Now that I've moved the seats out of the way, and found the inspiration/ideas from the MAT 308 builds, I went back to work on the body mods.
Seeing how the MAT 308 body panels are flanged and screwed together convinced me my original ideas were close to mark, so I started tinkering with the rear lower valence. Currently the valence only exists of the lower corners I cut off, but it's a start.
First things first, I found a "buck" of quarter round molding that fits exactly into the parting line of the body, or 5/8" x 5/8". I covered it in packing tape to keep the glass resin from sticking. Using the buck, I rebuilt the body line that was missing since I fixed the original body damage. I also plugged the hole where the turn signal was mounted. I'm not yet sure what I will use, but I can always recut it. I also ended up filling in the portion of the wheel liner while I was at it.
Then I went on to the rocker panel and side vent. First off, I cut it off the rear fenders. This will allow the rear section to be pulled off the car and or the rockers to come off separately. Also, I needed to work on that front portion since it wasn't much more than a layer of glass.
First thing was to add a couple layers to the back side to build it back up.
The tops of each end will be flanged so that the upper portion fenders will rest on top of the bottom rocker. Flat top screws will be used to fasten everything together within the body line. I've already made the front flange, but since I didn't take a pic, details to follow....
With a little help from my son, the rear came right out. It needed to be moved to make room for the next set of mods.
First time off in a couple years... Lots of work needs to be done here.
But that's not today's job. Here we can see the new flange on the rocker.
I ended up making a backplate out of 1x1/8" steel. Two screws hold it to the rocker. Three screws will then go through the fender to finish securing it. 1/4" round rod is being used to triangulate and hold the plates in the proper place.
Back is done and painted, so I started working on the front. End of the day, started getting tired (& dehydrated), and made a mistake, so more later...
Looking good Bob! The flanges look like they are going to work out very nicely.
Wish I could either bring you down here or send my car to up you, so it might actually get worked on!
I look into my "tent-shed" nearly everyday to make sure the critters haven't carried it off during the night, but other than that....nothing.
Keep posting the updates, love to see somebody putting wings on their dreams....and it serves as inspiration to those of us who can't seem to get it done ourselves.
Looking good Bob! The flanges look like they are going to work out very nicely.
Wish I could either bring you down here or send my car to up you, so it might actually get worked on!
I look into my "tent-shed" nearly everyday to make sure the critters haven't carried it off during the night, but other than that....nothing.
Keep posting the updates, love to see somebody putting wings on their dreams....and it serves as inspiration to those of us who can't seem to get it done ourselves.
HAGO!
I know how you feel, my friend. That's why this "hobby" drags on and on. It would be nice to have a fellow "developer" close by to work with. I don't know what I'd do without this forum though, and my fellow mates: you, Don, Wayne, Joe, Neil, Boz, and so many others that keep me inspired and moving it forward.
Well, as mentioned in my last update, I ran into a small problem while making the front rocker mounts.
The door hit the rod holding the end of the mount. It appears that the door has a much larger swing than I anticipated. This template shows the swing area.
So, using the template, I tried a number of different rod arrangements, but couldn't come up with anything that supported the mount. Then I came up with a solid mount.
This uses a piece of 080" steel, cut to fit. Welded in, it keeps the mount from moving forward or back, and the extra rod keeps it from moving up and down.
And the finished piece... It should clear the wheel well. And if I decide to put a vent cover on, it will give me a upper mount location.
Looks like I have some free time coming up this weekend, so hopefully more progress.
Bob
[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 06-17-2016).]
Worked on the rear section for the most part over the weekend. Started making flanges and did some work on the bumper cover. The new cover left a gap between the new exterior and old, so I filled it with 2-part foam and glassed it in.
I also cleaned out some old bodywork in prep for some mods. Whomever put this thing together originally must have been a sculptor. The side scoops were made entirely out of filler. I didn't get a before pic, but here it is with most of the stuff cut out.
Bob
[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 06-20-2016).]
Busy day today. Ran to the salvage yard this morning. Made a decision about what mirrors to use. 97 Aurora.
Then took a step back. I'll explain. One of the concerns I had with the rear deck mounting was that the deck did not clear the stock tail lights. I thought about frenching them, or using something custom, but really just wanted the deck to clear. Today while at the yard, I looked for more hinges with a slightly larger sweep. I ended up finding three I thought would fit, late Malibu, Focus, and Jetta. I ended up with the Jetta parts. Then I started deconstructing and redoing all of that previous work.
Out with the old...
old and new
Tacked everytthing together for a trial fitup.
Crap!! doesn't work quite right. It doesn't open far enough. Try again.
Reposition the front hinge mounts and remake the bottom supports again. Success.
This now provides better clearance to the tail lights, and better adjustability up/down and front/back.
I need to pick up some hardware and hope to have it finish welded and painted tomorrow.
Looking real good there Bob. Its kinda funny when I look at your build / Neils build / every other build, heck, my build..... that when it comes to custom it vary RARLY gets done in 1 take. Seeing things built , taken back apart , redone , smashed , scrapped and redone again is all part of a good build. Keep up the Great Work !
Looking real good there Bob. Its kinda funny when I look at your build / Neils build / every other build, heck, my build..... that when it comes to custom it vary RARLY gets done in 1 take. Seeing things built , taken back apart , redone , smashed , scrapped and redone again is all part of a good build. Keep up the Great Work !
Lol, so true....I've been working on some side air scoops and must have built them 5 times now... I'm almost ready to concede defeat and buy oem ones...
I have always wondered how you stay so keen. I do envy your patience I know how long it took to do my car and you just keep going I have liked your cars.
I have always wondered how you stay so keen. I do envy your patience I know how long it took to do my car and you just keep going I have liked your cars.
Appreciate the comment, Australian. Thank you. It's a journey.
Looking good there Bob ! Nice to get to the bottom of the 1 of 10000 projects on the ride. Love getting to the "primer" stage as that's "almost" done !! Have a GREAT 4 th !!
Hi friends. Kind of a boring update, but things have been moving forward slowly. No pics...
I've made two more mounting flanges for the rear quarters, the driver-side rear for the valence, and along the decklid opening to hold down the top of the rear facia.
I've also played with the headlights again, (lost count on the version). I picked up some stock headlight motor mounts since I cut mine all up. (Thanks Dad) and started playing with that. I was playing with the original buckets and decided to see what it looked like flipped upside down. .The motion of that thing was darned near perfect, so I measured three times and cut once a new set of arms and welded them onto my buckets. I still need to add the stops and make boxes, but it might just work.
Lastly, I cleaned up the frame for the rear deck and shot the top with primer. (Just ran out). I also started smoothing out the bottom of the decklid skin in preparation for final mounting to the frame. Lots of thick resin to cut out.
Not moving as fast as I need, but making progress none the less.
It's been a busy weekend. It's not over, but I'm pooped.
How about some pics...
One thing I forgot to mention was work on the roof-C pillar panel. The issue was that the panel was flatter than the roof, leaving nearly a 1/4' gap in the middle. The fix was rather easy. I took the existing Fiero panel, and popped out the inner support panel. Heating the glue with a torch and using a putty knife was sufficient to get it out. Then I sat it back on the car with a bead of glue and placed the new panel on top. Once the glue was set, I pulled it off. Everything lines up great.
As mentioned, the deck frame was primed and painted. I only painted the top surface that would be against the decklid.
Then, after some screwing around, making sure everything was square and where it needed to be, a bead of glue was laid down and everything was clamped together.
The glue wasn't quite set (24hrs), but I needed to keep going, so I made some cardboard dams and started blocking off the areas where the frame didn't contact the decklid. The key to preventing the foam (or resin) from sticking is a layer of packaging tape. Nothing sticks to it. Anyway, I applied the foam and let it set the rest of the night.
This morning, I used a knife to rough cut the big pieces and a wire brush in my Dewalt to shape everything. Shopvac comes in handy.
I'll end up going back and cleaning it up before adding a layer of glass. But that's going to be another tale. So the decklid was remounted to make sure everything was still cool.
Then, time for the next step. With a lot of sweat and a little time, I dropped the car on it's wheels in prep for turning it around. I need to button up the passenger side.
I took it for a ride up the street a couple times. Holy Cow, this thing moves and sounds great when I get on it. I was afraid to really get on it due to the dry rotted rollers on it, but it has potential Here's a few more pics after hosing it down a bit.
Ok Bob....now I'm Jealous...I'm still just trying to get the wheels onto mine....
Neil, I've had this car for almost ten years. It's been driveable for about two weeks of that. It's been two years since i last drove it. I'm just enjoying my little victory
Dream Cruise weekend. Another in which I'm working on the car.
Ready for more work.
The first thing to do is fix the location and make the mods to the rocker panel. What I found when placing the passenger side was that the angle was different than the driver's side. leaving a different gap under the door front to back. The ony way to fix was to section the bottom, removing about 3/8" from the front and adding 1/2" to the back.
With that out of the way, onto the vent. I've had these Cadillac oil coolers that I've wanted to use, but haven't been able to figure out where to put them. Now I know...
So, on to some brackets. I've fabricated up a frame and mounted it to the chassis. Here I'm positioning the cooler and designing the mount.
To get a feel for the look and ensure the fit, I mocked up some cardboard templates.
I think it's going to work great. On to the fiberglassing.
Bob
[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 08-20-2016).]
Great idea, you planning to put a rad on both sides? What welder did you bye Bob and how are you liking it? I'm really joy in gathering progress!! Wayne
Thanx guys. Looking forward to slinging some glass tomorrow. I plan on putting a second cooler on the other side now that I think I figured it out. I'll have to redo a lot of the glass work, but that's not unusual for this project. I plan on useing it as a trans cooler for now.
Wayne, I picked up the Millermatic 211. I love it. It was a really good investment for what I'm doing.
A lot more work has gone into the vent. i think it came out pretty good. Now I'll have to repeat on the other side. Onto the story...
Before I could finalize allof the positions for the vent, I needed a fixed mounting point for the rocker, which meant creating the flange and making the chassis mounts. Fourth time was the charm.
With location done, it was time to go back to CAD (cardboard aided design). I mocked up the back piece (which I already had previously). It is a complicated piece with multiple bends.
Stealing an idea from Bozzie, I made a flat piece of one layer fiberglass.
It's surprisingly strong and flexible.
Using the template, the fg was trimmed and trial fit and retrimmed until perfect.
Then it was glassed in at the bottom. The repeat with the top, and outside edge.
The outside edge had an extra bend in it, so I formed it around an old curtain rod.
End result tacked together...
Now, off the car, reinforcing can be done from the back side.
Back on the car once again.
While I had the back off a couple weeks ago, I made the passenger side rear vents.
This pic shows the template in place to create the final vent opening.
And lastly, with the rocker position firmed up, I can mount the door. So I strated creating the front door panel mounts.
Super SWEET Bob ! That rear hatch came out amazing , love the hinge work Seams like your moving pretty quick on the passenger side now. Nice flowing inlet to that cooler. Just wondering what the size is on the 3 rectangular openings on the rear quarter. Im wanting to do the same but have nothing to base it off of.
Super SWEET Bob ! That rear hatch came out amazing , love the hinge work Seams like your moving pretty quick on the passenger side now. Nice flowing inlet to that cooler. Just wondering what the size is on the 3 rectangular openings on the rear quarter. Im wanting to do the same but have nothing to base it off of.
Keep it goin !
Boz
Thanx, Dude...
I didn't have anything to go off either. I did notice on the different generations of Ferraris that had the slats, they all seemed different. So, I marked it up several times and went with what I liked, trying to keep it close to the 288. The slats are 2.5" above the body line, 7.5 " tall. Each slat is 2 1/8" wide with the space between them at 1" The top of the slat leans forward 1 3/4" more than the bottom.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Wayne.. Thanx man... Still looking for your updates.
Been too long, but honestly, I haven't done much. Biggest thing I've done is mount the passenger side mirror. It involved the usual measure..cut..modify..cut...weld...modify...weld...and paint.
Try again.
I'm almost ready to concede defeat and buy oem ones... 
Holy Cow, this thing moves and sounds great when I get on it. I was afraid to really get on it due to the dry rotted rollers on it, but it has potential 
