Now you can see we have re-mounted the front clip onto the Fiero again.
You can see me holding the bucket in the Raised and Parked positions in the following photos.
I am hoping to use the OEM Fiero lift motors to raise and lower the Pantera light buckets.
I will keep you posted as this I research linkage issues !! Hopefully I will post a Youtube video
showing the buckets opening and closing under power ( soon )

[This message has been edited by Fastfocusguy (edited 11-05-2011).]

I've been following along in the background on this for a while now. It's got the potential to be a really nice looking car when it's done.

I do have some experience you can "take or leave" regarding how you attached your headlight pod hinges though. If you you don't plan on driving your car at night much, then the way you've attached the headlight pods to the underside of the hood will probably be fine. My experience though is that your mounting system probably won't be rigid enough to keep the fender skins from flexing under the weight of the cantilevered pods, headlight buckets, and headlights as you go over bumps. Even a very slight amount of flexing will cause the headlight beam to giggle up and down several degrees making it very annoying to on-coming traffic, and giving the appearance of questionable quality. I know this from first hand experience when I first attempted to design a headlight pod system for my Ferrari 308 Stinger kit, which required exactly the same frame modifications as you've done (ie, the pods were set wider apart and further forward than OEM Fiero).

I know it's probably late at this stage for you to consider this, but you would be better off fabricating a suitably braced metal pivot support structure that's attached to the metal chassis of the car like the original Fiero design. That's ultimately how I did it because I just couldn't stand the jittery headlights. For what it's worth...

[This message has been edited by Bloozberry (edited 11-07-2011).]

Gosh, it's been too long since I helped Dave on his Pantero with his headlights but, as I remember, we cut out the front corners and then fabricated metal to hang the headlights from but, we didn't use the original Pantera headlights, we used original Fiero headlights. I haven't seen Dave's car in quite a while but, as I remember the headlights worked very well. Not saying what you're doing isn't good, just different that the way Dave did his.

Love seeing this project move forward. There won't be many on the road or at car shows to compete with. Definately an interesting project.

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Ron
"While you cannot control the length of your life, you can control the width and depth." Live life to it's fullest, you may not see tomorrow.

Well, the real point here was to NOT use the Fiero lights, since they are rectangular, and do not look 'correct' for a Pantera.
I wanted to use Genuine Pantera headlight buckets, so that when they are open it looks like factory pantera, and not 'replica'.
So this is maybe the first Pantero to get Real live OEM Pantera buckets ( perhaps ).

As far as the "wiggles" go, I am not losing sleep over it. For one, I will very seldom drive her after dark.
Secondly, if they bobble a bit, so be it !
Thirdly, my front clip is attached to Fiero framework pretty securely, and also fairly close to the points where pivots are attached.
Therefore, I expect very little flex in that area, so, very little "wiggle" in the lights.

And thanks to all for the constructive comments. That is what makes this forum better than the average bear !!

[This message has been edited by Fastfocusguy (edited 11-07-2011).]

Keeping this dream alive is what you're doing and you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work.

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Ron
"While you cannot control the length of your life, you can control the width and depth." Live life to it's fullest, you may not see tomorrow.