Oh, if anyone is looking for some interior parts I will probably have some for sale
Nolan

Edit: Yay, I own page 7

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 07-15-2006).]

Check out how 4.9PFI Fiero solved most of the issues you have noticed. He also has a lot of tips and tricks so you won't have to re-invent most of it.

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/052432.html

[This message has been edited by Fiero1Fan (edited 07-15-2006).]

Edit: Hi Timo, I have seen his thread and I am referencing it below. Thanks!

This next picture is quite telling. The Stealth dash definitely has a sharper radius on the curve where it sits against the front windshield (this picture exaggerates the difference). I will have to take some measurements to see if I will be able to trim enough off of the leading edge to match the stock radius. One good thing is that the defroster vents will line up although the Stealth has longer vents.


And another interesting detail concerns the glove box on the Stealth dash. The stock Fiero ducting cannot be used for the passenger side outer most vent as it will conflict with the glove box. The fan blower box my also interfere but I won't know that until I get it into the car.
Here is the Fiero:

nd the Stealth:


I will be using some of the information gleaned from these two threads:
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/052432.html
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...050119-2-053286.html

I have done a search but cannot find any additional threads for this swap. Does anyone have any other information that they could share?

Thanks
Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-28-2007).]

I already have my 3000GT dash and it will go in this winter.

The 3000GT dash is very similar to the Stealth dash is it not?

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 07-15-2006).]

Nolan, I'm so happy that your local i cannot wait to see this car, you do very nice work and I seriously think that fabricating that stuff to mount that dash and make it look like it belongs there, is harder then my engine swap, I don't think i would have the guts to attempt that amount of work. Your car is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

I made a quick template of the front edge of the Fiero dash by turning the dash upside down and tracing the radius onto a scrap piece of wood. Usually I would use cardboard but I don't have anything big enough at the moment.

I marked out the center of the template and using soapstone I marked the center point on the dash:

I then lined up the template so it was square and marked it out again using soapstone. Using cardboard would be much easier as you can make it fit the contours of the dash:




It turns out that removing this much material will prevent the defroster vents from lining up so I have decided to leave it as it is and make the fiberglass infill's to suit.

I was also concerned about the fit of the console. I think it is too tight in the pictures above and exerts too much force upwards to make the back end of the console lay flat. I have trimmed the mounting tabs as you can see:


Placing it back into the car was easier and feels better. I will have to devise some other method of attaching the dash to the console now.


Thats it for today, I think we will go enjoy some pizza and a movie!
Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-28-2007).]

I know I said that was it for the night but I can't seem to stop putzing around with this. I'm very excited about this swap, I think it's still the honeymoon stage.

I was thinking about the ducting for the 4 front dash vents. I want to try to use the Stealth branch ducts for the two outer most vents as they likely have the required bends and offsets, or at least are close. I have to use the main plenum from the Fiero as it mates up to the flange on the blower box. So I started making some cuts to the Fiero ducting. The upper ductwork is for the Stealth and the lower for the Fiero with the cuts made:


The first thing was to see approximately where the two Stealth branch ducts would terminate. The left one would run full length but the right one will need to be cut shorter due to the Fiero plenum not being centered in the dash. I then marked out the plenum and cut where the stealth ducts are going to join. Here's the backside of the plenum:


The plenum once cut fit nicely behind the new dash but I could see that it is going to interfere with the left upper corner of the glove box Here's the glove box and it's upper shell:


I decided to notch the bottom right corner of the plenum to minimize the interference as much as possible.


So far this is actually quite fun, sort of a giant jigsaw puzzle.

thanks
Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-28-2007).]

You make it look easy, Nolan. I know the truth, though. Looks great.

Bob

LOL thanks Bob, but the only reason it looks easy is that I'm just ripping things apart, so it is easy. The real challenge will come when I try to put it all back together!

quote Originally posted by Sourmug: The 3000GT dash is very similar to the Stealth dash is it not?

Exactly the same as far as I can tell.

quote Originally posted by Fiero1Fan: I must admit I am going to be copying a lot!! Hope you don't mind.

That's why I'm posting this thread!

Nolan

Here's a bit of an update:

I made a bracket to mount the air plenum under the dash. In the stock configuration the plenum and ductwork is actually mounted to the underside of the dash itself however I think it will be easier to install it independent of the Stealth dash and easier to align. The bracket is 10" long over all with a 1" offset using two 45 degree angles. The offset is about 2" from one end. Mine is actually 11" long but it doesn't need to be. I used 1 1/2" X 1/4" flat stock but it probably doesn't need to be that thick. It has also been predrilled so that I can use self tapping screws. Here is the bracket after it has been painted:


Here is a picture of the test fit in the car:

The bracket is attached to the hollow tube structural member that supports the steering column.

The duct connections on both ends of the plenum were then modified to accept a 2" ABS pipe coupling. I was thinking of using the Stealth ducts but they will need to be modified to fit. So the end result is that by using the couplings I have two options:

1. Use 2" ABS pipe and fittings. The pipe will simply insert into the coupling and the installation can be ridged. The draw back is that it will require more work and measurements to fit up.
2 Use 3" flexible duct. The duct can be clamped to the outside of the coupling. This allows me to ream out the ridge on the inside of the coupling resulting in a larger than 2" inside diameter, probably close to 2 1/2". It will also be easier to run the duct. The drawbacks are that it looks cheap (I know, no one can see it) the other is that the flexible duct doesn't flow air as well as smooth duct.

In order to insert the couplings I first cut multiple grooves in the two plenum ends so that it would give and allow the coupling to sit into the opening:




I used a thin cutting wheel in the angle grinder to do this. Make sure you wear long sleeves when doing this. Hot plastic burns

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-28-2007).]

Great to see that the swap is going good. Keep up the good work. Quick tip, for the top mounts get a 2 pieces of flat iron. Screw it to holes where the 4x6 speakers were on the Fiero dash. Then install the stealth dash back and mark with white out the mounting holes inside the speakers holes. Get self tapping screws (the ones with the cutting tip) and install. ta da

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

4.9 PFI FIERO:

Thanks for the tip, I had noticed the mounting that you had done through the speaker holes while reading through your thread. And yes, self tapping screws are my friends!

By the way, when I find a particularly informative thread that covers something that I will be doing I make a word document of the thread c/w all the pictures and put it into a binder. I have 4.9 PFI FIERO's thread all printed out:



To continue:
Here is a shot with the dash, plenum and the plenum in place:


Its a little on the long side and will interfere with the glove box lid. Jeeze, do you think I drilled enough holes in the end?
But as you will see shortly it didn't stay this way for long.

The next bracket that I decided to work on is the center console support. This support is the one that supports the dash at the stereo/HVAC control opening. The dash sits to low just sitting free in the car and needs to rise up to allow the console to slip into place. 4.9 PFI FIERO in his thread built a bracket using some of the stock components:

I decided to fabricate one from scratch. The reason for this is that the stock piece is actually too narrow side-to-side and I wanted to maximize the space in between the supports. I made it using a 9 3/4" long piece of 1" X 1/8" flat iron and two 5" long pieces of 1" angle iron. Here it is being fitted up:

After welding and pre-drilling:

And after painting:

And with it mounted in position:

This piece needs to sit toward the front of the car when compared to the stock location and it also sits at an angle to match the angle of the Stealth dash.

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-28-2007).]

For the right hand glove box hinge support I am going to connect to an existing Fiero angle bracket that is used to support the under dash passenger side foot well light and apparently the Sub enclosure for the performance sound option. My car did not come with this option however I am adding it in and have replaced the original sub with the replacement that Rodney Dickman sells. It's a much nicer speaker than the original.

I made the bracket using a piece of 1 1/2" angle iron and also welded a strip of slightly bent 1" flat iron to connect to the hinge/dash support:


I also replaced the lower mounting hardware on the sub enclosure as the new angle bracket will interfere with the stock bracket:

There is a second stock bracket on the left side of the sub enclosure. Whatever it is intended to mount to on the stock dash is no longer present so I made a bracket again using 1" flat iron:


And here is the whole assembly in place:

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-28-2007).]

To Continue:

Here is a quick shot with the dash back in place. You can see that there is plenty of room for the sub, the ductwork and just about anything else that may need to go under the dash on the right side:


Well it looks like I have been able to more or less finish up the mounting points. It looks like I may have to make the odd adjustment but over all it has gone quite well. Here are the two final brackets for the top of the dash:


These are for the screws that will go through the speaker openings similar to what 4.9 PFI FIERO did in his thread. Here is my first attempt at modifying the speaker enclosures to allow an attachment to the new brackets. I first slotted the enclosure so that a modified washer could be inserted and held in place with adhesive:


However after thinking about this I realized that it wouldn't take much stress to fracture the plastic at the end of the slots. So I dumped the washers and attached some "L" brackets instead:


They seemed to have worked out quite well. The only difficulty is that the pocket is quite recessed and a little awkward to get the screw in place.

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-28-2007).]

I hadn't looked in on this thread in some time, I can see that iv'e missed a lot. I'm glad to see somebdy else taking a swing at this dash. I like your progress, the dash is lookin' good.

Cheers Beers n Gearz. Joe

Wow! is all I can say...you have some excellent photo documentation. Great inspiration for anyone wanting to do the stealth dash. I don't know much about the gauges, I wouldn't have the guts to tackle any non-GM dash. I suppose you can always go aftermarket. Keep up the good work!!

- Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan:

I was hoping that you could lend me some insight on how you made the infill piece that sits against the windshield on your dash swap. How did you form it and how did you attach it once it was made?

Thanks
Nolan

Just a bump. I have been working on the fill pieces at the "A" pillars. I will have some progress to report in the near future,

Nolan

Is it just me, or Is there an echo in here?

I guess I better substantiate this post. Do you think the fillers would be easier to make if you had a test mule with no windshield in it, or would that effect how accurate the fillers were in the corner and along the windshield? Also, do you plan on upholstering them seperatly, or blending them into the dash somehow so it looks like one piece? The corners are the part that concerns me most about when I get to do this swap.

Oh, it would definitely be easier with a windowless test mule. They could be made to match almost perfectly. I don't think that they can be finished in a manner that makes them completely blend in so I'm not yet sure how they will be finished. I may do something to make them more of a feature rather than trying to hide them if you know what I mean.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 07-29-2006).]

So I'm guessing you don't want to reupholster the dash. I can't say I blame you.

Just out of curiosity, what is the dashboard made of? And how thick is the dashboard material (the structure, not the upholstery) near the edge? I might have an idea...

Fantastic work there Nolan!! I beg you to make molds of the corner pieces for future use!!!!!!!!!