quote Originally posted by TiredGXP: Somebody did Cheers

If you're referring to Blacktree, his one off creation connects everything and is not a direct replacement... lol

But if you know of some product thats currently in the works or that already exists, please point me in the right direction! I'd love to take a look and consider purchasing if the quality is high

[This message has been edited by doublec4 (edited 03-08-2008).]

First of all, thanks to everyone for the compliments. I have to admit, my inspiration for the tail lamp pods was in fact from Ferraris (also the rear diffuser). I hope they don't sue me.

Second of all...

Making a stock-replacement tail lamp panel using 4" diameter lights for the notchback Fiero isn't feasible. Actually, it's impossible to do without modifying something. That's why you don't see anyone selling them.

If you were to attempt to build a tail lamp panel using 4" lights to replace the stock units, it would need to be taller than the stock tail lamp housings. You would need to chop out part of the decklid to make room. Then there's the question of what to do about the trunk lock (modify the mounting setup, or make a dip in the tail lamp panel?). And so on.

While such a thing might be "do-able", it won't be a drop-in replacement for the stock tail lamps. Even with the tail lamp panel sitting in your lap, you'll only be halfway there.

quote Originally posted by doublec4: If you're referring to Blacktree, his one off creation connects everything and is not a direct replacement... lol But if you know of some product thats currently in the works or that already exists, please point me in the right direction! I'd love to take a look and consider purchasing if the quality is high

Yeah, I was referring to Blacktree, just a lame joke. His taillight mod is really looking good; it would be nice to see something like this commercially available.

Cheers

Well... the lights don't have to be 4inches... if they were less the would fit without modification to the decklid... some nice leds

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Just a few more pics of blacktree's masterpiece, taken at my house on the way to Central Florida Fieros monthly meeting.

Great job Mike !

Mike and Alex, checking out the latest work



A shot from the rear



The new mod on the roll.



A closer look.

Hey Tony, thanks for the photos. I especially like the "on the roll" shot. Mind if I borrow that?

quote Originally posted by Blacktree: Hey Tony, thanks for the photos. I especially like the "on the roll" shot. Mind if I borrow that?

Go for it !

I wonder if someone could produce a set of taillights that would look like that and fit in the stock notchback housing.

Man that really cleans up the ass end of the fiero. Great Job.

Now I just need to clean up the front end. Hmmm...

it is looking good !!!!!!!!

Today, I finished installing the reverse lights. Since my new tail lights have built-in reflectors, the reflectors in the rear fascia can go bye-bye. So I decided to put some back-up lights in their place. I found some rectangular fog lamps at a local auto parts store that (just barely) fit into the reflector holes.

For the wiring, I placed a relay next to the C500 connector in the engine bay. The reverse light circuit activates the relay, which sends power from the power distribution block (under the C500 connector) to the fog lamps. The wiring for the fog lamps is incorporated into the tail light wiring harness.

While I had the rear fascia off to install the reverse lights, I also replaced the rear impact beam. It was severely rusted.



I found a good impact beam in a salvage yard, with very little rust on it. So I took it home, cleaned it up, and painted it with black Rustoleum. Here's what the car looks like with the new impact beam and energy absorber installed:



In the photo above, you can see the wires running to the lights in the rear fascia. And in the photo below, you can see the fascia installed with the lights on. Hopefully, this will make it easier to see behind me at night.

quote Originally posted by Blacktree: Today, I finished installing the reverse lights. Since my new tail lights have built-in reflectors, the reflectors in the rear fascia can go bye-bye. So I decided to put some back-up lights in their place. I found some rectangular fog lamps at a local auto parts store that (just barely) fit into the reflector holes. For the wiring, I placed a relay next to the C500 connector in the engine bay. The reverse light circuit activates the relay, which sends power from the power distribution block (under the C500 connector) to the fog lamps. The wiring for the fog lamps is incorporated into the tail light wiring harness. In the photo above, you can see the wires running to the lights in the rear fascia. And in the photo below, you can see the fascia installed with the lights on. Hopefully, this will make it easier to see behind me at night.

You could also set up a second switch and use them if someone tailgates you at night.... Flip and watch them back off!!!

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****************************************

I had been considering that. But after seeing how bright my brake lights are, I figured I could just tap the brakes. My brake lights are like red-colored flood lights.

Do you have any details on how you wired the actual tail lamps? I'd be interested...

If you don't mind me asking, do you have any plans for smoothing out around the trunk, like archie does for the upper rear fender on the reverse opening gt40s?

LIke this?


I hope you don't mind me using a pic from your site archie

Chris

quote Originally posted by doublec4: Do you have any details on how you wired the actual tail lamps? I'd be interested...

It's pretty simple. In a nutshell, I re-routed the tail lamp wiring up to the firewall and through the decklid. The LED lights are dim for parking lights and bright for brake/turn signals, just like the stock lights. So I didn't have to do anything fancy... just cutting and splicing.

I bought a tail light harness from a salvage yard, so I could hack it up for use with my new tail lights. Having a pre-built wiring harness made the body panel swap quicker and easier.

The only new wires I had to add were a ground wire from the lights to the chassis, and a power wire for the parking lights. Since the marker lights and license plate lights run off the parking light circuit, I couldn't just re-route those wires. So I ran a new parking light wire to the decklid and spliced it into the tail light wiring harness. Same goes for the ground. But I didn't feel like running a ground wire all the way back to the tail light wiring harness. So I grounded my lights to one of the decklid hinges instead.

quote Originally posted by eph_kay: If you don't mind me asking, do you have any plans for smoothing out around the trunk, like archie does for the upper rear fender on the reverse opening gt40s?

My only plan for "beautifying" the chassis is a fresh coat of POR15. I like seeing the bare frame.

Today, I upgraded from single to dual hood struts. The single gas strut that I previously installed was causing stress cracks in the fiberglass. I guess having 90 lb of force concentrated in one spot was too much for the hood.

The dual struts are rated at 40 lb each. So the force will be a lot less concentrated. Plus, I revised the strut geometry so they don't push up on the hood when it's closed. Here are a couple pictures of the dual struts installed:





Below is a close-up shot of the passenger side hood strut. Here you can see that the back end of the strut is mounted to the bulkhead, whereas the old single strut was mounted to the frame rail. This makes the strut lay flat when the hood is closed.



The brackets attaching the struts to the bulkhead are plain old angle bracket, purchased from the hardware store. I just modified them a bit. The brackets for the hood hinges are cut from 1/8 x 2" aluminum plate stock. You can download the template here. And last but not least, the gas struts are part number 4138T544 at McMaster-Carr Industrial Supply.

TRANSMISSION SWAP: PART 2

The Getrag 5-speed transmission that I installed earlier had some issues. So it had to come out. I decided to replace it with a rebuilt FWD Getrag unit from ManTrans, instead of taking my chances with another used one. A few days ago, the Big Brown Truck stopped by to drop off this box:



And here's the transmission removed from the box. They used spray foam for packing material. The transmission was covered by a plastic bag, but some of the foam managed to find its way inside. Luckily, none of it got inside the transmission.



Now it's time to tear apart the Fiero!



And here's a parting shot of the old Getrag. Hasta la vista, baby!



I drove to the Central Florida Fiero Club meeting today. The new transmission works great!

I got my getrag from those same guys. small world.

OK, I gotta ask o2usa. If you're in Mims why aren't you hanging with us?

I drive from Titusville over once a month. We met at Louis' barbecue for breakfast last Saturday and drove to the Daytona meet.

We're going to Bithlo next Friday and run some cars, want to drive over with me?

------------------
Marc in sunny Titusville, FL

• 84 SE son's car, loaded
  
• 85 Coup w/V6 transplant
  
• 85 GT newly on the road
  
• 86 SE/GT "The Chameleon" - big plans!

FOR tail light ideas go to Mustangs and fast fords..5.0 mustangs or sport compact cars these magazines are full of tail light modifications.. like vtech auto specialties paintable tail lights,, wheels,, mufflers you have not concidered walk around the salvage yard you can adapt the rear end lights of a nissan 300zx to your fiero.. Magazines?? just check out at grocery store magazine rack.. you will be surprizzzzed at the ideas available

What was the price paid for mantran transmissions and keep us informed (apprised for the learned crowd) about reliability and if shift is better than stock (good) transmission.how does it compare to good stock tranny one of my first post on forum was recommending mantran..

hey, i am new to the fiero world got mine last oct. swapped the the auto for the getrag (out of a 86 gt paid 1300.00 for it) over the summer. the duke is getting replaced with a 3.4 this summer.
I went to daytona on sat and saw blacktree's car (the man as got mad skills ). The duke is not running to well but i would like to go to Bithlo and check it out. PM me later with a time.

quote Originally posted by uhlanstan: What was the price paid for mantran transmissions and keep us informed (apprised for the learned crowd) about reliability and if shift is better than stock (good) transmission.how does it compare to good stock tranny one of my first post on forum was recommending mantran..

I paid $960 (including shipping) for the transmission. Since I had the messed-up one to use as a core, I was able to avoid the $350 core charge. If you can get the core back to ManTrans within 30 days, they won't charge you a core charge.

As for the quality of the rebuilt transmission, I can only say that it's better than the beat-up one it replaced. I have no prior experience with the Getrag 5-speed transmission. So I have no idea how this one compares to stock. However, it seems to be in very good condition. Now that the synchros are breaking in, the shifts are getting smoother. I guess it helps to have synchromesh oil.

Now, to change the subject...

Things might get a little confusing for awhile. I'm going to be switching back and forth between multiple projects. I have a new nose to work on, and new carpet. Plus, I have some other parts on the way. And I'll be building a new console soon. Things should get pretty interesting.

I've already started work on the new nose. For those who don't know yet, I bought a Scarab nose from PISA. I don't plan on using the Z-car lights that the Scarab nose uses, so the light pods will be deleted. I may also end up modifying the holes in the bottom corners.

Here's what the Scarab nose looks like:



Below, I have the nose and lights mocked up on my car. The nose is just hanging there. The lights are just sitting in there. I used some duct tape to cover up the light pods. This is just to get an idea of what the final product will look like.



I was satisfied with that. So I started working on the nose. Below, you see the nose with the light pods cut out.



The next step (after grinding and sanding on the nose to prepare it for new fiberglass) was to cover up those holes. I used aluminum flashing. You can buy it in rolls at the hardware store. It's flexible enough to follow the curve of the nose, but stiff enough to hold the fiberglass in place. Below, you see the aluminum flashing taped onto the nose.



After I finished that, I started laying on the fiberglass.



Stay tuned for more updates.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 04-10-2008).]

I have really enjoyed watching your build thread. I have to come over and see your car one of these days. You can give me some glass pointers.

I WANT YOUR DECKLID!! hell, i want your car you have an amazing build goin..put the thread in my favs ^_^

I really like that nose. Even better then Norms IMHO. You car is going to be nice.

WOW ! That looks killer. Man when you get a coat of shinny paint on there that will be one hot car.
Can't wait for more updates.

Any more updates/pictures!?

Right now, the nose project is in a holding pattern. I bought some goodies on eBay, and am waiting for them to arrive.

In the meantime, I decided to to install my new carpet. It's ACC carpet, that I bought from Automotive Interiors. It weighs about half as much as the original carpet, and looks better. (HINT: if you buy carpet from them, tell them Mr Mike sent you and you'll get free shipping)

I'm also working on a custom console. My new console does away with the plastic skeleton, so it sits lower and is not as wide as the original. It should make the interior feel a little less cramped.

I already finished the rear console piece (the ECM cover). It's made of wood, covered in felt. Below is a photo of it, just before I installed it.



I worked on the center console today. I decided to make the center console piece out of fiberglass. So naturally, I had to make a mold. Since the console is a relatively simple shape, I just glued together some plywood and covered it in packing tape.

Below, you see the wood mold. It hasn't been covered in packing tape yet.



Now, you see the fiberglass laid onto the mold. After the resin hardens, I'll pry it off the mold and trim it to shape.



The center console and dash will have the same visual theme as the rear console piece. This should give the interior a rustic, old-timey feel.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 04-16-2008).]

Beautiful build up! You have a PM about your diffusor, and if I missed it, what lights did you use for the tail lamps in this project?

Thanks!

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~Michael

"Your mileage may vary."
'85 GT 4sp white - SOLD | | '85 2M6 Auto red - SOLD | | '84 2M4 bare chassis - SOLD
Crap, I'm out of Fieros! Time to buy another!!

quote Originally posted by Blacktree: Right now, the nose project is in a holding pattern. I bought some goodies on eBay, and am waiting for them to arrive. In the meantime, I decided to to install my new carpet. It's ACC carpet, that I bought from Automotive Interiors. It weighs about half as much as the original carpet, and looks better. (HINT: if you buy carpet from them, tell them Mr Mike sent you and you'll get free shipping) I'm also working on a custom console. My new console does away with the plastic skeleton, so it sits lower and is not as wide as the original. It should make the interior feel a little less cramped. I already finished the rear console piece (the ECM cover). It's made of wood, covered in felt. Below is a photo of it, just before I installed it. http://www.tweaktech.com/ga...terior/console01.jpg I worked on the center console today. I decided to make the center console piece out of fiberglass. So naturally, I had to make a mold. Since the console is a relatively simple shape, I just glued together some plywood and covered it in packing tape. Below, you see the wood mold. It hasn't been covered in packing tape yet. http://www.tweaktech.com/ga...terior/console02.jpg Now, you see the fiberglass laid onto the mold. After the resin hardens, I'll pry it off the mold and trim it to shape. http://www.tweaktech.com/ga...terior/console03.jpg The center console and dash will have the same visual theme as the rear console piece. This should give the interior a rustic, old-timey feel.

Nice I have been thinking about replacing the center console piece in my car. Different then yours but close, good job looking forward to some inside pictures.
Does that gray match up with the stock gray? Did you get a part number?

[This message has been edited by Jake_Dragon (edited 04-17-2008).]

Thanks for the compliments.

The colors I'm using are darker than stock. I'm using dark grays and walnut wood grain for a "wood and stone" look. The felt is charcoal gray. I buy it by the yard at Parts Express. The carpet color is Graphite (color code 7701).

According to the people at Automotive Interiors, the best match for the stock gray interior is Dove Gray (color code 877). Although, I think Dark Gray (color code 807) or Gray (color code 827) would work, as well.

To TRiAD: The tail lights I used are generic 4" LED truck lights. They have 63 LEDs each. You can get them on eBay for about $45 a pair.

One quick update before I go to sleep. I got the center console cut/trimmed to shape today. I can't count how many times I test-fitted the console, made minor adjustments, test-fitted it again, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if I had it in & out of the car 20 times. It was very tedious work. I also had to do the same for the wood panel that will be attached to the center console.

Below are a couple shots of the fiberglass piece being test-fitted.





Notice the 12V power outlet (I don't smoke) and ALDL plug on the side of the ECM cover. I removed the passenger seat to give me more room to work.

My new turn signals arrived today. So I decided to play with the nose a little. As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to turn the bottom corner holes into light mounting pockets. Today, I chopped out the excess depth from the holes. See photo below.



The lights are going to be staggered, with the turn signals further forward, to make them more visible.

I installed the new console today. But I still have some details to work out (like having a custom shift boot made). But at least the major part of the work is done.



And I'm not resting my arm on a bunch of wires and cables anymore.

That center console is great!

quote Originally posted by Blacktree: I installed the new console today. But I still have some details to work out (like having a custom shift boot made). But at least the major part of the work is done. And I'm not resting my arm on a bunch of wires and cables anymore.

Simple and elegant! Well done.
Is it high enough to rest your arm on?

[This message has been edited by Jake_Dragon (edited 04-20-2008).]

High enough for me, yes. But then again, I'm only 5'7" tall.

I did some more work on the nose. Here you see the new back wall being molded into one of the holes. This gives you a better visual of the staggered light mounting.



BTW, my new seats should be arriving next Monday. I'm so psyched!