quote Originally posted by Fiero_Adam: Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but I don't think using fiberglass on the flexible panels is a good idea. Plus, when you fiberglass over something, you want to remove all the paint. It doesn't adhere well to paint.

you are right about removing the paint, and i did.
however i disagree with you about whether it's good or not. i don't know of anything short of making a whole new panel or urethane that will flex as well as fiberglass, not too mention it's not like these areas will see much stress. of course only time will tell, but i'd bet 100 to 1 that any cracks i get will be due to the paint process, not the fiberglass. i almost bent the door panel in half when removing it and didn't have any issues with the bare fiberglass.

i appreciate the advice, but i assure you i have done more than the pictures show as far as prepping is concerned, and i've used this method of kitty hair/glass/kitty hair on several other modifications and sub enclosures and they have all held up really well. so i'm pretty certain that what i've done so far should last as long as it isn't hit hard, if i got into an accident i'm sure the damage would be disgusting, but i'm confident that it'll hold up to daily driving.

thanks for the comments guys, i'll keep posting my progress as it comes in, should be ready for paint, or i should say the bodyshop, in a couple more weeks

haha, i think i jinx myself.
went out to sand what i thought would be the last layer of fiberglass and i ended up ripping it all off. it started peeling while i was sanding, so i figured screw that, rip it off. the wierd thing though, this was glass over more glass, and only the top layer peeled off. any ideas what would cause that? i was mixing the resin a little bit "hotter" than normal due to colder temps, but i didn't think it would do that? what was REALLY funny about it, i had glass over parts with paint that i was just intending on sanding through(gotta do that extra 2-3inches dealy) and i couldn't peel it off, lol. not like it would have lasted long, but it was better than the other ares, just to tell you how bad it stuck to those.

well anyway, i ripped off the old stuff, sanded for another hour, and then reapplied the glass hoping for the best this time. if it weren't for this i would have been done the doors tonight, oh well, wish me luck for tomorrow night. hopefully i don't get a repeat

I haven't personally used fiberglass on the urethane pieces, but just heard that it wouldn't bond as well. If it works, though, then that's great. I think the project you're doing is pretty cool. I'd like to try to widen the body on a future project that I'm planning.
Anyway, a few things you may not think about removing when the car is painted are the inner fenders, sail panels, door handles, headlight doors, windshield trim, trunk weatherstripping (just on the backside where it touches the paint), tail lights, rear fascia reflectors, intake vent and even the fuel door housing. It's more work, but will make for a better paintjob. The less tape lines it has, the better, IMO.

thanks adam for the list of things to remove, a couple of those i probably would have forgotten for sure.
as for glass bonding to urethane, yeah it's not the best, although it was my understanding that only the bumpers were urethane, the rest is more of an SMC material, and i've been using resin that is supposed to bond to SMC, so fingers still crossed i guess.

anywho, more pics from today, keep in mind the doors are NOT installed yet, so that's why they line up terribly, they're just sitting there.

well, you're gonna have to excuse me for almost no more progress. but i have a pretty good reason:

that's how the car has been for a couple days. wouldn't you know it the day i have to work on the car it's a snow storm!

anyway, i picked up some more goodies today:


got the driver side solenoid installed and working today, but they say 15 for the weekend so i'm going to wait and tidy up the wiring etc when it's warm. and then i can ship the car off hopefully in a week or two before we really get snow

ok, weather warmed up a bit so i figured i'd better make sure i get something done.
both doors have the poppers installed and working fine.
and all the fiberglassing is done, so all that is left is body filler and sanding, stuff that i can have the body shop do if it snows again.
i still need to work out the gas door, it's being a little trickier than i anticipated, not sure how to mount it.
here are the pics from tonight:

Gj so far scotty! What size are those sols? 35's? 50's? I had 35's on my nova and they worked well.. Just the couple times when in the winter it had froze my door and it didn't work for a couple days !

they are 40lbs solenoids, and i doubt this car will be touched in cold weather after this winter

Just some more info on the popper set up:
40lbs solenoids
4button remote
7channel receiver
interior handles still there
locks hooked up to alarm, locked when armed, unlocked when disarmed
back up switch will be connected to pop one door.

i'll probably ditch the remotes and receiver and go off the alarms when i get a chance to in the spring, i just need to get some relays before i can wire it up to my alarm. although i DO like the features that come with the kit, like channels 1 and 2 can't be activated when the ignition is on(no accidental door popping) and with 5 more channels to use the possibilites are almost endless. even still, i have two unused buttons on my alarm, and it would just be too perfect not to use it

with this set up i should have complete security, and still make it almost impossible for me to accidentally get locked out of my car. i would have to arm the car(which i only do when i'm outside and the doors already closed) and then put the keys back inside. so i'd have to do what i never do and arm the car with the door open, then leave the keys inside and close the door. that is the ONLY way i could not get back in. and on the other side, as long as i arm the alarm nobody can get in(any more so than without the shaved kit that is). with the doors locked even if they push the back up switch it won't pop the door. it will be no different than somebody lifting the door handle when your door is locked. my only concern is that sometimes my driver side lock sticks, it's being really good right now, i sprayed some lube on everything i could when the panel was off, but if it acts up again i might have to disconnect the locks. for that reason i'll be mounting the back up button someplace nobody would accidentally find and keep it a secret just in case.

[This message has been edited by fierce_gt (edited 10-09-2005).]

quote Originally posted by Custom2M4: Gj so far scotty! What size are those sols? 35's? 50's? I had 35's on my nova and they worked well.. Just the couple times when in the winter it had froze my door and it didn't work for a couple days !

Full SPAL 40lb kit is 169$ for fiero owners only from GAS Performance... Let me know if you want me to order you one

quote Originally posted by fiero_silva: Full SPAL 40lb kit is 169$ for fiero owners only from GAS Performance... Let me know if you want me to order you one

that's not what i paid

hey got a question since u deleted the marker lights umm can u still drive it legally or what or do u have to put ur own ones on there ??

curious because i want to go no molding too
thanks
matt

quote Originally posted by Carswell...Wellscar: hey got a question since u deleted the marker lights umm can u still drive it legally or what or do u have to put ur own ones on there ?? curious because i want to go no molding too thanks matt

i posted it on the first page, but here is the new front marker lights, the rear are exactly the same except they are red.

you can kinda see if you look closely the hole drilled on the drivers side rear where it will be mounted. i'm trying to keep this as legal as possible cause i KNOW i'll get hassled if i don't

Stupid question... why didn't you just remove the sail panels?

quote Originally posted by Jncomutt: Stupid question... why didn't you just remove the sail panels?

stupid answer, i couldn't get them off easily and have a set of glass panels in perfect shape that should go on instead. i really should have, but i got lazy, now i'm paying for it cause those edges all need to be sanded, and need to be done by hand

time for another picture show. some pics are progress of the widebody, and some are pics of the new tranny and motor reinstalled in my daily driver.

been awhile, but i've basically been tuning my daily driver, just put a new transmission in and it needed a few bugs worked out. also i was pretty much done and ready for the bodyshop to make it look nice, but i got another idea and finally decided to go for it. so here's what i did tonight, the other side will be done tomorrow hopefully. excuse the bad picture quality, it's not a great camera for night pictures:

Cough, I made those scoops.. Ohh I kick ass.. Admit it scott! Should have been higher, but I'll get you those other ones for the top.

Bump for you scott!

i admit that they could have looked really cool up higher. although i'm not convinced enough to move them now, i still like how these will still work with the stock airbox should i choose to keep it, although being higher up with work better with the "hot air" intake i have installed currently. we'll have to see what those other ones look like, this could get a little silly, or might look really nice, we'll just have to wait and see.

hard to believe those came off of this:

[This message has been edited by fierce_gt (edited 10-17-2005).]

been a long time, car should be going into the shop within two weeks, so i'm just getting as many little details out of the way as possible. justin at the shop will take care of the rest.

i had the day off today so i got a bit done.
trimmed up the edges for the tail lights, got one side 95% done, and the other is getting a couple more layers of glass to tidy everything up.

and then i also did some trimming on the inner fenders, and added another layer to the passenger side. next will be to do the driver's side, it's way easier with it jacked up, so i'll just wait and do one at a time.

[This message has been edited by fierce_gt (edited 10-31-2005).]

spent a couple hours getting the gas door cable to work in the new location, had to slightly cannibalise one of my other cars to make it work though, so i'll have to head off to the wrecker some day. wish i'd planned ahead on that one, cause it wasn't easy, and still doesn't quite fit perfect. but it works, so i can worry about making it pretty on the inside next spring.
also ran it for a few minutes, and removed the sail panels. i figure, weather permitting, i should be in pretty good shape in a couple days, might even take it for a drive.

Looking great scotty!

If you were thinking about moving those scoops, DON'T they look perfect where they are.

Scott what days do you have off, in which I can come by .... I have some parts for you, and you for me. Alex wants that rear clip off you

What do you need from the wrecker, I probably still have whatever you need on that other parts car.

thanks for the replies, let's get to the answers.
Al, thanks, as for the scoops, i can see potential in moving them up, think porsche boxster, although i feel they are too large for that. i don't know if i want to tell you this or not, but i do have some work to do, it's hard to see from the pics, but even though the scoops are both in the same position, the cutouts are just slightly different, and because of that the passenger side scoop is about 1/4inch more recessed than the driver side, not a big deal, but it also makes the scoop look like it's slightly off angle to the driver side. again we are talking fractions of an inch, but at this stage noticeable. this will be one project i won't have time to correct myself, so i'll be making regular visits to the shop. i'm already cleared to go in and work on the car anytime justin is there, so everyday before noon.

chase, right now i work 6days a week, i have monday off. so the best would be either next monday during the day, or sat/sun after 6pm. however i will be making/installing a sub box this weekend, so...

shots some quick pics today. mainly of the gas door.

and nevermind cardomain is being difficult and won't upload anymore pics...

looking good man, Cant wait to see more.

well, i'm really starting to get excited about this, as is Justin, the guy painting it. hopefully i'll have a couple more pics after the weekend, and then the rest will be from the body shop. i just don't know how i'm going to wait another month or so for paint, and then have to drive it home in the middle of winter, ahh!

ok, well, forcast for snow has kinda scared me, i think i've pushed my luck far enough. i do have to do a little fiberglassing, that IF it's nice tomorrow will get done, otherwise i'll have to wait until it's at the shop.
took it for a ride today, have some overheating issues i need to work out, and then it'll be ready to go. keep in mind there is still A LOT of work that needs to be done, but it's 99% bodywork so i'm not too worried about handing it over, and to be quite honest i'm tired of working on it in the cold, very tired. anyway, here are some pics i shot today, of basically the result. you'll notice that the rear flaring is actually quite subtle, probably not even noticeable as a mod to someone who hasn't seen many fieros. i think it matches the front flaring quite nicely.
also, i plan on driving it a couple times to unsure nothing cracks, if it does i want to know about it BEFORE the paint goes on.

wow...looks awsume scotty, I really like how the back end looks so fat now, looks awsume , Takes a lot of skill to come up with something like that, that's for sure, anyway good luck with the rest of the project.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by fierce_gt:
also, i plan on driving it a couple times to unsure nothing cracks, if it does i want to know about it BEFORE the paint goes on.
QUOTE]

Thats not really a plan... The primer you put on the body work isn't thick enough. So when the paint is applied to the body, it will feel alot different to the panel because the paint will not flex, and it will hold it more tightly. So chances are "if" it cracks, it'll crack 2 weeks or so after the paint has cured, and it will blister all over the car.

PS, you've been pm'd

i guess my point is that i want to do as much as i can to test it before it's painted. the part i'm most concerned about is the front bumper, so i'll scrape that over a few speedbumps or whatever and see what happens. i'm kidding kinda, i'm not gonna purposely wreck it, but i want it to scrape at least once to see if it will just scratch or if it will crack. i dunno, there's no way i can be 100% sure, but it won't hurt either