Tinton's '88 Fiero GT 5-speed

[vedran]

I'd drop it a tiny bit! 1-1.5 inch drop would be perfect. check out Eibach Pro-Kit springs. Don't know if they make it for your car but it would be perfect... ~1.5 inch drop, stiff ride, $200 with shipping/handling

[JackBauer]

i've never seen fieros in such excellent condition.

[JHamilton]

I like it! I do perfer the rims on your previous car. Too bad you couldn't work out a trade.

How much is a nice Fiero worth?

[Tinton]

I like it! I do perfer the rims on your previous car. Too bad you couldn't work out a trade.

How much is a nice Fiero worth?

I sold my car for $7500 and bought the other car for $7500. That day we all met up, I sold my car to the guy I was selling to, then bought this other car right then.

[El Beefo]

Nice, I love the Fiero fastbacks. It's a shame they were only in production for such a short amount of time.

[Nychold]

Nice, I love the Fiero fastbacks. It's a shame they were only in production for such a short amount of time.

America never knew what to do with mid and rear engined cars.

[jcprov21]

I was sitting at a Checkers drivethru and a guy asked if it was a Lotus, lol.

Chekcers ftw... I wish they had one around here, the have rally's in fresno thats it.

[Johnf514]

i've never seen fieros in such excellent condition.

Tinton, you do manage to find some excellent-condition Fiero's. The one's I (rarely) see around here are always beat up, rusted, dented, and falling apart. Then again, FL doesn't have an "inspection" thing like the North, so I've seen cars with no windshields, duct-taped-on doors, and cars . . . lacking . . . any sort of exhaust.

[eaglecatcher]

i've never seen fieros in such excellent condition.

Tinton, you do manage to find some excellent-condition Fiero's. The one's I (rarely) see around here are always beat up, rusted, dented, and falling apart. Then again, FL doesn't have an "inspection" thing like the North, so I've seen cars with no windshields, duct-taped-on doors, and cars . . . lacking . . . any sort of exhaust.

haha, all the ones around ehre are beat to death as well. beats me how he finds all the good ones.

[Nychold]

i've never seen fieros in such excellent condition.

Tinton, you do manage to find some excellent-condition Fiero's. The one's I (rarely) see around here are always beat up, rusted, dented, and falling apart. Then again, FL doesn't have an "inspection" thing like the North, so I've seen cars with no windshields, duct-taped-on doors, and cars . . . lacking . . . any sort of exhaust.

haha, all the ones around ehre are beat to death as well. beats me how he finds all the good ones.

Hmm, that's odd. There's one that commutes with me from Ocala to Gainesville in extremely nice condition. Modded semi-tastefully (I don't agree with the body kit, but it's not rice), and it's a stick.

I guess it's like any car. Either you have an enthusiast who loves his/her car, and takes care of it, or you have the average driver who'll just drive it "till it dies".

[Tinton]

Tinton, you do manage to find some excellent-condition Fiero's. The one's I (rarely) see around here are always beat up, rusted, dented, and falling apart. Then again, FL doesn't have an "inspection" thing like the North, so I've seen cars with no windshields, duct-taped-on doors, and cars . . . lacking . . . any sort of exhaust.

haha, all the ones around ehre are beat to death as well. beats me how he finds all the good ones.

Hmm, that's odd. There's one that commutes with me from Ocala to Gainesville in extremely nice condition. Modded semi-tastefully (I don't agree with the body kit, but it's not rice), and it's a stick.

I guess it's like any car. Either you have an enthusiast who loves his/her car, and takes care of it, or you have the average driver who'll just drive it "till it dies".

I know the other enthusiasts in the area. On cars this old, if they're driven enough for you to see them often they'll be beaters and they won't be in very good condition. The good cars are out there, they're just stuffed away in garages and only come out to play on weekends. This one was owned by some club members over here, and they kept it in the garage unless they were going to a car show.

I like driving the cars though....but unlike other owners if something breaks I won't just leave it broken, I'll get it fixed.

[Nychold]

I know the other enthusiasts in the area. On cars this old, if they're driven enough for you to see them often they'll be beaters and they won't be in very good condition. The good cars are out there, they're just stuffed away in garages and only come out to play on weekends. This one was owned by some club members over here, and they kept it in the garage unless they were going to a car show.

Yeah, I know that feeling. Sort of miss it, in fact. I used to drive a 96 Beretta, which only has a small following anymore. Used to know the guys on the Beretta forums, and when I'd get passed by another Berreta owner, they'd always look at the car, wave, or something like that.

I've passed at least 50 tCs in the last year, and only one of them bothered to even look at me.

[eaglecatcher]

I know the other enthusiasts in the area. On cars this old, if they're driven enough for you to see them often they'll be beaters and they won't be in very good condition. The good cars are out there, they're just stuffed away in garages and only come out to play on weekends. This one was owned by some club members over here, and they kept it in the garage unless they were going to a car show.

Yeah, I know that feeling. Sort of miss it, in fact. I used to drive a 96 Beretta, which only has a small following anymore. Used to know the guys on the Beretta forums, and when I'd get passed by another Berreta owner, they'd always look at the car, wave, or something like that.

I've passed at least 50 tCs in the last year, and only one of them bothered to even look at me.

haha, I wave at another mustang owner, and they flick me off.

unless its a chick with a V6 convertible....

[Tinton]

Update: The car needs a new clutch . Its in the shop getting 1 right now, for $800 parts and labor.

[Tinton]

Update: The car needs a new clutch . Its in the shop getting 1 right now, for $800 parts and labor.

Ancient thread-bump, but its time for an update.

That last post was back in September 2007. About a month into owning the car the clutch died (pressure-plate actually locked up) and it had to be replaced. I pretty much got the cheapest clutch I could get for the car, for $100, and had a shop put it in for $700 labor. After that the car has been fairly reliable, with only 2 major problems.

Soon after I got back from London in August (2008) the insides of the catalytic converter on this '88 Fiero came apart and clogged the exhaust. From about September 2007 to August 2008 the car had almost no issues though. The car sat for a couple of months while I waited for my friend to have some free time to put in a straight pipe on my car. I thought you had to cut off the cat with a Sawzall and that was something I didn't have. In early October, a couple of months ago, I got my '88 Fiero to my Fiero mechanic and he managed to put in my Fierostore straightpipe by just hammering apart my exhaust. Apparently because the car has aftermarket Ocelot exhaust (including muffler) from the y-pipe back there was no cutting needed.

I enjoyed the new sound the exhaust had and the return of the car's horsepower (it was never undriveable when it had the clogged cat, it was just as weak as a Geo Metro with no power over 3k rpm). But only a couple weeks after putting the straightpipe in, the clutch started getting tight and hard to disengage. I think October 17th I made a post here about me racing a Trans Am with this car, and I'm pretty sure that's the last time I really drove it.

Since then, most of the time it was sitting in the parking deck at school (where I live most of the time) waiting for me to drive it down to my Dad's place. I feared driving it, because there's nothing like coming off the highway and not being able to select any gear, even with rev-matching. But I knew I could drive it and be able to make it to my Dad's place without calling a towtruck.

So from October 17th until today the car mostly sat, undriven, broken. I just fixed it today . I put in a new clutch slave cylinder and I think I finally figured out the best way to bleed the clutch.

There's 1 problem. When I drove the car to my Dad's I accidentally hit bumper-to-bumper traffic (accidentally because I left way earlier than when traffic usually hits) and I didn't want to get the car towed. I think I glazed the clutch, my launches in 1st gear today when I test-drove the car felt like I was launching in 3rd. As in, letting up on the clutch would make the engine want to die like I was letting it up in 3rd gear, but if I revved fairly high (1500-2000 RPM) and launched like I normally do it'd go just fine and it was definitely in 1st gear, not 3rd. I hope I didn't f*ck up the clutch driving the car to my Dad's .

Anyways, the clutch didn't seem to slip or anything so I think the car should drive fine for a while. Which is good because my '86 Fiero is due for its engine swap . For the past couple days neither of my Fieros have worked, I've only been driving the MR2. Now I have my '88 Fiero and '91 MR2 Turbo to drive, with my '86 Fiero as my project car .