Then began the process of fuilling and sanding the inside vent surface:



Along about this time, I was reading through this thread:
http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/069871.html

In this thread Archie's guys are installing the same deckid vent for one of his customers. Archie mentions that this vent piece was one of the thinest pieces of fiberglass that he has ever used and that it needs to be reinforced. Once the openings are cut he is absolutely correct, the piece is flimsy and flexes in the centre. So I applied some additional fiberglass to the underside of the vent.

Here are a couple ov pictures from Archie's thread showing how they cut the decklid and fiberglassed the underside:

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

One thing I noticed is that Archie originally kept the intermediate cross-member but had removed it in the final installation. I don't know what their reasons were for doing so but I kept the cross-member as I felt that it helped to maintain some rigidity. I simply cut one side in a curve to match the vent curve and applied fiberglass over the cross-member.

I did add some additional fiberglass on the underside for more stiffness but I felt that more support was needed.

I purchased a piece of 1/2" aluminum bar-stock cut and bent it to match the vent curve and applied it like so:




The bar-stock was then fiberglassed in as well:



As you can see, the holes that I had previously cut for the vent openings has to be re-cut. Sigh, oh well live and learn.
Well that's it for now. I will post some more later.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

Awesome job so far, I really like that style of vent

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[This message has been edited by Fiero1Fan (edited 03-12-2006).]

Thanks for the comments everyone, they are appreciated!

Fiero1Fan: thats the reason that I wanted to post this build so that others would say that they could do it too and give it a try.

To continue:
The next phase consisted of sanding and filling, repeated as required. There are a lot of nooks and crannies on this vent, it's hard to get into them all for sanding. The corners particularly at the front of the lid are impossible to get any type of mechanical sander into so it must all be done by hand. This is a tedious process to say the least, my hats off to anyone who does this for a living. One of the unpleasant issues is all the dust that is generated. Lots of very fine dust that gets everywhere.

After this long process i finally ended up with this:


I also thought that I should post pictures of the tools and materials that I am using. Here are the resin, the Corvette panel adhesive and a fiberglass impregnated filler for more strength:

Here are the non-clog filler which is what I am mostly using and the glazing putty for small imperfections which I will discuss later:

Here is a picture of the assorted power tools that I have used:

and finally a sample of the various sandpapers, files, sanding blocks and shapes that I have found useful:


Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

Once the sanding was complete the whole surface was vacuumed, blow off with compressed air and whipped down with an acetone moistened cloth. Then the first layer of primer was applied. The primer I used is a sandable primer that will fill in minor scratches and imperfections.


Once the primer was applied it becomes much easier to spot imperfections and areas that require additional sanding. in this picture there are small holes (bubbles):


Once the primer was set I applied glazing putty to the various dips, dents, and holes etc:


As you can see there was a surprising amount of filling to be done. You just cant see some of it until the primer is applied.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

The whole surface was sanded including the touch-up areas:


The the surface was vacuumed, blown off and wiped down once again and a second coat of primer applied:



And this is as far as I have progressed as of this afternoon. I will continue to post as this progresses. If you have any suggestions on how this could be improved, better techniques etc. I would enjoy hearing from you.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

Next time avoid the spray can primer . As long as you remove it before paint. Unless that is just on the underside and you are spray painting the whole underneath . Looks good though!

Thanks
Nolan