NS F355 Project (Page 27/73)
Yarmouth Fiero AUG 11, 07:03 PM
 
quote
Originally posted by Sage:

Great to see you get to this stage...as always..very nice job!

We also have a mold to make a "cap" for the top of windshield, though I can't imagine it's much different than what Don has available. It's part of what could be called a "kit" for helping to turn a Fiero into a convertible.

Here's a pic of the whole kit:


Thanks Sage. Those are very interesting pieces. Do you have a picture of them finished and mounted on a car? I think on our car, the rear valance behind the seats might end up being a leather cover to simulate a convertible top stored underneath.

It is certainly cool to finally get that roof off Exoticse. I'm eager to finish off the B pillars and then get the transverse frame and hoops welded in place. I had to take the frame out to get the zip wheel in for the roof cut. I said earlier that I would leave the hoops wrapped up until later just to protect them........ but I think I want to look at them and take a few pictures.

Sage AUG 11, 10:46 PM
Didn't mean to suggest that the "kit" would help your circumstance as I don't see how it would. Was just posting the pics to show the windshield cap, basically as a starting point. There is no provision for creating a seal or anyplace to lock on a rag or removeable hardtop, just a cap to put over the exposed metal after cutting the roof. Of course, those things (seal and pin receptacle) can be fabricated and added to/worked into the fiberglass cap, especially by someone as inventive, creative and capable as yourself. It is just a means to provide a decent looking "finish" to the new cut.

No, unfortunatly I don't have any pics of these pieces mounted and finished off on an existing car. I did have occasion to use the rear fender tops when my son was doing the fastback taillight conversion on his notchback clip. We used them to fill in the spot that was left open when combining the fastback and notchback clips. Saw the boot section installed on a car at the 30th, it was the green convertible that the man hauled in on a trailer after having driven over 5,000mi. to get to the show!

Don't know what mold Don has for the same piece, but like I said, I can't imagine it being much different unless it does have provisions for locks and seals molded into it.

Loving your progress!

HAGO!
Yarmouth Fiero AUG 12, 07:28 AM
Thanks Sage. I greatly appreciate your input and never felt like a kit was being suggested. For the soft top, it seems that it's always a difficult topic to address because its such a hard item to fabricate that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. At this time I just assumed our car would not have a top as its only going to be a fair weather driver anyway. However, if I'm ever going to get it to a car show outside of Nova Scotia, I'm going to need to address it at some point.

Again, thanks for the info. If anything else comes to mind, please feel free to add it to my thread.

Graham
355Fiero AUG 12, 02:18 PM
Hey guys;

My cap looks pretty close to what Sage has was well. The top of my cap has a ridged/dropped section though that lowers the sealing surface down about 3/8" so the top fits level with the top of the header. It doesn't really address the latch portion though.

What I did on the 308 targa was to weld a flat plate to the bottom of the windshield header that comes out about 2". I bought aftermarket Firebird T-Top seals that I cut the centre section out of and laid these seals onto that flat plate I installed. You will need a mounting/retaining groove so I bent flat plate 3/4"x1/8"/1/4" to allow the bottom of the seal to fit. The bottom of the seal is very similar to how the Fiero door seals are mounted into the rails along the side glass area. The Firebird seals mate up to the Fiero door seals about half way down the window and get glued together. The middle of the top seal section also gets glued together.

I have pics over on my build thread on MadMechanics. I will go over and pull them off and get them up on Photobucket and link here to show what was done.

For the latches, you will need to make up some latches that mount under the screen frame so that you don't interfere with the seal. I planned on using Miata latches on my 355 convertible when I was building that. The targa will have a different setup as I have a solid targa piece to work with.

A quick drawing of what I did below and I will get the pics off my other build shortly. Let's see how that works. Hopefully I made the drawing big enough

Thanks
Don

Yarmouth Fiero AUG 12, 03:03 PM
Thanks Don. That is very helpful. I never thought of adding a horizontal piece to hold a seal like that. Thanks for the tips regarding possible sources for seals and such also.
Yarmouth Fiero AUG 13, 09:44 PM
Tonight we started trimming the top of the driver side B pillar. Looking at photos of the 355 body kit, I decided to cut a line that sloped down from the top of the firewall to a point level with the top rear corner of the door structure. I'd rather have it a little low than too high and have to lower it when we fit the body later.



Even though there is a series of structural sheet metal shapes inside the B pillar, the door has a bit of a hollow feel and sound when it slams shut and hits the striker plate. I guess that can be expected since the top of the pillar and the attached roof structure have been removed.





I am hopeful that when I cap the B pillar with a piece of 1/8" plate it will stiffen up the top of the pillar. As well, I am going to tie this plate into the end flange of the transverse frame and the upper frame rail for additional strength. As I suspected when I was fitting the new transverse frame a few pages back, the end flange was floating in mid air inside the B pillar.

[This message has been edited by Yarmouth Fiero (edited 08-13-2013).]

Yarmouth Fiero AUG 13, 09:46 PM
Oops... double post.

[This message has been edited by Yarmouth Fiero (edited 08-13-2013).]

RCR AUG 14, 06:44 AM
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Yarmouth Fiero:

Oops... double post.



Two posts from you is just twice as good . Great stuff.


Bob
Yarmouth Fiero AUG 15, 08:15 PM
I got some very exciting news today. Blooz is coming to Yarmouth this weekend...... and he's bringing our new ( Don aka 355Fiero) modified 355 body. I've seen it at his shop but this will be the first time we get to see my chassis wearing something other than dust.

So naturally I've spent the evening tidying up my shop and making some room. I also adjusted the height of my chassis by lowering it to the obligatory 125mm ( 5 inch) ride height. Holy, I've looked at that chassis sitting 12" too high for so many years, that it looks totally strange tonight. So of course I had to slip a set of wheels in place and snap a few shots to post. It is weird how lowering the car 12" makes it look 24" wider..ha-ha-ha





I suspect by Sunday, I'll have some pictures to post of my car with atleast a few body panels loosely fit. Drive safe Blooz
Bloozberry AUG 15, 09:40 PM
Lookin' forward to it... see you soon.