MinnGreenGT To tell you the truth, when we decided to do a car, I was thinking about it for and had that exact design in my mind before it started. I got it on paper and it looked good, so we choose this one. I have sketches of when we started it, I did different quarter views and although i was happy to start it, in the end I felt unexcited, because to me this car design was old, 2 years. I knew what it would look like before we got it done, there was alot of mental thinking on my part about what would look good and what would be hard to do, so we can do it. I have plenty of sketches of this and some other ideas that I have for parts for these cars. If you would like I could post some, so you can see what the initial idea was and how close it is to that. Other than sketches we had no experience with ay of the materials to build it, we just jumped into it and learned from trial and error. I guess I'll post some sketches of ideas, and other concepts I have done, but after the lambo-door segement of the car that I am about to do.
In other words it was more execution than planning..LOL Alex
------------------ There's two types of cars in the world, Fieros and everything else.
Lambo-doors:: The kit we used was a universal Honda Civic predrilled kit. The great part was that two of the four bolt holes of the honda drilling matched up with the fiero holes on the chasis. We had to weld on a small bracket to redrill the two other wholes and that was it. it bolted right up. This took about 2 days to attach both hinges and 2 more to get all the bugs out and have them completely done. Its not as hard as people make it sound. Pics: Picture of the hinge with welded tabs for other 2 bolt holes which match fiero pattern: Close up of welded tabs 1/2" thick: Spacers made of 1/2" thick metal which go in between hinge and chasis on bottom, washers at the top due to little space needed.: Hinge attached: She Moves up and down!!!: Both doors and I after 2 days of crying and finger smashing form both me and my dad:
I have plenty of sketches of this and some other ideas that I have for parts for these cars. If you would like I could post some, so you can see what the initial idea was and how close it is to that...
When you get around to it... I'd definitely like to see your concept drawings!
It is a link to Unique Whips, and I think you would do quite well with your entry.
Enter the Are You Unique contest and score a six day/five night trip to the Unique Whips Shop in Holbrook, New York. You’ll get to work and chill alongside Will Castro and his team at Unique Autosports. Guest star in an exclusive webisode of Unique Whips, and get $500 spending cash! Plus, nine lucky First Prize Winners will receive a Unique Whips jacket signed by Will Castro.
[This message has been edited by carolinajoe (edited 04-06-2006).]
Enter the Are You Unique contest and score a six day/five night trip to the Unique Whips Shop in Holbrook, New York. You’ll get to work and chill alongside Will Castro and his team at Unique Autosports. Guest star in an exclusive webisode of Unique Whips, and get $500 spending cash! Plus, nine lucky First Prize Winners will receive a Unique Whips jacket signed by Will Castro.
[opinion]Alex & his Father make the guys at "unique" look like amateurs[/opinion]
BTW - Alex, thanks for the sketch pics... looks like you guys knew exactly where you were going from the start! Look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.
Any plans for a nice "photo shoot"? I'd offer if I were in the area...
Originally posted by MinnGreenGT: [opinion]Alex & his Father make the guys at "unique" look like amateurs[/opinion]
Yeah no offense to anybody, but Unique Whips has got to be the worst car themed show on tv. Throw on some rims and a sound system, and you've got a totally Unique Whip! haha
But anyways, again man, Alex the car is amazing. Any chance of just opening a photobucket or similar account so people can stroll through all the pics?
Hey Alex, do you have any pics of you between the door and the car? I'd like to compare the two Decahs. If alll thing being equal, I think the Decah Honda universal might be a better option with little or less work for the Fiero application.
carolinajoe: The gas door was from a 2003 Mitsibishi Eclipse, I don't think it will work with the stock fiero though, there too much radius on it and it does not match the almost flat surface of the stock fiero location. If you really want a race, or racelook fuel door try one of these: http://www.nopionline.com/nopistore/dsp_parts.cfm?vL1ID=2&vL2ID=41&vL3ID=270&vL4ID=0&vL5ID=0&vtitle=Custom%20Exterior-Fuel%20Door%20Covers&CFID=22728929&CFTOKEN=89164581 They look to have a relatively small radius and would work great, the only thing to check would be the diameter, 5.5" -6" would work. Curly: I sent you a PM but I'll state it here too, its 38" from the ground to the upper (lower) door edge. I think if you look at the 1st and 4th picture with the door you can see the wholes that are to the right of the strut mounting locations at the top, if I move it futher to the right it will lift higher, right?.
Okay now lets get to the long awaited Archie dash ( Great Products he produces !!!) , I will include all the modifications too: Stock Archie dash as all of you know: What I Liked about the dash was the connected center console to the upper dash, but I wanted to make the rest because we didn't think the rest was suitable for our car such as the doors, and center console. We cut the ends off the dash which fit up againt the his doors and fiberglassed the new ends to the dash.: and then elongated the bottom edge of the dash to reach back futher so we could use the factory mounting locations, and brakets which were salvaged from the original dash. The next thing was the elongation and degree change in the center tunnel of the dash: another thing you all may notice is the added fiberglass auxilery gauge pod which was added at the top of the tunnel. I liked the auxilery gauge location and wanted to make it look like it was part of the new dash. When it was covered it looked like it was original. The last touch was the left AC vent tunnel wich had to be made to accept the F-150 vents.:
With the fiberglass done, we had to trim out and fabricate mounting brackets for all the accesories: AC vents, AC unit, Radio, Cluster,Boost Gauge, Power-Port, swithes, Defrost vent, and speaker locations.:
The car is on WestCoastFiero coil overs and front lowering springs. Its at 2 inches in the back and 1.5 in front, but don't forget the stagered rim sizes.
Local high school student rebuilds car, wins big at Daytona competition
When Alex Alexiev's 1987 Pontiac Fiero was rear-ended about two years ago, the insurance company told him it wasn't worth anything and the car couldn't be fixed.
The Port Charlotte High School student didn't believe that, and didn't want to "total" his car. He told them he would "make it worth something," and on March 25, in Daytona Beach, judges agreed that the car -- with a lot of hard work and time from Alexiev and his father, Bobby -- was the best custom-built car at the show.
"No one believed it would ever get done," the now 19-year old senior said. With help from his father, they completely rebuilt the car -- "interior, exterior, everything. It was like a jigsaw puzzle with no instructions, and we had to first make every piece."
The vehicle -- which took about two years, 4,000 hours of labor from Alexiev and his father, and about $47,000 to complete -- took home first place in the custom car category at the 2006 Spring Daytona Beach Car Show on March 24-26.
"We wanted to make something no one else has," Alexiev said, adding that he had never done anything like this before. "No one wrote a book. It was all trial and error."
Alexiev drew up numerous design plans before they handmade the car. His father has a woodworking business, so they recreated the skeleton of the car out of wood before making the panels.
"I found that designs on paper don't always work right on the car," said Alexiev, adding that the Lamborghini-inspired car frame had to be redone. "It taught me a lot, and for college, the thought process and problem-solving of designing cars."
While building the car, Alexiev discover what he wants to major in at college and do as a profession -- transportation design. He says he wants to work at a major car company, like GM or Lamborghini, designing new cars.
"Before (building this car), I was into the whole airplane thing," he said. "But then I came down to Earth."
Alexiev hopes to attend the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale or the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco, if he can "find the scholarships or a sponsor." After receiving his bachelor's degree, Alexiev wants to continue his studies and receive a master's from the elite Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., one of the best schools for his chosen profession, he said.
Work on the car kept Alexiev busy, especially combined with high school and his job at the Ford automobile dealership in Port Charlotte. He said that at some points, he couldn't even walk into his room without tripping over an engine or car part.
"I didn't feel tired while working on the car," he said, adding that many nights he would work until 11 p.m. or midnight. He said that despite the long hours on the project, and keeping his grades high in school at the same time, "it was all worth it."
"The dream came true for them," said Alexiev's mom, Maria. "They built the car -- deep inside, I thought they would be finished, one day, because (Alex) was so persistent. He finally did it."
Even his grandparents stayed a few extra days during their visit from Bulgaria -- where the Alexievs moved from in 1996 -- to see the car show.
During the show, Alexiev said lots of people came over and looked at the Lamborghini pearl orange-colored car.
"It was a show stopper," he said proudly. "We built it for ourselves to show what's possible. Some people are scared to take a step or do something, but they just have to try, or they are always going to regret it.
"I'm never going to sell that car."
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 04-09-2006).]
Thanks alot Coolblue I just saw it about an hour ago and ran out to get 7 newspapers. lol The pictures they used are good, but out of the 10 I gave them they could have choosen some better ones. I guess I will start on the doors today, and other interior pieces.
Alex, Can we back up a little bit? I've looked at everything you've posted here, and have a couple questions:
How did you get from your drawings to the shapes used for the ribs on the plug? One of the first pics shows your Dad working on the driver's door area. The rib shown has the door shape on the inner side and your new body shape on the outside. Did you use a profile gage to cut and shape these or were they "eyeballed"? How did you check each side of the car to make sure they matched? Another profile gage? HarryG
Well to ensure the correct shape and size on both sides, we made the ribs on the right side of the car. and then, from them we made templates, for the left side. It made it easy to do the second side the same because once we were pleased with the right, we just transferred the measurements, but flipped over to the other side.
Many templates and measure five times, cut once was the solution.
[This message has been edited by FieroGTRwideboby (edited 04-12-2006).]
Okay now for the door panels. The door panles are modified stock door panels, the arm rests are custom fiberglass replacements and the door latched were from a Nissan Altima 96. The door panels have a indented area for the arm to sit into. This was insiped my a Gallardo I got to drive, I really liked how there was a little more depth. We made them by cutting out the door panel were the indented area would be. To have a backing we kept the cutouts for the indented wall, so we could make a mold. The angles edges were coverd in the strong foil tape to serve as support for the mold. This pictures shows the indent : Side look: Other trim peices are made of wood, covered in leather. Fiberglass door handle molds being made directly from plug: After mold was made the new door handles they were made form the mold: To have the factory mounting locations at the bottom original plastic core was used in new handles: The handle was moved about 1.5 inches forward so the attachment bracket was relocated on the door.: The wiring for the lock buttons was lengthened and the switches were put on the door handles as well. The door grab inserts were from an acura integra 92, painted/dyed to match black.
[This message has been edited by FieroGTRwideboby (edited 04-12-2006).]
I was just hoping for a new update, thanks and nice timing haha.
Did you do the upholstery yourselves or did you make the interior and have someone else wrap it up? Looks pretty sweet, I'd love to do something similar.
The inetrior dash, door panels and center console was upholstered by a Trim Shop, but some of the other stuff I did. The simple things like, firewall panel,and B pillars, A pillars, and the floor trim. They did a good job, not perfect but its very good. I think i'll post some after upolstery tonight.
The seatbelts are the 3-point racing harnesses, they actually got attached to the firewall. I don't have a pic, but I will take one for you. What we did was get the bolt in type, the two bottom bolts attach to the stock bottom locations and the top one was attached to the firewall. The thread on the bolts was that same as the lugnuts, so we welded two lug nuts on two brackets, which were 2"x2" and then the plates were welded to the firewall. A small hole was cut out of the firewall cover (carpeted peice, ours we uphoslstered in leather), and bolt it up, took about 1 hr. to do the whole process. I'll get some pics and post them soon.
Incredible craftsmanship...one awesome car.
