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Couple small changes. I added the rain gutter between the rear deck
lid and the the trunk. Also changed out the ABS in back of the mirror.
I've only done passenger side at this point as I had to redo that
mirror to increase the angle so I could see. This involved cutting out
the shell that was in the mirror and relocating the motor at a
different angle. |
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I finished off the trunk area with the trunk lining. I started by
coating the two areas that house the gas shocks with trunk splatter. I
then lined the inside of the trunk with trunk felt. I did install an
insulated pad on the floor to keep the heat out. I have also removed
my wing for a while and filled the holes with carriage bolts that I
ground smooth and painted. |
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I have decided on a simpler solution for
the gas release. The plastic Fiero Gas release did not have enough
strength to pop the door. I used a simple choke release cable instead
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| I
installed a longer cable on the gas filler release. You can actually
take the filler door release apart and insert a new cable. I fed the
cable into the drivers compartment just in front of the drivers seat.
By cutting an opening in the side wall, you can actually fit the Fiero
Gas opener into the opening and fasten it to the floor. Carpeting and
padding will cover the flange. |
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| Started
on the weatherseal around the motor deck lid area. |
 
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| Working
on the mechanism to release the latches that hold the roof on the
decklid. Bought a 50# solenoid from Autolock to open the latches. I
fabricated a piece of angle iron with two holes for the cables that
will be bolted to a bracket. a second angle iron is used to hold the
cable ends. By using a bolt I can adjust the tension on the solenoid.
The bicycle cable are run to the latches and terminated in the center
of the decklid to be connected to the solenoid. Connected everything,
pushed the button and it isn't strong enogh to open them. I will have
to keep working on it. This was most of the weekend's work. Sometimes
it goes very slow with limited results. |
 
 
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| The rear
bumper and wing have been primed with the catalytic primer. Working on
the body where the bumper will fit. Bottom picture with it all back
on. |
 
 
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| Beginning
to prep pieces for the first coat of primer/filler. Sanded everything
down with 80 grit, filled holes, dings, etc. As you can see for this
stage, the garage is acting as a paint booth. All will have to be
sanded with 120 grit then coated with a sealer primer. |
 
 
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| Started
closing in the trunk. I'm using 28ga galvanized metal in precut 24" x
30" sheets. I do not have a break machine so I am using C clamps and
gentle pressure to make the bends. I have pop riveted the metal in the
bottom. I will use screws on the sides as I will have to be able to
remove the panels to get to the lights. I am using poster board to
start making templates to use for cutting the last pieces of metal. I
cut openings in the side that I will cover with a removable panel that
will allow me to have access to the lights and grills |
 
 
 
 
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| A little
more work on the key mechanism to open the trunk. I reworked the rod
and connected the two pieces with a threaded coupling. I added a
return spring to the lock to pull it back after it was opened.I
installed solenoids to open the motor deck lid and also installed one
in the trunk. Both will be controlled by a push button in the cockpit.
The key will open the trunk in the event there is power loss. Finished
sheet metalling solenoid in place |
 
 
 
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| Ray has a
new receiver that has a flexible pivot point that can be used for
accepting the pins from the roof. They look like a bearing with a
flexible center. I spot welded one to a piece of channel iron, put a
tab on the top, positioned the roof on the deck lid and then bondoed
the receiver in place. After it was dry, I used more fiberglass to
secure it permanently. I then covered the glass with a coat of bondo
and built it up. What you see in the pictures is the unfinished
product. |
 
 
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| I
fastened my plastic tubing to the front of the deck lid to keep it in
place. |
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| Time to
redo the deck lid braces. The braces that I had glassed to the deck
lid didn't provide the rigidity for the shocks. I decided to use the
technique that I had used on the rear trunk. I removed the tabs that
held the shock ball, bent 1/2" tube to fit the shape of the inside of
the deck lid. I drilled holes in the bottom of the tube to allow the
bondo to better grip the tube. I welded the tabs onto the tube. I also
devised a way to route the bicycle cable through the tube that will
eventually open the roof receivers. I used plastic tube that you would
use for a refrigerator ice maker. It is just the right diameter to
allow the bicycle cable to be inserted. I drilled a hole in the tube
and then ground it to an angle to allow the tubing to protrude. I
applied bondo to the bottom of the tube, clamped it in place and after
it was dry, covered it with glass mat. Repeat on other side and now
the decklid is extra strong and works well. Hindsite being 20/20, I
should have created a hinge that had the tubing on it like I did for
the small trunk, then simply fastened the decklid to the hinge
structure. |
 
 
 
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| In going
through some parts off of the Fiero, I ran across the front hinges
that were used on the original trunk. They were nice and heavy and
thought that they could be modified to make a stronger hinge for the
motor deck lid. The picture shows the unmodified Fiero hinge and the
modification made by cutting off the ends and welding one end on as a
tab. It worked out very nicely. |
 
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| I got gas
shocks from IFG to raise the motor deck lid. I fabricated two brackets
to hold the shock balls. I used a 2 x 3 tube to mount to the body and
a bracket was then bondoed and glassed to the deck lid. I will need to
ad some additional bracing to keep the deck straight under pressure
from the shocks. |
 
 
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| I decided
to create a grill to fill in the area between the motor deck lid and
the trunk. I made the shape out of 3/4" tube and then fabricated a Tab
on the bottom to hold the pin to close the deck lid. I created a frame
to hold the grill in place. I then bondoed it in place on the deck
lid. It now serves as the grill and the latch for closing the deck
lid. |
 
 
 
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| The latch
was attached to a 1" tube that was then bolted to the firewall to
accept the pin from the grill bracket. |
 
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| I removed
the rear bumper to start working on connecting lights. This was a good
time to take pictures of how the holes are cut in the bumper to fasten
the two pieces together. The bottom photo shows how the metal was
inserted into the bumper mount. Fastened in place with a countersunk
screw and then two holes were drilled and tapped in the metal bar to
accept the bolts from the car. |
 
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| To mount
the shock brackets for the trunk, I fabricated a frame that would hold
the ball ends of the brackets as well as a plate to hold the rear
latch. I decided to use the Fiero latch for the trunk |
 
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| More
Fiero hinges. I thought that I would modify them for the rear trunk. I
worked on this for a full day before I finally scrapped it all and
just used the hinge pin itself. I decided to use a hinge that was the
full width of the trunk lid where I could fasten the shock brackets
directly to the bar instead of stressing the trunk. I mounted the
Trunk pin directly in the metal framework of the trunk. I will build
it up to give it a nicer finish. I bondoed and later glassed in plates
to the trunk lid that would allow me to bolt it to my long hinges.
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| In order
to use the key for the trunk, I did not want to have the opening in
the middle of the grill. I moved it off to the left in a tiny spot
next to the tail light and above the grill. This was challenging to
create a solution. There happened to be some body steel where I needed
to mount this. After removing the steel and getting the hole cut, I
had to figure out how to hold it in position. I ended up taking a 1"
square tube, welded nuts on each side, bolted the lock in place. I
then made a pivot arm and secured it between two brackets that would
keep the key shaft in place. I welded a bracket to that assembly that
I could bolt to the Trunk frame. This allows me to take it out if I
need to. Because the receiver for the trunk release had been moved, I
had to make another pivot arm for the latch. I drilled holes in the
arms and using a series of rods that were placed through the tubes of
the trunk frame, I can now open the trunk with the key. |
 
 
 
 
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| I created
the opening for the side name plate using the same technique that I
used on the side marker lights. |
 
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| I began
the process to mount the roof to the deck lid. I started by cutting
out the openings on the deck lid with a hole saw to match the diameter
of the receiving units. I turned the deck lid upside down, placed a
board under the openings, set the receivers in bondo. The board kept
the receiver tops flush with the top of the deck lid. I will glass
over the bondo later on. I used bicycle cables to release the latch
mechanisms from inside the cockpit. I will probably use the interior
door handles from the Fiero as the inside release |
 
 
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| Next was
to fasten the pins to the inside of the roof section. The easiest way
to find the mounting points was to set the roof in place and then
insert a pen through the recivers to mark the center. The front edge
should be slightly back of the rear window tunnel. Cut a slot in the
roof panel large enough to accept the bottom part of the pin. Use the
washer and nut to lock it in place. |
 
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| I started
laying out the floor in the trunk. I have not fastened anything down
yet as I still have to pull the body once more for final fittings.
After the body was removed, I test fitted the heat shield.
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| I have
inserted an inline radiator filler to make it easier to fill.
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| I
attached the radiator frame to the standoff from the body. I also
started the base of the trunk floor with 1 x 2. I test fitted the heat
shield that will be placed between the muffler and the floor of the
trunk. |
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| Because
my roadster was one of the first ones, there was a design problem
where the motordecklid had a slight sag and which caused an alignment
problem with the trunk lid. The solution was to create an additional
metal brace that went into the edge area of the decklid. By using a
c-clamp to hold it in place, I then used glass mat to hold the decklid
to the metal brace and maintain the proper alignment. |
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| I started
to put the bolts in the wings. I bought carrage bolts and ground them
down on two sides. I made a hole in the wing to accept the slotted
bolts. The inside of the wing is hollow so I am in the process of
filling it with foam to reduce the amount of resin that will have to
be used.. Once the cavity is filled, I will position the bolts and
them fill the cavity with fiberglass resin to anchor the bolts.
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| I
installed the motor decklid and trunk. |
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| IFG faxed
me some additional details on installing the motor decklid. I decided
not to use the standoffs that I fabricated earlier. The solution from
Ray is much cleaner that what I was planning. It involved modifying
the hinges to match the faxed drawing. |
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| Worked on
the motor deck lid brackets. IFG has an option to build up from the
firewall. I am trying a different method. I welded a 1 x 3 to the
inside of the metal framing. This will rest on the top of the
firewall. From that piece I welded a 1" square tube. I drilled a hole
and welded a 1/4" bolt to hold the bracket. The top right shows the
hinge as seen from the bottom of the car looking up. |
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