Today I'm missing the annual Fiero Fall Haul, as I did last year... but despite my personal disappointment, I'm actually quite optimistic of the next few months to come. I've spent the last several months barely getting by financially, yet I've still managed to get several several things done with this project.

First up, I restored and reconditioned wiper cowl area. Wiper arms, hood striker bolts, hood latch and spring were all sand blasted and powdered high gloss black. The cowl cover itself was removed, prepped and then painted with a gloss black plastic paint. While everything from the cowl area was removed, I also cleaned, prepped and painted the frame and painted it with a semi-gloss black. I'll continue this process for the rest of the car as well.

Fully reassembled, using Rain X's new "Latitude" 18" wiper blades... sorry about the picture quality, it doesn't look like anything special here. I'll post better pictures later that will show better detail:



The car was parked in my shop for two weeks during this process, so I also removed my interior door panels to get access to the side mirrors for powder coating and to lube the locking/door-handle mechanisms. The mirror housings were blasted and powdered again using high gloss black, as well as my engine vents (which didn't come out like I wanted AGAIN). I will redo them at a later date. The mirrors turned out great though. I'll get pictures up soon.

Right now, my goal is to return to show and club activity in time for the Daytona '08 show, where I will officially unveil a much more finished and refined Fiero. Here's my to do list:

1. Exhaust, my number one priority right now. My car sounds terrible as is. I've spent months planning for this upgrade... get ready for something special!

2. Tail lights. Again, get ready for something special!

3. New seats.... and finally get those missing parts and pieces taken care of.

...And I'd love to get all that done before the show, but if not I'll be there regardless of course! My work vehicle broke down, so my Fiero now has turned into my daily driver for who knows how long. Right now my priorities are to take care of reliability and drive-ability issues, as most cosmetic issues are being taken care of, if not temporarily.

That's it for now, I'll post again this weekend...

[This message has been edited by ITALGT (edited 01-31-2013).]

Ok, here's a few more pictures that I wanted to add last weekend but didn't...

First off, a few more pictures showing better detail of the redone wiper cowl area. Here's what I started with, stripped of all the pieces before refinishing:





After paint/powder coat:





I'm now starting to clean up, paint and detail the engine bay. Here's a good shot of what I'm starting with:



More to come...

[This message has been edited by ITALGT (edited 01-31-2013).]

Well, here's a post that I didn't see myself ever making, and one I don't wish on any Fiero owner.

A couple of weeks ago, more "build" was added to this build thread with the help of a wooden bridge covered in an early-morning Florida frost. I drove over the bridge and began to spin around like a top with no warning, and with no control, going only about 25mph. The Fiero took out seven sign posts on the other end of the bridge before the it came to a stop... I was in shock and disbelief.

I never did find my side mirror... it got whacked by a sign post and went flying way out into the trees somewhere.

Let the visual carnage ensue:

















So the good news is that it was mostly cosmetic damage, with only a couple of places to straighten out metal-wise. The passenger side is pretty much all trashed so I'll obviously be looking for some new body panels. Looks like it's time to start working on my fiber-glassing skills.

As far as this build-thread story goes, it's just moved on up to a new level. Looks like it's about time for some of those body mods I've been thinking about... hmmm.... and that cradle-drop/engine-upgrade I've been wanting to do. We shall see!

Before the crash I was getting the car detailed and "finished" for this year's Daytona show. Well, it's obvious now I have an excuse for not showing up so don't give me any crap. I'll get it back on the road in the near future, it just won't be as pretty as it used to be. The paint wasn't that great in the first place... so really, it's all good. It's just a minor setback.

More later...

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