No major progress to report as the sanding and removing of the foam continues... I'm hoping to work on the car alot this weekend. I have to remove the headliner and cut the holes for the recently reupholstered sun visors. It really sucks moving to a new house and wanting to work on your pride and joy at the same time...
I dropped the panels off at another upholster shop and they jumped right on it - I forgot to get pics but I'm stopping by this afternoon. We decided on a few changes and they should be ready Monday or Tuesday of this week.
The door pulls... It just amazes me how poorly a job the previous upholster did. As you know I had the upholster also cover the pulls and add a light grey stitched area around the actual "hand pull". They placed a velcro strip behind the door pull (I'll post pics this evening). I didnt think much of it until I noticed the velcro strip begin to peel off. They added this strip to cover up the piss poor staple job they did instead of the stitching I had originally requested. Now... I get to drop these off as well... UGH!!!!! It really ticks me off!
So far so good. They have been very accomodating working / fixing someone else's work. I was afraid they would take offense for not bringing it to them the first time...
One thing I forgot to mention. The previous shop reupholstered the stock map pockets on the door panel after telling them, again, DO NOT TOUCH the pockets... they screwed up ALL the way around. Yes, they took a perfectly good set of pockets and destroyed them...
Sorry guys... I keep forgetting to post pics. I get home from work and there is so much to do... ugh... what happened to good ol days when he didnt have to worry about bills, eating, sleeping, going to work, taking out the trash, etc...
I'll get those pics posted tonight
EDIT - Sorry for the wait... things just always seem to get in the way...
Door Pull - As you can see the upholster's stuck a velcro strip on the back of the door pull... why?
So they could hide their shoddy work and hope to get away with a half@$$ed job.
I asked them NOT to touch the pockets - they destroyed and reupholstered the pair
This is where we are now...
If you're in the Huntsville, Madison, Toney area... I would stay as far away from Freddie Louis Auto Accessories.
[This message has been edited by Sofa King (edited 10-23-2011).]
The recessed area of the door panel where the door pull mounts will be stitched with new material. The material is unable to stretch enough to fit all the contours of the panel...
CHECK IT! One down... one to go! After another disasterous "tour" with another upholstery shop they door panels are finally finished. They didnt turn out exactly the way I wanted them to but in the end... I guess they're ok... what do you think?
Back from the shop - I made the recessed area a grey - they did a terrible stitch job
I then cut / removed the areas for the handle and door pull
Because of the thickness of the vinyl I had to do two things. Remove material from the panel and widen the "channel" where the door panels rests
I kept the drivers side attached - it made it much easier to widen. Just a simple screw driver, a hammer and tap tap here and a tap tap there - you can see how much wider the "channel" had to be
Passenger side installed
I'm waiting for the glue to dry on the drivers side panel - I had to attached a new metal bracket that holds the door panel clip
Door Pull - As you can see the upholster's stuck a velcro strip on the back of the door pull... why? So they could hide their shoddy work and hope to get away with a half@$$ed job.
Wow. What kind of businesses can afford to do shoddy work and lose customers in this economy?
But your last picture of the finished panels looks sweet!
It was a very frustrating experience to say the least. What was supposed to take them less than a week wound up being almosy 2 months. I reluctantly gave them a second chance after waiting almost 3 months for the sunvisors. They did a great job stitching but the quality of work on the door pulls was clearly rushed. The owner felt bad but I dont think I could give them a third chance... however... you can see the quality of work the second upholsters did on the grey door panel inlays. Look at the great stitching! UGH...
Anywho... the panels are now finished and installed. And it only took how long? LOL I'm still not 100% satisfied. I still like my original idea.
HEY... IDEA! Does anybody sell a fiberglass door panel shell? I could have sworn I saw something a few years ago????
btw...i havnt been on this site in a while but i remember seeing your build a year or so ago....man, those panels look great! wish i had the patients, skills, or budget to redesign my little red sleds interior.
GL on the rest of the build...i will be watching =)
Dan
[This message has been edited by Axl_Rose (edited 12-06-2011).]
Thanks for the kind words. The best way to learn how to do this stuff is just jump in and do it. I had ZERO fiberglass experience before I started. Just jump in a do it!
Unfortunately for the build, things have been hectic and I havent had the time I would like to be able to spend on the car. Although the door panels are finished, they are not what I had originally designed. So I'm going back to the beginning and building the door panels from scratch - no more ruining a pair of panels. I'll begin to post pics of the newest project as soon I get far enough into the build.
Thanks again for the kind words.
Everybody have a happy holiday and a very Merry Christmas!
I have to admit I've been in a kind of funk... No build progress for a while. With all the frustration getting alledged "professionals" to properly work on the interior really put a damper on the fun. I've got a bunch a foam core sitting and waiting for me to design new door panels but the desire to actually do it just isnt there... Plus a bunch of other personal stuff going on has gotten in the way...
And yes, the car is for sale but NO ONE is biting so I probably should just jump back into it and see what happens...
I was sick on monday, and I spent about 8 hours on the forum, and at least 5 hours reading your thread from the first page. After reading all that, Im shocked that today I find out your selling the car. WOW after all that work. If you can, stick it out, and wait until the motivation comes back, you will be so upset with yourself if you sell it. Trust me, I put my heart and sole into my 1979 Grand Am, and then after losing some motivation, I sold it. About a week later i realized what I had done and contacted the new owner to buy it back, to late, he had spun a bearing in the 400 (that I installed). I moved on, but I wish I had that one back
MASSIVE MAJOR HUGE AWESOME UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As of this moment the radio stack design has changed! Why? Well... A few changes are about to take place. I mentioned that I received a package in the mail... Check it out!
The Package - if you notice... the delivery man left the package in the friggin rain. UGH... Luckily there was enough packing material to protect the contents. What contents?
Unloading all the goodies... what could it be?
Wait? HUH?
This dash cluster won't fit in a Fiero! Or will it?
BINGO
Backside
Up close
Side View
I am really PUMPED about this project and can't wait to get started on creating the new center stack.
I'm hoping I can drop the cluster off with Jeremy at the Fiero Factory. He likes to tinker with electronics so this is going to be a MASSIVE challenge for him - I hope he's up for the task. If there is anybody in the Huntsville, AL area who is electronics whiz... drop me a line! I know it's not an exact replica of the concept cluster but I think it's cool either way. 89 Concept Dash... Here I come! LOL
STAY TUNED!!!!!
WHERE DID YOU GET THAT GAUGE HOUSING!!!!!!??????? I want one!!!!
I know its an old thread but has anyone found out what that dash came out of?
quote
Originally posted by Fierofreak00:
This is a one off, no molds were made as it was a hand made prototype by a former member here. It was made with the idea to offer it up for sale but, those plans fell thru a few years ago. I was lucky enough to talk the former member into selling it to me. I made some modifications to it to make it more like the actual 90's cluster. I just lost interest in it as it really didn't fit the plans I had. So again, it's a one off, and the only one like it. -Jason
I haven't been on in a few months and was seeing what all I have missed and was surprised to see this thread pop up. I am the current owner of this car and still enjoy driving it almost daily. Had to replace all the suspension bushings, ball joints, and steering rack bushing, but after that she drives quite well.
