Well, we finally got the Roadster back to the shop & have done parts of 2 days worth of work on it.
Here are a few pictures.
Don't tell me it's sitting too high, I already know that
We cut the header of the windshield back to where we want & welded stel in it to cap it off. We also dropped a pc. of 1/2" sqr. box tubing down the "A" pillars and welded it in.
Please excuse the mess in the background, we are moving the shop as we work on this car.
Archie. I love everything about the Fino and Finale kits...except the tail lights look a little Mitsubishi to me. Any thoughts on possibly having different light assy. inserts? I realize different molds would drive production and consumer costs up, but maybe cutouts? I've been drooling over the Finale for a while, but the back light sets don't move me. Just a thought/question.
Archie. I love everything about the Fino and Finale kits...except the tail lights look a little Mitsubishi to me. Any thoughts on possibly having different light assy. inserts? I realize different molds would drive production and consumer costs up, but maybe cutouts? I've been drooling over the Finale for a while, but the back light sets don't move me. Just a thought/question.
Thanks,
John
Sure I've thought about different tail lights, I've also thought about different headlights. I don't know if you've seen a Fino or Finale in real life but the lights don't look as bad as they do in some of the pictures. The prolem with a different tail light is finding one that compliments the look of the body & has radius that allows it to go around the large radius on the corners of the rear clip. Everysince I bought Candy Apple Cars back in Nov. 1999, I've looked at every car I see on the street to evaluate the headlights & tail lights. The other problem with tail lights from a production car is that the Fino/Finale are pretty unique looking cars. When you're driving them people that see them can't figure out just what they are.
Many times I've been driving a Fino or Finale and have had other motorists ask "What kind of car is that?". Well, if you tell them that "it's a Fiero with a custom body on it and a SBC engine", they usually lose interest about the time you say "Fiero". What they really wanted to know is if their fancy MB or BMW or Ferrari has anything to fear from this new exotic with the powerful sounding engine. I have what I call mt "Story #2" that I use on people driving fancy cars who inquire about the Fino/Finale I'm driveing. It goes something like this..... "It's a new prototype Ferrari. The are considering building this car for the U.S. market only & are interested in the reactions we get. The factory has sent 3 of these to the states to be driven around for public input" Then I'll act like I care about what they say next.
My point is that if the car has easily recognizable tail lights or headlights then even the morons that believe my Story #2 (when's the last time you saw a Ferrari rep in blue jeans & a Dells Run "T" shirt), Will recognize the lights as they pull up next to me. They'll say to themselves..... "It's got Corvette tail lights, it's a kit car" & they'll immediately feel superior & relieved.
So you can see there are a lot more factors in action here than just what tail lights will fit in the car.
Yes, we are looking for different tail & headlight treatments to try out on this Roadster & would like to hear any ideas you might have.
I like it. I'd like it better if I could afford it. but I like the design.
------------------ 1988 Aero 88 coupe.. 2.8l v6.. more mods to come. FieroNews.com - Photo Gallery - Fiero Links I am the signature virus, please put me in your signature so I can spread
Archie, I personally LOVE the Finale. There are only a small handfull of mods I could think of, and those are the same as if I were changing, a Camaro, for instance. Believe me, I don't think (in ANY way) that the lights are crappy looking. I fully agree that they give a "one of a kind" look. As a matter of fact, after my 2 '86 SE's are sold, I want a Finale kit for my 84 I like the front lights Ausfiero has posted. Different, and still like a one of a kind. Bugatti (sp) has rear lights I could see on the Fino or Finale. The Vette lights....um...no. You see that on broken down Ford pickups around here. Thousands of options, finding a handful that will keep it looking like "not a kit-car" will prove to be a challenge. Thanks for the response and info!
i think it would be easy to get lexan vacuum formed to fit the current opening shape and then just use projector bulbs in the recess.. the easy flush look and it'd look GOOD
i think it would be easy to get lexan vacuum formed to fit the current opening shape and then just use projector bulbs in the recess.. the easy flush look and it'd look GOOD
What I had in mind was a headlight assembly that would fit into the opening that we have to work with. We have found a light I like & we've already fitted one into the car. With the move into the new building going on, we haven't had time to work on the car for a full 3 weeks. In fact the car is sitting back in a corner of the new place right now. I'll take a picture of the light we are using when we get back on it next week. We had hoped to have the Roadster as a "roller" at Carlisle but that's just not going to happen. It will be tough to have it ready for the Dells.
I don't think you guys really realize what all has to go into designing & making a Lexan cover for a headlight idea. Our GT40 replica didn't have any headlight or parking light covers & we had to design & make the tooling & we had to find a actually make the parts. You can't just melt a pc. of Lexan over the opening & expect it to come out ok.
Here are what the lenses look like on the GT40, then I'll tell you what all it took to make them........
Yes, the headlight & park light "Pockets" were already in our molds when they came off of the original car. We had to make an extra front clip, then fill in the headlight & parking light pockets to bring the surface up to be flush, smooth & flow well with the surrounding areas of the body surface. That area had to be smooth & finished up perfect, then we took a temporary mold off of the surface. We then had to take 2 parts out of that mold. Because of the curve of the front of the headlight cover, we had to have a "Female" mold. 1 of the pcs. from the temp mold was used to make the mold surface & the other one was trimmed to fit the opening in another front clip we had in stock. The that pc. was used as a template to put the "Trim Lines" into the mold, so the parts from the mold would be trimmed & would fit correctly everytime. In addition, a "Ledge" to set the finished lens into, had to be build all the way around each of the light pockets. It has to be just the right depth, so the finished lens & the glue that glues it in has the same thickness as the ledge, so it fits flush.
To top it off, we had to do this for all 4 openings. We also had to do the same thing for the GT40 side windows but they already had the "Ledges" ready to go.
How does all this effect the lights for the Finale front clip? Once you've designed the lens shape, then you have to make a new mold of the front clip with the "ledge" built into it. You have to find a vacuum form shop to make the parts. You have to consider if the lens is going to be glued in, how do you service the area under the lens if it has to be cleaned etc., How do you aim the headlights?, How do you mount the headlights?
There are a lot of things to be considered, a lot of money to be spent on developement, tooling & production & you won't know if anyone likes it until you're done.
Just a thought, it's very cool that some people are so good at putting forward designs in Photoshop. And a lot of people have some very good ideas but are no good at Photoshop. But the proof of the pudding is when someone comes along and puts the money & time into actually building something. a good Photoshop guy can put forward 100 design ideas in the time it take one actual builder to even get a good start on building a car.
I personally say don't touch the rear tail lights, they are so perfect IMO. Now the front lights, there's a little "touch" i'm going to do to them when I finally get a Finale kit so you'll see then
I think you're going to like what we're doing with the tail lights in the Roadster we're in the process of building, we have those about 90% or more fitted and done and are commonly available junkyard parts for $55/side. I'm thinking of pulling molds off the openings and giving them to Archie to use as an option if he wants to, but I'm not going to offer the changes as parts myself.
John Stricker
quote
Originally posted by Fiero Finale:
Wow this is looking sweet Archie!
I personally say don't touch the rear tail lights, they are so perfect IMO. Now the front lights, there's a little "touch" i'm going to do to them when I finally get a Finale kit so you'll see then
Many times I've been driving a Fino or Finale and have had other motorists ask "What kind of car is that?". Well, if you tell them that "it's a Fiero with a custom body on it and a SBC engine", they usually lose interest about the time you say "Fiero". . .. Archie
LOL
I have similar experience will Chop top. People want to hear that its a Lamborghini. The finale looks pretty good the way it is.
should just need to get a part number and order it from a dealer. i was told i could do this for some toyota m-spec parts from japan when i still had my celica. btw i am in japan for the next 3 years...
[This message has been edited by japfiero (edited 05-28-2005).]
I wish someone would post pictures of what this car looks like. So far as I know, the only pictures out there of a complete car are on a pay per view website, or one that requires mandatory registration just to see the pics (cfog-i site) and I'm not interested in that at all.
JazzMan
You're right, I gotta get some more pictures up on this thread.
With moving to the new shop & working on customer cars, we just haven't got much done on the Roadster in the last 7 weeks. We did however find headlights that are a natural fit & don't require retooling the whole front of the car. And they look great.
After the Dells this weekend, I'm going to find 1 or 2 more guys & we'll get time to finish up the roadster & a couple of other things that need my time.
So you can expect to see some updates next week.
Archie
[This message has been edited by Archie (edited 06-01-2005).]
Yes we have been pretty busy. But the good news is that we finaly did get back to work on the roadster today.
Right now we're working on the custom interior panels & made some real good progress towards that today.
We are also working on a Chop Top for a customer but it is ahead of schedule allowing one of the guys to be able to spend serious time on the Roadster.
I expect to have atr least one person working on the roadster full time for the next 10 day, because we want to get it to paint ASAP.
Wait 'til this interior is finished, you're going to love it & best of all we're making a version to fit into a stock Fiero interior too.
Archie
[This message has been edited by Archie (edited 07-13-2005).]
Bump for the month of August. Any progress on the roadster?
Yes we are actually making a lot of progress on it. Been doing a lot of work on the custom interior but haven't posted pictures because it's "in process". Everytime I've posted "in process" pics of interior parts I've had people post that it was ugly etc. It seems that some people can't look past the "in process" part & see the finished product.
I like the front lights Ausfiero has posted. Different, and still like a one of a kind. Bugatti (sp) has rear lights I could see on the Fino or Finale. The Vette lights....um...no. You see that on broken down Ford pickups around here. Thousands of options, finding a handful that will keep it looking like "not a kit-car" will prove to be a challenge. Thanks for the response and info!
