I would make no connection between MsLori and The Fiero Factory. She has a side business with Fiero accessories and just happens to work at The Fiero Factory. Unfortunately this incident can have people think the same of Ed Parks as MsLori.

quote Originally posted by FieroMonkey: I have always heard great things about Ed Parks. It is a little disappointing that he would allow her to operate her window debacle from his establishment.

Exactly...

Nothing to say about the Fiero Factory , neither the owners (don't know them) they look like honest peoples upon what i've read about them here in this forum .
But Miss Lori , It's another thing .
.

The best 30/30 green acrylic I can find for the job is actually 43 thousandths thicker than stock. Being that the originals were injected they don't conform exactly to industry standards. As of right now I have decided to go with this.

Any input on this matter?

quote Originally posted by pokeyfiero: The best 30/30 green acrylic I can find for the job is actually 43 thousandths thicker than stock. Being that the originals were injected they don't conform exactly to industry standards. As of right now I have decided to go with this. Any input on this matter?

I can't imagine anyone is going to notice that 43 thousandths? MAKE THEM!

I'll bring Lori's windows home from the office tomorrow so I can look at them in the sunlight. I was out of town all weekend but did a lot of thinking about them.

It was suggested to me that if I'm not satisfied with them, I could work out a swap with better ones from Lori once production starts up again. However I may be retired and on Social Security by then. When more come available is anyone's guess.

I think for now I'll clean them up (and they do need cleanup!) and see how well they fit on my car. Assuming the black areas are uniform in bright daylight that is. I didn't notice the discrepancy until FieroMonkey pointed it out; it might be a function of the camera's flash but if that's the case, what will the sun do? Its about 10,000 times brighter than the flash.

My initial impressions still stand. This set from Lori has better dot matrix than the flat panel ones currently on my car; however, the ones on my car have better "GT" logos than Lori's. My biggest worry is whether or not the curve at the top of the window will fit properly, and I won't really know for sure until I try to fit them. Even the aftermarket ones I have now don't fit properly. I wish I had a real GM window handy to compare.

Ms. Lori was at the swap meet this year, and she mingled freely among the people. I didn't order windows from her, so I had no reason to ask her about what was going on. Don't know if anyone else was there that was owed windows, or not, but I do know that some were there that had already received their windows, and from what I've heard, they were very pleased with the quality.

I currently am not in need of fastback quarterwindows, but when the time comes, I'll go with the ones that are the best quality, whatever the price. However, if those are produced by MsLori, I won't order from her until she has honored all her debts.

sjmaye said it well. MsLori and The Fiero Factory are two different entities. She just happens to work at the Fiero Factory, and from what I gather, she does very good work on their behalf. Check out the swap meet thread. l think that's Ms. Lori driving the forklift.

quote Originally posted by pokeyfiero: The best 30/30 green acrylic I can find for the job is actually 43 thousandths thicker than stock. Being that the originals were injected they don't conform exactly to industry standards. As of right now I have decided to go with this. Any input on this matter?

0.043" is less than 3/64" 0.011" over 1/32" I just took a quick look at my crazed orginals and it is also my opinion that no one will notice the differance.

------------------
The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the LORD.

You can put me down for dwb also, mine just started to crack....

quote Originally posted by pokeyfiero: The best 30/30 green acrylic I can find for the job is actually 43 thousandths thicker than stock. Being that the originals were injected they don't conform exactly to industry standards. As of right now I have decided to go with this. Any input on this matter?

Go for it Pokey...if the plastic is better, that a plus. We need somthing that will last another 20 years.

------------------
fierogt28

88 GT, loaded, 5-speed

I have a GT in my garage that I have not driven in over 2 years because it needs these windows. I send encouraging thoughts Pokey's way every time I head out into the garage and see the poor thing just sitting there

quote Originally posted by pokeyfiero: The best 30/30 green acrylic I can find for the job is actually 43 thousandths thicker than stock. Being that the originals were injected they don't conform exactly to industry standards. As of right now I have decided to go with this. Any input on this matter?

If you'r happy with the out come I know I won't be able to tell the diff.
I will wait for pokeyfiero to put his on the market

bump

one week bump

One week + 6 hours bump.

The "what's" bump, "up", bump, "pokey", bump...bump.

Keep hope alive...

I cant even begin to comment about the screen print pulling loose from the Q-windows and still stuck on the urethane, time to scratch the underneath to get a good "hold" this time

Any news Pokey?

I don't know if this guy is a PFF member or not?
But moderman on Ebay is selling GT sail panels like cupcakes at a retirement home.

Has anyone reading these posts fitted one of his quarter panels ?

I used to cut windscreens when I was younger... I was almost tempted to see about a set made of glass. I don't know the guy who makes the frames anymore though. When made of glass, they screen them flat, and then bend them (baking on the paint-etching the paint).

[This message has been edited by Rixthetrick (edited 06-04-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Rixthetrick: I don't know if this guy is a PFF member or not? But moderman on Ebay is selling GT sail panels like cupcakes at a retirement home. Has anyone reading these posts fitted one of his quarter panels ? I used to cut windscreens when I was younger... I was almost tempted to see about a set made of glass. I don't know the guy who makes the frames anymore though. When made of glass, they screen them flat, and then bend them (baking on the paint-etching the paint).

I found a local Hotrod custom window maker and asked him about making these windows out of glass a few years ago. He said pretty much the same thing you did if I recall. He told me it could be done, but that the cost of the set would be upwards of $1,000. Lets face it, 99.99% of Fiero owners would not pay that much for GT sail windows, even nice ones made of tempered safety glass...

quote Originally posted by FieroMonkey: I found a local Hotrod custom window maker and asked him about making these windows out of glass a few years ago. He said pretty much the same thing you did if I recall. He told me it could be done, but that the cost of the set would be upwards of $1,000. Lets face it, 99.99% of Fiero owners would not pay that much for GT sail windows, even nice ones made of tempered safety glass...

Yeah,
but I'd pay half that for a set (that were 100%) I'll pretty much never have to replace, even if it had 'made in China' on the back.

It's the setup costs that's the killer.
They need to make a frame, two actually, by copying from originals. Then make the screens, designed on a computer; one design - two screens (you'd flip it of course). You've pretty much done your $$$ in labour before you include parts and again labour - oh and the big bake-off to get the shape.

quote Originally posted by Rixthetrick: Just a thought, could the acrylic (or other material) be screened BEFORE they are heated and bent??

that's the process Pokey is planning on using if I understand correctly, the big issue there is since there is distortion of the printing during the molding process, you have to print them kinda distorted squished on the flat piece so they end up undistorted stretched out on the molded piece.


Rich

quote Originally posted by Richjk21: .... you have to print them kinda distorted squished on the flat piece so they end up undistorted stretched out on the molded piece. Rich

that does sound tricky

quote Originally posted by Richjk21: that's the process Pokey is planning on using if I understand correctly, the big issue there is since there is distortion of the printing during the molding process, you have to print them kinda distorted squished on the flat piece so they end up undistorted stretched out on the molded piece. Rich

Like a reverse Shrink-a-dink! God those were... well they wern't really "fun" now were they...

I dunno but if you print after, gunna have to scratch the surface(back) or something or it will get peeled off.

The distortion on a piece that has no more curve than the GT windows is minimal. I've screen printed flat items that got more bend than the windows, and there was no problem with the copy. If the proper acrylic ink is used, it will bite into the window and become one with it. It should be run through a jet dryer if it's solvent based, but the heat involved doesn't harm the plexiglas. Even the high temps created by the output of UV lamps doesn't harm the plexi, unless the dryer speed is too slow. Problem with UV inks is getting the tape to adhere.
My Brother has a pair of aftermarket flat sheet quarterwindows on his 86 and it appears that part of the black background was spray painted onto the window after forming the front edge. The paint didn't bite into the plexiglas and the tape pulled the paint loose.

The windows can be screen printed in the flat, then vacu-formed without any problems with the ink, or distortion of the images. The only problem is that it's difficult to screen print right to the very edge. The only way to print after forming is to use a pad printer. Pad printing can print to the very edge.

I've heard that there's a process in which the image is printed on a transfer then heatset onto the substrate, but since this process was developed after I left the industry, I'm not familiar with it.

quote Originally posted by fierofool: The distortion on a piece that has no more curve than the GT windows is minimal. I've screen printed flat items that got more bend than the windows, and there was no problem with the copy. If the proper acrylic ink is used, it will bite into the window and become one with it. It should be run through a jet dryer if it's solvent based, but the heat involved doesn't harm the plexiglas. Even the high temps created by the output of UV lamps doesn't harm the plexi, unless the dryer speed is too slow. Problem with UV inks is getting the tape to adhere. My Brother has a pair of aftermarket flat sheet quarterwindows on his 86 and it appears that part of the black background was spray painted onto the window after forming the front edge. The paint didn't bite into the plexiglas and the tape pulled the paint loose. The windows can be screen printed in the flat, then vacu-formed without any problems with the ink, or distortion of the images. The only problem is that it's difficult to screen print right to the very edge. The only way to print after forming is to use a pad printer. Pad printing can print to the very edge. I've heard that there's a process in which the image is printed on a transfer then heatset onto the substrate, but since this process was developed after I left the industry, I'm not familiar with it.

good post !

quote Originally posted by fierofool: My Brother has a pair of aftermarket flat sheet quarterwindows on his 86 and it appears that part of the black background was spray painted onto the window after forming the front edge. The paint didn't bite into the plexiglas and the tape pulled the paint loose.

This is what happened to my Ms Lori ones, I was washing the car and noticed the looseness, thankfully they did not fly off at highway speeds and break, I plan to scratch the surface of the windows and apply urethane directly which will keep the panels looking correctly and "hold"

quote Originally posted by Back On Holiday: This is what happened to my Ms Lori ones, I was washing the car and noticed the looseness, thankfully they did not fly off at highway speeds and break, I plan to scratch the surface of the windows and apply urethane directly which will keep the panels looking correctly and "hold"

Quality stuff

Since Pokey is in California, that may be lending to the printing problem. Many years ago, they began eliminating many of the carbon based inks, paints, and solvents. For the printing industry, this was a major problem. Many of the products went to some form of waterbased formulation. Even though acrylic sheeting is largely water, the inks have great difficulty in biting into it. A Brother-In-Law was a color mixer for Sikens and he said orders shipped to California were a nightmare with all the certifications that had to be sent with it.

When sub-surface printing (backside) I generally used flat finish inks, since it will appear glossy when viewed through the front surface. The flat or semi-gloss finishes allow the solvents to flash out of the inks much quicker with less likelyhood of any being retained and causing stacked pieces to bond together.

I used to produce acrylic panels that go around the top of free-standing phone booths, and the side panels of wall-mounted pay phones, in all languages for phone companies all around the world. On one occasion, I had my printers put a final back coat of gloss opaque 50% gray and when we went to package them, the whole pallet had bonded into one huge chunk of plexi.

Hopefully, Pokey, and even Ms. Lori will overcome their health and financial difficulties and both succeed in producing a viable product. In the meantime, I'm keeping my 87 under wraps to help preserve the new old stock windows I installed a few years back.

"of free-standing phone booths, and the side panels of wall-mounted pay phones" Can you speak English?

Well I am just waiting for a deal to finish up in escrow to order materials. It is delayed 7 days already. Hopefully no body gets cold feet and pulls out of it.

I have just read about this peeling issue with the inks and I will check into this before we print.

quote Originally posted by carnut122: "of free-standing phone booths, and the side panels of wall-mounted pay phones" Can you speak English?

You can see them in the Smithsonian. They used to be known as Pay Phones. At the top of the phone booths was a panel, usually on 3 sides that read "Pay Phone" or "Telephone". I printed those things for practically every nation that had pay phone booths.

An after-thought--These pieces could be manufactured over-sized, printed to near the edge, then trimmed back into the color with a CNC router. With the proper router bit, a rounded edge could be achieved. To get the clear edge, they could be flame polished with a hydrogen flame, or buffed with a cloth polishing wheel.

[This message has been edited by fierofool (edited 06-07-2009).]

Hmm I have access to a NOS set but they aren't cheap. I might get them anyway just so I have some. My 88 has repros on it now iwth no dot matrix at all.

A Bump for Pokey....Keep at em.

Bump for an update.

:Put me down DWB 1 set.

I am still a DWB Pokey ! I thank you for all the work you have put into this project.

-Jared

quote Originally posted by fierofool: You can see them in the Smithsonian. They used to be known as Pay Phones. At the top of the phone booths was a panel, usually on 3 sides that read "Pay Phone" or "Telephone". I printed those things for practically every nation that had pay phone booths. An after-thought--These pieces could be manufactured over-sized, printed to near the edge, then trimmed back into the color with a CNC router. With the proper router bit, a rounded edge could be achieved. To get the clear edge, they could be flame polished with a hydrogen flame, or buffed with a cloth polishing wheel.

Ah! those. I saw one on Lassie today. Little Timmy was trapped under a fallen branch and then Lassie had to drop a dime into the slot and bark at the operator until she sent help.