Looking better and better Curly. I like the added vent to the trans cover piece. It fits much better. Once the Beautification in the engine compartment is done, what is left? Very anxious to see your work completed. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.
Looking better and better Curly. I like the added vent to the trans cover piece. It fits much better. Once the Beautification in the engine compartment is done, what is left? Very anxious to see your work completed. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.
Pat
Thanks for the compliments.
What's next is the nose and some of the various hardware. I'm wanting to use a L-brace on the corners that was removed for the flipper (this is were WCF comes in) along with aluminum skirt angled similar to the Viper a few pages back. As for the hood;
1. reducing the Karl Molden nose (why so big???). I'm sure the blunt of the nose can be angled similar to the Corvettes nose. 2. Continue tweaking the Audi running lamps.
As for the side Corvette marker lamps- that's pretty much a reality and I'm liking the results.
That and I'm starting to wonder about the weight it adds...? To each his own. Looks good.
Trust me, I could stand to lose some belly weight (25 pounds or more) and if you look around so too many Fiero owners cause I'm sure some of them can't see their feet, hehe. Seriously, weight factor was thrown out the door long time ago, but aside from using carbon fiber pieces developed... I doubt nobody in the Fiero world is going to spend $6,000 or more dollars on a custom made engine surround. If you do- they're doing it on the wrong car.
I stopped by WCF to see how the "Beautification" project is coming along. I must say, Steve has performed a excellent job and with the help of other- we've have a new idea that will be used this week regarding the ignition wires. Okay, enough of that; the plenum insert screens are in!
A bit more tweaking for the coil box, but it's coming along just fine.
Hanging out all day waiting for Brown to deliver. The driver showed up late... yeah 5:45PM! My whole day waisted, but I decided to loose some of the blubber that's starting to accumulate around my belt, hehe. Over-all I lost 5.5 pounds just by exercising on the treadmill for 2-mile uphill position.
I was a bit nervous having all three shipped, so I opt for 1-set and then 2-sets. Beside, I'd rather wait until the mad rush during the X-mas season. As usual the crate was packaged professionally by Archie. The glass appears to-be undamaged, but I'll remove the glass on Wednesday.
Once installed, #020 shall be "complete."
Ah, uneventful day. I made a templet for the strut caps, ordered 8-rubber oil plugs for the ignition wires (long story), and dropped off the parts for Steve grind off the welds.
Strut corner templet.
I'm not feeling the coil cover so where the marker is- part of the material will be removed.
Area removed- but more is needed;
Looking through the window pics;
16JAN2010: A non-bump update.
I had Steve remove additional material from of the coil pack's outer shell. I"m not 100% sure of the exact shape I'm trying to achive, but we're getting there.
As you can see from the side picks- the coil over is starting to take shape and less of a Frankinstein's feel.
Now removed- the angle is aggressive and partly exposes the coil (that's okay since I want the brightly red ignition wires to show.
Looking through the glass window; I'm liking the flow compared to the boxie look on previous pics.
A pic w/o the coil pack cover. I hope to size-up the exact lenght needed for the ignition wires.
Next week (if weather permits) we'll continue with strut caps and a few nic-naks prior to sending the parts to the chrome shop.
18Jan2010: Storm brewing towards the west headed east towards TEH. I was traveling to TEH early this morning and I peered off towards the west (near I-5 hwy) I said to myself, "man that's one mean storm." I arrived about 08:15HR and storm was just over the mountain ripping down fences and trees. Like a little girl I ran inside the house and hoped for the best, hehe.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 03-21-2010).]
WCF is in the process of developing a 6-speed for engine swaps.
I stopped by WCF, but it was snowing. I'll be back later to pick up #020 N* beautification part on Wednesday. While I was there, I did take a few pics.
A wee bit cold outside ( I think the Bay Area looks pretty good right about now, hehe)
Look, a cho-cho train, hehe. (you can barely see the Teh on the water tank). You gotta love small towns.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 03-19-2010).]
About to take a few parts over to the chrome shop on Thursday ( I hope), but Steve (WCF) did drill out the ignition holes;
I didn't have enough time to make it to the chrome shop. I guess having pancakes, eggs, and sausages took too long for me to eat, hehe.
I barely made it out of town before a major storm started brewing. I called my aunt 20-minutes later and I-5 (both directions) and 58 were closed.
While on I-5 there wasn't nobody headed in my direction (except 3-cars).
Due to nobody on the freeway- I made it back to the Bay Area in 4.45 hrs.
I’ll try again this week, but there’s no guarantee it will be any better this week since another storm is headed towards CA. Meanwhile, WCF should be finishing the details. I designed a crude mock-up for the connecting part near the rear window.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 02-05-2010).]
I just thought I'd mention that you will fail miserably at being a faux supercar designer if you don't do this. (Sorry about the color, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't make it darker with what I have. :/ )
[This message has been edited by ALLTRBO (edited 01-24-2010).]
I just thought I'd mention that you will fail miserably at being a faux supercar designer if you don't do this. (Sorry about the color, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't make it darker with what I have. :/ )
Thanks for the photoshop, but I looked at a F430 diffuser made of Carbon 2-yrs ago and decided to past on it. My reason are simple; it's a F430. Yes. it styled and look bad-to-the-bone, but it merely is a iconic copy. IMO it's better to original vs. copy-cat. Beside, everybody will know it's a replica part thus over shadowing my own design. IMO it's time to break the mod and do something original and with the Fiero's DNA.
The goal is simple; don't jump on Ferrari/Lamborghini iconic coattails. Use your brain and come-up with something that's not labeled as "Ferrari." Remember, it's a Fiero (for heavens sake), not a Ferrari.
Curly sorry to disagree with you but I think it is FUGLY. BUT that is just my opinion.
After looking at it for a couple of days.... your right. I can't seem to find the LS motor with all of the "pop" in the way. I was too busy looking at the craftmanship. Also, I think the hood treatment should be deleted, but like you stated, "that's just my opinion."
Not wanting to leave any area untouched- I felt the need to retweak the grill vents. The parts are now unified and with less surface area thus aiding in air flow.
Steve (WCF) cut- out a vent on the inner side of the grills.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 02-05-2010).]
With the aid of a few friends, beer, and enough time to kill after work; it was agreed that additional tweaking is needed where the flat area is behind the side window, but that will happen next week. Right now, I'll let the thought marinate.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 02-05-2010).]
Originally posted by madcurl: With the aid of a few friends, beer, and enough time to kill after work; it was agreed that additional tweaking is needed where the flat area is behind the side window, but that will happen next week. Right now, I'll let the thought marinate.
Curly,
After looking at the pics of that Corvette with "Too Much" chrome. Have you considered going either gloss black or body color on some of these parts? I think it would create more focus to the primary crown jewel being displayed: the engine.
After looking at the pics of that Corvette with "Too Much" chrome. Have you considered going either gloss black or body color on some of these parts? I think it would create more focus to the primary crown jewel being displayed: the engine.
Just a thought, Troy
Thanks for the insight for the engine compartment beautification. I have three serious cut-outs prior to finalization. Once those cuts are performed I will need to sit back and try to visualize which choice to make. However, with each cut- leaves less surface area were it normally would be polished or chromed. The main area is the center rail that joins the two side pieces. The entire middle section with be gutted with stainless wiremesh thus less chrome.
A non-committed bump: Exhaust modifications. 10Feb2010
While some of the parts are at the chrome shop, I decided to move onto the next project... the exhaust.
I'm not feeling the single exhaust so I decided to have that area tweaked.
It was a bit rusty so a couple a PB Blaster shots did the trick;
Steve (WCF) has afew tricks up his sleeve. We'll see if he can work some tricks;
with twin dual exhaust should solve the anemic single dual exhaust;
As for the beautification... it's looking nice under the glass. I should have the chrome parts by Monday.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 02-11-2010).]
Mean while, back at the ranch, I dropped the trunk plate off with Steve (WCF) for additional beefing. The chrome shop is closed on Friday, so I'll pick up the trunk plate on Monday (no rush).
Good news; the two parts came out nicely. Granted, I could've gone polished, but...
The chrome plating was even w/o issue, but the stainless mesh was nice and didn't over shine the other chrome parts. The fuel and ignition pieces aren't as-big-as the strut tower parts, so I'm not completely out of the woods yet. Over-all- I'm happy with the results.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 03-19-2010).]
Next week I hope to conclude the beautification N* surround and move onto something else.
I didn't have enough time to make it to the chrome shop. I guess having pancakes, eggs, and sausages took too long for me to eat, hehe.
