I've started installing the sail panel scoops. I ran into a little problem, though. You see, the Fiero's sail panels have a slight curve from top to bottom. But the scoops were flat. So I had to bend them. That involved cutting slits in the outer edges of the scoops, and using clamps to bend them. I then laid down some fiberglass to hold the shape. See photos below.





The next step will be to remove the rear clip, and put in some fiberglass on the underside of the panel, to reinforce the seams where the scoops meet the rear clip.

BTW, I used glass mat with epoxy resin on the outside, but will be using glass cloth (also with epoxy resin) on the underside. The mat on the outside won't cause "print-through" in the surface finish. And the cloth on the underside will reinforce the panel. The epoxy resin adheres to SMC better than polyester resin.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 09-02-2017).]

Over the last couple days, I've been laying up fiberglass on the rear clip. The epoxy resin takes a while to harden. So progress is slow.

Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to clean up and paint the frame rails. I also re-routed some of the wiring that crossed over top of the frame rails. The wiring now goes through the frame rail on the driver's side, and underneath it on the passenger side. And all that crummy foam rubber stuff is gone.



oops, I forgot one of the photos

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 09-02-2017).]

Today, I re-installed the rear clip and started smoothing out the outer surface.



LOTS and LOTS of sanding...

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 09-02-2017).]

The sail panel scoops are done, for the most part. They still have a few minor imperfections, but I'll deal with that soon enough. Here's the "victory shot":



I'm so used to seeing the black sail panels there, that the primer gray looks "wrong". Hmm... maybe I'll paint the scoops black.

Anyway, here are some shots of the backside of the panel. First, you see the scoops shortly after attaching them to the rear clip. I haven't started the fiberglass work on the backside yet.



The rear clip has a bevel molded into it, where the sail panels fit. But with the scoops, that bevel just gets in the way. It also blocks some of the airflow. So I chopped it out. I also chopped out some of the structure underneath, which originally supported the sail panels and trim pieces and stuff. When I was done, the rear clip was basically just a skin. Below, you see the final result.



The air coming in the scoops now has a clear, unobstructed path back to the rear deck. See photo below.



Now if you don't mind, I'm going to relax for a little bit.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 09-02-2017).]

Remember those dual hood scoops I talked about on Page 7? Well, I'm finally getting around to installing them. But, there's a twist. I decided to make one modification. Instead of the scoops aiming straight back, I built an angle into them. With both scoops sitting side-by-side, there's a V-shaped notch between them. See photos below.





Here's one last shot of the old hood vent. It's about to go bye-bye.



BYE-BYE!

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 09-02-2017).]

I got the vent scoops glued in. As mentioned earlier, there is a v-shaped gap between them. I had to fill that in with fiberglass. To accomplish that, I attached a piece of thin aluminum sheet to the hood using double-sided tape. Then I laid up fiberglass on the underside.

Here's the top view:



And the underside:



Getting the scoops onto the hood was the easy part. Now everything needs to be blended in and smoothed out.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 09-02-2017).]