a few things we have been working on at the shop this week. most of this is posted in other threads with more detail. D.
Exoticse's swap. we just mounted the motor and test fit it into the car for the first time. it still has a long way to go.
and today I just picked this one up for my custom choptop as a temp. motor while I build my other one. once I am done with the other one I will swap this one into another one of my cars and keep it around for a while. LS4 out of an 06 Monte carlo
we have been working on a lot of projects this last week and more for this week as well. one of the cars I will be working on over the next few weeks to get ready for the run for the hills will be my new 88. it will not be finished but it will be road ready by then. and I think it may be the lowest car in the hills come join me and the rest of the Ga. Fiero club in Ashville, Nc. it will be worth the drive. nothing better than mountain roads in a fiero.
look for the thread here on PFF or the Ga. Fiero site.
we have been working on a lot of projects this last week and more for this week as well. one of the cars I will be working on over the next few weeks to get ready for the run for the hills will be my new 88. it will not be finished but it will be road ready by then. and I think it may be the lowest car in the hills come join me and the rest of the Ga. Fiero club in Ashville, Nc. it will be worth the drive. nothing better than mountain roads in a fiero.
look for the thread here on PFF or the Ga. Fiero site.
Originally posted by whodeanie: and today I just picked this one up for my custom choptop as a temp. motor while I build my other one. once I am done with the other one I will swap this one into another one of my cars and keep it around for a while. LS4 out of an 06 Monte carlo
Yay, another one!
Will you be detailing any of the LS4 install in this thread, or another one? Interesting to see if you end up doing some of it differently.
the last few days around the shop have been crazy, we went from almost every car in the shop running to having not a single one running in 4 days. we have one with the exhaust off, 2 with no drivetrains at all one with no trans, 2 with no bodys and the lambo with a bad heater line. all these swaps at once is keeping us running but it is all fun.
today we finished what we needed to do and had some time to kill before we could go to Atl. and pick up a car so I mentioned to my guys that i was thinking about doing a choptop on the new 88 I got and they started grabing tools and striped the thing down in 1 hr for the chop so now I guess I will just have to get it done after hrs. I need to have it back together for the run for the hills in just 4 weeks. it will be ready but it may not lok like much I think this one will be this next years custom, I have a few mods in mind that will turn heads that have never been done on one yet. some of them I may take molds from. I will keep you all posted as it goes. for now this is what the car now looks like. D.
Originally posted by whodeanie: ...I mentioned to my guys that i was thinking about doing a choptop on the new 88 I got and they started grabing tools and striped the thing down in 1 hr for the chop ...
the last few days we have beed busting our butts on Mera's doing a few fixes on the red 308 and then Nelson came down from SC and we reworked the intire top end of his car with new powdercoated parts and a trueleo intake. so it has been non stop. today we need to finish up a few other things and I will be able to get on my car to chop it sometime this weekend. D.
yesterday we ran out of things to do while we waited on parts so we played with me new car. we where able to get the chop done on the chassis. and today I had a bunch of running around to do but once I got back to the shop around 2 I worked on it by myself and was able to get the body cut up and fitted. I also got the interior parts from Archie today so I test fit them as well. I did this chop from memory because I can't find the instructions that Archie sent me but I did it the right way because all of the parts that Archie sent me fit like they where ment to.
here are a few pic's of the chop as it is now as well as some shots of the Mera we worked on last week. we did a Truleo intake, valve covers, lower intake, ss lines, a water pump and front callipers. D.
the before of the Mera motor and the during. I forgot to get finished ones but he did send me some. I will see about posting them later
When do you plan to start on the rockers ? Shipped out the rear yet for mold production ?
the rockers will take sometime still. I have cars that need to be finished before I can work on them. but I want to get them done asap. I will also be building some new custom parts for the new car that I will see about making as well so stay tuned D.
we have been working on several cars as of late so I will just cover some of the highlights. both the lambos have had work done the painted one we have fixed a lot of little things and are getting ready to get a few big things done as well like the mess of wire on it.
the other lambo we are still fitting the body on.
Tonys car we have gotten the motor on the cradle and have started the headers.
my choptop Widebody car has not been worked on since we pulled the motor ( my stuff is always last)
the red 355 got a new trans and clutch this last week because Reverse was going out.
Shorty got a tune up.
the red 84 is going to get tires in the morning and then go home.
the blue 355 is back for a few more little things
and last but not least my new 88 choptop. the chop is done now we just need to finish up a little glass work and reinstall the top as well as the inside of the car but you know me I can not leave anything alone so I started on another project on it as well but I will not share till I have it done.
but now I will have to find something else to drive for the run for the hills.
Your shop looks like lots of fun. One of these days, once my Fiero is running, I may have to take a road trip and have you do something to it. I don't know what, yet, but something!
Actually, that hood scoop pic reminds me of my idea to build something like this, heavy mods required, but will be justified (the center, not the fenders):
How do you feel about that? I was thinking that I'd make a duct 'pan' that would stay put in the front compartment going from the radiator up to nearly the underside of the hood, rubber-sealed via a lip (similar to the trunk seal) to the matching hole in the hood. That way the whole contraption wouldn't have to lift up with the hood. That will make it easier to run a permanent (welded) strut tower brace to take the place of the factory forward trunk wall. It'll probably pass through that duct. It would also make it easier to fab since the hood won't have to be seriously modded, just cut, braced slightly, and smoothed. The main fab required will be for the duct. This along with a large mouth front fascia will allow me to completely seal the front underside of the car.
I've gotta do this before I get it painted because the top-half of the car will be a candy blue so difficult to re-match later, and I have to get the car painted sooner rather than later so my wife won't hate it anymore.
Your shop looks like lots of fun. One of these days, once my Fiero is running, I may have to take a road trip and have you do something to it. I don't know what, yet, but something!
Actually, that hood scoop pic reminds me of my idea to build something like this, heavy mods required, but will be justified (the center, not the fenders):
How do you feel about that? I was thinking that I'd make a duct 'pan' that would stay put in the front compartment going from the radiator up to nearly the underside of the hood, rubber-sealed via a lip (similar to the trunk seal) to the matching hole in the hood. That way the whole contraption wouldn't have to lift up with the hood. That will make it easier to run a permanent (welded) strut tower brace to take the place of the factory forward trunk wall. It'll probably pass through that duct. It would also make it easier to fab since the hood won't have to be seriously modded, just cut, braced slightly, and smoothed. The main fab required will be for the duct. This along with a large mouth front fascia will allow me to completely seal the front underside of the car.
I've gotta do this before I get it painted because the top-half of the car will be a candy blue so difficult to re-match later, and I have to get the car painted sooner rather than later so my wife won't hate it anymore.
I could do that, I was already thinking of doing something like that on something I have as well.
------------------ Is your Fastback GT's trunk seal shot? My replacement GT trunk seals are now in production and shipping. $95 + $15 flat rate shipping to the US (contact me for international shipping rates) or buy two and pay only a single shipping rate! More info can be found here GT Trunk Seal Project
I have seen it around, but i cannot tell you exactly where it came from. I purchased it from Whadeduck after seeing it lying in the background in his build thread .
I have seen it around, but i cannot tell you exactly where it came from. I purchased it from Whadeduck after seeing it lying in the background in his build thread .
Look great! Nice blank spot for a certain embellishment
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------------------ Is your Fastback GT's trunk seal shot? My replacement GT trunk seals are now in production and shipping. $95 + $15 flat rate shipping to the US (contact me for international shipping rates) or buy two and pay only a single shipping rate! More info can be found here GT Trunk Seal Project
I took the weekend off from the shop but I did get to go to an Exotic car show today with a friend. what a blast! I took lots of pictures and posted them in OT. I would have taken more but my camera battery went dead D.
I did get a few cool ideas for the next build from the show, ie the new rear bumper, side scoops, front end and a few other things the new choptop will have some killer new mods that are already in the works. I don't want to give anything away on this one till I have it built but I will say that it already has a few tweaks that have never been done on a Fiero that should keep you all waiting for it D.
[This message has been edited by whodeanie (edited 09-05-2010).]
I have not updated in a while because I have been slammed at the shop and after the weekend I just had I should have stayed at work but that is another story.
here is what I have been doing over the last few weeks. some other stuff as well but I will not share that yet
we did a few little repairs on this one and yes it is a factory blue and I think it will be for sale soon.
I was able to finish Tony's headers and get them to the powder coater last week.
as well as started the wires.
we also installed a full 355 interior in a Mera.
with all of this we have also worked on several other cars for repairs and the long term builds as well. the silver Diablo is now running, headlights installed, heater tube fixed, brakes finished and working on installing air bags in the front.
the other Diablo we are still fitting parts on the chassis.
my 2 choptops are on the back burner for a while.
and last but not least we did a few more finishing things on the blue 355.
this is why I have no time but I love it and always welcome more thanks to all for the support, Dean
Man this guy has his hands full. His stuff looks great too! Dean, I wish you were closer! (But I am sure my wife doesn't) LOL
LOL! I am sure she would not like it I am also working on 2 other cars that are not Fiero's as well but that is another story.
I was finaly able to get some progress pic's of the silver lambo project today. we finished up the air bags on the front as well as the headlights. we will be finishing up the front end in the morning and get the car back on the ground. then I need to make the seat mounts but it is getting closer. D.
the air bags are used as an air lift only to go over speed bumps and driveways, the suspenission is setup with coilovers.
[This message has been edited by whodeanie (edited 09-21-2010).]
this weekend I had to pick up 3 cars one for a motor swap, 98 grand prix 3800 sc with only 3 wheels that was fun to load. the second an 86 GT with a 3.4 DOHC swap that I will need to finish. and last but not least an 85 nitchie gt. parts car. now I am parts rich and cash poor oh well what can you do? SELL! any one need anything PM me I may have it. D.
Nelson came by monday so we could finish up some things on the Mera. here are the pictures from that as well as some rocker pictures from the red 355 for the owner.
on another note we were finaly able to look over the 355 that I had problems with on the way to the run for the hills. it did not blow a head gasket after all. it was getting very hot but did not over heat. we found that the thermostat was sticking and not opening all the way and that was causing it to heat up but what blew on the car was the high pressure line of the AC. it had a bad hose crimp. so the car is ok. I need to pull the ac line and have it remade as well as install a new thermostat but it is way better than having to rebuild the motor. D.
we were able to strip the grand prix in about 4 hrs. the intire drive train, wires and the dash. I will be installing the intire thing into my new choptop once I get around to it again. for now we will be working on the Lambo and Tony's car as well as a few other little things that we need to finish. D.
How far does the shifter move in that setup? Does it actually go into the gates? Just curious, that interior is just amazing! Keep us updated when you have time.
Originally posted by whodeanie: on another note we were finaly able to look over the 355 that I had problems with on the way to the run for the hills. it did not blow a head gasket after all. it was getting very hot but did not over heat. we found that the thermostat was sticking and not opening all the way and that was causing it to heat up but what blew on the car was the high pressure line of the AC. it had a bad hose crimp. so the car is ok. I need to pull the ac line and have it remade as well as install a new thermostat but it is way better than having to rebuild the motor. D.
I'm glad it wasn't the head gasket or anything major!
ok, lots of questions tonight first the shifter does go into all the gears just fine it does not go all the way into the cut outs but it does get close to the sides.
the air bags will lift the car all the way to max suspension hight. they will inflate to about 14" tall if you let them. the set up is not HT. the arms are but the airbags are a custom install that we did. the owner wants to be able to lift the car to go over speed bumps and such.
thanks for you intrest
today we did a bit more work on Tony's car and I will post pic's on his build thread. I also got a pic of the AC line that blew on the 355 as well as my new 3800 SC motor that will be going into my new choptop. I will keep you posted on that as it goes. D.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by exoticse: Dean you doing anything special upgradewise to your motor ?
I am not sure yet, it depends on funds and time. I do need to rebuild the supercharger but other than that I may just run it like it is. it was well maintained and strong when it was in the car. D.
come join me and the rest of the Ga. Fiero club in Ashville, Nc. 
