Some of you already know about my project from some in-progress pics posted by Curley and Songman.
Anyway, its finally finished and registered. The chassis is a 88 Fiero given to me by my friend Songman.
It's a 3" chop with a custom fiberglass body of my design. The engine and dash were swapped from a
06 GP. I got lucky and was one of the first 500 spcns applicants (sequence # 399) and the referee
registered the car as a 1960 thereby making it smog exempt.

Before I post the pics, let me say, that while I like my design, for me the ultimate Fiero mod has to be
Curley's latest wide body. It's gorgeous - he has great ideas which he and Archie have excellently
implemented.

Here are the pics. What do think? Please be gentle.












Orville

Beautiful design. Its nice to see members making their own body kits

Definately different, I've got nothing but respect for your skills of bodywork. The engine and interior are my favorite part .

I think its cool, how do you get to the front compartment? It looks all enclosed. Do you have pictures of the interior and engine bay?

Someone was just asking about this car, I figured it was done by now and you were starting on your FOURTH chop top.

Definitely a unique style, very nicely executed.

quote Originally posted by Orville: Here are the pics. What do think? Please be gentle. Orville

Orville your work is simply astonishing !

I do have to admit that some of the styling cues (the front end, and the scoops) are not to my tastes, but it is the craftsman ship that i most admire about your project.

Your talent is totally unquestionable.

I would love to see this car with the front different ? Hmmm maybe Curly can provide some of his insite on your next design ?

At any rate great job ! Keep them coming !

quote Originally posted by exoticse: Orville your work is simply astonishing ! I do have to admit that some of the styling cues (the front end, and the scoops) are not to my tastes, but it is the craftsman ship that i most admire about your project. Your talent is totally unquestionable.

x2

I may have asked this before, but what are those wheels? I'm a fan of 'circles', but they are hard to find.

I hope Orville don't mind me jumping in here, but I took a couple of pics of the dash when he was installing it. This is for the person asking about the interior pics.





Obviously these were before the work was completed. I haven't had time to get over there and see the progress. Now I see that I need to make time!

Nice Workmanship and ideas on your latest choptop Orville. I need to head out to your place to see your third chop top. You got my mind thinking once again, hehe.

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"Anyone can make a copy of something, it may look good, but never is the real car. Make something from your imagination, something unique, something nobody has, anything is possible and, ideas can become a reality; Archie and the Crew can make your Dreams into a reality."

Nice pics Dale, thanks. Yes, please visit when you get time; I'll be able to give a ride and you
can pick up your izusu trans. You too, Curley.

Kwanger, the wheels are Alessio Montecarlos I exchanged from another car because I
thought the style went better with this one. Unfortunately, they're no longer in production.
Perhaps a similar style will be made when people tire of the current spoke styles.

jscott1, please, I need to catch my breath.

88White3.4GT, here are some pics of the hood raised and some of the engine:


















Orville

quote Originally posted by Orville:

Any problem passing inspection with that much of the front frame (bumper) missing?

quote Originally posted by Orville: Nice pics Dale, thanks. Yes, please visit when you get time; I'll be able to give a ride and you can pick up your izusu trans. You too, Curley. Orville

I'll try and come by this week with my digital camera. What color (name) did you paint the chopper? I'm digging the hood (looks like the Solstice), rear end mods, and those mirrors. The dash is perhaps the best I've seen in a Fiero. You can lean alot from your elders.

[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 02-26-2008).]

A lot of new ground broken on your cars, I like to see new ideas.

For that dash to fit in the Fiero, what (if any) difference is there in width and how did you alter it?

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quote Originally posted by Orville: What do think? Please be gentle. Orville

Hi Orville,

I agree with others about the craftsmanship, you definitely have the skills
I have never designed a car so I'll give you ALL the credit for doing that.
As for the shape of the end result, judging only by the pictures...and I'll try to be gentle here...

It looks like a painful orgy between an XLR and the Prowler.









I DO NOT say you've based your design on these, it's just the shapes I see (and used) to make my point.
This is a totally NEW car and design but it did not take the design concept all the way, it's left somewhere in between the two.

I guess my eyes require a more determinant shape and defined lines.

You have some good lines and some very good aspects from each but I think you have failed to mix the ingrdiants proparly
to archive the X-Factor that makes a car look GREAT.

To each his own taste, that is my opinion.
Best of luck with your future projects

------------------

T-Top Conversion~Dual HUD~LED Setup~Red Fieros~Montreal Club~Carputer

Kwanger, The only inspection required was for brakes and lights and I got lucky there - my lights passed.

Curley, Look forward to seeing you, but what's this stuff about "elders"?

Ridkady88GT, I swapped the entire dash including the hvac rather than just the fascia. I like its looks
and functionality but more importantly some of its components are integrated with the operation of the
pcm and the bcm.

Surprisingly, the GP dash cross member is only 1/2" longer than the inside dimension of the Fiero at
that point. It is, however, a heck of a difficult 1/2" to make up requiring lots of hammer and torch work
(is anyone getting queasy?). Also, the GP dash is quite bulky and requires more relieving of the fender
wells and front bulkhead as well as cutting off the reinforcing from the forward part of the gas tank
tunnel.

Here are some pics of the process. They're pretty much self-explanatory, so I won't make any comments.





















Orville

quote Originally posted by Orville: Curley, Look forward to seeing you, but what's this stuff about "elders"? Orville

I'm currently looking for my darn electrical plug to charge the camera. As always, I need to look for something else and then I'll find it, hehe. I'll try to come today around 14:00HR.

Oh yeah, "Elders" a.k.a wise men/master tweakers.

Edit: I found the electrical plug. I'll be at your place @ 14:00HR.

[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 02-27-2008).]

WOW that is a healthy structure under the dash skin. That thing should add some much needed strength to the chassis. Is it all cast aluminum?

quote Originally posted by Orville: blissfully painfull orgy

Sounds better

Hi Orville
Awsome car you have there and something to be very proud of.
The time involved and the thinking needed to do a build of that magnitude is something few people can do.Hope to see this car in person someday.
Bob

Orville,

About the dash, what kind of wiring did it take to get all the controls and the gauges to work properly? Do you have a diagram or anything? This is something I'm looking to do in the future, it looks real painful, but I'll never be happy with a regular 4th gen firebird dash after having seen this.

Matthew

quote Originally posted by MetroMatt: Orville, About the dash, what kind of wiring did it take to get all the controls and the gauges to work properly? Do you have a diagram or anything? This is something I'm looking to do in the future, it looks real painful, but I'll never be happy with a regular 4th gen firebird dash after having seen this. Matthew

From my talking to Orville it wasn't one of those cut' n past swap, but rather a complete swap and everthing was gutted from the donor which was sitting 25 feet from the Fiero; including the drive-by wiring system. Truely a remarkable swap. The regular Fiero venders could learn something here especially since he passed CA smog laws.

Orville did tell me that, the liklyhood of someone performing this type of swap isn't gonna happen due to the amount of time involved in the to conversion.

MetroMatt,
There is no Fiero wiring in the car. I took the GP loom and trimmed it to delete the wheel speed
sensors, abs, sir, rear door wiring, and some miscellaneous stuff. The remaining part of the
loom had to be lengthened to reach from the dash to the Fiero engine compartment. I used the
diagrams in the Helm GP manual.
This pic shows the part of the loom that was removed:



Orville

Curl, Orville, thank you for your responses. I suppose that shoots that out of the water, unless I do an engine swap and dash at the same time out of the same car. Highly doubtful considering my salary, the army really doesn't pay much, lol

Wonderful job in any case, I wish I had the ingenuity to develop something of this caliber

Matthew

More pics of Orville's latest creation found here: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F.../HTML/040418-14.html

I really like the stock swap interior and the workmanship performed on the doors. It truely looks OEM.

I said it from the beginning, I really dislike the way it looks, but...


DAMN! you do good work!

Good job man!

Me likes.

It's very different. Definitely unique compared to everything out there, yet visibly PONTIAC.

Orv,

I'm no mechanic. I'm not bodyman. I think your vison and the way you brought it to life is just awesome. I bet you get nothing but looks and stares. Like the rounded edges of the Solstice - it says Pontiac. The back end keeps the lines of the Fiero. Awesome job - congrats from me - not that it's worth much! tehe!

quote Originally posted by Orville: MetroMatt, There is no Fiero wiring in the car.[/IMG] Orville

It sounds like you peeled open the GP and wrapped it around the Fiero chassis and then put a custom body on it. The only other car I've seen done that way was the Plazma. Amazing work, both cars.

Orville,
Just one more incredible work of art! Wish I could say I'll be dropping by soon to see it in person but I'll have to wait, at least until winter is over. By the way, how does it drive in the snow! Oh, you don't know what snow is................Great job Orville, I suppose number four is on the drawing board somewhere.
Dick

quote Originally posted by jscott1: It sounds like you peeled open the GP and wrapped it around the Fiero chassis and then put a custom body on it. The only other car I've seen done that way was the Plazma. Amazing work, both cars.

I'll agree with the rest and say great job! The back is an awesome design. The front, well, the headlights seem tacked on.

If the car is smog exempt, can't you put in whatever engine you want to? Just a query, not a judgment of engine type.
Are you planning on coming to the 25th show? I'm sure everyone would be dying to see it. Me too!

Hi, I appreciate the comments.

Austrian Import, The dash and the wiring were major parts of the job - you get the idea from Curley's
pics. I don't want to anything like that again - but maybe.

Gocart Mozart, With the headlights, I was in a hurry to be ready to try for the spcns registration. Does
anyone have ideas? Photo Shop guys?

Yes, I'm smog exempt so I can pretty much modify as I want. Right now, the swap is completely smog
legal with all the GP smog gear, including the in-tank components, installed and functioning properly.
Amazingly, there are no engine or smog related DTC's posted, although without doubt there are
some for the Body Control Module, but my scanner doesn't read those.

Orville

I like the idea this guy had with his truck https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum6/HTML/055062.html Maybe low beams on the outside of the fender with the blinker and the high beam on the inside.

How much room is between the hood and the fenderwell?

Here's a blank canvas for the other photoshoppers. I'll work on my ideas soon.

Thanks Gokart

The room is limited, so at least part of the housing has to be outside the fender.
Also, I can custom mold the lens covers.

Orville

[This message has been edited by Orville (edited 03-15-2008).]

quote Originally posted by Austrian Import: Me likes. It's very different. Definitely unique compared to everything out there, yet visibly PONTIAC.

Orville's front end reminds me of the Solticse;

[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 03-31-2008).]