88 Coupe to GT Body Conversion (Page 2/11)
88Slayer JUN 23, 08:03 PM
Well yet another day gone in the conversion process. This process was somewhat slowed by having to find usable body fasteners. Also, a previous owner of the donor car seems to have used alternative methods to keep the ground effects on, therefore making it a PITA for me to remove. Lets just say a big flathead screwdriver and a hammer were my best friends for that part.
Now I managed to find a nylon screw type spreader that will keep the panels on quite well while still letting me reuse them when I have to take panels off to have them worked on(ex: painting the ground effects.)

I was kinda busy and forgot to take pictures with the panels off. I shall do that tomorrow when I have to take apart the passenger side to replace the ground effects and rear quarter.


Drivers side finished for the day.


New rear quarter.


Unfortuanately, the donor GT driver side fender was damaged.


My solution to this was to modify my existing fender by taking off the lower piece of molding(part of the Ground FX?) and switching the sqaured coupe molding and the gt rounded molding.



My passenger side fender was damaged by someone backing into it so I replaced it with the donor one.





Well tomorrows job will be to install the passenger side quarter and ground fx. Then I shall have to start the rear bumper switch after I fix the hole in it.

And for those wondering, that is a 1975 MGB the part is sitting on. Thats the other car I fix in my spare time.

[This message has been edited by 88Slayer (edited 06-29-2008).]

MetroMatt JUN 23, 08:45 PM
Fantastic thread! Thanks for all the documentation, I also own an 84 with the same body style and have been wanting to change it over to fastback t-top too, this thread gives alot of insight into what I can look forward to! Continue to document and post your issues and stuff as they come along, for guys like me who prefer the fastback style as well!


Thanks alot and keep up the good work!
88Slayer JUN 23, 09:45 PM
This thread will keep going until my car is finally done. And since I still have to finish the doors, rear bumper, fastback, T-Top, hood scoop, Integrated RockerPanels for V8 Archie, and I still have to find a rear wing as my donor car was missing it.Oh yeah, and then I need to save for 2 months to get it properly painted. Trying to find the right color blue to get it painted is nerve racking.
joshh44 JUN 23, 09:58 PM
what about this color blue?
http://i133.photobucket.com...6/bluemitsubishi.jpg

i like this thread. im hoping to do the sae thing to my car.
my car is a notch back with the GT bumpers so i just need to get the fastback rear to put on and it should be completed.

hopfully you will get yuor fastback rear top on so i can see how you put it on

by the way how much did you pay or the fiero? i dont want to go to the wreckers and them wanting $600 for the part.
88Slayer JUN 23, 10:01 PM
I bought my donor car from engine man for $400. He lives only 2 hrs south of me and I combined a family trip with the ride down to pick it up. So I didnt even have to pay for gas or shipping. And I would like a lighter blue than that.

[This message has been edited by 88Slayer (edited 06-23-2008).]

joshh44 JUN 23, 11:09 PM
oh ok. there is a car that has clutch problems for $1000. someone already did half the GT conversion but somehow didnt finish it. it has the GT rear bumper and rear end area complete. just needs the windows and the front GT bumper and i think the sideskirts and thats about it.
ill check the wreckers for the top and see how much they want for it.

and is this the color blue you looking for?
http://www.snapoffracing.co...y/files/1/7/HC06.jpg
88Slayer JUN 23, 11:24 PM
That would be the color. Now I just need the code # for the color
88Slayer JUN 24, 12:23 PM
Well todays job was just a lilttle bit easier due to the fact that i had gotten experience at this portion of the work yesterday. First thing to do was to remove the 1/4 panel and the rest of the black ground trim. Al that hold those pieces on are lots of annoying plastic rivits.

The pieces are off. Here is what it looks like.



Note to self: Fix battery area. Figures I would have that problem don't it.



My replacement rivet of choice. Available at the local AutoZone.




The heads need to be slightly squared off to fit in the recesses for the trim underneath the door.



And after all of the parts are in just button up and put your moulding back on.

and yes I know I don't have the moulding on. The clips that keep it in place keep breaking on me whenever I remove the piece. Time for new clips.

Tomorrows job(since it's my next day off) I shall tackle the chore of replacing the door skins,and changing the hinges on the drivers side of my car with those of the donor car. Great way for me to save $90 on new hinges.

[This message has been edited by 88Slayer (edited 06-29-2008).]

88Slayer JUN 24, 02:01 PM
Well i have some free time on my hands before work so I shall pull the fastback and document it for those who are also doing the conversion. Mine is already partially disassembled by engine man, I just have several more bolts to go.

[This message has been edited by 88Slayer (edited 06-24-2008).]

88Slayer JUN 24, 03:12 PM
Alright then, time to document the steps I took to finish the liberation of the fastback clip.

This is how the car looks at the moment before I took off the fastback.


The fastback is held in place by several bolts. 3 of these are inside underneath the headliner.




There are also several on the engine side of the clip.



There are 2 of the smaller ones and 1 of the larger one located behind the tailight lenses. These keep that section tied down






These 3 pics detail where the other 6 bolts are that keep the clip on are located.
Also dont forget to remove the rivets located behind the moulding at the overlap of bumper and clip on the sides of the car.

The next step was to take the plastic pieces that enable a coupe to be modified to the GT trunk.


There is only one screw holding each side on by means of a bracket on the side. The pieces of plastic slide out of place one the bracket is removed.






These will slide in place just fine on the coupe until ready to actually swap the clip and decklid.


They require a little bit of modification to work if you want your coupe decklid to close.
Stock:

Modified:


All it took was a bench grinder to get it to where I wanted.


And all done with the trunk.


I wont be progessing much more on the fastback clip until I can secure a pair of fastback lights. No use doing the swap if I cant drive it due to not having working tail lights.

[This message has been edited by 88Slayer (edited 06-30-2008).]