Tinton's '86 Fiero SE 4-speed

[Tinton]

Yeah, I finally got a chance to get some pictures. They're not that good though, it was cloudy today. It was threatening to rain and I had just washed my car yesterday, so I wanted pictures before it got rained on. Enjoy!

[Tinton]

My pedals, they're placed pretty good for my heel-toe:

[Tinton]

Mmmmm my XM satellite radio antenna, it works good!:

Think if its good if I just leave this laying here? I don't feel like drilling holes to mount it:

[mesaboogie18]

Nice ride my man. I dig those pop up headlights.

[NonChalant]

I've always wanted to see what the entire fiero looks like! (Not just the stick posted in that show us your stick thread).

Looks gorgeous for being 20 years old. Now that's a timeless design right there.

I dig the headrest speakers as well (at least I think thats what they are). I'd clamp or drill down the amps somehow just for safety. Who knows where they'd fly in the case of an accident.

[jomotopia]

lookin good.

[Johnf514]

The Fiero is on Fire!

[Thet'iko Nexaris]

Looks great! I've always liked the Fiero's design.

[Tinton]

I've always wanted to see what the entire fiero looks like! (Not just the stick posted in that show us your stick thread).

Looks gorgeous for being 20 years old. Now that's a timeless design right there.

I dig the headrest speakers as well (at least I think thats what they are). I'd clamp or drill down the amps somehow just for safety. Who knows where they'd fly in the case of an accident.

Its actually 21 years old now, the little options package stickers in the doors indicate it was built March 1986.

Its not exactly an amp.... its the little receiver box for the XM satellite radio. And it sits behind the seat, with the seat back all the way the box barely has any room to move around, so I don't think it'd go anywhere in an accident. I've never heard it moving around, and I've taken it on some hard cornering, so I think its fine.

And yup, those are headrest speakers. They make it sound like surround sound. I just need a subwoofer to get some bass into the car and it'd be all set (would probably need an amp too...).

That's not the only Fiero I've got.... I've got another picture thread lying around somewhere with my red '88 GT in it.

[Tinton]

Yes, I know, ancient ancient bump . But this thread will soon be in the Member's Cars forum .

I'm not sure how much longer the engine in this car is going to live. Its been leaking more oil than usual recently, and I think its getting worse. Also, the placement of the oil leak couldn't be worse.

Last night I drove the car to Blockbuster early in the AM to bring a game back so I wouldn't have to buy it (kept it a while after the due date...). The tires were low because it was so cold so I went and filled them all up at a gas station. While filling up the rear-driver's-side tire I looked under the car and saw it had leaked a decent puddle of oil while the car had been idling there. Maybe 1/4 cup? I drove it back to my apartment and today in daylight I went and looked for oil leaks. My friend who also has a Fiero said to look around the distributor because his had leaked a lot from the o-ring there. Nothing was leaking on the top of my engine though, but when I revved it up and looked where the puddle had formed the previous night, the engine had squirted oil onto the catalytic converter . The car has done this for a while, in fact when I took it to get its emissions test it smoked the entire time from where the catalytic converter is. I checked the oil and it was 1 quart low so I filled it up and ran the car. It doesn't seem to leak at idle but when you rev it some seal on the front (technically rear, its near where the transmission connects to the engine) of the engine lets oil out onto the catalytic converter with RPM's.

So yeah, the seal needs to be replaced, and I'm afraid of driving the car. Fieros had a reputation for catching on fire because oil would get on the catalytic converter and ignite, which is almost what's happening right now. I think 2 things will keep that from happening though, number one being that the cat is hollow so it doesn't build up the heat a functional cat does. Number 2 being that oil is being constantly leaked onto the cat, so it just seems to smoke instead of catching fire. The Fieros that caught on fire did so because the 4-cylinder engines threw a rod and that suddenly sent oil onto a very hot catalytic converter.

With my '88 Fiero still at my Dad's and not working, the MR2 is the only car I'm really driving right now. I need to get this '86 Fiero to my Dad's (which is also like 2 miles from my Fiero mechanic friend). If its the rear main seal and the engine has to be dropped I think I'll just get Don (my mechanic) to stick a 3.4L pushrod V6 in there instead of the little 2.8L. With a good intake (I know where to get the best for this engine), a cam, long-tube headers, good exhaust, and a couple other things I think that 3.4L could push 200 hp and 240 tq. Then my '86 Fiero could eat stock MR2 Turbos for lunch .

But yes, it appears to be engine-swap time for the little '86 SE.

[noob5,000,000]

What about the Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C swap with tires so wide that they take up the whole road?

[Tinton]

More pictures:

[potownrob]

Nice wheels!
As for the amp thing, as long as something's holding it in place... I have my Kenwood HD radio receiver under the passenger floor mat just held in place loosely with velcro. Hasn't flown into the back of the car yet (knock on wood)!

[Tinton]

Well, the car's been up on jack stands for a couple days at my Dad's place while I've been tracing the oil leak. It seems to be the o-ring on the distributor that's leaking, cause the rear main seal and the front valve cover aren't leaking. That means that its a pretty easy job to fix the oil leak. It looks like the stock 2.8L V6 in my '86 may live yet .

There's another problem though. When I got the rear of the car in the air, I started the engine to check for leaks. It was in neutral (4-speed manual) and the rear wheels were spinning. WTF. The only thing that could stop them was the e-brake. Doesn't that mean there's something f*cked up in the transmission? The car drives fine though.

[noob5,000,000]

There's another problem though. When I got the rear of the car in the air, I started the engine to check for leaks. It was in neutral (4-speed manual) and the rear wheels were spinning. WTF. The only thing that could stop them was the e-brake. Doesn't that mean there's something f*cked up in the transmission? The car drives fine though.

The FC does the same thing, so that could very well mean it is horribly broken/failed . But when I asked about it on RX7club, they said it was normal, something to do with the tranny fluid being so thick that it can transmit power from the input shaft to the output shaft even thought there's no gears engaged. But they also said you should be able to stop it by hand, so if the e-brkae was the only thing that could stop it, something else could be wrong.