Spoiler is comin' right along...you keep gettin' better and better at this stuff!
Keep up the stellar work and keep the updates comin.
I'm thinking this thread should probably go to the Construction Zone, but then again, threads seem to enjoy better "exposure" while in General, but it sure belongs there!
Once the rebuilt spoiler was tacked on, it was time to remove the black tape and cut it up.
Then glass in the center sections.
Then the spoiler was reattached to the fender by filling in the 2" gap and glassing in the front and back. I also added some glass to the lip, repairing a number of cracks and filling the old screw holes. One of the centers was lower than the other, so I took the opportunity to fix that too.
I wanted to see what the splitter was going to look like, so I mocked it up with some plywood. I still don't know how I'm going to make it, so it's on the do-it-later project list.
Now, as always, my project here seems to evolve, and sometimes what goes around, comes around. So, if you'll recall, on page two or three, I was once making integrated headlights for my then Fiero fascia build. Well, I made molds that have been sitting on the shelf.
Tired of thinking how to make the pop-ups work, and fitting them properly, I thought I'd pull a part from the mold and see how it looks. (Boz...)
The mold wasn't 100% complete, so it took a little effort getting the part off, but it came out ok. One layer of glas kept it flexible enough to pop off. Below are pics of the mold sitting on the car.
I think it looks pretty good with the lines lining up pretty good with the facia. Almost as if I made it for this car.
I was still on the fence about the amount of work doing this versus the pop-ups. And believe it or not, I'm tenative to cut up the front.
Damned the torpedoes, full speed ahead.
Lots of measuring, cutting, trimming, trimming more, trimming too much, tape, glass, and a day, one integrated headlight bucket.
Obviously there's still a lot of work to do: - Make the driver's side bucket - Install it - Fab the light brackets - fill the holes in the hood - etc.
later guys...
Bob
[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 08-06-2017).]
Next step, make second pod. Did it a little different. I waxed the bejesus out of the mold first, then put the PVA on. Worked like a champ and popped right off with a little air.
Then measure, cut, measure, trim, tape, and glass it in.
Perfect...accept...With all the measureing and leveling, somehow I lost site that it wasn't square. It was moved right about a half inch versus the other side.
So, cut it all out and start over.
That's how Saturday ended. Sunday was a fresh day, and with a new outlook, I put it in right this time.
It's all glassed in now (no pic for some reason) so you just have to believe me.
On to the hood, and filling in the spce behind the lights.
So, the latest design requires that the hole I made be filled back in. After pondering how to do this, I decided to make a filler panel, then glass over it.
The panel is made up of heavy cardboard covered in cellophane tape. I shaped some foam to match the curve of the hood, then glued it to the cardboard.
Then glass it in. Still not good with big surfaces, but it will work.
Then repeat on the other side.
Next steps will be to build up some thickness and create some structure underneath.
Bob
[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 08-20-2017).]
Over two weeks since last update. Not much has really happened. Seems something in the garage, and particularly working on the car, doesn't agree with me. I came down with a pretty serious infection in my elbow, the second infection in the last three months, the other being on the opposite forearm. The only thing common is working on the fiberglass, but this time I had rubber sleeves on. So, I really don't know what caused it.
Anyway, I'm still on break until it fully heals up.
Here are the pics from the last time I worked on it.
Pulled the hood off. The darned thing is heavier than the rest of the front, combined.
Then I built up the sides to fill in the area previously cut out and give it a finished edge when open. It also greatly strengthened the top portion that was added.
When that was all setting up, I added a "decorative" lip at the top of the hood. This was a part I cut out of the original 308 hood, and it will be molded in to the arches on the sides of the hood.
I also made the fill piece for the corner of the hood. I don't have a good pic, but it's at theright corner of this one.
That's it for now. Tune in later for the next great adventure in car mods.
Edit... Found one more. I molded in the area between the lights and the hood.
Bob
[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 09-09-2017).]
I like the way you are feathering everything together to give that extra finished look.
I hear you on the fiberglassing. Stopped me on my fiberglassing activities. I was getitng pretty bad headaches even fully suited up. I had to stop as well..... Nasty stuff.
Looking forward to updates when you are feeling better.
Hard to believe it's been three months already since my last update.
Nothing really to say. My arm healed well, but I was burnt from all the time spent, plus gun shy from the infection. Then October and Halloween prep came and went. Then November came with work, travel, and Thanksgiving. More work came with December, along with yard work and a ton of leaves. Now the snow is falling hard. And here we are.
Fiberglassing is out in the cold, so hopefully the winter will bring an end to the seat fabrication, and any other fab.
Happy Holidays and a safe and merry christmas everyone.
After a long hiatus, it's time to continue. The weather is still to darned cold to do anything big, but I'm getting a little done.
One of the last things I did last fall was move the battery box (again). I figured having under the fixed headlight up front wasn't going to work well, so I moved it back to the spare well.
Having the desire to do things different, I moved it closer to the firewall.
I fab'ed up a new box and cut a hole in the spare panel to lower it as far as it would go. The box will mount securely to the front holes for the panel. I'll weld in some 1/4-20 inserts to bolt it in.
Here's what I have so far... Back support to hold the battery.
Hi Bob Good to see you back at it! I’m hoping to get back to work on mine soon, I’m going to install a T-Top from a 87 factory installed car I picked up. I’m planning on heading back to work a couple days a week to generate some cash to top up the car fund. Keep on posting I love seeing the progress. Wayne
Good to be back at it. Lots of stuff to do this year so let's get at it.
Still too cold to sling resin around, so, I'm doing more "mechanical" items.
First on the list are hood pins. Kind of fell for the Aerocatch pins and ended up with a pair from an Amazon birthday list.
Here's how I flush mounted them.
Traced out the location:
Cut the hole, then made a piece to fit under the hood skin. Note, I do not have access to the bottom side, due to the Fiero liner being underneath. The piece is then glued, using SMC adhesive.
Then, a hole is cut for the latch.
Then, mark the location of the screw holes, and drill them out.
There is a bottom plate that holds the locknuts. There's a bit of a trick to hold that and the nuts in place (superglue and tape), Then screw it together.
The biggest issue I had was that the right and left sides of the trunk area are not symmetrical, so the left post is very close to the trunk seal. Doesn't look like I have a picture, though. Here is the finished product.
Coming next (maybe) I'm back on head light detail (blech...did I mention I hate headlights?).
A little more work. This one I've been thinking about for a while. and honestly, when i started, I thought for sure I mucked it up. But, after sleeping on it, it came out ok.
Here's some pics for the newest mod... Hood vent...
Biggest problem with Fiero vent mods is the way the inner panel kicks forward to clear the spare. Makes the vents short, unless one notches the panel. My idea was to cut the kickout out, then reverse it so that it kicks in.
After much trepidation, cut away.
Once it was cut, I realized it wasn't going to be that easy to put back in. It didn't line up right. After sleeping on it and looking at it again, I made a new panel, straight across, and bent the whole thing back about an inch. I even formed the lip for the seal.
I've been plugging away at the vent. It's coming out pretty good if I don't say so myself.
Still need to add some layers of glass, but I'm just about out of resin and just haven't picked up any yet.
As I showed previously, I started using CAD (cardboard aided design). Here, the sides are mocked in.
And here Im starting to cut out the patterns from the single layer of FG.
The sides are then glued in using SMC adhesive. The angle gage ensures the panel stays at the right angle to clear the fan.
I used the side templates to make some forms to help maintain the shape of the waterfall. All screwed together here it's ready to be glassed in.
Once the side joint received two layers of glass, the top was glued into place. I made a piece that would support it from the bottom and glued it together. The angle pieces ensure the vent stays flat to the hood.
The next step is cover the center section. Couple pieces of left over glass due the bill. Here they're being glued together.
So, moving along... Flipped the hood over to work on the bottom. I wanted to fix the area where the head lamps used to be. Broke out some spray foam (Locktite worked better than DAP) and started filling the gaps. First off, I made some dams out of cardboard, then sprayed away.
After forming, I placed a thin layer of FG over it.
Then onto the other side.. Once that was done, I worked on the vent. I put down two more layers of FG on both the sides and back. Then I built up the step that was cut out.
With that tied together, I broke out the old diaper (engine vent from rear)
There isn't anything particularly good about the diaper, except that it's the right shape for what I needed. Louvers for the hood. Here it is with 4 layers of FG, and sanded down.
Oops, no intermediate shots, but suffice to say there was sanding, and fitting, and more sanding,,, And here are the final results glued in.
There is a reason for the louvres. I wanted to hide the top of the radiator when viewed through the vent. That and it keeps the 308 theme going.
More later...Thanx for checking in.
Bob
[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 06-07-2018).]
This project started 9 years ago . It makes for good reading of an interesting and artful project but what is your target completion date to get it finished and on the road? IMO, Fieros are no fun sitting in a garage when they can't be displayed at shows or driven. Its a shame but over the years we have seen many custom projects here that never came to fruition.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
This project started 9 years ago . It makes for good reading of an interesting and artful project but what is your target completion date to get it finished and on the road? IMO, Fieros are no fun sitting in a garage when they can't be displayed at shows or driven. Its a shame but over the years we have seen many custom projects here that never came to fruition.
I hear you Dennis, and I wish I could answer. I've set targets and missed them too many times. Life has gotten in the way many times. The only thing that's consistent is that I do keep working on it.
All I can say is that I'd love to show it off because I think it's going to be killer and different when done.But I'm also enjoying the ride, trying new things and hopefully putting ideas in other's heads.
Thanx for checking in and your thoughts. Always appreciated.
Your cars going to look so damn sweet when done, I wanna see it done too! The only way to get on top of ll the fiberglass is to do 2-3 sections at once. See what you need and where, cut the mat out, and make multiple trips running back to mix more resin before it starts to chunk. Its a mad dash I know ive had stuff dry in less than 5 mins here when its kinda warm. I do at least 2-3 sections on mine each time. Only takes maybe 30 mins to set the fb. Go sand later, im lucky when I can throw an hour at mine so baby steps r getting mine done. Its such a pita the fiberglass. Then the dust. then bondo. then more dust lol. Just imagine the day when youre laying paint down, yeah... thats my motivation
get to work lol lets see some whole body pics, been awhile shem
Your cars going to look so damn sweet when done, I wanna see it done too! The only way to get on top of ll the fiberglass is to do 2-3 sections at once. See what you need and where, cut the mat out, and make multiple trips running back to mix more resin before it starts to chunk. Its a mad dash I know ive had stuff dry in less than 5 mins here when its kinda warm. I do at least 2-3 sections on mine each time. Only takes maybe 30 mins to set the fb. Go sand later, im lucky when I can throw an hour at mine so baby steps r getting mine done. Its such a pita the fiberglass. Then the dust. then bondo. then more dust lol. Just imagine the day when youre laying paint down, yeah... thats my motivation
get to work lol lets see some whole body pics, been awhile shem
What's up peeps? Small update. Honestly it's been slow going. Hard to stay motivated with all that's going on, but keep trudging forward, one step at a time.
So, I've been trying to get the hood to a point where it's "done". It's not there yet, but I've been adding short-hair filler and smoothing it out. Fixing blemishes and trying to tidy it up. Hood is back on the car so I can work on panel alignment and fixing some of the damaged mounting points.
I also fixed the large gap between the door and fender.
The progress continues, but seems to be real subtle, as it doesn't really look too different. Got a bunch of pics, though.
The picture I didn't have for the last post: the gap, fixed.
After that, I worked with the fit of the head light pod and the fender. here I'm filling low areas with glass.
Then I moved on to the rocker. I filled in the wheel inner wheel well that will eventually support the wheel tub.
I couldn't help myself, so I shot some black primer to see how the shape is coming out.
Continuing on with the rocker, I needed to work on the rear flange that was previously used to help mount the body. I don't think I'll need it for that now with the other mounts, but it needs to be cleaned up. In this pick, you can see the build-up of filler the previous owner used.
I cut the entire flange off flush to the body. Then used the body to make the new one. With the body taped up and the rocker mounted in place, several layers of fiberglass were applied. Then the panel was popped off and cleaned up
Then, today it was a little maintenance and reinforcement. I added some glass to reinforce the edges on the vent. Then added some to the wheel well edge.
And finally, a side shot.
Thanx for tuning in.
Bob
[This message has been edited by RCR (edited 07-22-2018).]
, so your comments mean a lot to me. It's much appreciated. 
)
It was moved right about a half inch versus the other side.
