Brought the hood down to the garage and installed it back on alone. I left the headlight covers off and this made it real easy to centre the hood. Attached the brackets loosely, then closed the hood, centered everything then tightened the hood bolts via the open head light lenses....
then on with the headlight covers...
The a final check to make sure everything opens, closes and operates without any binding....
Next job is to fix the cutout that Archie made for TPI clearance in the rear hood...
Next post.
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[This message has been edited by DrCPU (edited 11-27-2006).]
Now that I THINK i know what I'm doing with fiberglass and filler - why stop now!?
Off with the rear trunk! Grind it down to make sure the glass and filler can bond....
In order to leave the void for the wiring, I cut out a template from cardboard. this way I'll have a final surface of about 3 layers of glass...
I made a mistake on this project. I wanted to get things done quickly - let's see if you can figure out what I've done wrong in the next four or so pictures!!!
Can you see my mistake yet??? The last two pictures are a hint....
After glassing and then applying lots of filler - to be sanded down nice and square I then primed and painted it - then back down to the car to install it!!
Leaving the side vents out gives you easy access to the mounting bolts.... makes it a snap to align the hood, then tighten up the bolts..
And a couple of pics to finish it off!
I'm now pretty well done my projects - on the outside of the car. I wanted to go with Mr. Mikes leather and some day would like to go with the new mod headlights using 1/2 height HIDs. I waited for Mr. Mike to come out with his Xmas sale - only to find he didn't have what I wanted. Looks like I'll need to save money and will have to defer the interior for another year.
I'll be delivering my car to the paint shop later this week. Will post pics in about a month when it's done!!
edited for spelling..
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[This message has been edited by DrCPU (edited 11-27-2006).]
Did you glass over the mounting bolt hole?? Just my guess. Looks nice though Good Luck Gary
You got it! Took the hood down - light was bad and it took me a few minutes of asking myself - where is that friggin hole - before saying "DOH"... It echoed in the underground garage. Took it back up and lucky everything hadn't set like steel ---------- as I was able to get all the filler out of the hole.... ------------------
[This message has been edited by DrCPU (edited 11-27-2006).]
Put Mr Mikes on the top of the list! You won't be disappointed. ( You probably already know this!) I'll be looking for painted pic's Have a Nice Day Gary
I had told him about the annual x-mas sale, but apparently things did not work out.
Hey no problem exoticse - Mr. Mike's xmas sale is for a predetermined number of seats with specific designs. I'm looking for two tone brown like the ones at his web site. He only had a one colour beige set of "leatherette" seats available. Heck if I'm going to spend the money I'm going for Corinthian leather made from real Corinthians! (Sorry Mr. Ricardo Montebalm - but gotta love those old "Chrysler Cordoba commercials") =8^)
Everything I'm doing to the car seems to be costing me more than I'd hoped. Paint will run around $4500 CDN and was hoping for $3000 CDN. I'd rather not cheap out on the paint (base+clear). My cloth seats are in excellent condition - no wear anywhere - so it just means I'll need to wait til maybe mid summer. Heck maybe I can just pick up a set at Daytona - ya that's the ticket .... heehheeeeheeee
Dave
[This message has been edited by DrCPU (edited 11-27-2006).]
Dang, need to keep the inner voice a little quieter...
Funny that since I mentioned it I could probably arrange to have the work done on my trip to Daytona. As the seats in my car in primo condition - it would only take then a hour to do the work. Heck I could get it done in their "drive-thru" tm do it yourself service bay! Save me the shipping and duties and all that hassle...
So lets see - price for seats and new visors - $900 price for a fun week in the sun - $2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Value of experience pricele$$
What color were you planning on painting your car? , Chris
I'm planning on Deep Black Cherry. My problem is finding a sample. The only production car that comes close so far is the 1971 Corvette - but I still have to find out if this colour was available from the factory. If someone knows where I can view samples - on line I'd be very appreciative.
I guess now that I've spent all the money I have (and will have for some time to come) will have to focus my efforts on finishing Gears of War on the Xbox 360!
Not Fiero related - but that's where you'll find me... look for my GamerTag "TazmnDvl".
I checked in with the paint shop this morning. Painter does not really want to put base and clear underneath - but will put down a coat of flat black to make sure it looks good. I'm OK with that.
I also asked him about a ghost stripe (2) to go from the front to the back. The painter is going to do a panel for me to see what it looks like, but will put down my base coat then put two white pearl stripes (very thin paint). This should give me the effect I'm looking for. First strip will start in the middle of the car and be 4" wide - to the driver side followed by a gap of 1 1/2" followed by another strip of 2".
Stripes should not be obvious until I'm in sunlight.
Originally posted by DrCPU: I'ts absolutely fabulous! 1st is very tall and is only needed for the first twenty feet. The rest of the gearing is great and the engine has enough torque that I can drive it in any gear at 2k rpm without luggin' and ready to roar! Shifting is smooth and precise. One of the biggest advantages is the 6th gear is for highway driving. I drive from just east of cambridge to mississauag city hall every day - much of which is on highway. The TAZ runs at 2100rpm at about 120kph. The gas mileage is better than the V6 (due to 6th). I can say witout a doubt that the 6 speed will pay ofr itself in gas savings - had I opted for a 5 speed instead.
Heck if I drive enough miles I'll have saved enough to have paid for the entire conversion! =87) Dave
how tall is the gearing like MPH wise
just curious I'm looking at every option possible before opting for my final decision. Being how you've experienced it thought I'd ask.. I know the gas mileage is better just looking at the shifting points
If you want the specs I'd look at GM and search for the F40 tranny - or call Archie. From a practical point of view 1st is good from 0 to about 5mph. It will run up higher - say 10mph but I'd be reving pretty high. Please take this for a grain of salt because I've never actually looked at the speedo when I do this shift. I use first to push my spped from a standstill. It's much like a slingshot - once you start, there's no stopping!!! =8^)
I got a call from the painter to come over and see the test panel they did with my paint color choice and the pearl ghost stripe. Oh man - I could just barely contain myself. It's exactly what I imagined. The stripes will go from nose to tail (including the bumpers). The first strip will be 4" wide and set down with the far edge along the centre line of the hood, and the stripe falling on the drivers side. I'll then have a 1 1/2" gap followed by a second 2" stripe.
The clear (well white) pearl is just barely visible - but will jump out in bright light conditions.
The Jaguar Deep Black Cherry looks black in low light settings, but will have a definite very dark (coagulated blood red) look to in in direct sunlight. The base paint is a pearl as well.
I went through everything with the painter and the whole car will be uni-color - save for the undersides of the front and rear trunk(s) and engine heat grills will be done in flat black......
I'm calling them ghost stripes - but they aren't the type that you find on police cars. It's just a very thin coat of white pearl over the base coat for the area of the stripe. The whole kit and caboodle is then covered in gobs (I hope) of clear. As the white pearl is very thin - it let's about 90% of the base colour through.
The body guys said nothing about my glass work on the hood. They thought it was done by a pro! Just goes to show the quality of the part, the thought of the design that went into the part - and the great instructions. Heck if a nut like me can do it - then anyone can! The guys at the office keep shaking their heads when I tell'em I did it in and out of my appartment!
I feel like I did when I was a kid on christmas eve! Can hardly sit still thinking about out how nice the TAZ will be.
Thanks Archie!
PS Anyone doing any glass work - for God's sake don't do this one thing I did.
I put some unused - but mixed resin and hardener in my fridge (inside a closed freezer bag). I thought I could save it for ten minutes - to slow the setting time - but forgot it in the fridge for a few hours. It's been three weeks now and the smell is almost gone. Either that - or I'm getting used the smell and taste!
I Ended up having to chuck almost all the food in the fridge. The resin smell even went through solid plastic and transfered into the freezer compartment. Had to throw out most everything in there as well. Chicken with a slight hint of resin isn't as tasty as it might sound!
This is only something a newb could do!!
[This message has been edited by DrCPU (edited 12-06-2006).]
How did the resin and hardner work after that???? J/K Project looks nice. Good Luck Gary
Well, being a newb with glass combined with the fact I did the work when it was cold outside and had stumbled upon the fact the resin sets slower in cold weather set me up for the giant "Doh" moment.
I had to bring the work inside to fully cure and my brain figured - what the heck - if it's in the fridge I'll have about fifteen minutes or so to decide to use it or not. I had finished with the resin and fiberglass but rather than just chuck the half cup of leftover resin - don't wanna waste anything - right - I figured I might use a dab or two on the peices that were setting nicely in my second bathroom.
Forgetting about it for a couple of hours kinda made the point moot. The resin has set in the fridge. As the resin compound cures it generates heat - and I also guess that the molecules from the fumes of the setting resin are much smaller than the molecules of the Zip Lock freezer bag that I used to place the bucket of resin in.
Put two and two together and I might as well have just applied resin to all the food in my fridge. Waxed cardborad held out the smell and tast the longest. This wasn't designed as a scientific test - but the milk in the milk carton stays UN-stinky for about four days. Brocolli and cauliflower really do a good job absorbsing the fumes (tee hee) I have a three door fridge and I guess the air exchange for the freezers are via the fridge.
Solid frozen Chiken Kiev soaked up the smell pretty thoroughly. Pizza pockets didn't fare much better.
Funny thing is the romaine lettuce was unaffected - so at least I've been getting my greens! =8&)
Not all is lost though - as the hardened resin can be used for a hockey puck - or I guess I could carve something out of it with my dremmel!!
I guess now that I've spent all the money I have (and will have for some time to come) will have to focus my efforts on finishing Gears of War on the Xbox 360!
Not Fiero related - but that's where you'll find me... look for my GamerTag "TazmnDvl".
if you want to play some halo 2 you can get spanked my me if you ever catch me on gamertag sjbishop123
if you want to play some halo 2 you can get spanked my me if you ever catch me on gamertag sjbishop123
Well I could be into spankings - with the other gender - but that wouldn't be Fiero related. =8*0 The only XBOX game I kept for my 360 is Halo2. I never finished the solo mission. I'll look you up and add ya as a friend.
I guess it's true - a rolling stone gathers no moss. After I did the Corvette tail lights from K Hines I knew I needed to do the reverse lights....
I stopped by the paint shop - yet again - and asked to take home the rear bumper so I could add the reverse lights where the reflectors used to be. I went to the local Canadian Tire store and found some fog lamps that fit perfect - well maybe a tad small. They are made in Ohio, by Blazer. The body guy says - "sure" - and I tell him I'll have the bumper back by this morning.
They are just waiting for a time to get the paint down. This is good as I'm not in a real hurry - and anytime the crew at the shop aren't busy - they'll wander over to my car and sand block a little here and a little there. All the pros in the shop really like the TAZ and want to make sure the paint job is the best it can be. The owner told me last night that he isn't a fan of guys like me who give him gobs of time - becasue he can't charge me for all hours the boys spend on my car. We both smiled at that!
Anyway - here are a few pics of the latest mod...
I ended up opening the holes even more. I wanted to keep the holes for the reflectors - just in case I changed my mind - but ended up having to cut past the holes - but not all the through. This way there are two support bars that stop the lens from falling through.
This is what the lense looks like just sitting in the reflector receptor. The lenses are light blue - they did not have basic clear. I ended up taping the clearer lens part and spray painting the 1\4 inch near the edges black. I did not get a picture of the painted lenses as I did them this morning at the local CT store (in my truck)!
And finally - a few picks of the lenses installed (before I painted the edges of the lenses).
I almost sure that's it until I get it back from paint! - I promise - Unless Andrew gets me my new badges before then!
They painted the parts, bumper etc... Looks beautifulllll. I took some pictures last Friday - but PIP does not work for me on any of my computers at home.
Need to wait until I get to work (on Tuesday) before I can post. The whole car should be done on Tuesday - but they have to assemble the bumpers to mark the stripes then break out then paint. I figure it'll be another week before I have TAZ home.
The paint job looks like glass - and the black cherry is perfect!!!
Best of the NY to you - and all!
I'll be booking my time for D7 (March 23-25th) in mid January - hey that's only two weeks away!!
[This message has been edited by DrCPU (edited 12-31-2006).]
Thanks to Jake_Dragon for posting my pics - instead of me waiting for next week.
First pic is the taped off car - the paint guy preferred not to take out the front glass. Said he could do a great job as is. I'll wait and see when the job is done. If I don't like it I'll get him to remove the front glass.
Next are two pics of the bumpers with base color - no clear coat. The digital images give a hint of the true color. I tried to balance the color a little.
The last one is from the side scoop. Has clear coat done. A smudge was on the part - but did not wipe it off. This pic is a pretty good representation of the final paint job.
I have some progress shots of the paint. The base is on everything and the body has clear - and the stripes.
They still need to buff out some areas of the clear - but it's looking real good.
First shots are the rear end... Flash was on so some of the specs are metalic reflections. The car was outside all day so there is some dust on the car.
Next a couple of shots from the front...
And two more - one showing the scoop detail and the other over the sunroof.,,
After the base color was applied on the scoop - everything looked real good. Then they applied the clear and baked the whole enchilda. The area around the scoop insert shows a small imperfection. From a distance of a few feet it's fine, but when you look up close you can see it. The painter says that the only way to get rid of it is to have them strip the hood and do more bodywork. They figure a day and a half. They are very busy now and don't want to do this right now. I did a lot of himming and hawing and will try to get them to do the hood over again.
They still have to mount the bumpers, mark the stripes, then put the stripes on and clear the bumpers. Should be done somethime today or tomorrow. I might actually just give them the hood and get them to do the work over the winter if I can't convince them to redo the work next week. They did remove the windscreen before putting down the paint - so the rest of the car is immaculate.
Will post more pics as the car gets done.
Dave
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[This message has been edited by DrCPU (edited 01-04-2007).]
