The owner should contact Amida and see if he can make an interior or dash similar in style - wow, that's nice.
as far as making the car accurate, that's how I started out with mine but it wasn't too long before i gave up the idea. i saw on the kitcar forum that some guys even did a "flat floor" conversion on their cars (cut out the console & moved the gas tank to make the floor flat like the original cars). No matter what you do, it always seems like there will be some major factor you can't replicate and you'll always see it - shifter, steering wheel, quarter windows, floor, wiper arms, etc. Every time you open the rear hatch, you'll never see a ferrari powerplant. Even if you do replicate all the cosmetics, it will still Never be a ferrari.
My conclusion is that I simply built the car the way that made me happy rather than fight a losing battle and even keep stuff I didn't like just to be accurate. (that's why i'd build up the fenders and change the headlights to fixed if it was my car ).
[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 12-23-2007).]
2006 Miura concept. Will never be build, unfortunatly. Was done by current Audi designer Victor de Silva. His best car yet. The public loved it. Problem is that the press tore the car to shreds, saying that Audi/Lamborghini wants to cash in on an icon (by making a retro - styled car). So the project was scrapped...
The owner should contact Amida and see if he can make an interior or dash similar in style - wow, that's nice.
as far as making the car accurate, that's how I started out with mine but it wasn't too long before i gave up the idea. i saw on the kitcar forum that some guys even did a "flat floor" conversion on their cars (cut out the console & moved the gas tank to make the floor flat like the original cars). No matter what you do, it always seems like there will be some major factor you can't replicate and you'll always see it - shifter, steering wheel, quarter windows, floor, wiper arms, etc. Every time you open the rear hatch, you'll never see a ferrari powerplant. Even if you do replicate all the cosmetics, it will still Never be a ferrari.
My conclusion is that I simply built the car the way that made me happy rather than fight a losing battle and even keep stuff I didn't like just to be accurate. (that's why i'd build up the fenders and change the headlights to fixed if it was my car ).
You wouldn't want to do the gas tank accurate. It's in the front of the car, and as it empties the front end would become lighter. Also the original Miura (before the "S") used 4 racing carburators, that would flood at a red light, causing the engine bay to catch fire. - Sometimes it's worth it to improvise a bit from the original.
I can also suggest to you to do a 2-tone cream and blue interior. Saw one at the Monterey auctions last year. That was so beautiful.
You're in for a treat, that little car was such a head-turner in Monterey last year. It stuck out among Aston Martins, Ferraris, Lambo's, Batmobiles, you name it..
Originally posted by Austrian Import: You wouldn't want to do the gas tank accurate. It's in the front of the car, and as it empties the front end would become lighter...
The central gas tank is one of the things I really like about Fieros, and I agree I wouldn't change that.
quote
Originally posted by Austrian Import: ...Also the original Miura (before the "S") used 4 racing carburators, that would flood at a red light, causing the engine bay to catch fire. - Sometimes it's worth it to improvise a bit from the original...
One way to have an original look with stuff like that is to sneak a little technology in. You can convert the original carbs into throttle bodies for a hidden EFI system A lot of work and a lot of money, but a person trying to replicate an original exotic is going to spend large amounts of those two anyway.
quote
Originally posted by PaulJK: ...as far as making the car accurate, that's how I started out with mine but it wasn't too long before i gave up the idea. i saw on the kitcar forum that some guys even did a "flat floor" conversion on their cars (cut out the console & moved the gas tank to make the floor flat like the original cars). No matter what you do, it always seems like there will be some major factor you can't replicate and you'll always see it - shifter, steering wheel, quarter windows, floor, wiper arms, etc. Every time you open the rear hatch, you'll never see a ferrari powerplant. Even if you do replicate all the cosmetics, it will still Never be a ferrari.
My conclusion is that I simply built the car the way that made me happy rather than fight a losing battle and even keep stuff I didn't like just to be accurate...
What he said. Make it YOUR car. That way when someone wonders why you built a replica instead of just purchasing an original you can say the original was close but not quite...
------------------ toddshotrods.com - wanna ride? crazy projects, features, articles, art & more
[This message has been edited by toddshotrods (edited 12-23-2007).]
We're starting to do some of the steel work to stiffen the modified Fiero chassis & to mount the new body to.
The 1st thing we needed to find out is what the ride height was going to be when it's all put back together.
After we originally stripped the Fiero body off of the donor chassis, we measured a few places on the chassis to determine how much the chassis raised up when we removed the engine. We found that the rear of the chassis raised up about 1.5" & the front went up .5" once the engine was removed. We figure that the LS2 & the 6 speed that will be going into the car, when we're done with the body, will bring the chassis back down about the same amount as removing the original engine raised it.
So what we did was to put the car on our solid ramp drive on lift. Then using tie down ratchet straps & a couple of 4x4's we pulled the car down to simulate the ride height based on the following.
In the front the total amount we pulled it down was 4.25". Calculated as follows, the drop spindles will give us 2", the added weight when the car is finally put together will give us 1" & the coil-over as it currently is adjusted has about 1.25" that we can adjust it down.
In the rear the total amount we pulled it down was 3.625". Calculated as follows, the added weight when the car is finally put together will give us 1.5" & the coil-over as it currently is adjusted has about 1.125" that we can adjust it down. We also figure to pick up 1" by raising the strut tower or putting on a 10" coil-over
This is how is was sitting before.......
These pics represent the ride height as we now have it calculated.
Hey Archie, it looks like either the front needs to come down a little bit more or the wheel arches need to be modified, that gap on the font tires looks a little big.
Originally posted by motoracer838: ... it looks like either the front needs to come down a little bit more or the wheel arches need to be modified, that gap on the font tires looks a little big.
Some larger diameter rims & tires should fill the wheelwells at both ends ... and will also raise the car a bit. Any ideas on which rims will be used, Arch?
Ya the stock headlites pop up just a little, pretty much 928 ish. Looks like maybe older style Halibrand wheels might be a close match. Like they used on some of the first GT40s, Cobras.
Archie I sure would of loved to seen where you stiffened up the chassis on this. I saw on the "roadster" thread where you added steel below the doors and up behind the doors. Would love to make my Fiero stronger..just not heavy for my v-8 Conversion
Amazing how those stock Fiero wheels look so right with it even if they will be changed. But I do agree the front should go lower. But then those arches have such a weird shape. Not a true semicircle. Specially the rear one.
Re: wheels on the donor car for the miura project: they were purchased through Discount Tire but they were the last remaining stock . They are 17 inch aluminum Fondmetal wheels . Fondmetal is an aluminum foundry in Italy and I believe some of their products are still available over the internet.Dont know if Discount Tire still carries any of their product.
I don't know if that helps, but there is a magazine with a special on the Lamborghini Miura on Newstands (well Borders) I can't remember the title right now. When I do I'll edit the post. It's easy to find, huge pic of a Miura.
Looking at the side view of the project and a direct view of a original Miura, it seems that the car needs to be lowered, but that looks like it will be a problem. Archie I see at the current state there is very little clearance under the rockers, so without body modification the car doesn't seem that it could go lower. A solution I can see is maybe slimming up the rockers. They look too thick, on the original they are a lot smaller, Maybe by removing a 1'' thick sliver of rocker will allow for an extra 1" lowering. Seems like a lot of work and I know exactly how much it is, but if time is not an issue this would not only provide for more suspension adjustment, but build on the authenticity of this car.
According to that chart it's a 26.8 diamater (really a 26.77 if you do the math in metric). If you look further down the chart that works out to be a 215/70.
[This message has been edited by Darrelk (edited 12-31-2007).]
Damn - I was going to do another Fino on an 88 CJB chassis, but now you have me thinking about the Miura. I wonder if it would work on a T-top car? Heck, I wonder if one of these can be built outside of your garages, Archie. I don't remember reading it, so are you planning a kit for this one?
I sure hope so! Thanks for keeping us informed on all the progress!
Damn - I was going to do another Fino on an 88 CJB chassis, but now you have me thinking about the Miura. I wonder if it would work on a T-top car? Heck, I wonder if one of these can be built outside of your garages, Archie. I don't remember reading it, so are you planning a kit for this one?
I sure hope so! Thanks for keeping us informed on all the progress!
Building this car on a "T" top chassis would be about the same as the build we are doing. If you'll look back at the pics so far and look at the other pics I'm about to post, you'll see that we've completely removed the original Fiero roof because this car (like my GT40) requires that the original Fiero roof line has to be removed.
So I wouldn't recommend to build it on a "T" top car anymore than any other Fiero chassis.
Also, at this time, we're not planning on making this a kit for the Fiero. If you pay close attention, you'll see that to make this into a kit would be very expensive in tooling and mold making costs.
So this won't be a kit & it should be considered a one time build.
Now on with the show.....
Archie
[This message has been edited by Archie (edited 01-03-2008).]
Originally posted by Archie: Also, at this time, we're not planning on making this a kit for the Fiero. If you pay close attention, you'll see that to make this into a kit would be very expensive in tooling and mold making costs.
So this won't be a kit & it should be considered a one time build. Archie
Great! Now I have to win the lottery to get this in my garage! Thanks for the info, Archie. It will be a nice ride. I'll pay closer attention. I see the roof section is gone on the donor now.
A few days ago we set about the task of building the steel work that's going to permently tie the chassis together & provide the body mounting & support structure.
Before we cut the roof off we welded in 2 long 2" box tubing sections in a "X" to keep the chassis in place. Those 2 pieces are still in place & will stay there until almost all of the steel work is done.
Earlier, you'll remember that we stretched the front of the chassis to move the front axle soe 5" farther forward.
That being done, now we begin on the chassis.
First we put in 4 long pieces of 2" box in the Fiero door openings to form the new sill plates.
Then we start to build up frame work at the back & the front ends of the sill plates, to tie them into the front & rear bulkheads....
While on the front end we built a cowl framework just above the original Fiero heater box.....
If you look close, you can see the opening in the front bulkhead where the heater box goes in just below the new cowl. You can see that this cowl framework is about 4 to 5" below where the stock Fier cowl was located.
Here is what the sill plate bars look like with the body sill plate sitting on them........
Currently we are working on the framework that is going to be under the fiberglass roof on this car.
It almost seems like this would have been easier if you hd just 100% scratch built a chassis like the body was intended for. Its awesome seeing the skills at archies shop, but it just seems like there was a better way.
It almost seems like this would have been easier if you hd just 100% scratch built a chassis like the body was intended for. Its awesome seeing the skills at archies shop, but it just seems like there was a better way.
I'm told that one of the reasons the car was not real successful as a kit car in England was that the chassis they built for it was way too flexible and potential customers were not buying the kits because of that.
So the customer I'm building it for (who is a member of this forum) didn't want to use that chassis. He is a Miura lover & a Fiero lover, so what better thing to do than combine the two.
We are building this very similar to the way we built my GT40 & I guarantee you that chassis was very solid.
Someone asked about the weight of the car as we are building it. To be honest weight is not a criteria of this build. Rigidity of the finished product is the highest priority. We used a LOT of steel on my GT40 & it weighed about 500 lbs less than a V-8 Fiero when we were done. I'd expect that this car will not gain much weight when it's done.
This is going to be a 85 to 90% replica of a very expensive real car that sells in the $300+K area, so it's not likely that you'll see many of these at the drag strip. Here's one that was resently on EBay, it didn't make the reserve.
I wasn't trying to be a hater, it just seem like so much fiero was getting cut off that it wouldn't be worth it. But you are retaining the cradle and suspension which make alot of modding easier and you'll be set up perfectly for a motor mounted like a real Miura.
I wasn't trying to be a hater, it just seem like so much fiero was getting cut off that it wouldn't be worth it. But you are retaining the cradle and suspension which make alot of modding easier and you'll be set up perfectly for a motor mounted like a real Miura.
No problem.
No body here took that post as a hater post.
Sorry, I didn't get back to you earlier. I've been offline for a couple of days due to computer problems.
At least this one won't have the Miura's problem with having a front mounted fuel tank. As you run out of gas, the front end gets light and you lose the ability to steer at high speed.
Just as a matter of historical interest: A total of 764 Miura's were produced over the 7 year production life of the Miura and less than 1/2 survive today . Each was hand built and each component part numbered : ie : the driver's side door of one Miura would not necessarily fit another Miura ,since each was hand constructed.To further complicate efforts of those few lucky owners of an existant Miura , who wish to restore their valued treasure , around 1995-1996 Lamborghini management ordered destruction of the factories archives. According to Hemming's motor news , all commercial files, invoices,letters , registers and other documents wound up in the shredder , destroying parts of the company's history "maybe to eliminate embarrasing comparisons between the illustrious past and the modern present." To quote Hemmings : " It borders on the criminal that major automotive manufacturers want nothing more than to sell their current products. What happened yesterday is of no consequence. History goes literally in the ashcan." Fortunately , websites like this preserve the history and technical data of the Fiero,
rather than fight a losing battle and even keep stuff I didn't like just to be accurate. (that's why i'd build up the fenders and change the headlights to fixed if it was my car 
).
A lot of work and a lot of money, but a person trying to replicate an original exotic is going to spend large amounts of those two anyway.
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