I finally started work on this 88 GT project that I've owned for several years. It's been lowered in front 1/2 cut coil plus 1" Dickman ball joints. I've added a Warber style hood vent and am now nearly finished roughing in the front 3/4" flairs and the rear 1" flairs, thus the name " mini wide body". New home made side scoops and a rear spoiler that will be glassed to the rear deck. I'm planning to make a custom rear light panel, possibly using 59 Caddy tail lights. That may be a little over the top for this car, we will see. The front nose will be a one off and the aero skirts will be extended downward and out at the flaired wheel arch area. This car has a long way to go, and I don't work steadily, so updates may not be too frequent. It will have Mr. Mike's seats which I have already. I have an alum Champion radiator, new sail windows already. But the motor is running on 4 cylinders, so will need an upgrade. I had intended to install a 3800 sc, but I recently bought a nearly finished car with one already installed. I have a 350 sb car, so I'm thinking a 5.3 alum with associated auto is the way to go. Finances will likely dictate the final outcome on the motor. A long, long way to go. But, I can see it finished, in my head. Body work sure makes a hell'a mess out of a shop! I will add some pictures, not necessarily in order of work process.





test fitting the final corner.


Front roughed in.


Foam rear air dam in place ready to glass.

[This message has been edited by bjc 350 (edited 02-09-2015).]

Looks great so far!

Very nice man....please post more pics....peace

Pete

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"May the grins begin when you turn the key and hear the engine roar over your shoulder" ......Gall57 (slightly modified LOL)

Very nice work!!! Eagerly waiting for more progress!

Here are a few more pictures of work and work in progress.

Home made battery box for under spare tire.


Warber style hood venting. No grill installed yet.


The base/aero pan for the one off nose to be built upon. Doesn't look like much now.


First layer of glass mat on the air dam. Wish I could fiberglass like Archie's crew!

And lots of sanding dust everywhere. I've given up cleaning until most of the body work is complete.

The passenger quarter roughed in to near final profile. Still needs sanding.


Rear shot passenger side.

[This message has been edited by bjc 350 (edited 01-13-2013).]

Lookin' really good. Keep posting pictures, it motivates me

Looks good...Added to favorites.

Bob

Nice vents!

Are those IMSA style?

The vents are home made using stock 1/4 panels. I have made about 15 sets over the last four or 5 years. This is the only set that has such a large opening. I had to heat the panel in order to get the material to bend so sharply. I then just glued up fillers to hold the panel open. They do look somewhat IMSA style and they are set out at the trailing edge about an inch to match up to the new flaired fender. The rear bumper will be flaired as well, to match up the opening.
Here are some other styles that I've made, the one on the left is the current style. You can see where the patch has to be added in place of the factory scoop.

Very cool. It's nice to see someone fabricating something that most people buy. I love it.

COOL Man, looks great. Can dig the art work on the shop walls too, resembles some of mine. The rear spoiler is sharp, sorta a dated style, but still sharp.

I know the spoilers a little dated, but so is the car and so am I. It does go pretty good with the car styling, I think.

I Googled 1959 Cadillac tail lights. How are you gonna make that look right with a car like a Fiero?

Notice, I said, "This may be a little over the top for this car, we will see." I'm not sure either, but I'm going to mock them up and see if I like it .

I finally finsihed the rear air dam structure. Lots of coats of bondo on top of the fglass and way too much sanding. Pretty near final finish. You can't see it, but I spent about 2 hours with a razor blade scraper taking off the peeling clear coat on the engine cover. Then I went to the hood and removed a coat of primer,color, and clearcoat, all with the razor blade scraper. Whoever repainted this car did not get much of a bond. Hope it doesn't come back to haunt me after the next repaint. Attached are a few pictures of the air dam.

A little more progress. Since the rear fenders are an inch wider, the rear bumper cover has to be stretched out as well. Because of that the wheel well liners are being extended to fill the opening. I also removed the GT bumper emblem and flushed the reflectors to the front of the opening. I never have figured out why GM buried the reflectors deep inside the bumper. Lots of hours of work, but not a lot to show for it!



The 1/4 panel in front of the wheel flares out an inch also, so the aero rocker had to be cut and opened out to match the 1/4. I may modify the rockers further once I get everything to fit, but I'm worried that anything I use to modify them may pop loose with time.

I've made some progress on the rear light panel. I thought trying a concave panel would be different than most I've seen. It follows the same curve as end of the rear quarter panel.I would have liked to make the curve a little deeper, [it actually is deeper than it looks in the pictures] but did not want to remove the mounts for the stock tail lights. That way they can be used again, if I hate this setup. The intent is to install 59 Cadillac tail lights, three each side, partly recessed into frenching tubes.I'll show pictures as soon as I can get to making them up. I hope to add light sequencers if I can figure everything out. The backups will have to go in the bumper or perhaps an LED strip in the edge of the air dam. I still work two days a week, so work gets in the way just when I get going. Doesn't look like a lot , yet! Here are a few pics of what I have so far.

The foam will be glassed after final fit.

Wow-almost two weeks of fiddleing with the tail light panel and only about 1/2 done. Anyway, I thought I'd post a few pictures of the concept of '59 Caddy tail lights. The pictures will give an idea of how it will look when complete. The frenching tubes are not complete or adhered to the panel as of yet, but you can get the idea. The lights will likely be recessed further into the tubes, but setting them too far into the panel may prevent the panel from being installed/removed.

I finally have the frenching tubes ( ABS pipe fittings) built, profiled to the lighing panel and glued to the lighting panel. They will be painted silver inside. I had to install the lights in order to align them with each other. I pretty sure this is not everone's cup of tea, but after all the work it has taken, I will go ahead and final finish the panel and then try to figure out the wiring along with adding a sequencer setup. Here are a few pictures showing how they will look.

I realize this is your car......but.......really??? I once heard a famous quote about scientist which went something like" the thing we sholud ask ourselves is not IF we can do somethings but SHOULD we do somethings"

Yea, a little gaudy if I do say so myself. Probably will be a point of snickers and or discussion at a car show. Still fun to do, so they are staying for now.

i gotta say kudos, sure it wont be everyone's cup of tea but its unique and will be a definite attention getter and conversation starter. added bonus, i bet no-one tailgates you anymore. I'm thinking anyone behind you on the road will have the distinct impression of having a bank of missiles pointed in their direction. cant say I'd do it but i can say i like it :-)

Not my cup of tea, and it reminds me of those cars from the carnival rides, or missiles waiting to be launched at the tailgating asshat behind you. Have you tried to find tail lights that may not be so pointy, and would give a similar yet subtle look. I like the concept but it is slamming euro sleek styling with American classic 50's rocket style design. Other then that great work indeed, very inspirational, and the way you worked the body subtly is and will be stunning when finished.

quote Originally posted by Macs86GT: or missiles waiting to be launched at the tailgating asshat behind you

Man, I wish I could have rockets to shoot the asshats behind me. Problem is that I would need to reload constantly... May as well put some on the front too.

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-Brian

My 87 GT Poly Suspension Upgrade (all pics) thread
Removing the roof panel
My HUD install thread

I think the design work is great. Thats what we need more people exploring new things to make the look of the Fiero different. My hat is off to you keep up the good work and don't let anyone talk you out of your thoughts. Hopefully you may reproduce some of the parts you have made for re sale some day!

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1984 Indy Pace Car\1988 Formula Custom
President of Maryland Fiero Owners Club MFOC
NYFOC Member

Finally , the tail light panel is pretty much in a finished state. Awaiting arrival of WEB Electric sequential controllers for the lights. I have the blind nut mounts ready to epoxy in place to hold the panel in,and that should finish up this area. I will likely move on to the custom nose, now. It may be slow going since we are going to Texas for a family wedding.

Nice work! And hats off to you for following YOUR vision! Keep us posted!

The subtle widebody is awesome. If you are going to go that route with the tail light, why not 5 more and go all the way across?

I may have to go all the way across with the lights- It still needs backup lights and they are available with clear lense! Not! I know those tails are a bit controversial, but I do appreciate the tenor of the remarks so far. I can take a little kidding. I'm working on some serious delam of the roof panel and have it nearly finished. Then the custom nose, maybe some more Caddy lights for the turn signals. On the other hand, probably not. Thanks to everyone who is following my project.

Playing around w/ photoshop

[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 02-27-2013).]

quote Originally posted by bjc 350: .. Then the custom nose, ..

Whats the idea for custom nose? Have some sketches? Curious.

quote Originally posted by bjc 350: Finally , the tail light panel is pretty much in a finished state. Awaiting arrival of WEB Electric sequential controllers for the lights. I have the blind nut mounts ready to epoxy in place to hold the panel in,and that should finish up this area. I will likely move on to the custom nose, now. It may be slow going since we are going to Texas for a family wedding.

That looks cool man.

I have to say this is one of those looks that is so different it takes time to grow on ya. Liking it much more now that its coming together.

The basis will be something like "My Idea" pictured below,but less of a beak and a quicker slope, on the center nose area. Hard to explain, we will have to wait and see. The driving lights will likely be replaced with LED strip/turn/park/ signal lights. The lower park lights will be eliminated and that will likely be a brake duct area. No rubber air dam and a more enhanced splitter look. We just have to wait until the foams starts flying! No drawings, the best i can say is the image is in my head. Sometimes thats good, sometimes not so good.



You can see the center of the nose (beak) sticks out a little too far.

I'm back from Texas holiday, but I must have enjoyed it too much. The reason being, I just had my first hernia repaired at the ripe age of 69 years. Went all these years, no problem, and a late night Wheelbarrow race must have put a little too much strain on the body. You know, load your wife in one barrow while your 27 year old nephew loads his wife in another wheelbarrow and off around the yard you go. Didn't feel a thing until two days later. Another week or so, and I can start light duty stuff on the project. One good thing, the wife is mowing the lawn for a while! I will be back at it soon.

I'm still recuperating from the hernia fixed two weeks ago today. But I did get a new headliner made up and into my other 88 GT and made up a second headliner for the future. But, as pertains to this project, I finally made up the Mr. Mike's seats I had purchased off the Mall back in Nov/2010, from Paul Vargyas. Well, they have been in the packing box for a looong time and it was pretty hard to install this set. I've done two other MIke's seats and this was the toughest. The seat on the left turned out OK. The one on the right, I really stuffed the bolsters, but used the old seat cover foam, per instructions, on the back and it seems to have left it a little loose. I may take the back off, and add some foam to the seatback area. I started today to reassemble the interior with new carpet. This was the first 88 carpet I have removed, and it has a moulded foam back which fits really well. I've been debating whether to install the new gray carpets over the old as some people do. The new carpet set I have does not have near the padding that the factory ones have. Anyway, attached is a picture of the seat progress.

Very nice work! Ya got skills, man! I love to see when someone's vision comes to life.

What are you going to do with the wheels, keep whats on it, or something new?

Tony

Tony, glad you like the project so far- it takes a little getting used to, for some. I'm using the wheels and tires I had purchased for an 85 that was since sold with different wheels that the buyer liked better. These are Discount Tire specials and only came with the multi lug , which I don't like. However, since this is a sort of a "budget" build I will use these, only having a few hundred miles on them. They are 17x7 with 225/45-17 tires and not staggeed as they should be for an 88. The rears are offset to the outside with 1" spacers. I know, spacers = Not Good. Attached is a pic of the wheel type.

I installed the aftermarket carpets and the Mr. Mikes seats yesterday. I purchased both these items from the original purchasers, so I don't know the brand of the carpets. They had the recycled pad back and not a lot of it. But, they actually went in really well, being very form fitting compared to a set I had previously installed in another car. They are not too plush, but look good installed. I used some 1/2" J.C. Whitney foil faced pading to supplement where there was no pad. Likley won't be as quiet as the foam form fitting pad on the 88 carpet. That was a good feature compared to the carpet in the earlier Fiero's. A few pictures of the nearly reinstalled interior. Not necessarily the color combinations I would choose, but the pricing was right.