Pantera parts ! (Page 36/75)
opm2000 MAY 27, 09:27 PM
First of all, many thanks to the contributors to this thread: http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/073239.html

Well, the cat is out of the bag, The linear actuators are installed and I just don't know how to tell you just how cool they are.



In the above pic, the motor is installed facing down. I did that to ensure full range of motion and to confirm clearance when closed. Turns out the motors can be installed facing upwards, tucked out of the way visually, from the same bracket position.



These are really cool. They are controlled by two entirely seperate electrical circuts, the remote door latch controller, and a panel mounted switch. Manusl backup is that the forward bracket bolts or soon to be quick release pins, are easily accessable when in the closed position.



While the gas struts were nice, they weren't remarkable. The actuators get the same ear splitting grin when I show them to someone, and they come out with something like "starship enterprise!". No kidding.

Anyhow, the entire system works like a swis watch. The actuators stay syncronised at all times, raising & lowering. They can be stopped at any point of the lift or run to full lift and they stop by themselves. They lower and settle snugly onto the hatch lip, and you hear the trunk latch snick shut, and the actuators turn off. I honestly don't think the latch is required with actuators in place, but I'll keep it there for the time being.

And many thanks to the forum members who suggested considering linear actuators. It helps to have a constant input of fresh ideas or perspectives.

David Breeze
opm2000 MAY 27, 09:40 PM
As Blackrams said, all 4 wheel flares are glassed on. The process is to fit them to the body, glass on from the outside, reshape the wheelwell opening on the inside, and glass on from the inside.



Tools of choice:



cutting out the wheelwell notch after preliminary body fitting



flares clecoed on , gelcoat sanded, ready to apply 4" tapes



Ireally wanted to sand the attachments and shoot a coat of Duratec primer on before showing these, but what the heck.

David Breeze
blackrams MAY 27, 10:27 PM
Just to keep stuff straight, no where in my previous post did I mention those actuators. I didn't let that cat out!

------------------
Ron
Freedom isn't Free, it's paid for with the blood and dreams of those that have gone before us.
My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 06-21-2006).]

PaulJK MAY 27, 10:42 PM
ahem .... who mentioned actuators ?

Terrific job Dave !

[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 05-27-2006).]

motoracer838 JUN 20, 10:50 PM
Since Madcurl was bumping threads today, I thought I'd break out a little bumpage of my own.

Hey Dave I talked to Ron the other day, did he say hi for me?

Cheers Beers n Gearz. Joe
opm2000 JUN 21, 11:46 AM


The Tracker tailight assy didn't quite fill the stock space, so I tried cutting a part off another assy and adding it. Not sure if I'll go with this or a set of stock Pantera tailights I have. I do like the look of the European lens colors, and the overall shape as it somewhat matches the contours of the rearend, and the cost and availability of these tailights.

The past month hasn't seen a lot of progress due to having to move my wife's business to our home. Priorities get set by the war department, you know, and we go forth from there BTW, networking with Fiero folks has saved the day with Patty's office move. Chester & Renee came over and graced Patty's office computers with their considerable skills. We've horse traded a bit to pay for these services, and I'm sure you'll see more of the Dirty Rat in the day's to come.

Blackrams did come over and we worked out a set of templates for interior rear clip panels. These will closeout the space between the Fiero trunk and the back end of the Pantera rear clip. We also made templates for panels that closeout the sides, running from the rear of the clip all the way up to the back window.

The rear clip is now ready to remove so it can get a final detailing, and the chassis gets painted and the engine installed.



Installing the front clip was super easy, and we did this back before Thanksgiving. Here you get a glimpse of the mounting rail and the headlight cutout. Cutting out for moving the headlights forward is very easy, a portion of the front wall gets removed, and a portion of the side wall, and the headlight buckets get "streamlined" a bit, cutting off small protruding bits.



Here you can see the headlight mount bracket which is attached to the main front clip bracket. Fabricating these brackets is easy, since they align to stock Fiero mounting points.

And here is another view.





The skin is removed from the trapdoor assy by removing two plastic rivets, to reveal the spring-loaded mount and trapdoor skelton. The skelton is "streamlined" and the hinges temporarily removed to aid aligning the mount.





A portion of the stock Fiero trapdoor mount is removed and prepared for glassing to the front clip. It is easily positioned by using the skelton/hinge assy, making sure the skelton can get full rotation....and by the fact that you simply remove 1/4" from the stock leading edge of the mount and align it with the back edge of the opening in the front clip.



The Pantera trapdoor skin is bonded onto the mounted skelton later.

David Breeze

[This message has been edited by opm2000 (edited 06-21-2006).]

bubbajoexxx JUN 30, 06:21 PM
updates please
blackrams JUN 30, 07:09 PM
Bubba,
I'll talk to Dave about posting some more pics this weekend. We are making progress, it just takes time when the majority of work takes place on the weekends. But we'll catch everyone up soon.

------------------
Ron
Freedom isn't Free, it's paid for with the blood and dreams of those that have gone before us.
My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 06-30-2006).]

bubbajoexxx JUL 07, 10:42 AM
you are doing a great job with this car but I dont understand why you did not enlarge the trunk space as you have a huge empty space behind the stock trunk
opm2000 JUL 09, 08:03 PM


Bubbajoe, your point is well taken. This pic shows the templates made for the trunk close-out panels. The area just behind the trunk and above the internal Fiero bumper is totally available. It looks like one could easily double the available trunk space by extending the trunk back directly from the "shelf" level of the Fiero trunk.

For now, though, I'm going with the stock trunk. Along these lines, I've been preparing the headlight cover molds, the 4 Pantera bumper molds, the front hood mold, the gill/scoops and the engine cold air tube for a new layup. I'm thinking I'm going to make all of these pieces with this fabric:



As these develop, I'll show you whats involved in doing carbon fiber parts both from molds and as overlays.

Most of my time lately has been sent disassembling the front end. Finally got it all taken apart and the bushings removed, and everything is ready for sandblasting and powdercoating. I did verify that the trans oil cooler and engine oil cooler would fit where I wanted them. Here is the engine oil cooler in place:



For those of you who are into that sort of thing, I'm raising funds for my favorite charity. This auction is still open:


(just ebay under Kentucky Basketball)

and this one just closed:


(sold for $2,500)

Next saturday, my son and I head for Bubbajoe's territory. We're going to :

http://www.duenorth.net/atikwalakelodge/

After we snag a few monsters, I get a whole week to spend in the shop. Hopefully there will be some interesting updates then.

David Breeze

[This message has been edited by opm2000 (edited 07-09-2006).]