painted it black using duplicolor vinyl/fabric paint.
Can barely tell there was a repair done.

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Dougie Murder
1985 Fiero GT...work in progress

Hey Doug.
Indeed, the rear spoiler looks very nice! Rattle cans, when used as directed, can give professional results. Nice work.

Another productive day on the car. I chose to remove the original seam sealer and reapply new sealer for piece of mind.




Followed by new weather stripping around the perimeter.




Now, back to the repairs on the sheet metal.








More primer and seam sealer.








Good quality paint to protect the primer.


Followed by gravel guard as an added layer of protection.




Expansion tank also got some paint.


With having real nice frame rails on this car, I also chose "Krown" rust protection spray to thoroughly get inside the frame rails.
Piece of mind is well worth it.


Plastic plugs reinstalled.


I chose to install some weather stripping under the end caps to help keep out water.


End caps in place.




With all this complete, I was able to set the fastback in place. It's starting to look like a car again!


I need to paint two brackets before I continue. But that's enough for today.
I did obtain an 88 master cylinder, thanks to cam-a-lot on the forum. I was surprised to see the weight of this thing. It has a cast iron body versus the aluminum bodied 84 unit.


Then apply paint to protect the cast iron and it looks good.


While I had difficulty finding new, proper fitting heater core hoses locally, Rodney Dickman was the solution. Some zero-lash sway bar end links were also ordered at the same time.


On a side note. I installed a 60mm shorter swing arm on my GSXR 1100. Sadly, it never came with a chain guard. So I made one.
It looks long in the photo but it actually fits nicely. Polished mirror stainless steel too.

LUV this stuff!
need more popcorn, will be right back!

Well then, this is for you Nick.

I slipped into the garage for a few hours and got a few more things done. I reinstalled the nylon honey comb style impact strip to the rear bumper.






I had to remove the rear bumper upper mounting strip so that the wiring could be reinstalled.


Tail light wiring installed.




To aid in the holding of the wiring, I chose these zip ties made by Grote. They have a barbed end that fits into a hole, thus making them the ideal solution to replace the brittle and old factory clips.


I decided it was time to tighten down the fastback screws. This is self explanatory but I noticed a gap that I thought was too large. I didn't want to risk breaking the fiberglass and installed a spacer.


After that, the rear bumper cover went on.


A bit of work up front included installing the zero lash sway bar end links.




I wanted piece of mind knowing the heater core was in good shape. If it wasn't, a new one would be ordered. Well, the old one was removed for inspection. It looked to be in great shape with no visual defects. The "green stuff" is not corrosion but marking paint. A thorough flushing while it was off followed by a little compressed air, and it's ready to go back in.


Along with new hoses of course.


While at the front of the car, the clutch master went in. Here' s the orientation that's recommended. Banjo faces this way.


Brake master temporarily set in place. I need to run the brake lines first, then reinstall the spare tire tub. I have to get some "P" clips first. But that's for another day.

I painted my deck lid vents and put the mesh on.
Did all Fiero's come with this? My original vents didn't have the mesh

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Dougie Murder
1985 Fiero GT...work in progress

All mine came with mesh. I pulled Blu's off as just kept getting clogged with leaves. I guess better there than rotting on your frame rails ...

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Brian
88 GT - 'Ol Blu

This was a good day as I got a few things done.
I set the engine and trans back in place. This was the first time after having installed the shock towers and sheet metal. I have ample clearance around everything!






Even though I mounted the engine "straight up", I have room for the stock exhaust manifold. I will have to add the rear sway bar and see where it has clearance issues, if any. I will probably just make a header once I get to that point.


The oil pan is level with the bottom of the cradle.


Lots of room. I still have a few Northstar engine's here...



I also managed to get most of the brake and clutch lines run. Again, that sucked in the heat.











Since my battery is now under the right front headlight, I need to get power to the back of the car. So, I used some number 2 welding cable for this. It's very flexible too.


I chose to route the positive cable through the inside of the car. Beside the vacuum line was an ideal entry point.
This wasn't a lot of fun on a hot day.


It's only resting in place right now. I'll make a distribution block to hold the heavy wire. I will also use this point to pull power for the rest of the car since it's so close to the C500.


Don't mind the crusty looking engine and starter, they'll be cleaned up in time.
Here you can see the main starter wire in place and how it's routed. On all positive leads, I applied a red piece of shrink tube.


Since the battery is somewhat difficult to get to, I chose to also install a main disconnect switch while I was at it.






I used this tool to crimp all my ends on the battery leads.



Oh, I finally got around to cutting the aluminum for the fuel tank too!