I would like this registry to be for rebodied replicas only. No offense to any other type of Fiero whatsoever. Just an effort to separate the warring factions that can make reading posts so unpleasant. I would love pictures for sure and I'll try to get a picture of my boosted ls4 murci up as soon as possible if this thread takes off. Thanks for reading.

Great idea Dratts. I would like to seek clarification on what you mean by a "registry" though. My understanding of a registry is that it is a location for people to post pictures and info about their own cars, and not a free-for-all posting of any and all Fiero based replicas by just anyone. It's your thread though, so you set the rules.

as opposed to what.....a MR2 base?? *JOKE*

[This message has been edited by batousai666 (edited 01-11-2013).]

quote Originally posted by Bloozberry: Great idea Dratts. I would like to seek clarification on what you mean by a "registry" though. My understanding of a registry is that it is a location for people to post pictures and info about their own cars, and not a free-for-all posting of any and all Fiero based replicas by just anyone. It's your thread though, so you set the rules.

Exactly! If that will eliminate a lot of negativity my plan will work. I would love to have any and all owners of replicas post here with no arguments about whether their car deserves badges or not and no hateful criticism of ANYBODY'S car. I personally appreciate the effort anyone puts into their car.

I'll get the ball rolling... I have two cars. One is a Ferrari 308 replica that I built on an '84 frame between 1992 and 1996. The other is an on-going Ferrari F355 project which I'll cover in another post. Here's the 308:



I actually started out simply wanting to learn how to rebuild an engine and it expanded into a kit car project when I decided I wanted to put it in something. At the time, the TPI engines were all the rage after a couple articles in Kit Car Magazine showed what V8 Archie and Gary Zumalt were doing. I bought the Zumalt-based kit from Randy Corson of Arizona since I was particularly interested in his 512 BB kit at the time. Shipping the body to Canada made it cost prohibitive so I bought his engine conversion kit as a consolation prize for all his help. If I would have had a crystal ball back then, I would have bought the Archie kit.



Anyways, I poured a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this car back then. The body kit is called a Stinger, which is no longer in production. It was anything but a walk in the park to install since it came with no instructions. In fact the fledgling company paid me to write instructions and take pictures for them as I built my car. I exchanged the credits for the interior package, which was upholstered by my wife.



I've been on PFF for a couple years now and have covered the details of the car in this thread here www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/083063.html if anyone is looking for more info. I still own the car and it's been babied from the day I finished it. It still looks and drives like it was new. In the day, I spent $30K in parts, $5K in paint and body prep, and fours years of nights and weekends to build it.

More, more! This is a great start. And the story that you put along with the pictures is more than I anticipated and interesting to say the least. I've heard that the stinger was one of if not the best. When I saw the picture of the engine it reminded me of the purple pavement eater, a really nice car I saw at the Fiero fest in Pasco Wa.

[This message has been edited by dratts (edited 01-11-2013).]

Here's a picture of my car, I didn't built it......I just bought it so I take no credit for anything more than keeping it nice. The car was handmade by the builder.........there were no body panels to built it with everything was shaped out of Styrofoam then molds were made to make the fiberglass body panels.The car was made to look like a Pantera 200 but it's Badged as a DL10 Predator, a name the builder came up with. His name was Don Lee and he thought the car was a 10. My car was the 3 turnkey car Don built and the only one left.





The car still has the V-6 in it........It only has 68,000 miles on it and runs to good to swap out.. The car has been in several magazines over the years, it made the book and DVD from the 25th Anniversary show, and I have won over 120 awards and trophies including Best is Class at the Chicago WOW show. Not bad for a $11,500 car that I have owned since 1997.
And when people ask what's it is............I say you can call it anything you want....... I'm proud to call it MINE.

more pictures here http://www.fierofocus.com/i.../ff1009pictures.html

[This message has been edited by DL10 (edited 01-11-2013).]

HAGO!

Once again heres my 355

Just to keep this on track, here is Dratt's Murci' rebody. I will let him give the details. I just do pics.

Edit: Most of the pics I have are before his widetrack and LS4 install.









Here is the old bugger about to get eaten by his car!

[This message has been edited by Tony Kania (edited 01-11-2013).]

Nice looking car there DL10. The Pantera influence is most obvious in the rear quarters. I can only imagine how much work that must've been to sculpt the body panels from scratch like that. So if I understand you correctly, Don Lee built three cars but yours is the only one that's still around? What happened to the other two?

Don started the project with the goal of selling the body in kit form. He spent over 3 years making the molds and the first car. he was approached by an older gentleman while getting gas and wound up selling the first car for $15,000. This man also wanted another car for his son, Don built car #2 and sold it without Paint and still needing new wheels for $10,000........this car was wreaked before ever getting painted. After building my car he tried selling it for $18,000......than $15,000........... I wound up buying it for $11,500. By this time he had lost interest in building any more. He wanted $80,000 for the molds when I bought the car. I talked to Archie about building kits for me but we both decided it would take to many kits to ever get my money back.
The last time I spoke to Don he told me I had the only Predator left as car #1 had also been totaled by the owners son.....

So that makes your car a one-of-a-kind through attrition. These are the stories that make this hobby so interesting. Thanks for sharing.

For Dratts: I've always been in love with your Murcie replica. The paint color, the wheel choice and color, the topless body... Tony Kania mentioned these pics were before the "wide track" installation. What did the car have before, and what does it have now? Time to spill the beans about your car... this IS your thread after all!

Skrilla: Need. Better. Pictures.

[This message has been edited by Bloozberry (edited 01-11-2013).]

I have two replicas built on Fieros. Ferrari 308 and Ferrari 355. ialso have a lambo Countach body to do after the 355 is finished but I may or may not use a Fiero so won't post that one here until that decision has been made.

Ferrari 308:
I have always loved the Stinger like Blooz has but I couldn't get in touch with the owner of the molds when I was looking for a kitcar. The builder was in Quebec Canada and I heard he passed away several years ago. I found this 308 in a local online ad site and bought the car off the local owner here in Victoria.

The car was built back in the late 90's and driven in the States somewhere and then it sat for several years. PO bought the car and sent it to the Aldino buolder (I think) for a targa top. He also bought a PISA interior. All parts and car were shipped to a custom rod shop in Vancouver, BC for a complete rebuild. The estimates from the shop became very expensive ($30k+) very quickly for him so he decided to buy a real 308 and sell this one. I bought it off him for a very reasonable price after seeing the car and towed it to Victoria and into my garage. I stored the 355 I was working on as I needed a break from it and started on this one. My original plan was to do the front end fiberglass repairs it needed (parking air dam damage etc.) and clean it up and drive it within a few months. 2.5 years later and way too much OCD influence and I am back to the paint and interior point . Interior is done now and paint is under way over the next several weeks. I have redone the front end to have the smaller front lid and solid front fenders, designed and built new headlights more closely to oem, added a replicated oem 308 front bumper vs. Mera front bumper, added in functional side scoops, redesigned the targa section for better sealing and sealing the Fiero roof section to the sail panels section, extended windshield, repositioned defroster vents for the extended screen, repositioned windshield wipers, and enlarged rear trunk to accommodate the targa storage when off and still seal properly to an extended trunk seal section in the engine lid. Next items after paint and a period of driving: front Beretta brakes, 3800 S/C and 5 speed trans (currently 2.8 V6 and 4 spd). Might do a 6 spd or F23 instead of a Getrag but not sure yet. Whatever I can find when time to do the work.







Ferrari 308 interior






Other replica, in progress is a Ferrari 355 replica. I have been working/not working on this one for way too many years. I needed to take a break from it and started the 308 build above. Once 308 is done, I will be going back to finish this one off. Panels were terrible when I got them and have pretty much cut and reshaped everything and made a number of new panels as the old ones just didn't work. I am looking at doing a longitudinal engine trans setup in the 355 now as well since I saw engineman doing the Audi setup in a regular length Fiero. We have an additional 3 inches with the 355 kit....



I will update new pics of the 308 once I get it back from paint.

Cheers
Don

[This message has been edited by 355Fiero (edited 01-11-2013).]

OK here's the story on my Murci. I really enjoy the stories here. I put in what I call a giggle bid on eBay and ended up winning. Then I drove the car back from New Jersey to Idaho with a 350 sbc vortec and an isuzu transaxle. The Isuzu didn't last of course and I was in the process of converting to a 4t65e hd when I saw an ls4 conversion by Fiero king on dog creeks Fiero. That made sense so while we were doing that my previous project, an AD355 gave up it's held slalom front suspension, wide track rear, and 13" brakes for the Murci. Then we decided "what the hell". Why not match the hp of the murci so we added a cartuning turbo kit and a built tranny. I also replaced the interior. It had Sebring door cards that had been sawzalled off the Sebring and roughly bolted on. Someday it will be finished, but at least I started out with a driving, registered car and I've been enjoying it ever since. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures from my iPhone I'll show you my GMC Savana with the murci on a trailer behind it. I'm retired and I want to travel the USA meeting all the people who are attracted to the Murci. The Savana is a minimum tow rig and I am looking for a class A motorhome too. Not much left of the car that was on eBay except the body and wheels.

[This message has been edited by dratts (edited 01-11-2013).]

quote Originally posted by dratts: Not much left of the car that was on eBay except the body and wheels.

I would really love to see your car in person..... Any chance you will be at the 30th Anniversary show in Indy??

I think we would have a lot in common.
i
i

Sorry Dratts, but I just can't help showing your ride off.

Dratts loves his car. That is what is important to me as far as cars go. A guy could show up in a really clean Festiva, and I would appreciate that more than some dude in a brand new Ferrari. It is not what I like, but what YOU like.

I am blessed to have a friend like Dratts. We should all be so lucky.

quote Originally posted by DL10: I would really love to see your car in person..... Any chance you will be at the 30th Anniversary show in Indy?? I think we would have a lot in common. i i

All Fiero owners have a lot in common. Not that many people appreciate what they are. When is the Indy meet? I want to travel and seeing other peoples work is one of my favorite things. I belong to the Comancheros car club here and they are a great bunch of guys , but they are all driving older hot rods. None of them have a kit car. Coeur d'alene has a fabulous car show every year, but it is limited to older hot rods and customs too. I hang with Fiero guys here because many of the other car guys seem to have a negative opinion of kit cars. That and when I'm there with the Murci and it being way different from the other cars I think that they resent the attention my car gets even though the fit and finish of my car is no where near theirs yet.

quote Originally posted by dratts: OK here's the story on my Murci. I really enjoy the stories here. I put in what I call a giggle bid on eBay and ended up winning. Then I drove the car back from New Jersey to Idaho with a 350 sbc vortec and an isuzu transaxle. The Isuzu didn't last of course and I was in the process of converting to a 4t65e hd when I saw an ls4 conversion by Fiero king on dog creeks Fiero. That made sense so while we were doing that my previous project, an AD355 gave up it's held slalom front suspension, wide track rear, and 13" brakes for the Murci. Then we decided "what the hell". Why not match the hp of the murci so we added a cartuning turbo kit and a built tranny. I also replaced the interior. It had Sebring door cards that had been sawzalled off the Sebring and roughly bolted on. Someday it will be finished, but at least I started out with a driving, registered car and I've been enjoying it ever since. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures from my iPhone I'll show you my GMC Savana with the murci on a trailer behind it. I'm retired and I want to travel the USA meeting all the people who are attracted to the Murci. The Savana is a minimum tow rig and I am looking for a class A motorhome too. Not much left of the car that was on eBay except the body and wheels.

Sounds too cool......What could be better than having good health and also being able to enjoy retirement life with a fine exotic automobile at your disposal? I don't know, but I hope you enjoy them ALL for a LONG time - Cheers Dratts!

On a personal note, I've been thinking of doing a Lambo replica, but am undecided on a Diablo or a Murci Roadster. In any regard, your experience and knowledge could be helpful and would certainly be appreciated, especially when it comes to the engine and tranny details.

Re: the posting of pics for yourself or anyone else interested.....Pics on your iPhone should be synced to and/or saved to a PC, then use the following link to access them for posting here on this forum.

http://tinypic.com/

Use the Browse button to select your pic from the above image hosting site, then Resize accordingly. Once a pic has been uploaded, you can Copy the html code and then Paste it to your post here on the forum. It only does one pic at a time, but the process is easy.

I Far I

quote Originally posted by Tony Kania: Just to keep this on track, here is Dratt's Murci' rebody. I will let him give the details. I just do pics. Edit: Most of the pics I have are before his widetrack and LS4 install. Here is the old bugger about to get eaten by his car!

more pics of the engine bay please! Is that a LS3 or LS4. Love the color and wheels

quote Originally posted by 355Fiero: I have two replicas built on Fieros. Ferrari 308 and Ferrari 355.

Don, I remember the wheels on your 308 replica being a popular choice for the 308's back in the early to mid '90's. They are Cheviots. I would have bought some when doing my car at the time, but I wanted 16" wheels and the Cheviots only came in a maximum of 15". The next time you go to replace your tires you might find it hard to get rubber for those wheels! They're classics though since they represent a bygone decade.

Troyboy, it's an ls4. I am not crazy about the ls4 cover and the ls engines pretty much need a cover. I plan on modifying the ls3 covers to eliminate the corvette and ls3 parts. I actually have 427 ls7 covers for it too. It's got a fake body, why not a fake engine cover too, lol. Stock ls4 except for the cartuning turbo and ls7 litters and dod deleted. I forget what the valve springs are. Thy are the popular upgrade for ls7s. Wish I could make it look like yours.

Lol, one of the options for my wife's car is the ls4 but she also doesn't like the covers. Its good to know that other Ls covers will fit it as that opens up more dress up options. As for the LS7 I'm already looking at it and saying "what's next"

[This message has been edited by troyboy (edited 01-11-2013).]

I hope to join the ranks soon...Great stuff.

Bob

My other replica project is a somewhat ambitious one, at least for me. I have a friend in Ottawa that fell in love with replicas and started a Ferrari F355 Berlinetta project on an '88 frame a dozen or so years ago. He bought an IFG kit, stretched the frame 3 inches, and lost interest after installing the doors and the rear quarters. I bugged him enough about getting on with the project that he eventually offered it to me for a song and dance.

It, like most of the raw IFG F355 kits I've seen so far, needs a fair bit of massaging to get the lines right. But thanks to guys like 355Fiero, who's sent me hundreds of photos showing how he cut up and modified his, I'm going into this with my eyes wide open. Another excellent fabricator, Yarmouth Fiero who lives about 2 hours away, is also embarking on an F355 replica-build with his boys. Together, the two of us plan to use my heavily massaged and modified body to make a new set of molds and recast ourselves each a straight, unmolested body, along with a few select spare parts. His experience at a high-end fiberglass boat building shop will be priceless. The modifications we are planning include extended windshields, separating the rocker panels from the door bottoms, changing the fender openings, straightening the belt line, adding fixed headlights, fabricating the mesh tail ight panel a-la F355 F1, and a host of smaller changes as well.

Here's what the IFG body looks like for now... untouched as of yet.



To complement the body's looks, I opted to rebuild and detail a 1997 Northstar engine and coupled it to an F40 six speed transmission:



For handling, I bought HT Motorsports 6" increased track width tubular suspension front and rear, 1.5" drop spindles for the front, and then set about determining if the parts theoretically improved the performance with a computer analysis. Based on the results, I modified the location of the upper front control arms outboard by 35 mm. Here's what the front looks like awaiting installation (oh, and I installed the Corvette rotors as well):



For the rear suspension, I'm 3/4's through a major redesign to replace the strut with an upper set of control links and a push rod and bellcrank design with inboard coilovers. With the very generous help of Zac88GT running my numbers in a computer simulation program he has, the two of us will figure out the geometry needed to pull this off and actually improve the stock 88 suspension characteristics... at least on paper! Here's a sneak peak of where I'm at presently (Top View):



Lastly, with the amazing talent of my lovely upholsterer wife, the interior will come together with a custom leather design. Anyone interested in all the gory details, that isn't already aware of my build thread, can check it out here in the construction zone: www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum3/HTML/000116.html

Lets see if this link works, if it does this is a kelmark body on an 84 4speed

The link worked tebailey. Now that you know how to do it, you need to post more pics and tell us about the car!

BTW, welcome to the forum!

blooz nice stinger

When the weather gets a little better I have to update the photos. This was a project that someone else started without any clue as to what they were doing. They butchered everything with a sawzall. The electrical was just bare wires twisted together and the body wasn't mounted to the frame. Then they let it sit in a warehouse for 10 yrs. After 2yrs. of work undoing what they did and starting over, it should be on the road by next summer. I added a lot of goodies, like power windows, locks and mirrors. Also installed a dvd player with a backup camera since the rear window is so small, now I can see what I'm about to run over.

Thanks Leeezard. I seem to remember you posting somewhere that you have a Mera. The Mera community already has great representation here on PFF in the "A Real Mera in Paradise" thread, but since Meras are GM sanctioned 308 replicas, I'm guessing the OP wouldn't mind seeing some on here too. I know I would like to see some.

quote Originally posted by dratts: Troyboy, it's an ls4. I am not crazy about the ls4 cover and the ls engines pretty much need a cover. I plan on modifying the ls3 covers to eliminate the corvette and ls3 parts. I actually have 427 ls7 covers for it too. It's got a fake body, why not a fake engine cover too, lol. Stock ls4 except for the cartuning turbo and ls7 litters and dod deleted. I forget what the valve springs are. Thy are the popular upgrade for ls7s. Wish I could make it look like yours.

Small insignificant post, but I remembered what my valve springs are. They're patriot gold valve springs. They were installed in order to increase the boost to 15 lbs which I haven't done yet.

[This message has been edited by dratts (edited 01-17-2013).]

Bump for updates on 355Fiero's 308 build, cause I can't see pics on the "other" forum!

HAGO!

i like my mera much better than the fcar it represents. i dont care that its not an exact spot on replica. i can customize it into what i want and it does not cost me a fortune. 1987 pontiac mera, gm 2010 5.3 L33 HO aluminum ls v8, f23 fy1 2010 cobalt trans, cradle out of car currently for custom mounts all around. custom afco adjustable billet coilovers on all fours, fcar f430 19" wheels and tires, fcar f430/f355 4 piston brembos on all fours, still needs lotsa bodywork. only rough in done. interior is immaculate, low miles car. under 60k miles if i remember right, have to go look to be exact. i had big big plans in the beginning, but now just want it to run/drive and be simple... but who cares, build what you want and have fun. less than 5grand in her currently too isnt too bad.

post script; also took the sunroof roof clip off and made it a solid roof, so know its gtb like. also eliminated the mera gts style sail panels and am re engineering a lexan window to represent the similar of the gtb sail glass. also made the headlight covers more fcar like. prior owner had already installed new fcar badging all around, prior owner also installed a new fcar leather interior just before i got her, so on...

post script again; forgot to mention i have subie sti 13" rotors all around on all fours too, crossdrilled with stainless brake hoses for the brembos. subie rotors have the same bolt pattern and very close hat height, works well with the brembos from the fcar.

[This message has been edited by LEEEZARD (edited 02-03-2013).]

Pictures! I know that I'm not one to talk since I haven't even posted my own pictures. Thanks Tony. Anyway that is another very very interesting build. I have a picture in my mind, you are going to have a really sweet setup. Thanks for joining our registry.

[This message has been edited by dratts (edited 02-14-2013).]

dratts sorry i dont do pics.

Still hopeing Doc John will see this and post pics of his car at some point.

Got to be more replica kits out there than this!

HAGO!

Got the 308 replica painted. Now time to put everything back together over the next few months.

Cheers
Don

Cleaned up and ready to go!