I haven't even graduated yet but the cash I'm gonna have in the next month or so at my new job is burning a hole in my pocket. I want something tiny and mid-engined. I'm thinkin mr2 or fiero. No "why not a miata?" talk here, my gf has one and I want something else. and I'm also not lookin to blow new mr2 money. think $6k and less

8/1/2005 12:28:26 PM

why not MY miata? just a little over $6k, and it ain't your girlfriend's MX-5.

8/1/2005 12:32:33 PM

definately NOT a fiero
i mean unless you are ready to give up your heterosexuality

8/1/2005 12:36:36 PM

try to get a '97 mr2 turbo...last year of that car, and most refined

8/1/2005 12:38:07 PM

yeah.. fieros catch on fire.... so the name is kinda creepy

8/1/2005 12:39:40 PM

Duke's Miata

Or a 1988 Rx-7 Turbo. Buy a clean one for 3 or 4 grand with a rebuilt motor and run mid to low 13's with $1000 worth of mods

8/1/2005 12:39:46 PM

(5x^... quick posts in this thread)hehe, I was specifically hoping to prevent YOU from bringing that up. Don't think I'm not tempted. I just don't have the cash now. That's the biggest reason. I'm trying to figure out what car to buy, not specifically which one is for sale locally for me to pick up this weekend. I'm just gathering info now. The other reason is that your car is already bitchin. I'd like a car like yours but I'd have liked it better to have started with stock and build it towards the condition of yours myself and hence learn something along the way. I'm not nearly as gifted in the garage as I'd like to be and that's gonna be the purpose of this little bastard. plus I've always wanted a mid-engined car....

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 12:41 PM. Reason : .]

8/1/2005 12:40:07 PM

cool, just let me know if you change your mind. i'll let it go for $7k.

be prepared to spend 2 or 3 times that much by the time you finish building one.

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 12:44 PM. Reason : i know a guy who put a pretty stoutly built 350 in a fiero! it was stupid fast, but a big PITA]

8/1/2005 12:43:09 PM

I know somebody with an FD who also has a Fiero. He's going to buy a supercharged 3800 crate motor and drop it in, the same one they put into those Grand Prix's.

8/1/2005 12:48:20 PM

^^I kinda expect that, that's why I'm goin for such a cheap car. I'm confusing the hell out of a lot of people because I'll be flipping through classifieds and marking out cars in the low 20s and cars under 6... one set are cars I wouldn't spend much money on, the other one I'd basically be buying 2 or 3 times over....

^I found a smallblock v8 swap kit that's grabbed my attention, and I think I saw a guy who swapped a northstar but I don't think anyone makes a conversion kit for that.... I dunno, just brainstorming here....

http://www.v8archie.com/allv8.htm


[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 1:00 PM. Reason : I am a slow poster today man...]

8/1/2005 12:49:06 PM

Quote :

"^I found a smallblock v8 swap kit that's grabbed my attention, and I think I saw a guy who swapped a northstar but I don't think anyone makes a conversion kit for that.... I dunno, just brainstorming here...."

haven't you learned your lesson about taking on things that are too big? (or was that someone else)

8/1/2005 1:15:54 PM

no, you're right... that's me...
and I quit the co-op that was providing the funds last time around. This is a far humbler project with far greater funding for an indefinite # of years into the future (just got a job with the US patent and trademark office, I start in Sept). And I will be starting this time around with a whole car to tear apart, get to know, before attempting anything nuts like what I've presented here, if hastily.

btw, I found the northstar swap kit...
http://www.design1systems.com/

Also.... I'm not trying anything that someone else hasnt' already done. You'll notice these kits have been around for a while... check 'em out

here's a guy who's done it....
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/758704

more
http://www.fierolt1.com/





[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 1:42 PM. Reason : .]

8/1/2005 1:18:36 PM

lol:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/5007/fiero_osg/mod.engine-swap.html

Quote :

"If I haven't scared you off, then you're crazy. Go for it."

now to be fair... here's the crazy mr2 with a custom northstar swap...
http://www.v8mr2.com/
but this guy is doing everything for the first time himself... I think this is about 3/4 the level of crazy expressed back when talking about that other project that was over my head, and probably 3-4x as crazy as just swapping in everything that the fiero guys are selling...


Sard MC8R-over the top le mans racer with lexus v8
http://www.midengine-motorsports.com/Competition/Toyota/MR2/MC8R.htm
[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 2:08 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 2:12 PM. Reason : .]

8/1/2005 1:56:43 PM

i loved my fiero when i had it, very fun to drive and a suprisingly comfortable ride as well and really not that hard to work on.

and just about every engine gm has ever made has been swapped into one at some point

if you go that route try to get an 88, GT or formula, as they have the advanced suspension design

the only ones that had a problem with catching on fire were the early 84s, the first ones off the line basically...the oil dipstick was the wrong size and would tend to pop out spraying oil all over a hot ass engine

oh, and go here http://www.fiero.nl

8/1/2005 2:03:50 PM

Regular swaps for MR2 1st generations include a V6 camry engine and a 2nd generation MR2 engine (also known as a 3S-GTE). Both generate about 240+hp on a 2100lb car.

I'd definetely recommend the MR2 over the Fiero, but I guess I am biased

http://brentroad.com/photo_folder.aspx?user=8662&folder=car&filter=

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 2:27 PM. Reason : ]

8/1/2005 2:26:01 PM

get that yellow IS300 you always wanted!!!!!

but seriously i have a friend who is trying to sell a fiero body, it has a 350 in it already but the engine needs to be rebuilt. fast as hell. He said he would sell it to me for 500 i think? i dont remember.

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 2:34 PM. Reason : .]

8/1/2005 2:34:01 PM

^dude, I get it. You're a douche. But why? I mean, don't you need a drive to attain that supreme level of sphincterdom, right? btw, I got my projector working.

holy crap, I just called Chris to give me your number so I could call you and tell you your an ass over the phone but he says you really do know a guy trying to get rid of a fiero for 500 bucks? wtf....

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 3:05 PM. Reason : .]

8/1/2005 2:57:47 PM

^ don't hate. Also i'll have the dude call you tonight. I wanna see the projector. No toilet water cooling system I hope.

8/1/2005 3:09:42 PM

One of my instructors at VIR had a freakin awesome Fiero. He had some sort of V-6 swapped into it, the interior completely stripped out, and huge disk brakes off some Cadillac sedan on all four wheels. He called it his "Fierostein" because it had so many random GM parts in it. He said the best part about it was that there are so many GM parts out there. He had a reasonably fast car for a total of about $6k, plus it was really unique. Pretty cool car if you ask me.

8/1/2005 9:05:19 PM

i might know someone selling a first gen MR2 in wake forest

8/1/2005 9:26:04 PM

northstar fiero

8/2/2005 2:21:19 AM

Fiero. The v8 conversion is going to be one of my projects eventually, too.

8/2/2005 5:19:52 AM

I talked to they guy he said the fiero was still availiable and that the interior was emaculate but the engine was shot (350 said he was driving it and oil started shooting everywhere). Should make an excellent project car.

8/2/2005 8:34:38 AM

^ I want that dude's number. don't really have the cash right now.... shit... might have to sell something....

8/2/2005 11:33:08 AM

i might be interested in selling my 87 mr2.
it has 98k miles, 5spd, new clutch about 8 months ago.
problems are. needs new spark plugs and doesn't have emergency brakes, thus i can't pass my inspection. otherwise it runs wonderfully.

8/2/2005 5:04:40 PM

^interesting. might have to take a look
^^mike, try calling that dude's number without the 919 in front of it from Mann hall or thereabouts. I swear to god I got a "disconnnected" message the first two times I called before intentionally dialing 919 before the number. fucking phones.

8/2/2005 9:38:48 PM

im going to suggest the same thing I have the last 20 times you've made these types of threads:

SAVE YOUR MONEY until you HAVE IT to spend. Dreaming is fine, looking around at cars is fine. But seriously man, just give it a year. Save the money, put it away in an ING account or something.

Pay your bills, build some credit, get your shit straight and then pull that stash out next year and start on a project the right way.

8/3/2005 5:15:51 AM

^sounds like the best advice I've heard so far. thanks.

but 20 times? c'mon now, I'm a fanatic, I remember the projects I want to do. There was teh danmobile that got mentioned all over the place, one other about a locost, and this one. No need to make it sound like I'm a moron. how much actual money have I spent and lost? zero dollars. The LT1 I had sitting on the floor of my garage I sold for what it cost me to get it. Why did the danmobile not happen? Because I watched the money and laid how how it was gonna be spent and got out when I knew there wasn't going to be money (quit the GE co-op). Talk is cheap, so that I spend however the hell I like, no need to classify me with some other Tdubbers who have one too many project cars just yet. You also don't see me bragging about my ride or how my imaginary car will "own joo."

Good advice. I'll save.

[/thread]

[Edited on August 3, 2005 at 9:56 AM. Reason : .]

8/3/2005 9:55:38 AM

did you even go look at that fiero i told you about? what did he want for it?

8/3/2005 10:08:27 AM

If you had saved that LT1 and then came up with the $500 for this fiero I doubt you'd even bother making this thread.

8/3/2005 10:09:52 AM

^^not sure if I've given you the whole picture. I did get in contact with his voicemail. I've called at least 5 times and left a message on the third call. I'm waitin'

...but I started this thread not in the hopes of finding the perfect car to start with immediately, I was trying to convince myself that this was a decent idea to pursue once I had the cash in a few months' time. I realize that if I got this car it would likely save me some cash in the long run, as ~500 is about what I was planning to spend on the low end for an unmolested fiero, not fiero+.5*(engine)+conversion parts. Right now, I could just about buy it, but then I wouldn't be able to pay bills and eat. the fact that I'm still considering it in the back of my head is bad. If the dude still has it in september or october, I'll probably still be interested, but I just can't swing it right now, regardless of the value of the deal. Hence my acceptance of Noen's advice.

^heh. No shit. But hey, ~$1300 when I needed to get away from that thing was nothing to turn away. I'd just declared teh danmobile unaffordable

[Edited on August 3, 2005 at 4:40 PM. Reason : .]

8/3/2005 4:34:18 PM

I saw the guy last night, and he said you called him?

8/4/2005 9:24:40 AM

yeah I called him last night, he told me he'd send me pics of the car. apparently it's "down by the beach right now" so I'll just wait on it. Supposedly he had some guy do the custom swap for him for ~700. sounds a little sketchy. I was hoping to hear he'd bought the conversion equipment from one of the more "mainstream" sellers of this stuff. Regardless of whether I'm willing to buy, I'd like to see it.

8/4/2005 4:24:49 PM

eh i wouldnt use the engine thats in there anyway. from what i hear the body is in great shape but the engine is no go.

8/5/2005 8:44:39 AM

well, he still hasn't sent me pics yet. tbh, the only reason I'd consider buying it is that it would take care of a lot of the conversion process so I would have to buy a kit... I certainly wouldn't have attempted a custom install myself.

8/5/2005 9:33:21 AM

I'd vote Fiero. I have one as a project car, so I'm biased. Check out http://www.fiero.nl
There's a classified section there with some really nice ones, including quite a few that have already had engine swaps.

If I had the money I'd be all over this one.

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum4/HTML/027752.html

8/5/2005 1:40:26 PM