Archive for March, 2005
I haven’t got a whole lot done lately. Yesterday I had a friend give me a lesson on how to use my new sewing machine to do the upholster. I also peeled the old vinyl and foam off the gauge pod. I will use the old vinyl as a pattern. There is a lot of foam stuck to the gauge pod that I will have to somehow get off. That is discouraging. The gauge pod is small, I still have to do that to the rest of the parts.
I also stripped the unused wiring out of the power door lock/window harness. I will still have to wrap it and put it in it’s final place, but before I do that I have to relocate the power door lock switches. I may also move the headlight switch to the center console next to the shifter. I have an idea on how I can use the stock door lock and window switches. It won’t be very elegant but it will be an acceptable way to get it done quickly and less expensively. I had searched for aftermarket switches and didn’t find anything I really liked. I couldn’t find anything at all locally. I will probably try to find something nicer later, for now I can’t wait to get my car back on the road.
I had thought about having the whole car repainted. I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I had the 86 GT that I took the body panels from painted about a year ago. Not a show quality paint job, but then I didn’t pay for that. I have to have the roof painted at the very least and there are lots of pieces I would like to have touched up. I was considering changing the color but I’d basically want everything painted seperately, but they all have to match. I also don’t think I’d be happy with anything less than a $3000 paint job, but I can only afford $600. I think I’m just trying to convince myself to have the roof and a couple of small parts painted to match the rest of the car.
I’ve been working on wiring the power accessories the last couple of days. With the help of the good people at the Fiero Forums I now have working power windows and power door locks. Pretty cool huh? I still have to clean it up. Rather than swapping out the harness with one from a car with power accessories I am going to add the harness from the other car and just strip out anything not used. I also need to relocate the door lock switches from the door to the center console.
I will have to find some new switches. I can’t find an acceptable way to mount the stock switches in the console so I’m hoping I can find some nice looking aftermarket switches that will mount easily.
Since my decklid has a remote release mechanism, I pulled the switch for that out of another car and plugged it in. It doesn’t work and I’m not sure if I am going to worry about it. Having it would be nice, but it’s another switch to worry about and to ugly up my interior.
The last thing I have to worry about is the power mirrors. I’m not sure if I will deal with that now or later though. I need to get the car together for the Knotts Berry Farm show next month.
I finally gave the console some attention. I screwed in the computer cover and cut out the opening for the shifter in the console cover. I’m still trying to decide how to do the console itself. I originally thought the console would overlap the computer cover but when I do that the shifter hits the front of the console. I will either butt it up against the computer cover, or overlap it by just a little. I also have to cut out a little of the console cover to clear the big ass Fiero shifter mechanism.
It’s been few days since my last update. Since then I’ve messed around with the passenger side door panel. I was trying to get the upper cap to fit in the dew wipe groove but there was a slight bend in the cap. I used some clamps and a heat gun to straighten it out a little. I’m not sure it did any good, when i did the final fitting it fit better without the cap in the groove. Anyway, to make a long story slightly less long, both door panels are now fitted, all the holes drilled and they are ready for upholstery.
Obviously I didn’t meet my goal for last weekend. After messing around with the door panels trying to make them perfect, I realized the dash wasn’t centered. I had installed the dash without the pillar trim pieces in place. The dash fits pretty tight between them. I put the dash in and had to shift the dash toward the passenger side a little. After that my drivers door panel that I had just made perfect didn’t line up at all. If that wasn’t enough, I went to work lining up the passenger side not realizing I didn’t have the door cap on it. The panel has to be lined with the door cap on so that was a waste of time.
Tonight I got the drivers door lined up again. I had to shim the panel and the door handle surround to get it lined up. Then I took it all out. Drivers door panel is now ready for upholstery. I would have done the passenger side too, but the old lady wasn’t around and it’s much easier with two people. Maybe I can get that done tomorrow. If I do, then I take it and the dash out for upholstery.
I haven’t worked on the car for the last couple of days. I’ve been kind of busy. I did pick up an industrial sewing machine the other day though for the upholstery. I have been messing around with that in my spare time hoping to get good enough in time to do a somewhat acceptable job on my interior. Wish me luck.
I got lazy yesterday and didn’t work on the car at all. I’m trying to make up for it today and tomorrow though.
It doesn’t look like I got much done today, but it sure feels like it. I trimmed the drivers side door panel and installed the upper door cap. I know I mentioned it before but I’ll say it as many times as is necessary, this is not typical for this kit. When you order one of these you specify if it is going in a Fiero or F355 replica. It will arrive with the correct door caps already installed. One of my door panels already had a F355 cap on it, so I had to trim it to fit the shorter Fiero cap. I will need to figure out a better way to mount it. Right now I have a bolt in the top of the cap. That would be visible after upholstery and I don’t want that.
I also got the door panel aligned and fit. Now this one is lined up better than the passenger side so I will have to work on that one more. I have the release mechanism hooked up too. This one side is even tighter than the other so I will have to fine tune it also.
I just added a category list to the menu on the left. That way if you don’t want to read useless posts like this you can read about one specific category. You’ll notice there are absolutely no posts under Performance. That’s just sad. I’m going to have to do something about that eventually. I’m thinking Northstar. Maybe that can be next winters project.
I have a working door release mechanism! Woohoo! I got the passenger side all set up last night. You have to cut away some of the sheet metal to make room for the new door release. Then you cut the “S” curve off the door release rod, bend it so it’s coming out the door at a 90 degree angle and drill a 1/16″ hole through it. Then assemble the door release surround, slide the rod through the release hole, put a cotter pin in it and voila! C’est magnifique! It needs a little fine tuning, but no big deal. Right now the handle isn’t bolted in tight and the release is tight. I think maybe I didn’t cut away enough sheet metal and it’s rubbing on that.
Tonight I should have the other door working. My goal for the weekend is to get everything fitted, then remove it all so I can put the power door lock/window harness in. Next week I can start stressing over upholstery and gauge wiring. Oh yeah, I have to plumb the vents too. Fun stuff.
Oh, by the way…. The clips that hold on the pillar trim really hurt when they stab into your bald head.
I got my shifter in from Rodney Dickman today. It looks great. It is meant to be a replacement for the old Fiero Euro Gated Shifter kits. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to attempt to use a gated shifter or not.
