Piston Slap: Fiero and Joy or Cash Money?
Issac writes:
Sajeev,
My father and I are Pontiac Fiero people, as we have owned nine Fieros in the past ten years (my first car was a 1986 Fiero GT). We are quite mechanically familiar with them as we have done little to major work on all of them. My dad currently has a 1988 Fiero Formula that we did a complete restoration on about five years ago. That car is an absolute blast to drive as the stock engine was modified to make considerably more power. After spending last summer driving that car almost every day I knew that someday I wanted a Fiero like his.
Last fall I was in the market for a cheap college vehicle. After looking for a couple of months and not finding anything that I wanted I stumbled across a Craigslist gem. It was a 1988 (the last year they were made and the most desirable) coupe with 95,000 miles, two owner vehicle, very little rust on it and could be had for $500. The only catch was it had a blown 2.5L iron duke motor. What made this situation ideal was that my dad had a brand new 2.5L iron duke motor sitting at home in the corner of his shop that he was looking to get rid of. After forking over $500 and a long three-day weekend, we had the car back on the road and I was glad to be back in a Fiero.
Since then I have put 8,000 trouble free miles on the car and have really enjoyed. Thinking post college I would like to do a restoration on the car where I put a much larger and more powerful engine in it. However, recently I was approached by a coworker of my dad who is looking at buying a Fiero similar to mine. He offered me a very nice amount of money for my car and it has me thinking of selling it. My question to you is, do I keep the car and hope to someday do the modifications that I want, or do I sell it?
My dad said he will set me up with a vehicle if I do sell my car, but I do not know if it worth it to walk away from a hard to find car. Such a hard decision…
Sajeev answers:
This is a hard decision for a family of Fiero restorers? Are you kidding me?
Turn this up, son! I’m sorry, I can’t hear the begging and pleading of your Dad’s friend over the glorious sound of LS4-FTW.
You are graduating from college, getting a good job and “investing” your hobby time with an F40 6 speed manual and an LS4 swap! Unlike last week’s LS4-powered dreamboat Buick Skylark, I’m not grasping at straws to get a kid thinking about hot-rodding an obscure classic GM product. You are in the perfect position for GM perfection!
- The 1988 Fiero is a stunning design.
- You and your Dad actually know and appreciate them at their best, and tolerate ’em at their worst.
- LS4-FTW isn’t a bizarre joke like in a FWD platform, this is performance GOLD in a rear engine sports car!
Okay, perhaps you might want a 3.8L V6, a supercharged 3.8L, or a Northstar V8 instead, they might be far cheaper and easier to procure locally. Or the Twin Dual Cam swap if you truly enjoy pain. Best of luck, we wish you well!
Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry…but be realistic, and use your make/model specific forums instead of TTAC for more timely advice.
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So this is Isaacs father here. Yes, we have owned 9 or 10 Fiero's but it's been the last 12 years. His bad for getting the details wrong. So Isaac put his college ahead of the 88 coupe and used the sale proceeds for fall tuition. My advice was that even if clean 88's are becoming more rare, it's still only a car (albeit one that we put considerable time into already) As a consolation, I gave him my 88 Formula to drive - with the bonus of getting the title when he completes his BS in mechanical engineering. (I'm on to pickups and diesels at the moment). As far as uprating the motive power goes, the Formula has had the 2.8 massaged with a bore/stroke to 3.2, a little more cam, and various other sundries upgrades. Very fun to drive. My wife doesn't really care to ride in it anymore due to the adolescent driving behavior it brings out in me. Thanks for all the interesting comments. They are a hoot!
In college a GF had a Fiero. It was very pretty, but the suspension sucked, the engine was a thrash-0-motor, and it didn't live up to the promise of the look. Yes, it wasn't the last year with a six and getrag trans.....really sad. I know the story that they sold it as a "commuter car" and was stuck with the crappiest parts bin stuff at GM...It was almost as if corvette engineers moonlighted and wanted to make sure there was no competition from the Pontiac boys. None of which mattered...she was a tall blonde with a red sportscar, who didn't often get over 75. Taught this car not a lot about the world of car sales to non geeks....everything I knew about my Callaway scirocco, GLH Turbo, or olde 400 Firebird, meaningless.... Pretty crap sells...Camry Solara, anyone ? I saw an 88/v6 recently at a gas pump, with a HS girl driving. I wasn't sure if it was a gift from a doting dad or a "right" car about to be killed by a million curb hits....