Thanks Blackrams, I think that the daughter is probably cooler than I am, but I'm lucky....she still likes for me to hang around with her, so what dad can complain about that right?
As promised here are some of the photos of the latest progress.
The wheels have been an absolute nightmare. I'm about ready to chuck it in, get them as good as we can and call them winter wheels and then look for either a nice set of the GT lace wheels in black, or a nice set of 16" aftermarkets for her for the summer. We'll see though I guess. It is harder when you are spending her money. We'll see what comes about. After all she might not need winter wheels. After spending this kind of time and effort on the project she is already talking about buying a "beater" car for when it isn't nice out and taking to school. She is already worried about people scratching it or hurting it......I guess that is what you get when she pours her heart and soul in, so I can't complain about that either. Anyway, here are the wheels.
First step was the prep...
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Then it was yellow on the PONTIAC on the spoke.
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Then mask and clay that off, and on to primer the whole wheel
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Then on to the black.......
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Perhaps the one piece that has taken a significant amount of time was the recovering of the map pocket. Kathryn resewed the Fiero emblem to the new yellow material at least 3 times before we got it right with some help from Mom. Then we needed to get it on the map pocket frame. The results however look pretty good I think.
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That meant that the dash was all ready to go back together...so here is Kathryn putting the whole think back together.
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and the final product......
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We have also been gluing the vinyl on the center console so that that has involved a lot of clamping, stretching, and painting....
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and finally the headliner.....the most recent project.....
First of course you have to clean off all the old foam backing etc. Kathryn still can't believe how much "grunge" accumulates in 25 years.....lol! But she likes the reward of seeing all the nice bright, shiny, and nice restored pieces.
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Once the old is cleaned off it is time to layout the new liner
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Then the scary part...time to glue it all in place on the front, turn it over and glue the edges....
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and Ta Da!!!! it looks like this....
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Flip it over and.....
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And then it is time for Kathryn to head off to bed.....
Hope you all have a great night, thanks for reading, and for helping to make Kathryn's build experience memorable.
This thread was posted on another forum I frequent a lot. I just wanted to say that the work that has been done is great and encouraging for me because my Son is getting close to the age needing to start a project for when he's old enought to drive.
I am very impressed and look forward to following the thread as it matures.
a round of applause is in order indeed
Great work Kathryn
[This message has been edited by Nexus (edited 05-09-2011).]
Awesome Project. I plan on doing the same with my daughter. at 4 she is already helping daddy with the oil changes and air filter changes I would recommend having the wheels powder coated. Much more durable then paint and they end up looking great I can find a custom coater in your area if you want.
Joe N.
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**************************************** 88 Formula CJB Arrived Finally. #689 of 1252 Time to start Working TONY! There are Two kinds of Fiero's : Notchies and Donors!
Just a lil tip on that head liner (and you may already know of it); when you cut the opening for the sunroof, just make an "X" in the opening. Do not cut the X all the way to the corners. Once the headliner is installed, you can trim off what you do not need. Just remember, the edges tuck-in and the trim piece covers the seam. I have seen too many ppl not leave enough of an edge when they cut the opening for the sunroof; make a perfect recover look hacked...
I am very impressed with the determination she has put into this. You as well dad. I find this thread very appealing to me as my 5 year old girl claims my 86 coupe as "Her" car and she helps me work on it. Handing me wrenches etc... When I need a buddy to help me or aid me with company she is the one I look for. Now granted she is 5 and her attention span isnt the greatest but she loves to help daddy work on "Her" car. The best part of this whole ordeal is the bonding time you spend with your kids. Michhiker, I do however see that you have more than 1 more to build. You apparently will have to work on 3 more. 2 more children and the one for yourself! LOL
Great work Kathryn keep up the determination, you have a fantastic car already. It can only get better. Thumbs up to dad also for taking the time to do this with his children. Love this thread!
Again, Thanks all. I think tonight we will work a bit on the headlight motor assemblys, and putting the center console back together.
ALJR, thanks for that tip on the headliner, it will be put to good use!
Johnny, Data is correct, we used gorilla glue and those office binder clips...works great except you need to be careful with the clips, sometimes they slip off real easily...make sure you have them right where you want them and then leave them to sit where they won't be disturbed until the glue sets up.
Kento, YES! If you know a good custom powdercoater in our area we are all ears. We are in Mid Michigan, Mt Pleasant, Midland, Alma area would be great.
Nexus, where else did you see the thread since we are only posting here and at www.myfiero.webs.com......would love to know if it got picked up somewhere else too.
BUT Be aware... that yellow defrost grille thingy between the speaker covers will cause a glaring reflection in the windshield in bright light. Mine was like that when I bought it and we temporarily painted it (in place) black with acrylic artists paint on a foam chip brush... just to reduce the glare until we could replace the dash.
You can get a glimpse of the glare (if you can see past the glare from the speaker covers, ugh!) on the third pic:
**************************************** 88 Formula CJB Arrived Finally. #689 of 1252 Time to start Working TONY! There are Two kinds of Fiero's : Notchies and Donors!
PM's recieved and responded to. I will be in and out for the next couple of weeks on Business but Kathryn will be continuing to work on the project. I will update with what happens from time to time and then there will be a big update in about two weeks.
Hopefully the Mr Mikes seats and some other pieces are here in time for her Birthday, so it could make for a very fun after Birthday update!
What a great story. My dad and I worked on my 85GT (aka The Blue Demon) during my entire final year in college. There is a build thread for it on here, although it needs to be updated as many things have happened since I last posted. I started working on cars with my dad when I was young. He didn't have any boys and often needed a spare set of hands. I didn't really get into it until I was 18 and a freshman in college, but I met a lot of great people through cars, especially Fieros. I also think it helped to keep me out of trouble because that's what I spent my money on!
We need one more picture to show the finished wheel. Left me hanging with a nice coat of black paint but all the masking still in place. It has to look very good with the yellow letters.....show me the letters!
Incredible story!!!!!! So refreshing to see young kids taking a interest in something worthwhile. I learned a few tricks from her myself. Keep up the EXCELLENT WORK!!!!!!! A TRUE FIERO OWNER!!!!! We can all learn something from her project!!!!
Sorry all for a long delay in updating. I was out of the country for a while with a group of students from the University. Since Kathryn will not know about this thread for a couple of more weeks it meant that it went without updates until I got back. My apologies. I will post some photos of the work done in the meantime. We are getting there slowly but surely. It is another 10 days until Kathryn's birthday so if any of you would like to wish her a happy 13th, please feel free to do so on here and we will be sharing this with her on June 10th, her birthday.
She will have a few fiero related presents to open we hope.....including a new set of Mr. Mikes seats in yellow and black to install. So it should make for a pretty exciting day. More updates coming soon.
Awesome thread, it makes me want to run out and start restoring my interior that I've been neglecting for a while. The attention to detail on these parts is amazing and I would be thrilled to come close to creating that cool of an interior, at 25 years old . Keep up the good work, I will definitely be watching this thread!
P.S. - Happy birthday when you see this!
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[This message has been edited by JamesCurtis (edited 05-31-2011).]
Happy 13th birthday when you finally read this thread!
This has been a cool thread to follow, her work has given me some ideas for my own interior and it is great to see someone so dedicated to their car. Keep up the great work on the Fiero!
Kathryn, Happy Birthday there young lady. Please take note that although we won't be attending your birthday party, we all wish we could share in the cake. BTW, I like ice cream with my cake.
------------------ Ron
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 06-02-2011).]
Happy 13th birthday when you finally read this thread!
This has been a cool thread to follow, her work has given me some ideas for my own interior and it is great to see someone so dedicated to their car. Keep up the great work on the Fiero!
X2 to this post! I hope you have a wonderful birthday and I hope Mom and Dad are as estatic about it as you are. Have a blessed day and enjoy those moments you get with your dad and mom. They go faster than you realize. You have one cool car and set of parents.
First of all Kathryn, I would like to say a great big happy birthday to you. I have a cousin your age and she just had a birthday as well (though as much as I would like I think she prefers swimming and shopping more than having any real interest in cars let alone Fiero's Now continuing on I want you to know how inspiring it has been to watch you breathe life back into your Fiero and at the same time adding your own personal touch. It's altogether too uncommon to see this sort of thing and the rare ones that come along are really special. I hope that in the coming years once I have a more steady lifestyle to make it to some of the US Fiero events and I hope to see you and your car at at least one of those.
For now, your biggest fans in Canada (Besides Danyel & Black Widow.. **shakes fist**),
So after getting some of the vinyl reglued it was time for dye. The results are included here:
The main front console around the stereo and air
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The vinyl around the ashtrays and stick
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The main console with the door and the vents....it isn't put together all the way yet, but at least you can see how it is going to look once it is all put together.
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And finally, here are two of the wheels done. Still not perfectly happy with them, but we'll see......She is still thinking about whether she is happy with them or if it will be redone.
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Soon we will be starting the brakes and we need to work on the headlights motor rebuilds yet. Almost 1 week to her birthday!
Thanks for the wheel pictures. Nice to see the finished product and I think they turned out nicely. You mentioned Mr Mikes seats being on order for 6 weeks. I'd give them a friendly call and ask what's up. Then you'll know! I mean, you are under enough stress with a daughter turning 13. That being said, if her 12th year is ANY indication of the future, you are going to revel in her teen years. Be prepared to brag.....quietly but proudly.
Thanks for the kind words Vernon, I did give Mike a call and he has promised delivery in time for next Friday 6/10 so we should be all set....I hope. I think she will be excited to see the seats....and some of the other cool items :-)
she could come work at my shop anytime I am sure she would out do the guys. great to see younger people intrested in working on cars rather than just trashing them. D.
Whodeanie, She has seen some of your work. The fact that you even thought some of her stuff was ok will make her day as much as it has made mine. Thanks for stopping by to say hey and wish her luck. It means a lot, and you guys are the bestest!
Well another night, another update. Not a lot got done today, but at least some progress is better than no progress. I am sure that once Kathryn is done with school for the summer things will move a long a bit better, but for now we take what we can get. She of course still needs to have time for homework, and friends, and fun, so we don't want to push her to hard or too fast either. As long as it stays a fun project that will be a good thing.
Tonight we got a few things done..
One of the first things we learned is that they way she was planning on finishing the visors is NOT going to work.....hmmmm, back to the drawing board, but Kathryn and Mom have some ideas for this so we will leave them to it. Sometimes you learn more from what doesn't work than what does. I am excited to see what solutions they come up with.
Once we realized that was a no go we ended up working a bit on the sunroof trim. It needed cleaned....bad! It also needs to by dyed black. So Kathryn did some scrubbing and cleaning with the alcohol and then it was time to go to with the spray cans.
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We also pulled the bad headlight from the car to see if it is a just a gear or if it is a motor. Once we got it out of the car we need to get into the housing so it was down with the spray cans and up with the wrenches and sockets.
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The short version is it looks like a complete motor....the winding looks fried. While we were there though Kathryn was NOT impressed with the surface rust on the bolts....no rust on my car is her motto.......so when she saw this she about flipped.
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and that means it was time to break out the wire wheel
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Which in turn yields this
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and then it is time to respray them
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Anyway you look at it, working on Fieros is fun, and never a waste of time :-)
First, I have to say Happy Birthday Kathryn. Secondly, I am so jealous of your wheels. They look fantastic. Everything you've done so far is fantastic. Keep it up and I can't wait to see what you do next.
Jim
[This message has been edited by J-Holland (edited 06-02-2011).]
Happy Birthday Kathryn, you have been doing some excellent work. Keep it up and you will have an extremely nice car. Hope to meet you and your dad sometime, since we don't live too far away. You might want to check out the Capital City Fiero Club and maybe even come to some of the meetings. You can bring your dad along if you want to.
Happy 13th Birthday Kathryn. You are doing a wonderful job on your car and the experience you're getting from this project will prove to be useful on almost any project you choose to tackle for most of your life. I think you and your parents should seriously consider an adventure to the Tyler Shipman show.....you know as a birthday gift. See some of the country, meet some Fiero fans and their cars. No Fiero needed to attend. EVERYBODY on PFF discused it and we ALL think it's a great idea.
[This message has been edited by Vernon8360 (edited 06-03-2011).]
Originally posted by Fierfly: Very cool! l...You GO girl!!
BUT Be aware... that yellow defrost grille thingy between the speaker covers will cause a glaring reflection in the windshield in bright light. Mine was like that when I bought it and we temporarily painted it (in place) black with acrylic artists paint on a foam chip brush... just to reduce the glare until we could replace the dash.
You can get a glimpse of the glare (if you can see past the glare from the speaker covers, ugh!) on the third pic:
i agree, that yellow would give off an awful glare. I did mine in silver once. It was repainted gray the next day. And if ya really want the dash to pop, cover those speaker grills with yellow material. All things said, you're doin a fantastic job!
Thank you all for the warning on the glare of the vent. We'll put it in and wheel it out in the sun and see how bad it is....We sure don't want it to distract from a young drivers ability to see. We have some time to fix it, luckily, if it is bad. We are almost all done with interior, just need to figure out what she is doing with audio etc. We'll be pulling suspension in the next few weeks and starting to work on that and the brakes. Right now she is looking for some more power as well, so thinking about letting her do a 3.4 swap. Thoughts?
Also, just got the email that the seats for her birthday next Friday are shipping from MrMikes. He did an absolute bang up job, and I can't wait to see them in person. Even better, I can't wait to see Kathryn's face when she opens them! We'll make sure to take some cool photos of that!
There will be some definite surprises for her in a week! Anyway, here is the photo that Mike sent along of her seats. You'll see the yellow and black theme continues......
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I would recommend having the wheels powder coated. Much more durable then paint and they end up looking great 
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Now continuing on I want you to know how inspiring it has been to watch you breathe life back into your Fiero and at the same time adding your own personal touch. It's altogether too uncommon to see this sort of thing and the rare ones that come along are really special. I hope that in the coming years once I have a more steady lifestyle to make it to some of the US Fiero events and I hope to see you and your car at at least one of those..jpg)
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. Happy birthday Kathryn!! I'm really jealous of the progress hehe.
