The Rottinchop traveled up to Wisconsin. Archie viewed it...and shook his head in disbelief. Rob has it...and he and the fellas should be recovered from their laughing/crying fits by this time. The Fox Valley boys think they can make it work and my son and I are very hopeful. His heart was a bit crushed by the whole ordeal. Over to you fellas for the details!!!!
Good things come to those who wait, and you had more patience and faith then anyone. Here's hoping Fox Valley Fiero's can give you a chop worthy of your wait.
------------------ --Jeff aka mrfred8 - 88 Yellow GT - 86 Silver SE (3800 in progress) Fieros For Sale
Prepare yourself....................this is not for the faint of heart.
Here is the bottom of the door.....in the old thread you may have noticed a trim piece here that was made and put on. Well, um fail blew off on the way here stuck on with cheap hardware store caulk. IMG]https://images.fiero.nl/2012/CIMG7062.JPG[/IMG]
WOW is all I have to say and a for just how bad this was., None of the work was symmetrical and was off side to side a lot when measured with a ruler. the light pockets were off as well.
On to the failure of bonding and body work..... OK this is the right front pillar top were the cut is made for the chop top. notice the lack of sanded and cleaned up surface on the bottom of the pillar piece. I didn't even have to barley lift and it crumbled. Left side
Where the roof and the rear clip were joined....Fail, bonding surfaces were not cleaned up sanded and bonded with bonding adhesive. the metal work was just as terrible, I will need to find a chunk of metal to fill this in or a factory chunk off a junk car. that's all for tonight! As bad as it all looks we can fix it!
John gimi a call when you are free tomorrow night. I am home after 6
Archie I will get to work on the list we talked about.
[This message has been edited by jetsnvettes2000 (edited 11-29-2016).]
I think I completed more work in 20 minutes on it tonight than was done in the last 2 years! lol first stages of this is dissecting the work or I should say lack of work that was done. I really want to save the hips that they made but I already have spotted a few issues I may have to address seing how the other things were bonded. tomorrow night I am going to drill a few exploratory holes in them so I can see how they were bonded on. If I see they are bonded with panel adhesive I will leave them on and try and save whats left of the rear clip, if they are not on good I will try and remove them and reuse them, I fear they are a chunk of foam like the front was with aluminum tape as the bond.
[This message has been edited by jetsnvettes2000 (edited 07-22-2013).]
I've been following this one for a while. Sorry about the issues and I hope you all can help redo this. The only time I will say this: "In defense of the work by the one who remains nameless", based upon his previous threads, this all looks like a buck, in which a mold would have been made. All the bodywork looks very temporary.
I am sad to see how badly this has gone so far, but I am truly encouraged when the Fiero group gets together to help one of their own.
I don't know it would help or not, but I have a hood from my 88 GT that I am not using. It is a very sound and serviceable hood, but the paint on it is very sun burnt. If there was a way to get it all the way over to Wisconsin to you I would give it to this project for free. If there is a way PM me.
Thank you for the kind offer. I know those boys are going to need a whole lot of parts!!! Some good news I received this morning...Chuck may have found the choptop glass!!! Hopefully it is the correct glass. It should be headed up here this week or next.
One other thing I know we will need is a windshield. It helps to keep the bugs out of your teeth when you are driving!
[This message has been edited by johnyrottin (edited 08-01-2013).]
Tony, thanks. I am not sure which way Rob intends to head on this project. I am leaving it completly up to him and the fellas. It will be one heck of a surprise!!! Will definitely take you up on the offer if they had thay way though. Your tailights always look amazing!
Also, I think Rob is still inspecting and will come up with a parts list soon. From what I know at this point hood, fenders, nose, rear decklid, and windshield. From there I am not sure.
We have lots of Fieros in the boneyards down around my area. I can head out and strip things that you fellas need to help build this beast back up. If theres any way I can help let me know.
Johnny, I am going to a wedding in the UP at Manistee, I think the third weekend of August. If you can wait until then I can strap the hood onto the top of my Impala and bring it with me. I will drive it down to where the Fiero is and drop it off, that way it won't cost anyone anything. If that is alright I will PM you to get the address where I need to drop it off.
A moment of silence........... after pulling the rest of the body off and taking a crap load of measurements the frame is a loss. Pics to follow but to sum it up as you all wait for the pics the roof is bent every which way but square the b pillar is twisted and well missing chunks. Good news tho this project may not be dead yet..............just keep in the back of your mind a grandfathers ax. Sometimes you have to replace the handle sometimes you have to replace the head but.... its still grandpas ax more to follow on that.....
I sure hope you end up with the car you were supposed to! If you or the guys were closer I would say you could have access to my cnc mill, lathe or whatever else may be needed. Good luck!
OK here we go This really hurts posting these pics, if it was not for the hack job this was a beautiful frame. Here you can see the right B pillar and it is well look at the pics. Drivers side
Both sides I can get my finger into the right side more since it is not square and higher
Here is a pic of how bad the dash fit Chris could barley see out of it and it was taped in not bonded or bolted in and then mud was over the tape.
John, here is were the roof is smashed up by him putting in what looks like a porta power and jacking the crap out of it bending the roof up and pulling it in. I hope this pic turns out , shows how bent up the roof is I put my back window template in it to check it further and it was sloppy all the way around After discovering the mashed up roof line I grabbed a extra roof I had laying in storage and we used it to compare just how out of whack the center of the roof was. we then threw a stock dash in it to see if the windshield would have even fitted with the chop and well that part he got right at least. Chris is giving opinion of a he who remains unnamed chopping skills Here we are taking more measurements to see just how bad it is bent up and what kind of hacking I would have to do to fix it. And that's All folks and now for the sad part the car is too bent up to fix, between the missing parts and the poor construction this poor car died by the hands of that person. We made a collective decision that this car would be unsafe or impractical at this point to try and fix with so much of it hacked off missing or ruined. BUT!! there is hope, As we were going threw looking it over and looking at every option and angle we have found a solution..Stay tuned this is not over yet!
I will not turn this into a circus. But, I just want to say that the "satisfied customers" need to pull a panel or two on their cars.
I am too far away to help out physically, but my offer stands guys.
I was just about to add Since it was already asked by Blackthundergt, I would for sure get the body off asap and get a ruler and get going on it. after seeing this hack job those other cars may be really unsafe. As John asked me would I put my daughters in this car My answer is HELL FREAKING NO! this thing is ready to fold up. Guys who had work done take out your wheel well liners and look at the back of all your panels also if you have any cracking or in this cars case crap just falling off.
Tonight after work I went to Rob's to check out the RottinChop and help tear it down to the bare chassis.
NOT GOOD. Poor welds, cuts, holes, and bends in the roof structure and chassis that have turned a near perfect rust free car into a serious threat to all Flexi-Fliers with it's ability to twist itself. The only part we coud be sure was square was the rear hoop around the rear glass, every other part had some serious issue we couldn't be sure of it's integrity. Dash installed with aluminum tape as the only fastener and so high you could hardly see out of it, BUT it was easy to remove! [lol, but really not funny, sorry Johnny] The front end body work was a pure mess as well as the rear decklid and taillight panel. Ready for paint? HA! When did USPS shipping boxes become a proper body component?
ITS A SERIOUS MESS! Rob will be getting the pics up soon if he hasn't done so already so everyone can see the quality of work that came out of that shop. I would be concerned if I had a car previously completed from this place, if you do, I would go over it with a fine tooth comb, make sure you check for cardboard and aluminum tape! It may look pretty on the outside, but I'd be worried about the inside. The only parts nice on the car are the rear fender hips, rear bumper, the upper halves of the door panels, and the tip up doors, which I think are the only parts not fabricated in that shop.
The condition is quite unfortunate, Johnny has some decisions to make as to how this project shall proceed, but he WILL get a PROPERLY completed chopper from THE FOX VALLEY BOYS
I took last night to process. it is gutting that a completely rust free very nice 88GT was ruined while a guy took someone's hard earned cash and produced this junk. I can dwell on the negative and live miserably or I can press on knowing there a good people out there and be a happy guy. I choose that latter. in that spirit here is a current status of the Rottinchop:
Yes, it is headed to the scrap heap. Sad but true. Now on to the good news that comes from the bad news. Choptop #19 is sitting outside Archie's shop. No more. It will head to the Fox Valley boys. So they get to start with an Archie quality chop. Now the boys instead of starting with a car made from this:
and this
They get to start with this:
Yes that is Will's old Formula. So in a way I am finishing it for both of us. Archie is also going to check his storage to see if he has a GT body left. Couldn't do this withoiut Archie!!!
With these ACE Aviator rims:
These Archie doors:
Hopefully turning this engine:
Into something like this:
We will try to use these hips:
And hopefully this rear bumper
These coilovers
These brakes
And some other bits and bobs that will pop up as we go along.
I refuse to let one bad person that weaseled his way into our community set the tone we have with each other and the vendors we embrace. I will maintain a positive outlook and empower the good folks we have working together to make this happen. This is somewhat where we are moving towards:
[This message has been edited by johnyrottin (edited 11-17-2015).]
LOL on the shipping box! yup folks that's right the so called side scoops were made of that very box! John is that the engine from the add? My phone does not let me post to the thread as I am headed to work and off my pc but I will check this later on. I am going to remove as much as I can that can be saved from this one.
John, I am so glad to see this "lemon" situation start to turn into "lemonade" for you. What's happening now is truly a testament to the vast majority of the Fiero community, and it's very humbling to see. I remember a couple of years ago when I blew my tranny at the drag strip, you offered MULTIPLE TIMES to help get my Fiero back on the road... and although I never took you up on the offer, your willingness to help out a complete stranger really says it all.
Kudos to Archie for helping out too.
I wish you the best of luck with the resurrection... if you ever make it down around Cocoa Florida, first round is on me.
Ya know guys, I am SO GLAD to hear that you are still moving forward with this build despite the damage to the car. What I don't understand is that is the top is indeed that bad, why can't you just cut it off and start over with a new top? I mean surely it would be easier and cheaper to start over that way then to start from scratch with a complete other vehicle> I am assuming you are having to purchase the other car here. Looking at the pictures of the choptop welds and cuts yeah it looks terrible and the pressure applied to the roof in the center like that obviously compromised the roofs integrity but how hard would it be to just level up the frame and take some squaring meaurements/weld in some braces and just break out the sawzall on the top and start over. Seems a shame to throw away a decent body 88GT if all that is damaged is the bodywork and the roofline. You guys are there looking at it and I am of course not so I bow to your experience, of course one fellow there has already done his own choptop himself so that is one more than I have ever done too. I have however done some extensive surgery to the body of a fiero before and tig welded it back together when it was pretty much a loss so maybe I just hate to give up on a Fiero somehow. Either way good luck with it and I wish you were closer I would love to be of assistance. Peace
Pete
------------------ "May the grins begin when you turn the key and hear the engine roar over your shoulder" ......Gall57 (slightly modified LOL)
Yes, it is headed to the scrap heap. Sad but true. Now on to the good news that comes from the bad news. Choptop #19 is sitting outside Archie's shop. No more. It will head to the Fox Valley boys. So they get to start with an Archie quality chop.
Dang, you move fast! Awesome update.
[This message has been edited by carbon (edited 07-24-2013).]
for just how bad this was., None of the work was symmetrical and was off side to side a lot when measured with a ruler. the light pockets were off as well.
Positive vibes...
Um, wow. That is beyond criminal. Really hoping to see this car turned around.
after pulling the rest of the body off and taking a crap load of measurements the frame is a loss. Pics to follow but to sum it up as you all wait for the pics the roof is bent every which way but square the b pillar is twisted and well missing chunks. Good news tho this project may not be dead yet..............just keep in the back of your mind a grandfathers ax. Sometimes you have to replace the handle sometimes you have to replace the head but.... its still grandpas ax more to follow on that.....
