typhoon..... yeah there is a lot of changes in the pic....
The more I look the more I see.
So let's see,
Black dash top Black dash corner caps Black gauge cluster Black carpet Black shifter surround Black headlight switch Black trunk release and rear defogger Cup holder armrest Upgraded power mirror switch Black HVAC buttons and slider Beautifully upholstered door armrests Maybe a subwoofer by the seat? Gray leather shifter boot Black power window switches Looks to be a Fiero seatbelt pad on dash map pocket New turn selector stock Custom-cut floor mats
Am I missing anything?
The more I look the more I see! You have been busy and I like your mods. What is great is they don't stand out at first, everything looks stock.
[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 05-23-2017).]
some that you cant see some you dont shifter is cut and turned and replaced with one from a chimmaron recovered in new leather red stitching auto up and down one touch windows - did a write up on here with a 530t module keyless entry put a led red band behind the a/c controls so it all lights up red replaced the a/c controls with black buttons and painted the knob black subs in front of the seat on both seats powered by stock sub. 6.5 bazooka i have a pioneer media receiver stereo with the extra small amplifier behind it mounted to the plastic assembly 4x 5/25 component speaker sets 2 sets in dash and 2 sets in b pillars. black seatbelts recovered sun visors recovered headliner map pockets recovered in new material black cloth firebird seats with a lumbar pump bladder for the driver
still have somethings to go i have the cover for the gauges made just need some tweeks on it and want to hydro dip some parts with red carbon fiber. gauge plate, stereo plate, shifter surround, 3rd brake light cover and map cover
[This message has been edited by mmeyer86gt/gtp (edited 05-23-2017).]
some that you cant see some you dont shifter is cut and turned and replaced with one from a chimmaron recovered in new leather red stitching auto up and down one touch windows - did a write up on here with a 530t module keyless entry put a led red band behind the a/c controls so it all lights up red replaced the a/c controls with black buttons and painted the knob black subs in front of the seat on both seats powered by stock sub. 6.5 bazooka i have a pioneer media receiver stereo with the extra small amplifier behind it mounted to the plastic assembly 4x 5/25 component speaker sets 2 sets in dash and 2 sets in b pillars. black seatbelts recovered sun visors recovered headliner map pockets recovered in new material black cloth firebird seats with a lumbar pump bladder for the driver
still have somethings to go i have the cover for the gauges made just need some tweeks on it and want to hydro dip some parts with red carbon fiber. gauge plate, stereo plate, shifter surround, 3rd brake light cover and map cover
Wow, that is awesome! I love your work!
IKAROS over on Mad Mechanics made this awesome photoshop of what my car might look like lowered slightly with a set of GTO wheels. I really love the look and maybe in the future, I will see if I can find a similar set so I can save my new vintage style Michelins. However, I really love the factory Mera wheels and I know they are small and retro but I think that is all part of the charm of the car.
[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 05-24-2017).]
I was working from home this morning so I took the opportunity to get a little paint work done on the Mera. The Mera had been left out in the elements for a very long time and her original paint was very dull. Amazingly a very extensive paint correction detail brought back 90% of the car, and it really looked great out in the sun. But under the artificial lights in my garage, I could see where the clear coat had started to burn on the top of the rear quarter panel. So I decided to get off my butt and fix it today.
In this before photos, if you look closely you can see the burnt clear I was talking about.
So I spent time prepping the area to be repainted. I am only doing a blend of the damaged parts so I am not doing as extensive of a sanding job as I would do if I was doing a full repaint. Anytime you are doing any wet sanding it is always a good idea to mask the area you are working to keep the debris from running down and getting in everywhere. A little time up front will save you a lot of cleaning later.
After the area was completely prepped I removed all the masking and thoroughly cleaned the car. Making sure to use an air blower to get all the trapped water out from under panels and wiping everything down several times with wax and grease remover. Then I remasked the car starting with the gap areas under the decklid and back masking them to prevent over spray from getting all over stuff. Then masked the outside of the car and covered the rest in a painting tarp. Anytime you paint, no matter how small the area, always over mask. Clear coat gets everywhere and is a ton of work to get off.
Next, I laid out the base coat. Focusing on the areas where the paint was damaged and making sure I got good coverage and then fading it out into the surrounding area. Anytime you do a blend you don't want to get too heavy near a panel line in case your paint isn't a perfect match, if your repair is on a panel line then it is always a wise idea to blend into the surrounding panel.
Now comes the clear. This panel is tricky with its angles, you have to work to assure you get good coverage or you will be left with dry spots in your clear and you will have to redo the job.
Finally, I let the paint dry and removed the masking. The job was done! I am pleased with the results of a couple hours work and about $70 in materials. I am going to let it cure for a few days and give it a light color sand and buff just to make it look that much better.
Looking good. You did a good job. Looks like you have some experience
Thank you!
In college, I trained in auto body repair. I have done it off and on professionally, but it is more of a hobby. Painting is actually very enjoyable, it is all the prep work and clean up that is not.
Mera is back under the knife. When I got off work today I finished the paint work I started yesterday. After letting the paint cure for 24 hour I color sanded and buffed it, followed by a good wax and a sealer. After I finished you could not even tell any work had been done, it rarely works out that well for me.
Here I go, once again masking the car up. This is important because wet sanding and polishing results in a lot of mess. Taking a few extra minutes here will save hours of cleaning after. Also since I am not a pro I like to mask the edges of the panel so I don't sand or polish too close to an edge and burn the paint.
Here is the panel as I was wet sanding. You want to have a totally smooth flat paint with no shiny areas. It helps to be the person who painted the panel to know how much clear is on there because otherwise, you might sand through the clear if it has a lot of orange peel and not as much clear coat.
This is the panel after polishing, you will notice I removed some of the edge tape to be able to polish the panel completely while I left the rest of the masking around the panel to keep the rubbing compound from getting into all the body lines and making the rest of the car a mess. Also, you can see this is the result I was after, there is no more texture to the finish, it is nice and smooth.
Finally, here is the car after all the masking was removed and all the polishing mess cleaned up and a nice coat of wax. I think it came out pretty good and the repainted panel does not seem to draw your eye.
[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 05-26-2017).]
Again, thanks for posting. I thought before wax on a new paint job that you have to wait a certain length of time until the paint cures. Is this not true?
Again, thanks for posting. I thought before wax on a new paint job that you have to wait a certain length of time until the paint cures. Is this not true?
This is something body shops say often but it normally applies to single stage paint jobs or as a precaution to help avoid a customer incorrectly polishing fresh paint.
So what I did was a color sand and buff. I took 2000 grit sand paper and wet sanded the clear coat to give it a smooth glass like finish. You have to let the paint cure, but not too long. Typically the window of time depends on the product you are using and the weather. According to the paint store, this clear is safe to color sand and polish about 12 hours after being applied. I waited 24 hours to be sure. You can wait endlessly and cut and polish a 25-year-old paint job if you like, it just doesn't react quite as well as doing it when the paint is still fresh. Most body shops will do this the next day after painting, or in some cases a few days after but not much more. However, I have heard of people saying the body shop asked them to bring the car back the following week to do the final polish, but that normally is just one more coat of mirror glaze to keep the swirl marks down.
So in regards to the wax, I used a carnauba wax applied with a high-speed orbital buffer using a foam pad. That was after I used a 3M rubbing compound on a wool pad to bring the paint back up from being sanded. After I was done I gave the whole car a quick coat of carnauba wax by hand using a microfiber cloth and finished with a sealant made by Klasse.
But always listen to your body shop as you would not want to void any warranty they may have on their work. If you are doing the paint work yourself and you are not going to color sand and buff, it is probably a good idea to wait on applying any wax.
I was going to work on the Mera this morning but as soon as I pulled it out I realized it was just too beautiful of a day to not go for a drive. So I put the gauge cluster back in and took it out for a drive. This is the first time I have had it out of the driveway in a couple weeks. The hardest part about restoring it is not being able to use the car.
California is turning brown this time of year and it will stay that way until mid to late December. Spring is so beautiful but only lasts about 6 weeks.
This is the interior right now, the cabin is surprisingly roomy without the dashboard.
I am working on lighting. I replaced the overhead dome light with a 36 ultra bright LED panel. This provides a much brighter interior lighting and I like the cool blue light it casts. While not period correct for the car, it is a minor update I am willing to live with.
Don't mind the mess, I still have the dash out as I am taking my time to finish up all the work I can do while it is out. All the packing seen are parts waiting to be installed.
Next moving on to the biggest flaw I have found with the Meras. It seems most if not all shipped with incorrect tail light wiring as I have seen at least 6 examples. My theory is that the Mera went on sale in 87-88 and it was being planned in 86. Since it was going on V6 cars it is possible they originally designed the Mera around the fastback GT which has amber turns. However, most of the Meras were built on SE V6 cars or Formulas to save cost. The notchbacks have only red brake and turns. So when putting the lighting in the tail lights it seems they simply hooked the lights up exactly how they were wired which means that with parking lights on both amber and red lights are lit up and when applying brakes or turn signals both the amber and red light up as well.
Frustratingly this resulted in a lot of Meras having their wiring hacked up by unqualified people trying to fix this. I have heard many owners complain about the mess the previous owner left the tail light wiring.
Another issue is the tail light housings (not the lenses) melt over time from the heat of the light bulbs. To counteract this I have changed over to all LED tail lights. I also fixed the wiring so the ambers only come on with turn or hazards and the reds are brake and parking lights. Anyone in the future working to correct this, follow your tail light wiring harness up to where it plugs in near the battery. Once there look for the single white wire that loops back into itself. Cut that wire and it will separate the brake signal from the turn signal. It is that simple.
Pictured here after many hours is my correctly working lights.
Another issue is the tail light housings (not the lenses) melt over time from the heat of the light bulbs. To counteract this I have changed over to all LED tail lights. I also fixed the wiring so the ambers only come on with turn or hazards and the reds are brake and parking lights. Anyone in the future working to correct this, follow your tail light wiring harness up to where it plugs in near the battery. Once there look for the single white wire that loops back into itself. Cut that wire and it will separate the brake signal from the turn signal. It is that simple.
Pictured here after many hours is my correctly working lights.
Did you see my post from "Mera in Paradise" on page 149 (and quoted on page164) regarding separating the Meras amber light wires from the brake wiring?
To disable the brake switch from activating the rear orange (outside) turn lights on my SE based Mera, I did the following: Locate the C500 wiring connector mounted on the passenger side frame rail between the battery and the front of the strut tower. It has two multi-wire plugs; a front plug for the rear lights the another plug for the engine. Look at the front plug and you should see a LOOP of white wire that sticks out about three inches. Cut that looped wire and cover the cut ends with electrical tape. Now if I press the brake pedal, one half of each red tail light glows and the high mounted brake light (in the rear window) illuminates, and the orange (turn) tail light stay dark. "
Originally posted by Rexgirl: Did you see my post from "Mera in Paradise" on page 149 (and quoted on page164) regarding separating the Meras amber light wires from the brake wiring?
You are my hero Rexgirl! Yes, it was your exact post that helped me fix my car. I had bought a full 1987 GT fastback taillight wiring harness and was planning on installing it before I saw your post. I felt silly afterward for wasting the money on the harness but at least I did not waste the time putting it in.
I am sorry for not crediting your post. I looked for it for about 10 minutes while I was making the post for this thread. There are just so many pages in that thread I couldn't find it. But thank you for coming here and linking it so that people with the same problem that stumble on this thread can see your detailed message with the picture.
When we had the Mera reunion in Detroit many years ago this was seen on like half of the Mera's that attended. Mine is an 88 Formula and it does not do that.
When we had the Mera reunion in Detroit many years ago this was seen on like half of the Mera's that attended. Mine is an 88 Formula and it does not do that.
Rodney Dickman 1988 Mera
Thanks, I was curious about that. Any theory why this happened? My car is a 1988 Formula as well.
What brand are you running on your Meras? I was thinking about BFG radial TA if I was going 265/50R15.
Did you or anyone ever look at BF Goodrich 235-60-15 for the front and 245-60-15 for the rear? Both are available.
245-50-15 24.6x9.7R15 235-60-15 26.1x9.3R15
265-50-15 25.4X10.4R15 245-60-15 26.6x9.7R15
------------------ Rodney Dickman
Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page: All new web page!:www.rodneydickman.com Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories 7604 Treeview Drive Caledonia, WI 53108 Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575
[This message has been edited by Rodney (edited 05-31-2017).]
Back to work on the Mera, and I assure you these are not old pictures but I color sanded and polished it one more time. When I do paint work I like to do the first color sand and buff about 24-36 hours after painting. That first time I typically only go to about 2000 grit paper then polish it out. I then let the paint fully cure for another 5 to 7 days and then I do the final wet sanding and polish. Depending on the color and the type of paint this final sand I start at 2500 or 3000 grit and I can go as high as 7000 grit, however, I have never used that paper yet but if this was a black car I might. After the sanding I come through with a wool pad and 3M rubbing compound and buff until all sand marks are gone, after that I switch a black foam finishing pad and I use a carnauba wax and put 3 to 4 coats on, and finally I finish with a sealant applied by hand using a microfiber cloth and buff off the same way after hazing.
I cannot tell you how tired I am of masking and sanding.
You cannot really photograph the difference between before and after this polish since it is almost impossible to tell in person. The biggest change is the depth of the paint, it now appears slightly deeper and more wet appearing.
After a long time hunting, I found a steering wheel that I love. I already changed the wheel but the one I put on was a cheap wheel that matched the seats and stitching in my car but I wasn't in love with it. I found this old MOMO wheel that was made in early 2002, it is used and I found it on eBay. I also bought an authentic MOMO Ferrari horn cap for it. I think it is a very nice looking wheel and I am excited to install it.
The new horn cap.
And the new (used) steering wheel.
[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 05-31-2017).]
My new steering wheel and authentic horn cap arrived today.
Here it is in its stock setup, I am saving this silver cap for when I change the car back to a Mera.
Here it is after I installed the OEM Ferrari horn cap. One thing I have learned over the years is that it is worth it to spend the extra money on a real horn cap because the decals just don't look right up close.
This was the first wheel I put on. It is nice but it was cheap and it is too small. When driving the wheel covered the speedometer and tach. So I was happy to find a larger wheel.
Here it is installed. The larger size really makes it feel awesome!
[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 06-03-2017).]
I just got a message from Danyel and my low profile 4"x6" light buckets and lights are ready to ship out. I asked him to make me a set with the look of the old style sealed beams that have the lines in the lens for light defusing. While there are a lot of very cool looking 4"x6" lights out there, I wanted something that was more period correct and something that would look like it could have came from the factory. The Ferrari 308 has round sealed beam headlights and I could have put round lights in this car, I think the smaller rectangle lights look a little more exotic.
Here is my car in its current setup. I think the lights look a little too large when on.
Here is an example of how the lights will look once installed.
And here are my actual lights with the vintage look 4"x6". Once I get them I am going to paint the metal housings with SEM trim black.
I cannot wait to get them installed. I think they will look great!
I love my new steering wheel! However, there was one small thing I did not like and that was the very top of the wheel had a silver painted trim piece. It does not match anything else on my car so I decided to cover it in carbon fiber. I went on Amazon and found this vinyl that has great reviews, the carbon fiber design is 3D and in person, it looks absolutely like the real deal. Now this vinyl is really amazing as you can heat and stretch this stuff out until it fits your part perfectly. Even with extreme stretching the vinyl and design holds up awesome.
This is what I started with, the silver actually looks pretty nice but I felt it was too bright for the rest of my interior.
Here is the rough cut piece of vinyl just laying there.
A little heat and some pulling you get this.
And here it is trimmed, after these pictures, I went back and tucked the extra vinyl under the silver trim piece with my fingernail.
I found some Ferrari F360 key heads on eBay. I bought them hoping to find a way to make them work with Mera.
I started looking for keyless entry systems that would work with the Ferrari key head. I found this system and I really like it because it will allow me to only carry the one key with me. I have trimmed down the Mera ignition key and it fits in the case, I just need to trim down the tabs on the ignition switch to fit the enlarged key head. Also, I am replacing the factory Fiero door lock actuators with after market more powerful units so I have a more reliable keyless entry system. I am also using a hide a key for a spare door lock key in the event of a keyless entry system failure.
Sadly when I opened up the new keyless entry system the circuit board is just a hair too big to fit into the Ferrari key heads and trimming it down would cut through traces. So onto plan B, one of my F360 key head came with a broken horse so while the eBay seller is replacing it I decided to use it as a stencil to make a prototype key. I bought a Scion key case on eBay for $2 for me to practice on since my keyless entry system is based on the Scion keys. This allows me to make a few versions without ruining my actual keyless system keys.
Here I am mocking up the prototype key with the broken horse.
I dremeled out the horse design and while doing so I learned a few things and found just the right tip to use. So keep in mind this key here is just practice and will NOT be used in the final versions. I made a number of flaws but learned along the way. I also painted it red using the same paint I used on the Mera followed with an SEM semi gloss clear.
So I will start on the actual keys soon and I hope to make them appear as close to OEM as possible. I also have some ideas to make them come out even better.
[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 06-09-2017).]
The car's looking great and you're doing some really cool stuff.
Thanks for keeping us posted.
Bob
Thank you! I have a lot of stuff to come so stay tuned!
I got this in the mail today, gotta pay homage to Magnum PI.
I made some door sill plates today using more water transfer decals so they have that factory printed look.
In this picture, they are just sitting in place. I am going to wait until the rest of the car is finished before installing so I don't scratch them up. Also, I am going to refinish the rocker covers before I put them on as well.
[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 06-09-2017).]
I am back working on my key. I made another prototype key with a Dremel and it actually came out great, however, I made it using the disposable Scion keys I was using to practice on. There are a couple minor differences between the Scion key and my keyless entry key, the main being the keyless system uses two small screws to locate the exchangeable key blades so it will work with different models where the Scion key blade is molded into the fob. I could drill some holes and reinforce the back of the pastic, but instead, I decide to make molds of the keyless system fob case and then I will make a buck which I will cut the Ferrari horse provision off of the F360 head and put it into the keyless head. Once that is done I will make another mold and pour some new parts. That way I will have exact provision for the Ferrari horse and also I will have the strength of a key case that is one solid piece of plastic instead of two pieces glued together.
As seen in this picture, I am going to take the Ferrari horse provision off the red F360 key and move it over to the black keyless entry key eliminating the oval and rectangle intentions and allowing me to make more keys fobs faster with exact horse outlines.
To start I bought some oil based modeling clay that will never dry. I needed a rolling pin but I did not have one so I used on of my wifes hair products. The masking tape on it is so I can roll the clay at a perfect uniform thickness.
Once there are no air bubbles in the clay and it is a uniform thickness you use your cast case as a cookie cutter and stamp out the clay. In pictures, this case looks wider at the top but it actually is the same top to bottom.
Next I removed the extra clay and placed my part. I then I used some sprue from a model car to give me holes that will allow me to inject the resin as this will be a two-part mold. You need two sprue pieces so you can inject the resin into one side and the air can escape the other side. After that, I added index holes that will allow me to locate the top and bottom part of the mold exactly. To make the index holes I used the end of a paint brush, you can use anything but try to avoid using anything that will make 90-degree angles as that will give the mold a place to fail, ideally, you want nice smooth rounded holes. Additionally, I put some clay in the screw holes so the mold does not pour through that area because it can tear your mold when you remove the part.
To make the mold I used Alumilite High Strength 3. This will give me a nice reusable detailed rubber mold.
High Strength 3 is a 10 to 1 mixture. I use a digital kitchen scale to make the right mixture. I use disposable solo cups to measure out the exact mixture with both parts separately, once you have the parts measured you pour them together and mix until they turn pink.
When you pour the mold mixture you want to start on one corner and pour very slowly staying right in that corner. The mold will slowly fill up and doing it that way you will avoid getting bubbles in your mold.
Once finished you need to let the mold cure for 18 hours. Once cured I will remove the clay, pull the mold out and flip it over in the case, add mold release and pour the top section of the mold.
[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 06-10-2017).]
I have always thought the Fiero gauge cluster looked incomplete with the unused unexplained blank panel on the opposite side from the odometer. Looking for ideas I saw a fellow forum member 30+mpg put an air-fuel gauge there and I really loved the look but I was unable to find an air-fuel board I could adapt to fit. However looking on eBay for hours I found this voltage gauge that was exactly the size of the spare opening in the Fiero and it was super $13 and even cheaper if you are willing to wait for it to come from China, so I went ahead and bought it.
This is what it looked like when it arrived. It is a little goofy looking and too thick in its original casing but that is no problem because I was not planning to use the casing anyway.
This was the hardest part of the whole project. It has 4 screws in the back, I thought 'awesome this will be simple', I was wrong. After removing the screws I found it was glued together extremely well, it must be water proof. I broke 3 xacto kinfe blades cutting it open. Once inside there is a large blob of hot glue that I carfully cut through. Then I was able to carefull pry the board out only after I cut the case to let the power cable to come out. Once out I wanted to see if I could get the lense out, I figured if I break it I will use tinted plexiglass. I just used flat head screwdriver and push hard on both ends back and forth until it popped out.
Now that it was out I did a trail fit and was happy with how it looked.
People following this build know that every modification I am doing I want to be able to easily reverse because I think the Mera is a special car and I plan to take all my mods and Ferrari stuff off in the future. So I used Gorilla Tape to hold it in place. This picture was the trail fit, I actually did a better tape job when I did the final install.
Next I made a harness for it so I can quickly and easily remove the gauge cluster. I covered it in heat shrink and it made a nice harness. In the car since my dash was out I routed the wiring through all the factory wiring brackets and attached it to the switched power lead on the stereo harness since I do not want to cut any of my factory harness.
Here is the finished product. The angled line you see in the lense is a refection of my arm. Also the car is running but none of my other gauges are currently plugged in since I am still doing dash work and the factory pastic gauge wiring doesn't hold up well to repeated plug and unplugs.
My keyless entry system is made to be able to exchange the key blades so it could work with a verity of makes and models. However I was not able to locate old GM blades that would work with this particular keyless system, so no big deal I will just make my own.
To begin, I went to the locksmith and had him cut me 3 stamped steel keys for the ignition key and 3 stamped steel keys for the door key. I specified 'no plastic or rubberized heads' they gladly pulled the blades and cut them right there and then. I would out the door in 3-5 minutes. Got to love old brick and mortar stores.
This picture you can see the blade that came with the kit beside of a general GM ignition key. I have marked the areas we need to remove with a sharpie.
This is the key after the very first round of cuts. Next step will be cleaning and smoothing out the corners and sharp edges.
At this point, we are done. You can see that they are the same size and shape. I the rest of the key fob wasn't in the mold I could to a final assembly
And here is what it looks like when it is kinda assembled. I used the other key blade facing the opposite way to work as a spacer for the screws that hold the main blade.
I am so excited! The key works perfectly inside both the fob and inside the car. It clears the tabs on the ignition switch and I was sure I would have to Dremel those. This is really coming together!
[This message has been edited by DeLorean00 (edited 06-11-2017).]
This morning after letting the mold cure for 18 hours I picked it up and turned it over and removed the clay.
I then pulled the part and inspected the mold for imperfections, luckily there weren't any and the mold was a nice sturdy thickness.
Next, I trimmed the excess off the mold, coated the contact areas in Vicks Vapor Rub, you can use petroleum jelly but I didn't have any. This is an important step because nothing will stick to silicone, but silicone can stick to silicone ruining your mold when you go to separate the two parts. After the mold release and trimming I refit the part and put the mold back into my casing.
Alumilite High Strength 3 is a 10 to 1 mixture. So for this mold, I measured out 50 grams of the base.
Followed by 5 grams of hardener. Then put the hardener into the cup with the base and mix until the silicone is evenly pink.
Then as with before, start with one corner and pour extremely slowly allowing the mold to fill up at very slow rate this will help keep bubbles from getting trapped in your mold.
This morning after waiting 18 hours I pulled the second section of the mold out of the casting sleeve. It looks great, I am really happy with the results. Around the edges where the index marks are and the mold touches each other you can see it is rough, that is because the Vicks Vapor Rub I painted as mold release.
I cleaned up the inlet and outlet holes, rubber banded it together (not too tight or it will misshape your part) and I put a piece of tape around it to catch any resin that might escape. After that, I mixed and injected the resin.
To inject the resin I used 20ML syringes typically used to give children oral medicine.
This is my first part and you can see I made mistakes but I learned from them. The first mistake was that I don't have an air release shaft in the top of the mold so air gets trapped up there and it results in part of the top not being molded fully. To correct that I am going to use a hobby knife and score in a small shaft to the top of the mold. Next mistake, you can see the part is marbled, it should not look that way. What happened was I mixed the resin in a red solo cup, in the bottom of those cups there is a little channel that goes around the side. In that channel, the resin I was mixing did not mix completely resulting in a marbled and weakened part. The solution is to mix the resin in a cup with a flat bottom.
All in all, I am very happy with the result. Had I not made those two mistakes this would be a usable piece. I am sure the next one I cast will be usable. Then I will modify it to have the Ferrari horse provision and pour the top of the mold over again and I should be able to make my final parts.
