by Thaidon » Wed Jan 02, 2013 8:49 am
Alright guys, i figured i may as well go ahead and start a build thread. This will be my second Fiero i've ever had. First was an '84 but had to get rid of it years ago. This one is a 1988 2.5L.
To start i guess i should discuss what condition it was in when i first got the car. It ran, but had a minor tick. Really nothing that sounded out of the ordinary i supposed. The car was painted not too long before i got it; still had a paint tag on the keys the guy gave me. I figure it to be a cheap macco job or something because the clear already had spots and flakes. Nothing major really, seeing that i want to repaint it from red/silver to black/blue/silver. (But that will be a while off and i do intend to do it myself.) It needed to have a caliper replaced along with the brake hoses because it would leak the brake fluid resivoir dry (replaced all pads at that time also). After a while it became harder to crank until eventually the starter went out on it, had to replace that. The fuel pump needed to be replaced (has been done) and vatted the tank and had everything cleaned up while it was out along with a new fuel filter. I'm in the process of switching out the speakers at the moment. Only two worked to begin with. I'm replacing them with Power Acoustik 4x10's and Clarion 4x6's. I'll let you know how that turns out. I still have to replace the Tie Rods but i have more pressing issues at the moment; the engine.
So, as far as the motor goes it has been rebuilt. I got the rebuild kit from O'Reilly's Auto Parts. Again, the company that i listed in the vendor feedback section is the one that did the machine work. It's been bored .30 over and the crank shaft is .10 under. Head and block have been decked also. New water pump; same oil pump though. The way they are made, i didn't really see much of a reason to change it honestly.
Now, as far as some of the issues i've ran into:
1.) Because i didn't tear the motor down, some guys lost some bolts that are hard as hell to find. This being out of the oil pump. Gm doesn't carry them anymore and the auto parts houses don't have them either. What makes them so hard to find i guess is that they only came in the '88 fiero (as far as fieros go) because this is the only year that they mover the oil pump INTO the oil pan. (Bastards) However, it says that because of that it raised the HP another 6.
*BRIGHT SIDE: I think i may have found another car to pull the bolts out of. It's a 1991 Buick Skylark. Same pump set-up as the fiero so hopefully they will be the same. Also, this motors oil pan has a bleed hole for the oil, so if you are looking to change something over it should fit the fiero also instead of getting motor oil everywhere because of the crappy design on the 88 fieros oil pan.
2.) Lost one Push Rod clamp thing. (forget what it's called) They go around the rods for whatever reason. I see no use for them but wanted to replace it 'cause i figured if they are in the motor there MUST be a reason. Cant get them at a GM place or parts house either.
*BRIGHT SIDE: They are found in pretty much every 2.5L enigine.
For now this will have to be all the wisdom i can give you all, lol. I'll have some pics posted soon i guess and keep the information flowing; im sure it'll help someone sooner or later!
You can't make stupid beautiful...