What is a Lizardo?
The Lizardo is a full-body fiberglass kit that transforms the Pontiac Fiero into a stunning exotic-looking vehicle! My particular build is starting from a completely stock 1987 Pontiac Fiero GT. This is a fun platform to work from, with lots of support and ideas from other builders. I am planning to upgrade and modify a number of things on the car as time, money, and skill allows.
Planned Modifications
In November of 2014, I commissioned Dan at Fiero Fiberglass (near Tampa) to construct one of their Lizardo full-car fiberglass re-body kits. I rented a U-Haul box truck to pick it up early in May of 2015. I am an amateur builder with a lot of other commitments and intend to take my time with this build – so my hope is to finish the body before 2016.
I made a color-picker tool to help me with paint selection – click to open.
These photos are sample images of a finished car from another customer.
The stock 9-inch brake system leaves a lot to be desired. I am going to be following in the footsteps of some other ambitious Fiero owners and upgrading to a Corvette system at all four corners. I will be installing 13-inch C5 brakes up front and 12-inch C4 brakes in the rear. The reason for the mis-match is that the C4 rear calipers will allow me to retain my stock e-brake setup.
- Custom brackets are required to mount the C4/C5 calipers onto the Fiero suspension, and I ordered those from Embrace Racing.
- The rotors and pads at all four corners will be from the PowerStop Z26 ‘Street Warrior’ line.
- I ordered Russell stainless brake lines from Summit to replace the stock rubber ones. This should help maximize the clamping force on the new Corvette setup.
In a stroke pure luck, I stumbled across a local guy selling a set of brand new ADR Sokudo 10 wheels (17″x7″ 40mm offset) wrapped in brand new, high-performance BFG KDW2 tires. They came off of a recently-deceased SRT4 that he is now parting out. I was really disappointed to hear how he wound up having to sell them, but it ended up being a GREAT deal for me! In the end, I got the full set of wheels with brand new tires for $400!
This is less of an “upgrade” for me, and more of a requirement. The Lizardo kit limits access to the original mounting location of the battery in the Fiero. It would technically fit, but one would never be able to change the battery. So, I ordered Norm’s battery relocation kit with #2 welding cable to relocate the battery into the front compartment. It will be mounted into the body where the spare tire used to be placed – the original spare would still fit over the battery, but will not do me much good with my new brake assemblies.
With my Fiero being nearly 30 years old, it is missing some of the conveniences that I like on modern cars. One of those features is an auto-dimming rearview mirror. I plan to swap the stock one for a Gentex 453 model with the hidden compass display and Homelink buttons.
Safety
Because I am working with a 30-year old car, safety is my first priority. I want to ensure that the vehicle will have all the necessary improvements to drive/handle/stop as safely as it can.
Fun
I started this build for the enjoyment of the project. It is my hope that I will ultimately enjoy the end product as well, but my track-record says differently. Typically, once I complete a project, I sell it and move on to another one, but we’ll see how it plays out!
