Amazing stuff! I love following your build. Your skills are unreal!
I've done very little fiberglass work and have a noob question. Why do you lay down the tape line down, such as in the fender work pic a few posts up? Thanks
edit: I just wanted to add; the Sebring windshield mod is so cool and really adds to the look. I would love to do that to a Fiero one day if I ever get enough experience to pull it off.
[This message has been edited by LZeppelin513 (edited 10-09-2014).]
Thanks Boog and Italgt. The stretch is probably going to warrent some more body mods to make it look right. Your absolutly right about it doesnt take much to really change the look. Alittle goes a LONG way on a little car. The C pillars will be the most noticalbe difference in the angle and some changes in the quarters are in order as well as scrunching the rear alittle and lowering the taillights in there positions.....For now its getting the cradle aligned straight and getting a alignment so the rear will be square. More coming !
Zepp.........Glad your here and Thanks ! As for the tape line...good question. When theres different body lines intersecting i put a tape line where they intersect. Its hard to see the lines without a tape line or a marker drawn on it. Then when your glassing or filling or sanding you sand to the line. When your done with one side , put the tape line or drawn line down for the other side and go to that line. This way you assure that the body line will be crisp. Afterwords i usually hand sand the line lightly to round over. The line on the fender is 4" from the lip. It makes a nice "flare" for the fender. Doing this also makes it easier to match the other side. Hope that helps ! As for the windshield...its my favorite mod so far. Love the fiero look but the more i get away from it the more i want to get away from it !!
The stretch will certainly make the rear quarter look a bit more sleek and fit the overall look better. I always felt the stock rear quarter on the Fieros is a few inches short especially when adding different front clip looks to the car. The new quarter will really help with the flow back there.
Hey Tony. Comments I get are ones of confusion and couriosity . I love to take her out at night and cruise the highways. I have to say that 80% of the time I find someome worth while to play with. Most recently was a Porsche 911 turbo for which I passed hard getting onto a freeway. It was a good run and we got off the same exit. At the light we were side by side and agreed it was a fun run to 143 and back . He said " just what is that "? And I replied its a Alchelmy GTR.... A one off . He smiled and said that is just to cool. No matter where it goes it turns heads. People come up to it and ask questions. I actually get more attention hanging around non fiero people because it is so far from one. It's a satisfying feeling that makes me go for more mods... More power and more confusing looks from people . The only fiero tell tail is the center console and mirrors which are in the plans as well. Everything else has been modded in some way .... Even modded from a mod . The Fiero is old enough to be unique in its stock form as newer generations have no idea and modified I think to a point puts it in a class all it's own even from itself. More to come.
Been thinking awhile about this.....and decided to go this route. With the bigger rims and tires there is quite a bit of back feed to the steering wheel when you hit bumps or ruts. Not a comforatable feeling. So heres the start of the next modd within mods !
Using different sized threaded rods I mocked up the pump in the drivers rear quarter. With the frame cut out theres a nice place to put it. Later I will reinforce the frame and gig out a rear section to hold up the rear clip...
Most of the welding is done now. I'll clean it up after I drop the cradle later. Mocked up with the intake tubes
Coming togerther. Next is the lines and electrical. The rack will be later ...prob in the spring. I just want to get everything in place now to start putting the rear back together.
Lower lateral relocation kit and Guru's 5 speed shifter parts and cables ordered for the F40. The 4 sp shifter and cables seem alitlle sloppy to me and the 5sp shifter is tighter. Also the mounts to the transmission are a more solid clamp verses the factory clip hold down. Once these are in it will be time to drop the cradle to notch the frame rail for the transmission as it now touches it after the stretch. Then a alignment can be done and the I can then start with the body again. Lots of mods planed for the body, side skirts reworked, C Pillars reworked, rear height lowered , rear air ducts reworked and functional to the turbo...etc.....
Been thinking awhile about this.....and decided to go this route. With the bigger rims and tires there is quite a bit of back feed to the steering wheel when you hit bumps or ruts. Not a comforatable feeling. So heres the start of the next modd within mods !
Power steering pump from a 03 MR2
Bozzie, nice project. Thanks for being willing to share.
I'm interested in going the electro-hydraulic power steering route. What is required with regard to all but the rack? I've seen separate ECMs for sale, for example. Are those separate from the pump itself or are they integral? In other words, does one need both? If so, how are they integrated into our ECMs? And I'm assuming that compatibility with a GM (Corvette, Camaro, Firebird) rack is functional; what do you think?
RCR...thanks !. Ken. From what I here , those that have done power steering have seldom regretted it. If your doing bigger / wider tires and or rims I think your a prime candidate. When I drove my car stock ...eons ago it was fine and I had no complaints... besides the feedback to the wheel at times and adding a absorber will usually make it harder to steer. Bigger tires / rims ...those that modify....I think should all have PS.... for multiple reasons. The EHPS Pump from a MR2 in the 2000 to 2005 yrs are the best to use. There simplified to the point where can bus and data bus is not used. It works off of speed sense for variable assist. The pump comes with the ECU attached to it. 3 mounting points in a triangle make it easy to mount it. Resavoir is attached as well so its a compact lightweight solution and easily available. I was going to ad a pulley style gm pump to my engine but room is tight, don't want to power rob it and hate the thought of more engine clutter. If you go this route check the archives for the pump., Theres a link to the wiring diagram .. .which is wicked simple. If you put the pump in the rear like I did the speed sence wire is right there. Then its just the rack and lines. I will detail this in my build as I go...just might be awhile.
Waiting for some parts here and not feeling like stopping so another modd on the table that I have been thinking about is a 1 piece tilt nose......so....without further adou.....I put tape down on the body and hood to mark where they meet. Then I took the hood off and all the hardware and hinges to the fenders and hood etc.
Heres a shot of the frame I built for the hinge out of 1/4 " x 2 " I X braced it and its real solid.
The hinge point is as low and forward as possible to allow the hood to open as much as possible and when I put the diffuser back on it wont drop to much. I know its low but that's the way it is
Ok....cut the fender on each side at the body line. You can see the hinge brackets sticking out... they will be cut soon. You wont see them with the diffuser.
Here we go ! Picking up on the hood from the windshield side I slid it off the front... sliding across the hinge brackets and gently to the floor .....WOW this is going to be REAL east to work on now !
Later on i'll flip the front clip and cut off all the mounts, glass the inside and make the front hinge mount. It will be made out of aluminum and glassed to the front forward bumper cover.
Are you going to add your steel bumpers back in somehow or some other method of front and rear crash protection? I see the rear end is pretty much wide open after the front trunk firewall so just wonderin'
Hey Don. Good question. I see on other builds the reinstall of these " crash bars". From my perspective everything I've done is on the outside of this and if a accident occurs then it's already probably way more damage then I would think this brace would save me from. I'm betting more on my insurance buying me a new corvette if this happened. I'm definatly not building this again ! So.... NOPE
Ok....cut the fender on each side at the body line. You can see the hinge brackets sticking out... they will be cut soon. You wont see them with the diffuser.
There's alway a SURPRISE very nice flipper front end
Carlo....good to see you here. Your car is such a inspiration to so much that I do on mine. I really appreciate what you do and your design. On to more modds here / problems.... The rear is lowered a lot and the lower arms are on a bad angle. Thanks to FieroGuru I got his relocation kit and today was the day to straighten this thing out !
Jb1.....thanks buddy. I appreciate that. Really ! Got the car in the air again and took off the rear tires and unbolted the lower arms....
I had a shot of the Guru kit but I cant find it. I have to say that the quality is just great. Service was prompt and Im happy and sad to see that he's busy with other work at the moment. He got my order out asap and with this I got his 5sp shifter for the F40 along with the lockout and the cables and mounts for the tranny. I will put these on later as I have other mods first. The lower link relocation is perfect for lowered cars. It puts the links more even to the ground and at a much better angle. Installing it was a breeze and I was really impressed at how snug these fit to the strut mount. Its a tight fit and I thought it wasn't going to go but it just popped in and aligned tight. There is just no play in it and I cant wait to see how much better she tracks in the spring. Thanks Paul for a great product and service and looking forward to seeing what else you bring to our community !
As this build progresses and the deeper I get into this car the more things I want to do while its in this state of "nakedness" . The 3.25" cradle stretch is progressing and with the rockers now removed I decided to tighten up the frame as with the power I have I can feel the chassis "creek" abit. Looking at the frame I just decided to keep on going and now im going to do a 4" chassis stretch. Across the back sides of the seats i'll cut the car in half and section it 4" . I also want to run square box tubing down the sides and up the C pillar and attach it to the rear frame section as well as the roof panel. Really want to tighten this thing up. I'll move the door jambs forward 4" as well later on. Heres the start of it as I take the interior apart / seats / carpet folded back / headliner / interior C trim / rear window and rear outside roof panel......etc.
Window out....
Seats / rear panel / carpets etc....
The drivers coolant tube is long enough it seams so I just disconnected the mounts to it to allow it to "slide" Passenger tube I cut just behind the cabin. The tank I loosened up and left in the car. AC lines I cut and will lengthen as well as the heater core lines. Clutch line I cut as well as the rear brake line as I will replace these with a new 1 piece unit later. The E brake seames long enough to stretch for now. Wiring on the center hump above the fuel tank on the inside look long enough with alittle messaging and the Vaccum tube will just pop out of the rear bulkhead as I pull it apart...... more to come
Whenever you wanna ship it up ! 
