Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave McFly
every person I talked to who had them they all said that 1988 was the ONLY year for the lotus suspension all 84-87 cars had the chevy chevette front suspension and what ever suspension they put on mid 80s front drive GM cars (except they have solid half shafts instead of CV joints that were used when the engines in the Fieros were used in other front drive GM cars) for the rear end.
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Common myth.
The Fiero used a lot of pieces from the GM parts bin, including the chevette. The suspension was not used from the Lotus in the 88's. Almost everyone thinks that, and they even had badges made up that said "Suspension by Lotus", but it is kind of an inside joke.
The rear end of the Fiero is pretty much a front wheel drive setup in other cars. The rear tie rods on the 88's are fixed to the frame and only used to align the rear wheels. The 88's got a list of upgrades from previous years. This is good and bad if you are restoring them. Anything from a one year run is going to be hard to find. Front hubs are almost impossible. The brakes are also different. Vented rotors, and better calipers. The width is wider on the 88's in the front, so the front GT rims are pretty rare. The lip is much smaller to make up for the wider track. They are not rotatable on the 88's front to rear like the other years.
It is pretty easy to get hooked on them after tinkering around for awhile. I can pull an engine out of the car and have it back in and running in around 4-5 hours.
"Buy a Fiero, become a mechanic!"
Not too many places will touch them, so the learning curve is pretty steep.
