My 88 Formula Interior Redesign (Page 79/87)
Sourmug NOV 15, 02:59 PM
Woot, very cool.

I'm glad the foam is working out for you.

Nolan
johnyrottin NOV 15, 03:28 PM
So cool!!1 And great to meet you up at the Fiero Factory! Sofaking has a great new upgrade on the way which is oooohhhhhhhhhh clean!
grkboy707 NOV 16, 07:38 PM
Cool stuff! What did you make a poofy radio cover for?
Sofa King NOV 18, 10:54 AM

quote
Originally posted by grkboy707:

Cool stuff! What did you make a poofy radio cover for?



I made the "Poofy" radio cover to begin work on the 89 concept console. Plus I just wanted to play with the new expanding foam Nolan sent me!

However... I already have the beginnings of the 89 console in front of me.


I'm going to remove the highlighted areas and hopefully, if all goes well, have a good match to the 89 concept. Lot's to do... so little friggin time!
Sofa King NOV 22, 08:13 AM
UPDATES!

I started work on the radio cover. I used the exisiting radio cover I created. Since I'm working on installing a new gauge cluster that has both volts and oil pressure, I no longer need the aux stack.

Rounding out the edges


After




Looking good so far
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Starting work on the frame


OK... hmmm... how is this going to work?


Removed the lower part of the radio cover


Rounding out some edges and getting a feel for what to do


Much better



Creating new sides of the frame





Once the sides were cut I bolted them together and sanded them down to ensure they were all the same




I had to back fill the radio cover with resin - this filled in any cracks


Covering the sides of the skeleton - I created 6 panels total - 3 on each side




All dried and looking somewhat closer to a final product - it needs a little paint
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Did you say paint? TaDa - Still lots of work to do. Gotta fill in all the holes and do a lot of sanding. I like the dull black, but I'm thinking about a high gloss finish on just this piece. What do you guys think?




Door panels are 95% finished. I just need carpet or vinyl cover and a final coat of paint / clear coat and they're ready for the their debut!




Getting closer and closer


I still have a bit of work to do on the radio cover. I need to build up the top of the cover and even out / roll the edges. I decided against adding the little lip that goes over the vents. Comparitively speaking - the radio cover is bigger than the stock 89 concept cover. The lip is just too bulky looking. I can always add it later, but I'm very happy with the progress made so far.

More to come!

[This message has been edited by Sofa King (edited 11-22-2010).]

Sourmug NOV 22, 02:31 PM
It's coming along real nice. Great documentation!

Nolan
Sofa King NOV 29, 10:02 AM
Hi All,

Well... I didn't get as far as would have liked. I ran into several little problems that just refused to go away - sanding, priming, holes, glass & pladtic cracking, etc... But the good news... the door panels are finished and ready for final coat of paint, clear coat, carpet & vinyl! There was more sanding than anything else over the last 4 days. Very frustrating...

I had to add more resin to the tops to add height




When the resin cured I removed the tape and began sanding. As you can see, the resin formed a natural lip - I liked it so much I decided to leave it



There was also a lot of work to do on the frame - holes and gaps to fill, sanding, etc





I also decided to roll the openings on the radio bezel - this is closer to the 89 Concept


Finally... I got back to the armrest as well





The finished door panel - waiting for paint
Sofa King DEC 06, 08:18 AM
Hi All,

Well... I thought this was going to be the weekend both door panels get installed and fitted before final paint. WOW... was I wrong... Check out these pics! It was VERY frustrating!

This is where I was with the drivers side door panel - ALL ready for install


Before painting I decided to to test fit the panel - just in case... but what could possibly go wrong after the successful test of the passenger side panel? UGH - check out the gap and how warped the panel became



It was so badly warped I could barely push the piece into position... so... what to do? AH HA!
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I sat with the heat gun for about 30 minutes and heated the areas in question. With the door panel turned upside down I applied my body weight to the bottom of the door panel slowly bending the heated fiberglass into place. There was some cracking. This process took about 2 hours. Once the fiberglass had become heated enough to bend, I reinstalled it to the door and taped into position. I hoped that when the fiberglass cooled it would retain its new shape. Cooldown took about an hour or so

Some cracking did appear



And then onto the other piece - the same process took place - but this piece cracked BIG TIME






When all was said and done the door panel is now about 90% fitted. I have to heat it one more time and do some more sanding to get a perfect fit

I added resin to the cracked area. I guess this means more sanding and fitting? OH JOY!


What a nightmare

[This message has been edited by Sofa King (edited 12-10-2010).]

Sourmug DEC 07, 12:34 AM
Oh ouch! I feel your pain.

That can really get your shorts in a knot. Don't let it get you down though, the panels will be great once you get them finished. I had things like that happen in my build, the only thing I could do was look at it as a learning opportunity.

Nolan
Sofa King DEC 10, 01:25 PM
The pain was great... I found another "self inflicted" warping problem. It wasn't just the top that warped. The entire panel warped. The worst area is right where the top of the grab handle bolts to the door itself.

From this basic diagram you can see how the panel warped


1) Shows how badly the panel warped - the red line represents where the top of the grab handle bolts to the door.

2) Shows how I had to push the top part down - as you can see, when I heated the fiberglass and manipulated the glass to fit into place, I created a bowing effect at the red line where the grab handle is mounted.

3) Shows the area (in blue) where I have to heat the panel and try to manipulate back into its original position.

UGH... It's not getting me down. Just a few steps back... I'll catch up. Mostly...

The good news, the new 89 Concept radio bezel is coming along and almost ready for its debute