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Old 03-09-2009, 01:20 AM
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Ragtop_Renegade Ragtop_Renegade is offline
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Re: ? about a wrecked Fiero

The Fiero's chassis is integrated into the steel skeleton that supports the urethane and plastic body panels. Any serious damage to the frame rails has a ripple effect all the way through.

The Fiero is a very, very safe car in an impact. The reason is the space frame crumples, absorbing forces that would otherwise be transferred to the bodies of the driver and passenger. This is good news for the people in the car, but very bad news for the Fiero. Often a serious accident will require hours of work on a laser guided frame machine to get things back in order, if not render the car unrepairable altogether.

If damage is limited to the front bumper, it could be a very easy repair.
The radiator core support can suffer quite a bit of damage and still be fixed, but will require cutting and welding since it's not a bolt-together assembly.

That being said, you may be able to bolt together new pieces to rebuild the core support, eliminating the need for a welder. This isn't the way the factory did it, so some fabrication skill and creativity on your part is needed.

Suspension damage is fine as long as it's limited to the control arms, tie rods, and steering rack. If the components of the space frame that mount the control arms were damaged, the outlook is not good at all.

Do you know how fast the car was going when it crashed? Some photos of the damage, including the underside below the radiator and shots of the control arms with the wheel turned as far outward as possible would be very helpful in figuring your odds for a successful repair.
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Wanted to buy:
86-88 Fiero GT, 5 speed, fixer-upper. Blown motor, no motor? No problem! Rusty unibodies need not apply.
74-79 Ramcharger or 100, slant or no motor - not interested in v8 - Overdrive 4 is a big plus, NO hopeless rust buckets!!!
3Rd gen F body floor pans/camaro door skin (L)

Why is it I see so many "Proud to be an American" bumper stickers on the backs of cars made in Japan or Korea??????
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