Yes. It arrived around 12:30 today. I hope to pick it up on Tuesday.
Since the front clip was 50-miles away, I decided to multi-task.
I stopped off at Greyhound to check out the front nose and make sure I had enough room to fit in the convertible. Right off the bat, the lady behind the counter informed me that the package wasn't properly packaged. Greyhound wouldn't allow me to go around and see so the pics are from 10-15 feet away.
The nose didn't appear to have any visible damage from where I was standing.
After taking a few pics headed to the alignment shop 8-blocks away.
After the alignment, headed to the movies to see, "Terminator Salvation" and around 16:30HRs I was back at Greyhound to pick up the part.
They asked me to pull around back for pick-up.
Like whoredom... everything seem to fit.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 06-16-2009).]
You left out a couple of important things however.
First,......how was the movie,..and second what's up with the wheel gap on the daily driver !??
You know how the old saying goes,...it's (the wheelgap) too big, it's too big !! hehehe
The movie was great. Spoiler alert: There's a reason why there was only one terminator inside Skynet's HQ.
As for the daily driver I've gone through two sets of after market springs... Eibach is one of them. Come to find out, nobody makes a true correct lowered springs for the Eclipse GST Sypder. Do to the added weight of the conv. (300 pounds I'm guessing) the spring are okay at first, but even with camber kits the freaking suspension drops way beyond the 1- inch drop down to 3 inches and the ride get worse.
The only way to correct the problem is to use coil overs @ 600-700 bucks. I'm cool just the way the car sits and my $220 tires don't wear out as fast.
Finally home and with the concrete hardened I have room for tweaking;
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 06-17-2009).]
IMO the front bumper is near 99% perfect and quality appear to 100%. The thickness and non warping is what I expected. Granted, nobody expects it to be "paint ready" so a little bit of massaging will be needed. As to be expected there are a few dib-bits here and there ( counted three) but nothing to complain about. I'll have my glass guy fix that up.
Upon inspection I found a dip in the bumper caused by the shipper. I didn't notice it first, but I suspect it was a weak spot where a air bubble was created and it gave way when pressure was applied. Like I said, nothing that my glass guy can't fix. You'd be a moron to expect the part to be 100% perfect.
The dip or crack isn't present on the back side so no doubt it was a weak spot in front.
The backside is nice and evenly coated.
Over-all, the bumper is all-good. My only suggestion is to use bubble wrap on long hauls to the west. Otherwise, one or two transfers might be okay, but in my case it was nearly 5-bus exchanges.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 06-17-2009).]
That dip/spot on the front bumper is caused by the fiberglass not getting pushed all the way into the corner up against the gelcoat. A body guy, prepping a new fiberglass part for paint, knows to check all the sharp edges for voids. Just use the handle of a screwdriver and tap along all the sharp edges. If there are any voids, the gelcoat will break. The gelcoat is similar to an eggshell and it can be broken (if there is a void between it and the fiberglass) just like an eggshell. A little bit of bondo in that area is all that is needed to fix the spot.
How come this thread is not in the construction zone ??
Probably because only the last 1.5 pages are posts made in the past 6 months. Page 14: posts are from 2007, page 15: posts are from 2009. That's a huge gap. But Since I can see this project is now very active again, I'll move it to TCZ.
I had some time off from work so I decided to prep the passenger side for the MadArch kit.
After careful removal of un-needed parts I started to assemble the widebody kit. The instructions provide were easy to follow and along with the various screws and attachments.
After the initial trial-fit I put the hip and rocker together.
Nothing was bolted onto the rear clip, but the two screws that connect the hip and rocker and the bumper is just hanging there for visuals. Maybe on Thursday I'll have time to get the rear bumper prepped. Right now I wanted to see how it looks and it came out pretty good. Due to #015 being a 88-- I'll need to widen the rear bumper, hip, and rocker. I'm cool with that since I want #015 to be somewhat different than #020 for I truly dislike bolt-on parts.
Excess garbage removed, hehe.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 06-18-2009).]
Passenger side hips/rocker is pretty much a done deal.
Driver side hips/rocker on (not screwed onto car). Test fit reveals a perfect fit although I need to tackle the gas cap opening next--- then the bumper. I'm moving at a sails pace, but I'm in no hurry.
A little more lip and I'll be okay. The 345 is sticking out a bit;
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 06-19-2009).]
lol.. I clicked on this thread and saw a new fascia I was like "wtf no more Norms flipperooo" then I realized you have like 3-4 of these and now I hate your guts and I'm leaving your thread
[This message has been edited by InTheLead (edited 07-10-2009).]
madcurl whis is your opinion of the quarter glass in the new nissan altima COUPE ,I wish someone here could photoshop one in, so we could see how it look
madcurl whis is your opinion of the quarter glass in the new nissan altima COUPE ,I wish someone here could photoshop one in, so we could see how it look
The quarter glass ( I'm guessing your referring to the glass behind the driver) wouldn't work because you'll need the wrap-around tongue 'n grove near the b-pillar plus the b-pillar is at a angle on the Nissan. Besides that, the Nissan window is way too big. There's many other side glass that is smaller, but still you have to worry about the tongue and grove fit.
As you know the sail window is curved inward;
The sail window tucks up and under. You'd need to rework the entire area using a different glass otherwise doing something along the lines what Whodeanni did.
I have other ideas that are better IMHO that are uniquely Fiero-ish.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 07-14-2009).]
I payed a visit to Trendz yesterday for #015 side glass. I think the pipe dream might work (at least in my head it does, hehe). It was hotter than heck in Bakersfield and I was glad to leave. I saw a few cars being painted and a nice parked Thunderbird. Can you say,..."sweet."
Sorry, camera phone picks.
A closer view;
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 07-15-2009).]
Thanks again (in advance) for posting pictures of the bumper install. This has been the most frustrating part of the build so far!!
I had a few pics from this year. You'll notice the metal bracket the runs the width of the bumper on top.
You'll need to loosen the hood bolts in order to install the fiberglass nose. The corner piece (the rubber thingie) will get in the way.
You'll need a hex wrench to remove the screws in order to install JimmyS' fiberglass front bumper.
1. Remove the plastic stock bumper (you don't need to unscrew the hex bolts at this time since the plastic bumper is very flexible. 2. Prior to installing JimmyS bumper, unloosen all the screws 3. Leave the metal bracket on top of the bumper (close to the position needed to screw hex bolts in).
You can see the metal bracket the runs the length of the bumper (it's the one with the hex bolts).
In this pic there's a hex wrench in the middle sticking upward. 4. Carefully, place JimmyS bumper onto the bumper rack (try not to push the metal bracket too far away from the hex holes. You'll need to raise the fiberglass bumper up & over the metal bracket.
Here's a pic of the screw holes lined up.
5. Start on one corner, tightening the hex screw and move down the rack as you bolt each hex bolt. 6. Once you near the center of the bumper you'll need to unloosen the hood a bit so that you can tightened the center hex bolts. This should take you 10-additional minutes due to the nose being fiberglass.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 12-08-2009).]
Did you bolt the front of the nose down first, then shove the corners up to attach to the fenders next?
I started at the top where the metal bracket needed to be fastened. I started bolting the easiest hex screws first (center ones) and moved outward to the corners. You'll need to loosen up the hood attachments in order to get to the corner hex screws. As for the bottom- I haven't attached everything that yet (just the boxed air dam curtain thingie), but I did look underneath and everything seemed to fit nicely- even over the egg crate impact rubber. I was truly impressed!
Can you please shoot me a PM when you attach the fenders? I am still having issues with my bumper fitment and alignment with the fenders. There's a widening gap from the nose to the wheel well.
I moved onto #015 and I must say, "my gamble paid-off" and it fit's nicely. The stock choptop sail window is a bit boring and out dated. I wanted something different, so I opted for this ( I hate following the herd- strive to be different). Originally, the dealer wanted $650 per side (yeah, he was smoking some strong herbs). I got them for $150 shipped. As you can visualize the window fits the contour of the Fiero's rear clip and lines-up with the roof. On Thursday I'll have Steve perform his magic using aluminum.
The back end will be glass-in for a continued flow. As you can see, it flows with the MadArch kit.
I had the windows for some time, but I was too busy with #020.
------------------
"Friends don't let their friends drive stock."
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 03-31-2010).]
My only suggestion is to use bubble wrap on long hauls to the west. Otherwise, one or two transfers might be okay, but in my case it was nearly 5-bus exchanges.
