Hi :

I have come a fairways on my decklid vent build and thought that I would share it all with you. This modification is definitely not for the faint of heart as the decklid has to be cut up pretty extensively to fit the new piece, but the pictures will speak for themselves. I have no prior experience in bodywork and have never attempted anything like this before. the only other project that I have done with fiberglass is my battery box in this thread : https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...050818-2-062364.html
My purpose for this thread is to encourage people who are not confident about doing this on their own. Hey, if I can do it so can you! Anyways, on with the information:

I purchased the fiberglass piece from gdjetski (AKA Golden) as can be seen in this thread:
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum4/HTML/029074.html

The price seemed reasonable and I must admit that he shipped the piece quickly. When I picked up the piece from the post office I was concerned because the packaging was extensively damaged, so much so that Canada Customs attached a form indicating that they had to repair the packaging. When I got it home and unwrapped it this is what I found:







Needless to say, I was quite disappointed. I contacted gdjetski and he had indicated that he had never had a vent arrive in such poor condition and he refunded $60.00 of the original $100.00 amount, he could have just as easily blown me off but he seems to be an honest person. Afterwords I asked if he had any pictures or instruction on how to install the vent and he sent me a number of pictures. It was interesting to notice that in one of the pictures he sent the vent shown also had cracks as seen in this picture:


I think that these vents vents have a structural weakness at the edges and I would suspect that most of them will arrive with some sort of damage. Just a warning to those of you who may be interested in doing this as well.

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

To continue:

My decklid also has some small structural cracks as seen below which seem to be at stress points:






I wanted to repair them and asked for suggestions in this thread:
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/068479.html
Thanks to all who responded.

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

Cool, Looks like your going for it----Thanks for taking the time to post pics--this has me wanting to do something different to mine---I saw something similar to this years ago--it was on ebay--a guy in Korea or somewhere like that was selling them, he had a great pic of the finished product--looked really nice. Keep `em ` coming........

whats gdjetski's contact info ? and was it packed pourly or what do you think caused all the damage to the piece..?

I attempted making a mold for this a year or so ago and the mold wasa flop, i've been debating on trying to make a new mold...

LMK his contact information...

~Tim

Hi:

gdjetski can be reached at gdjetski@pchome.com.tw

The packaging was REALLY flimsy cardboard that had absolutely no rigidity at all. The piece was given no support and of course cracked at the locations shown above. The crack locations are areas that are not rigid or reinforced enough on their own to withstand the flexing that occurred during transit. Again, I suspect that most of the vents delivered will have some cracking unless he changes the way he packages them. Additionally the piece is quite thin and could use an extra layer or two of matting.

Back to the information:

With the vent taped the decklid I traced out its outline onto the decklid. Once that was done it was removed and holes were drilled at the corners to allow me to start cutting the top of the lid with jigsaw. Here I am removing the lid and thinking I must be crazy, I mean either this is going to work or I'm going to ruin a perfectly good decklid:

And here is my trusty shop assistant Cedric:


So taking a deep breath I began to cut, a little bit here and a little bit there





I should also point out that there is a wiring harness for the decklid release that runs from the front of the decklid to the rear bulkhead through the passenger side decklid support. Care needs to be taken to not damage this harness during the cutting process.

I had also cut the openings for the vents prior to bonding as the piece was smaller and easier to maneuver than the entire decklid. It turns out that I had to re-cut the openings but more on that later

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

Awesome job so far, I really like that style of vent

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I have one of those vents that came with the car when I bought it. I have been wondering how to do this and had just about decided to leave it off. Now agfter seeing you do this I will do it also. Thanks for the write up!! + 4 u.

edit: Sorry I had already given you a +. Wish I could give another one.

[This message has been edited by Fiero1Fan (edited 03-12-2006).]

Thanks for the comments everyone, they are appreciated!

Fiero1Fan: thats the reason that I wanted to post this build so that others would say that they could do it too and give it a try.

To continue:
The next phase consisted of sanding and filling, repeated as required. There are a lot of nooks and crannies on this vent, it's hard to get into them all for sanding. The corners particularly at the front of the lid are impossible to get any type of mechanical sander into so it must all be done by hand. This is a tedious process to say the least, my hats off to anyone who does this for a living. One of the unpleasant issues is all the dust that is generated. Lots of very fine dust that gets everywhere.

After this long process i finally ended up with this:


I also thought that I should post pictures of the tools and materials that I am using. Here are the resin, the Corvette panel adhesive and a fiberglass impregnated filler for more strength:

Here are the non-clog filler which is what I am mostly using and the glazing putty for small imperfections which I will discuss later:

Here is a picture of the assorted power tools that I have used:

and finally a sample of the various sandpapers, files, sanding blocks and shapes that I have found useful:


Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

quote Originally posted by Sourmug: If you have any suggestions on how this could be improved, better techniques etc. I would enjoy hearing from you. Nolan

Next time avoid the spray can primer . As long as you remove it before paint. Unless that is just on the underside and you are spray painting the whole underneath . Looks good though!

Custom2M4:

What should I be using insteadof the spraycan primer?

Thanks
Nolan

Nice thread, I cant wait to see it finished....
dustin

Sourmug;

That looks great. Good work.

For primer, you can go to Auto Value and get their sandable primer you spray with an air gun. Igot mine from Auto Value in Crowfoot cetre but they will all have it. Partsource or even Candian Tire and NAPA should as well. You need some reducer etc. as well but it will allow you to spray the coats of primer on and not have to sand it all off again before applying your final paint. The spray can primer may end up lifting when you spray your final automotive paint on it.

Pretty cheap for the paint and it is worth it. It also goes on thicker so it will fill more of the tiny scratchs and fill in the imperfections better than the spray can.

Great work on the lid.

Cheers
Don

Thanks for the comments everyone. Don, thanks for the info. I'll check it out.

Nolan

Beautiful work, Nolan .... come do my Formula next (I'm allergic to fiberglass ). Do you think there will be a problem with water coming in through the openings and getting the engine and elctronics wet ?

I was helping someone on here with the same general project but that disappeared a year ago. =/

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-Kyle
Email: arte@sek-c.com
Aim: Littlechugger
1988 Notchback 4cyl. 5spd
1987 Notchback 4cyl. Auto (Running Good!)
1992 Corsica 3.1L GT =P

Sourmug: Plus for you, man. Great writeup so far.

Arte444: That was 88GTFormula you were posting the models for. I remember the thread. (At least I think I do...:dizzy

Bob

Crazy, done in a day! Good job, looks good!

Thanks for all the kind comments.

I'm not too worried about water entering the vent, I know that some will but I like the looks of the vent. Time will thell though. The car isn't going to be winter driven and is garage parked so it doesn't sit outside very often and snow won't be sitting on the decklid.

+'s for all who don't already have 'em.

Nolan
Edit to say: Only this thread was put together in a day, the vent has taken much, much longer

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 03-13-2006).]

Awsome work! Now....if only I had a nice garage like yours to work in.....

quote Originally posted by Sourmug: Edit to say: Only this thread was put together in a day, the vent has taken much, much longer

I feel better now... you were making me look lazy

quote Originally posted by RCR: Sourmug: Plus for you, man. Great writeup so far. Arte444: That was 88GTFormula you were posting the models for. I remember the thread. (At least I think I do...:dizzy Bob

yup, that was me... i fudged the plug i spent all that time on... I might design a few other things here when i get a better pace to do it other than my bedroom... lol. Its all a matter of time...

Beautiful work Nolan!!!! I can't wait to see it painted, just beautiful.
Good for you taking the time to take all the pictures, materials etc... its wicked to see the entire process, as it happened, Thanks!! + for you!

and good call moving the wing, you wouldn't think something so subtle would look so cool
Keep up the good work!!!

lookin good!

can't wait to see it at the Calgary Fiero Festiva this coming year!

- Phil

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"Wanna join a...punk band....shave your head and get a tattoo. Don't need intelligence just attitude!"

Just a bump for those who have not seen this. I will probably post some update pictures this weekend.

fieroman_5000:

We specifically moved 3 years ago so that I could build what is almost a 3 car garage for the Fiero. I don't know how houses are where you live but all the new ones here seem to come with tiny attached 2 car garages. I wanted to have a shop to work in.

Phil86SE:

Unfortunately my car wont be ready this year as it is a looong term project. It looks like this now:

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 03-17-2006).]

OK. I decided to give the decklid a light coat of black paint just to see how it looks overall. In general I'm pretty happy with how it looks:



I'm glad that I did this as it has now revealed further small imperfections:



Some of these
are really the quality of the decklid and some are finishing issues with my work. I'm going to work at getting most of these out of the finished product but I probably wont be successful in getting them all. This is sure a good learning project and again my hats of to those who do this for a living.

More to follow later.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

quote Originally posted by Phil86SE: lookin good! can't wait to see it at the Calgary Fiero Festiva this coming year! - Phil

NO PLANS for a show in Calgary this year, but Edmonton may organize something.

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3.4L S/C 87 GT www.fierosound.com
2002/2003/2004 World of Wheels Winner &
Multiple IASCA Stereo Award Winner

quote Originally posted by fierosound: NO PLANS for a show in Calgary this year, but Edmonton may organize something.

I made it to the first one, had to miss last years, but I was hoping to make it to this years

Here is another little project that I have underway, I am also installing some Trans Am vents into the front fenders. The vents that I am using are the smaller size vents and came from a 1990 Car. I used the method that Zoom88 used in his thread:
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...050410-2-057783.html
This is quite easy to do actually but if you have never done anything like this it does take some fortitude to make the initial cut. Zoom was also kind enough to send me a copy of the template that he used.

Here are some pictures of the vents after I installed them and did the initial filing and sanding:



Here a shot from the backside:


The instructions in Zooms thread are really easy to follow. I have converted the relevant bits of Zoom's thread to both word and PDF formats if anyone would like a copy.

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-08-2007).]

Sourmug, this is beautiful. I would like to have a copy of the pdf you made. Are the T/A vent templates reuseable?

[This message has been edited by Fiero1Fan (edited 03-18-2006).]

Fiero1Fan:

I will send you a copy of the PDF. Yes the template is reusable. What I was thinking of doing is scanning the template (once I dig it up) and marking a few key dimensions on it. If you have access to a photo copier that will scale the copy up and down you could easily reproduce it by scaling it so that the marked dimensions are correct. I'll have to dig it up and do this.

Thanks for the compliments, I hope you give it a try.

Nolan