Cadillac V8 Swap: 1988 Pontiac Fiero
GM spent millions engineering the Fiero’s four-cylinder commuter-car image, and here comes some madman with a Cadillac 4.9L V8 and a 5-speed to undo it all in the best way possible. Sure, it’s got cornflakes in the coolant, a wobbly alignment, and cosmetics that look fine from five feet away, but it also pulls like a freight train, keeps its A/C, and still has the trunk space for a grocery run. It’s a scrappy mid-engine misfit that GM never had the guts to build, and that’s exactly why you want it. Find this 1988 Pontiac Fiero offered for $6,500 in Tampa, FL via Craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
From the seller:
1988 pontiac fiero
condition: good
cylinders: 8 cylinders
drive: rwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 140,000
paint color: silver
title status: clean
transmission: manual
type: coupe
Update: Tank is back in with a new sending unit, pump and filter. Everything is working as intended now.Original listing:
Price is OBO! Cash only. Fun car but I just don’t have the time for it like I used to.
1988 Fiero Cadillac 4.9 v8 swap, 5 speed manual. Runs great, pulls hard. Mileage is exempt due to the swap. It has received a LOT (and I mean a LOT) of new parts and work done since I’ve owned it. I’ve attached pictures of a list all of the parts. I have all the paperwork from myself, the original owner and the previous owner who I bought it from, including on the swap which was done by a shop in the early 2000’s.
Manual Steering, decklid and mirror control, but power locks, and windows.
Yes, it does still have the trunk, and yes the AC does work!
A few cons:
- There are flakes in the coolant. I’ve been trying to figure out where they have been coming from but I can’t tell. I just run it without a thermostat and it’s been fine.
- Has a choppy idle sometimes. I believe it’s timing related but I haven’t done a deep dive.
- Cosmetics but it looks fine from 5 feet.
- Needs an alignment. A little shaky at higher speeds.
I would consider it a project car but it does run, drive, and stop just fine.
Also comes with tons of parts, including a (nearly) full 6 speed swap kit, and an Allante intake setup.
Not interested in trades, though if you have a cool wagon, I may be interested.
Let me know if you have any questions. My availability is sporadic, so any viewings will need to be scheduled.
See a better way to v8? tips@dailyturismo.com
The “cons” listed are straight up hilarious and likely mean this needs a lot of sorting to remain anything other than a future plant holder on someone’s front yard.
I was thrown off by the spare tire in the back trunk. The Fiero has a perfect spot for a spare in the front, why someone would put a tire back there is a mystery. The other “issue” with the Caddy swap is working on the firewall side tends to be a nightmare. They did do the coolant hoses correctly, if you do not put a fill spot in the back up high it is next to impossible to bleed the system.
If you check the CL ad, there’s more photos showing they mounted the battery in the front spare tire well. Reckon the swap encroached on the stock battery location in back, under that louvered panel to the right of the engine, so they had to relocate it.
Odd that they didn’t spend the $100 to get the tray to put the battery under the spare tire. The also probably had a bunch of rust in the stock location, I have never seen one without rust in the battery tray.
A few years ago I test drove an ’86 Fiero with this engine transplant + an automatic: not enough power to justify the swap and the transmission made me sad. The handling was also screwy, which I attributed to being a pre-88, though who knows?
This is local to me and seems desirable if the buyer negotiates the price.
It is a chassis that really sucks from a suspension design perspective. You have two shitty subframes being used that aren’t even cohesive front to back. I swapped a Honda K20 into mine and it is fun in large part because it reduced the weight and put the power at the top of the revs. My personal opinion is too many of the swaps use motors with tons of torque. It makes for a car that doesn’t feel as fun.