Am I crazy to want a 87 Fiero GT?

Hey guys,
I have always loved the sexy styling of the Fiero GT's...
My X Girlfriend had an old 84 with the Iron Duke 4cy. that I replaced the headlite motors on...
Recently I have just found 2 locally that sound pretty nice (I haven't seen them in person yet)
I have seen pictures and talked to both owners...

The first:
1987 GT from the orig.owner
90k miles
5 spd with a new clutch maybe 6k miles ago
New tires, sunroof, new paint, very clean interior, non smoker
he has orig.owners manual & some paperwork
Some mods: No cat, & a high flow muffler, No EGR valve and a custom chip...He says it runs much better then stock and he beat a Mustang 5.0 on the hiway...Possibly True or BS? He is asking $2650

The 2nd
1987 GT, 112k miles, all stock
auto tranny, no sunrf. A/C blows cold, new tires
He says it runs great & the auto tranny shifts flawlessly
He also says the drivers side ball joint needs replaced and one front brake caliper rattles a lil bit...Back struts replaced, but drives great, no vibrations & clean interior. He is asking $1750 but said he would let her go for $1500 to get it moved...

I spent HOURS reading about these cars last night, but anything else anyone can think of to look out for that these cars are know for?
I will be looking at one today and one tommarow.

Feel free to add both pluses & minuses of the car...
I have learned or tried not to fall in love with a cars body from a bad relationship I had with a old 87 Conquest TSI ;)
Thanks much for any imput!

Crazy? not until you say you're putting a 455 in it burning pure alcohol and pushing 1500hp, then you're crazy (and you better show me pics, too!!!!)

I think the 112k mile car is priced a bit high even at $1500, considering the suspension and brake work it needs, and you'll also have to pay for an alignment when your done. After a few hundred dollars you will still have a car over ten years old with over 100k miles.If you really like this one try for $1000 - $1250.

The 90k mile car sounds nice, and if it has premium sound, pw/pl and AC, cold or not, it sounds like a good buy. Perhaps you could haggle him down to 2k or 2,250. The only thing that bothers me is the lack of an EGR valve. This tends to lead to stock valve damage, so it's a good idea to ask if any head work has been done. If heads were properly rebuilt for non EGR operation, you should be fine.

Note my opinions are based on Fieros I see in my local area, every area is different. For all I know, a Fiero that would sell for $500 here might sell for $3000 somewhere else.

Thanks much Ragtop!
What year is your Firebird? She looks sweet!
Reminds me of my buddy who got a...Trying to remember what year it was...I think it was a 68 Firebird Convertible for his H.S. graduation way back when...1981...
I had thought the EGR valve was just a emissions device? So thanks for the heads up there...What exactly does it do?

I just got back from test driving the other Auto tranny one, and its just too slow for my tastes...I have a 89 T/A WS6, 350 TPI with a cam, headers, SLP intake amoung other things, so I need to feel some speed...ha ha...Just not that big a drop of the auto...The A/C did blow cold, nice tires, paint wasn't bad...Interior wasn't too bad ether..But I agree with your price evaluation...

It's not a firebird, but rather a 69 GTO "The Judge" Convertible, Orange with a 4 speed manual. It's also not mine, but it is my dream car. With only 108 ragtop Judges built in 69(and only about 1/3 of that being 4 speed cars), I'll be dreaming for a LONG TIME before I can afford one!!!

As far as EGR goes, the acro stands for Exhaust Gas Recirculation. The whole point of this little guy is to take a bit of exhaust gas and recirculate it back through the engine to reduce unburned hydrocarbons at the tailpipe. While doing this robs some power, it also boosts fuel economy. Not that it matters, as federal laws require them, at least on newer cars. So if your state doesn't require emmissions tests, or you have titled your car as a collector or hobbist vehicle, making you exempt, where's the harm? There are 2 big factors:

1. Many people will simply remove the EGR valve, and put a block off plate in it's place. This prevents exhaust gas from being reburned, but also causes it to sit trapped in the cylinder head EGR passage, raising the temperature of the head. Before I knew better, I did this to a 2.5L in a S10 blazer and it eventually cracked the head. To avoid this, the EGR passage needs to be blocked off at the source.

2. Engines with smog control are engineered to operate with an EGR system. Remove it, and you change what's going on inside the combustion chamber. This can lead to burnt valves and other problems.

To avoid problems like this, the best thing is to remove the heads (or pull the entire engine) and take them to an engine rebuilder that specializes in racing engines. Ask that the heads be rebuilt for non-EGR operation, and they will take the proper steps to insure the valvetrain components are durable enough and the stock EGR passages are properly blocked off. Yes, this costs more, but helps avoid costly mistakes and gives you the chance to have the heads professionally cleaned and checked for cracks and warping. While there, you can gain some power by having the intake and exhaust passages ported for better flow :)

Edit: It just occured to me that the 2.8L V6 doesn't use an internal EGR port like the 2.5, but rather an external EGR pipe off the exhaust manifold. Therfore, the threat of trapped exhaust in the heads doesn't apply to the 2.8 V6. Burnt valves from increased combustion temperatures is still a serious problem, though, and needs to be addressed.

Thank you very much for taking the time to expplain that to me!
*Also sorry about the GTO mistake...Geez, I think I need to maybe get glasses? ha ha...
I think the owner did stat the "Check engine light" does come on from time to time...Perhaps the EGR situation is the reason why? I am going to try and find time toda to check her out.
Thanks again!
Doug

With an ECM controlled EGR solenoid missing, code 32 can be comming up indicating EGR system failure (DUH! It's obviously failing 'cause it's not there anymore!) If it's really a "Custom" PROM then it SHOULD have been reprogrammed to eliminate the EGR subroutines, but if it's an off the shelf performance chip, the ECM will still be trying to turn the valve on and off. If you can, check for trouble codes to see if it's a code 32 or something else. On a car that old, a bad oxygen sensor is very common. A bad O2 sensor will set code 13, and an intersting thing to note is a bad O2 sensor will only light the C/E light when the engine is warm...

Very interesting, thanks much.
I didn't get time to the 5 spd 87 GT yesterday and football is today!
Have a great weekend.