Info for David. Coil-overs are in the box ready to be mounted but some of the info here is still useful. Specs and clearance on a 1988 Fiero stock suspension:
Strut tower clearance; note I haven't installed the coil-over yet, but I do have clearance using a 20x12...interesting.
Originally posted by JimmyS: Yay! Now when is paint coming? When do I get to borrow it?
Next steps - Add some stuff to the 3800 SCII. - Finish exterior - Get wheels - Paint - Interior then you can take a spin
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Originally posted by GODFATHER: Maybe he'll bring it to Daytona so we can see it in person. And remember no ugly chic pic's on your hood. LOL
Joe
I'd like to have it ready (w/Paint) for Daytona '09. That was my bad... She looked hot from 1000 feet away... lol Can't believe she wanted to charge u$ for taking pictures. https://images.fiero.nl/p...ges3/IMG_0352[1].jpg
[This message has been edited by FierociousGT (edited 11-13-2008).]
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10:36 AM
Blacktree Member
Posts: 20770 From: Central Florida Registered: Dec 2001
Originally posted by madcurl: We're our pictures? No love?
Last week with one of the CFF club members we reviewed my Fiero and these are some of the things we found:
- Seat was not lowered for the choptop. (I questioned this and was told it is lowered by archie) - Front/Rear bumper impact egg crates are missing. (does anyome have a set I can have?). - Wrong coolant was added (green stuff instead of orange Dexcool). Have to flush the cooling sys. - Pin holes on the body (given). - Gaps in between the fiberglass parts (going to take lots of work). - Left front fender side burn is crooked (I thought so). - Hood vent not cut out (always some excuse why it wasn't done).
EDIT: This is why you want to be in driving distance from the shop working on your car so you can check up on it.
Update: This evening I picked up one of my Diablo replica mirrors (from where my car is stored) to photograph and sell on CraigsList and ebay... Guess what, the wire harness to the mirror's motor was never put back in. Conclusion: You have people that don't give a sh!t and then you have V8-archie. The bad part is these mirrors where imported from Brazil. Don't worry about it archie, I will be in Daytona '09 doing your marketing.
You can see here that the bottom of the Fiero seat bottom is lower than the Vette.
I'll go out and crudly measure the seats. keep in mind Archie modified the seat rack extensively to allow for tilting of seat and it is very, very close. Don't expect to tilt both seats cause you really don't have much room. Also, if the seats your purchasing are larger than the ones I have....DON'T BUY THEM!
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09:56 PM
Dec 2nd, 2008
madcurl Member
Posts: 21401 From: In a Van down by the Kern River Registered: Jul 2003
Here's the measurements for the Corvette seats. Keep in mind, Archie and the Crew max-out seat rails for fit and you'll need to do the same if you decide the use this type of seat. Also, you're limited as-to moving and folding the upper part of the seat thus the top portion will hit the roof. My seat are allowed to move forward, but you can't tilt the seat. Since we're about the same height the results should be the same.
Give a minute to post all of the pictures. I'm finally using my Iphoto.
Here's the bottom width-wise.
Bottom @ 20 inches (the best I could do while holding the camera)
Upper back seat from bottom to the very top (once again the best I could do without removing the seat from car)
Max-forward tilt;
Max- backward tilt; This is my normal driving position and I very rarely tilt the seat forward.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 12-02-2008).]
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05:21 PM
madcurl Member
Posts: 21401 From: In a Van down by the Kern River Registered: Jul 2003
As you can see from underneath, the seat cannot be folded w/o it hitting the roof. I'm okay with this since nobody is getting in the back, right?
The Corvette seat truly hug your side without being obtrusive. It's a better seat for long drives and for going around corners. The down side to using this seat is the headrest blocks your view when trying to look from the drivers side sail window. However. you can see through passenger side sail window.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 12-02-2008).]
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09:53 PM
madcurl Member
Posts: 21401 From: In a Van down by the Kern River Registered: Jul 2003
I seen Dave yesterday at the Team E open house. He said he does have his car at home now. He also said he no longer has an account here on pennocks so he probably won't be posting here anymore. He talked with Dan and I and Dan will probably be doing some fiberglass work to #25. Dan and I will be making a trip to Daves sometime after the 1st of the year.
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05:19 PM
Jan 13th, 2009
FGTO Junior Member
Posts: 3 From: Central FL & Chic-a-go Registered: Jan 2009
I'm back with a good reason. I will not be posting in any other thread nor answering PMs. Lets get to the point with this build thread.
UPDATE:
I've had five people review the body on my car. Three where CFF club members in the automobile insurance and fiberglass business and two fiberglass repair shops. The situation comes down to this:
- The gaps around the body panels (whole car) is much worst then expected this is due to my lack of experience with automobile body work. >Front bumper to hood. >Around lower part of right side headlight. >Left fender to left door >Deck lid to around rear clip.
- The left door panel does not flow with the rocker when closed, it will need to be adjusted and the body panel will need to be grinded down to flow with the rocker.
- Deck lid as mention above has gaps and in certain parts it's un even with the rear clip meaning there are rears that are higher (elevated or warped) on the rear clip. The entire rear clip will have to be removed to fix.
- Rear tail lights to rear bumper there is a 1/4" to 1/2" gap. Don't know what going on here yet. It seems that the tail lights and bumper are on correct but i'm very concerned that the issue cound be something else.
- Upper sail panel area on the rear clip has major openings; will need to be glassed in.
- Hood to right fender has small holes (not to be confused with pin holes)
- Small cracks on the hood vent and vents need to be cut out. Thank God I got a template for the vent cut outs from Troy's car.
- Left front side burn of rocker is crooked.
- Right side door area and panels seems to be ok. Waiting on my steering wheel to be able to move my car out for review since I can't move the notchback yet.
NOTE: The only minor things are the pin holes & badly sanded areas (scratches) which that is not going to be worked on. A painter will do that. I spoke with Curly over the weekend and asked him if he had any issues with gaps and uneven body panels, He said no except for the door to fender do have a slightly bigger gap due too the verticle doors. My doors are stock. Then I mention what was going on with my car. I hate to say this but I have to agree with RTF (don't want to get into it anymore) archie, Chris and Rob do sh!ty work. As I mention to Curly If I had to do it again I would not. All I should have done is the choptop and made my car look similar with Curly's number #11, nothing else. The widebody kit is not worth it. Too much money out the door and worst then that is archie shop's BS... way too much BS.
The estimate I got to repair everything is going to take aprox 70hrs, so we are talking about several thousand dollars. The work will start this week. I'll post some pictures later of the issues and the progress durning the following weeks. Again I reopened a new PFF account to ONLY update my build thread and will see if I have any legal recourse at this point. Once again I'm convinced this was out of revenge but what goes around come around and archie you will get yours.
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09:39 PM
Jan 14th, 2009
madcurl Member
Posts: 21401 From: In a Van down by the Kern River Registered: Jul 2003
I'm back with a good reason. Again I reopened a new PFF account to ONLY update my build thread and will see if I have any legal recourse at this point. Once again I'm convinced this was out of revenge but what goes around come around and archie you will get yours.
Dude, stay with one name and one account. I'm still using your first name.... Demacheo (I know, I still spell the name wrong, hehe). You're making dizzy.
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Originally posted by FGTO:
I'll post some pictures later of the issues and the progress durning the following weeks.
IMO, you should have waited until you have pictures. Otherwise, the thread will blow-up.
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Originally posted by FGTO:
I hate to say this but I have to agree with RTF (don't want to get into it anymore) archie, Chris and Rob do sh!ty work.
Kris and Rob did excellent work #020. I know cause I was officially been "pimped." I called Archie nearly every day for two years aided by countless pictures covering every detail of the car. I went over areas with Kris in detail using examples and pictures and that dude did everything to the letter.
That said, I flew out nearly 3 or 4 times to Archie (chop top reunion, Dells, the 25th... maybe more times?) to review the countless areas covered or not covered by pictures. I don't care, I still flew out in person to check my stuff. I will say this, even with phone calls and pics you still can over look items to which we did discover a few. As for #022 Troy flew out more than me (maybe 6-times). Rob and Kris can't cover areas you don't point out to them, right?
IMHO (prior to the beef between you and Archie) you should have flown out to Archie for lookie-lue.
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Originally posted by FGTO:
I spoke with Curly over the weekend and asked him if he had any issues with gaps and uneven body panels, He said no except for the door to fender do have a slightly bigger gap due too the verticle doors. My doors are stock.
#020 didn't magically appear as-is. That car nearly gave me headache, but in the end I got what I wanted, but I wasn't leaving until it was finished. If your spending money at a shop you need to check-in regardless of whose doing the work. Don't pick-up a car unless you first inspect it and if doesn't meet your standards..... start deducting the amount due or fly out and come back when the work is finished. In your case, You and Archie can't sit on the same horse thus you picked the car up too soon. I
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 01-14-2009).]
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12:26 AM
madcurl Member
Posts: 21401 From: In a Van down by the Kern River Registered: Jul 2003
Last item on my list: the frecking actuators. The flipper was the major deal breaker. The part was starting to piss me off for it added the cost by fixing it. Fog lamps crocked, wheel arch odd shaped, and needed re-enforcement throughout. Also, the underside were the lights are mounted needed serious support. Granted, Norm didn't use enough fiberglass in the area and that was over looked. So as you can see, I still missed some things that demonstrated itself while on the road. Contrary to what that homosexual (not that there's anything wrong with it) on the insurgent forum Archie had nothing to do with the light structure failing.
We constructively, argued and things got a bit heated at times I felt I was Ali fighting Fraser, but let me just say, he did it and it was done very well. It surprised the heck out of me when I saw it. The only way it worked was both parties using communication.
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01:20 AM
Jan 25th, 2009
FGTO Junior Member
Posts: 3 From: Central FL & Chic-a-go Registered: Jan 2009
Two weeks ago I hired someone to started fixing the gap issue and un even body panels. No updates for last week due to the cold weather in Central Florida. Yesterday the rear clip was removed to fix what wasn't done right at archies shop. Next the door panels will need to come off for repair too.
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04:07 PM
PFF
System Bot
joshua riedl Member
Posts: 1426 From: watertown wi USA Registered: Jan 2004
Well as you all know almost all the body panels had to be removed from FGTO (except the rockers and roof) for fixing the gaps and uneven panels. Here are some pictures from the BEFORE. Work is almost complete and I'll have the AFTER shots up in a few weeks... I'll be back to edit with details.
- Right side deck and clip uneven plus gaps (gap not visible from angle).
Left side (specially this side) and right side door gaps.
Here we see the left door panel. The fiberglass part is starting to crack (separate from the plastic door). Interesting cause this car has NOT been on the road.
Left side of rear clip un even and gap (gap not visible from angle). Why?
- Right side door uneven.
- Left side door uneven.
- Right side fender. Here are just two shots. This (chipped, seems like there was a rat at archies shop) was present throught out the entire lenght.
- Left side rocker side burn. Not stright. Right side is fine.
- This applies to both headlights. Notice the gaps.
- The hood gaps. Not as wide as the Grand Canyon but close.
- More gaps in the rear... Notice the tail lights gap. which went from 1/4" to 1/2" in the center.
- Left side sail panel area.
- right side custom sail panel... no curve!
[This message has been edited by FGTO (edited 02-25-2009).]
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11:35 PM
Feb 24th, 2009
doublec4 Member
Posts: 8289 From: Oakville, Ontario, Canada Registered: Jun 2003
I think the reason there aren't any comments on the pics is because a lot of us are just tired of hearing about the mess ups and arguments/fights between fierocious & Archie. I am by no means taking sides; I just want to see the build continue! I think it'll look awesome, but enough is enough... We know you're upset, so let's move on with the fixins! -Paul
[This message has been edited by fieroboom (edited 02-25-2009).]
Some of those gaps don't seem too bad to me. If you look at cars from factory, you will sometimes see gaps up to nearly 1/4". However, I cannot believe the mismatched curves! Though I guess that will come with fiberglass parts. I for one would prefer to see after market parts made from the same flexible plastic that the original panels are made from. I think all this fiberglass is almost more trouble than it's worth. Good luck finishing the build!
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11:41 PM
Feb 26th, 2009
Archie Member
Posts: 9436 From: Las Vegas, NV Registered: Dec 1999
You said you didn't want the 1/4 window scoops installed, you wanted them laying on the seats in the car.
When you picked it up on April 5th 08, You took it over to your girlfriend's place in Chicago for storage. You then went back to Florida. Later you broke up with your GF. I'm sure you know by now that you really shouldn't dis your GF when she has your car. During the 7 months she had your car, were those thin fiberglass parts still laying on the seat or had you stood them up on end in the trunk?
#2
I don't really know what happened here. I'd refer you to #1 above, was the car stored someplace where it was extremely hot or something?
From the time the car was finished in Feb. & the time you had the money to pick it up in April the car was stored safely in the shop & no one noticed any problems. In fact i took a bunch of pictures of the car, just for the record, before you picked it up & it was fine.
#3
While I don't have lighting that casts big shadows, I have these & I have higher res versions of these too.
#4
At worst case someone missed sanding a door edge.
The fiberglass door cap doesn't go all the way to the end. In fact it ends 3 or 4 inches behind the front edge of the door. So it can't be cracked as you say.
If you would have read thru this this thread as it was being built, you would have seen these 2 pics. You can see where the door cap ends.....
By the way, I'm just curious, when the car left here is was Gray. Why does the outside surface looks tan in the picture?
#5
First of all, that's a IRM nose (& front fender) on the car. You specifically told me not to do any work on the IRM parts that you don't tell me to do. Just like ordering at Burger King. No place in the Quote or the Invoice does it give me direction to work on that area. you're the one who likes to post those confidential documents up on the internet, so post them here.
I thought the door gaps looked pretty decent when it left here.
#6
I don't know how many times we have to go thru this. Did you actually measure this or is Photoshop all you can do?
If you gotta use PS, then get the camera down on an angle where you're looking right square at it, then compare to something else that's on the same plane. Like this......
#7
You better call Pontiac to complain to them.....
This is a 1988 Fiero GT that I have in my shop that we are going to do a V-8 swap to......
#8
This is funny. It's also pretty clear that whoever is working on this for him is sending him BS as justification for the $$$ he's charging. How many other BS things is he blaming on me?
A stock Fiero GT rear 1/4 window opening without a 1/4 window & without drip rails looks like this ......The slot is there to clip the drip rail into.
#9 Hood Gaps & headlights.
They both looked good when you picked up the car, see pics. Realize that the headlights are contoured all the way around & even up underneath the leading edge of the light. The pocket that it sits in is also countoured but as you move around & look from different angles you're going to see different spacing between the 2. It's funny that you're baggin me over something as countoured as your Troy look alike lights when it took me 3 days to 3 days to convince you that those POS 'Vette lights you bought wouldn't fit. It's the difference between being able to do something in real life & being able to do it in Photoshop. They fit great in photoshop when you didn't have to deal with contour.
Here's some pics of trhe headlights & the hood gaps.
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and mod the rear half of the widebody 
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