I had a '68 AMC Javelin that I hot rodded. I'd really like another, just because it's different than the other pony cars of the era.

Here's one of my projects that I need to get into the shop and get running again. It sat for a number of years but now that I've got a lift I can pull the engine and put a transmission in that ought to hold up a little better than the last one did.



Here's the engine I built and installed into it. It's a Chevy 406. Used to be a lot of displacement for a small block engine but that's all changed.

For us who have not paid much attention to cars in the last 20 years, what is that car? Nice motor.

It's an 88 Pontiac Fiero GT. I bought it new and at 100k miles decided to do an upgrade.

Nice Eric!!!!!!!!! I had an ’84 with the Iron Duke. Fun to drive but not much power.

That’s a 1987 Pontiac Fiero GT (I might be off a year). (I was off a year).

How long did it take you to do the exhaust? That had to be a job! I also like how you handled the scoop.

Did you ever see the 1984 Indy Pace car? It was a ’84 Fiero with a forward facing air scoop. See:
http://www.fortunecity.com/silversto.../pacecars.html

The problem with it is you couldn’t see anything out the rear window. I think they did a limited production run on it because I remember seeing several around.

Jim

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IMHO, the people responsible for the Aztek need to suffer the same fate as Mussolini, so as to serve as an abject lesson as what not to do. As the Buick proves, they could have built a much nicer looking vehicle without nearly so ugly an appearance. If they had simply cribbed from this design by Syd Mead (the guy who did the design work for Blade Runner), they'd had a much better looking vehicle.

I knew a guy who traded his BMW for a Solstice and was much happier with the performance. Of course, the Solstice was one of the few GM vehicles actually designed by a "car guy." Lutz found a GM engineer who's hobby was taking Chevy Cavaliers, converting them to rear wheel drive and racing them on the weekends. Lutz told the guy what kind of car he wanted, said he could use any parts currently in production provided that the total cost of the vehicle was below a certain price, left the guy alone, and he came up with the Solstice. That's how you design a decent car. If more car makers would do that, we'd have much prettier cars on the roads. Someone was trying to buy Pontiac from GM, and I hope that GM sells it to them, rather than dumping a noble brand into the dustbin of history.

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We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04 K.I.L.L. S.M.U.R.F.S.
Tuckers! Automotive Oddities! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast Save the planet, by leaving it! "To be second in space is to be second in everything," LBJ.

Now, maybe if they tried that with rockets...

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

Oh, yeah, plenty of times. My wife wanted a set for her Honda Civic.

Fiero's are popular cars to hot rod. Because of the suspension, maybe? Or because you can stuff a V-8 into them relatively easily?

Fiero fans might find this story of interest.(emphasis in the original)

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We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04 K.I.L.L. S.M.U.R.F.S.
Tuckers! Automotive Oddities! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast Save the planet, by leaving it! "To be second in space is to be second in everything," LBJ.

You are correct that Lutz assigned the design to someone and had them build the "prototypes" using current production parts, but almost every major component of the end product is new.

The Solstice uses what’s called a kappa platform that has hydroform frame rails and a hydroform cage assembly, (similar to the Corvette), see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Kappa_platform

This platform is only used on the Solstice, Saturn Sky and the Opel GT.

I think the standard 2.4 liter Ecotec engine was used on a few different brands but the 2.0 liter Ecotec turbocharged engine is only used on Solstice, Sky and Opel GT. Although I hear it may be used on the Fisker Karma hybrid, See:
http://www.htgp.org/tech/karma-fiskers-plug-in-hybrid .
This car is going to be built by Fisker Automotive. (Neat car and back to Trebuchet's OP the colors I’ve seen are beautiful ) .

GM/Pontiac did use standard components on the Fiero. The Fiero had what was called a sheet metal space frame with machined surfaces for bolt on body panels. (This makes it the perfect kit car.)

The Fiero had a Chevette front suspension and steering, the rear suspension and engine cradle was from the X-car. And the first year it had the old Iron Duke engine.

The Fiero concept came from John DeLorean when he was head of Pontiac. They could never get the ok to build it though. Around 1980 the Fiero was resurrected as a small commuter car (not sports car) but as it went through the design phases the sports car aspect gradually came back. So it ended up as a commuter/sports car.

As far as GM selling Pontiac... I won't even go there.

Jim

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Jim,

I don't remember how long it took me to do the exhaust, but it was at least a couple of days. The welds are kind of ugly because that's the first job of that kind that I ever did. I'd give myself points for ambition but take some away for the details.

The biggest problem I've had is heat buildup in the engine compartment. I put the Challenger T/A hood scoop on it in an effort to give the heat a place to go but it wasn't enough. I also looked at the Indy Pace car scoops. I think I need to yank the scoops and just use lots and lots of venting in the rear deck.

Eric

I think that a major factor is because they are a mid engine car. Also, they are popular as kit cars, perhaps because of the mid engine design.

So, you have a Range Rover? I've always wanted one of those, a Land Rover, or a Jeep. But, of course, I would never take it off-road.

Yea , i have a old land rover discovery ... They have the same suspension as the range rovers ...I bought a used one a few years back with a mechanically sound drive train for 4k and 85 thousand miles on it ...As long as the fluids are changed regularly they will last a long time ...The body's on the discos are some sort of aluminum alloy as they dont rust which is nice ...And off road they are very capable as long as you dont hi-center them ... They are all wheel drive all the time and dont get the best mileage just because they weigh 4600 pounds but if you keep your foot out of it and dont do any jack rabbit starts you can get around 15 miles per gallon ...

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Stuff i have ...LX90 8in.sct with antares 80mm raci finder on a wedge std. field tripod ....lxd55 5in.achromat ota. with a etx60 finder on a celestron CG5 goto mount...And a bunch of eyepieces

Yes,hat's the secret. If you drive nice , you get something like nice mileage.
Vehicles last longer. It's all about miles per dollar.
My 94 grand cherokee is still serving me well. Drive smart and prosper.
Dan