Project 88GT has started ...official thread (Page 4/13)
fiero67 SEP 08, 07:50 PM
You ever get the feeling like you are way too far over your head on something? Me either...
The wiring for all the accesories is very time consuming. Im on hold due to waiting for a relay for the passkey/ remote starter.
This 88 didnt have any accesories in it , except AC. So I have to wire everything myself with some help from the electrical gurus here on the forum.
So I fixed my sights on the power mirrors...
Heres the step by step process of removing mirrors from a Fiero.
1) (red arrows) pop the tabs off the arm rest and remove the three phillip head screws, remove arm rest.
2) (blue arrows) carefully pry off the fiero emblem on the door handle and also the round cap behind the door handle exposing the two philip screw. Remove them. pull the door handle bezel out towards you. Reach behind the bezel and pull the lock slide towards you. This should disconnect it so you can now slide it out of the bezel. With a little effort, you can now slide the bezel towards the front of the car and off the door handle.

to remove the door panel you should have a special tool designed to pop the plastic holders that hold it in place. There are 8 of them.

the plastic holders are the white things on this door frame. I did notice that there was one missing from mine on the top left hand corner.
Now that you have the door panel off, you can see the threw screws that hold on a rubber like cover on the opposing side of the mirror. remove them and you will see the two 10mm nuts that hold the mirror on.

To get better access to the nuts I marked the position of the inner dew wipe(not sure of the real name of this) plate before removing it. Its the metal strip that follows the top of the window. After you remove this metal plate... the dew wipe just lifts up and off.

Now with a 10mm socket on a 3/8" drive rachet..you can remove the mirror.
....then let yourself go crazy and start modding...or put it back on, your choice.

I got the following power mirrors from a olds98 Regency. I like the style of them.
After removing the original mirror, and placing the new one on, for fitting, I realized that an easy swap wasnt going to happen...
I propped it up with cardboard to find the angle I needed. with it in place, I can now measure the opening in the bottom . I will have to make a prop for this mirror using balsa wood (its so easy to shape) and the either resin it or bondo it to make it paintable.

I did make sure to measure from the door edge to the mirror, so that it would sit close to where the old one was. So that when I was in the drivers seat, I could see where Im suppose to.

I know my mods arent dramatic or competitive, but alot of the time, people leave out the little stuff. I try not to. I hope my posts can be helpful to someone. John

[This message has been edited by fiero67 (edited 10-16-2004).]

fiero67 SEP 18, 10:59 PM
before I get going on posting more on the mirror mounts...
Ill throw in a picture on the next mod Im making to my interior...does anyone want to guess what it is?

now back to the mirror mounts... progress has been good.
after doing an emense amount of measuring an positioning of this mirror, I found the best location for it, figured out the angles so it looked good where it sits and that it was going to be fully functional.
Instead of using balsa wood to make the form for the mirror to sit on, I went with the blue foam.
with a razor blade in hand and a new can of patience, I started to cut this peice of foam down until it filled the gap between the mirror and the door panel and also continued the lines of the base onto the door panel.


I put blue tape on the door so when I attached the foam peice to the mirror and place it back onto the door, I could outline it onto the door to know where it would sit (without having to hold the mirror on it). I am molding this peice onto the door panel . The mirror bolts and wiring will pass through this form. The mirror and gasket will attach to it.


One more test fit to make sure this is where I want it, before I permamently bond it onto the door. I then proceeded to put tape on entire peice of foam. Im not sure what fiberglass resin would do to foam. I was too impatient to find out. test fitted the mirror again.

trimmed off the excess of the tape ( Im not worried about the tape giving way, because it will be trapped inside of the fiberglass when this project is done)
Then I coated it onto the door with a thin layer of boat bondo to form it, before I put on a layer of fiberglass.

of course thats after I add a crap load of hours sanding this peice smooth and highlight the lines in the mirror onto the door panel.
Tomarrow, it should be ready for primer.

what fun we have when we own a Fiero.
John


jscott1 SEP 18, 11:04 PM

quote
Originally posted by fiero67:

before I get going on posting more on the mirror mounts...
Ill throw in a picture on the next mod Im making to my interior...does anyone want to guess what it is?

...


It looks like you are adding an adjustible seat belt anchor. Cool! It's the attention to little details that separate the really nice Fieros from the hacked up looking ones. I think yours will be one of the really nice ones when you are done. It will be in the Skitime class...

fiero67 SEP 18, 11:15 PM
you are right, It is an adjustable seat belt anchor. Good eye. I will post a step by step on that as well.
I could only dream of being in the same class as skitime or you jscott1 and many others here on the forum. My dream is to make my first car restoration a memorable one. Im honored to hear you say that though. Thanks. John
doublec4 SEP 19, 01:18 AM
Regency Mirrors! I drive a regency in the winter and I've been looking at the mirrors for a long time now, and always thought about how they'd look on a fiero. I knew they wouldn't conveniently bolt up, and I knew they'd need to be installed on a certain angle as you have done, so I never took the chance and tried to install them.

Thanks a bunch for doing this and actually letting me see what it looks like! + for you.

fiero67 SEP 19, 09:21 AM

quote
Originally posted by doublec4:

Regency Mirrors! I drive a regency in the winter and I've been looking at the mirrors for a long time now, and always thought about how they'd look on a fiero. I knew they wouldn't conveniently bolt up, and I knew they'd need to be installed on a certain angle as you have done, so I never took the chance and tried to install them.

Thanks a bunch for doing this and actually letting me see what it looks like! + for you.


you are welcome ......If you need any angle shots or anything else ,let me know. If you want to do this yourself, I can always spray a crap load of foam on the door and make a mold from it ...Im sure these mirrors will look great once they and the mounts are painted the same color as the car. I also can give you the wiring diagram on how to wire them to the factory mirror harness.
The regency that I had was fully loaded, so alot of my interior mods are from that car. so stay tuned and see what else may look good to you, like the speed window on the drivers side. John

fiero67 SEP 22, 05:35 PM
All I can say, is sanding and fine tuning bondo isnt that much fun. Someone lied to me
After I sanded the shape to this mount, I layed two layers of fiberglass onto it. I did this for strength. We all know how mirrors get hit all the time as people pass by them. I wanted a solid mount. I dont think the foam and the bondo would have held.
I also tested the fiberglass resin on the blue foam, and it doesnt eat it or damage it at all. so , on the drivers door, I can skip the pre bondo step.

After the fiberglass was cured, ( I mounted the mirror on the base. This way I can make sure all my edges match.I looked for all the low spots, filled them with bondo. ) I then proceeded to lay more boat bondo on top of the fiberglass, to finish the shaping of the lines. this was hard, but worth it in the end. The finishing step was to mount the mirror onto the base and smooth it all out with spot filler. Its sands easy and can fill anything that I missed. most of what you see in the picture will be wet sanded off. All that is left to do is prime the door panel.

The only concern I have is with the mirror installed. The whole thing looks long now, but I think its because of the two contrasting colors and sheen...making it stand out. Once it is painted, I think it will blend right in.

I know I said I was going to work on the seat belt adjuster, but heck, I just got my TA vents in..and sense Im already in fiberglass. I might as well do these too. Above is a pic of the first ones I did, but I dont like the shaved look. So Im going to leave the molding and GX on.

fiero67 SEP 22, 05:51 PM

Im installing these from the outside of the fender.
The first step to installing TA vents is to place the driverside one on the passenger side upside down. that will be what the finish shape will be when the right one is installed. position it to where you want it and trace that onto the fender. I use the marker for my dry erase board, because you can just wipe it off.
I left the fender mouldings on so I could see where everything will sit.
you dont need to cut all of the trace out...this is the guide to show you where it will sit. All you will need to cut out is the area of the curve on the vent.

I marked the cutout on the fender , and cut it out.
On the back of the vent, you must remove the plastic clips that hold it onto the fender of a TA. I used my dremil for this. The only tabs you leave are the ones that the vent screens clip onto.
fiero67 SEP 25, 07:24 PM
like this:

After I fit it and it sits flat on the fender, I used two part epoxy and clamps and glued it on .
let dry overnight.
You will notice that the lower part of the vent will stick out over the fender. I used the edge of the fender as a guide and trimmed this off, at an angle .

From there, I used coarse grit sandpaper and sanded off all the edges of the vent (tapering them towards the edges of the fender. )
Now that all this is done, I got out the boat bondo and filled the areas to smooth out the vent.
Putting the trim peice and the GX back on, they gave me a guide to fill by.
I wanted to make this look as stock as possible

immediately after the first coat of bondo was put on, I removed both those peices. Making sure to clean them off. I didnt want to mold these on. I tapered the edges of the bondo at these areas to look like the shape that would have been there from the factory (or so I thought)

Lots more sanding and layering the bondo until I got the exact contor and profile I wanted. Wet sanded the fender down and primed it. Anything else that would need fixing will be done with spot filler.

All that is left to this is finishing up with the spot filler and reprimming to get it ready for paint.

[This message has been edited by fiero67 (edited 10-12-2004).]

fiero67 SEP 25, 07:31 PM
I wish I could get better pictures but my garage isnt big enough to move back enough away from what Im working on.
heres the mirror in primer....
Im very happy with it.

I had to take this picture quick because I filled the garage with primer mist....need air!

Thanks for looking.. John

[This message has been edited by fiero67 (edited 09-25-2004).]