My 88 Formula Interior Redesign (Page 80/87) grkboy707 DEC 12, 08:06 AM Gotta love how well fiberglass cooperates. bubbajoexxx DEC 12, 10:13 AM quote Originally posted by Sofa King: 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 the problem you are having is caused by fiberglass resin shrinkage to avoid this bowm the pannel in the oposit direction when appling the fiber glass then as it shrinks it will straighten it self out to level ps dont use resin by its self to do repaires as it will srink even faster causing mor problems and with pin holes in the surface use gell coat to repair these areas as filler will not always penitrate the pin holes as gell coat does Sofa King DEC 15, 10:22 AM Hi ALL! I completely forgot to post these pics of the newly upholstered sunvisors! I had 3 pockets stitched on each - you know me... you can have never enough places to store stuff! I think they turned out real sharp. The same shop will also upholster the door pulls. Enjoy OK... back to the pile! 1988holleyformula DEC 15, 03:07 PM quote Originally posted by Sofa King: 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 The good news, the new 89 Concept radio bezel is coming along and almost ready for its debute I think the Brits have a sign for this type of situation... Keep at it! Very excited seeing everything come together. Very nice sun visors BTW. katatak DEC 16, 12:49 AM Hey Greg! Just checking in. Had to catch up on your project. Bummer on the door panel warpage but the Console is looking real good. I think when I go to do my door panels, I'll do what Bubba suggested - take it a step further and build an "inner" form that bows the door panel the opposite direction - trick will be figuring out how much to bow it in? I remember when I built the center console piece for my V8 Coupe. The sides pulled in quite a bit after I removed it from the form. It actually worked out for the better made the piece fit tighter. Did you decide on carpet or vinyl for the door panels? I'm gathering materials for the XTC interior project. Should be starting it in the next month. I can't wait to get back into the glass work - of course I'll be cussing it once I get into it. Keep your chin up - it can all be fixed! Pat old one DEC 16, 03:57 AM sofa king i've spent the last two evenings reading this entire thread. once you start you just can't stop. you've come up with some amazing designs and more amazing you've been able to bring the designs to life with excellent quailty. you've got tremendous patience and sticking with it powers. after reading your thread i just felt like i had to tell you your a great inspiration to fiero owners who just aren't sure if they should try some ideas on their own cars. as i was finishing the last page i noticed a shot of your radio/ac surround setting on what looked like the back door step. and i noticed that the new sides you put on where it comes down and then curves toward the front and comes out flush with the base in front of the radio. i was looking at it and wondered if you started the curve forward a little higher ( maybe a 1" or 2" ) and bring it on out , you could incorporate the sides into the sides of a coin tray. i've never done this kind of thing but that one picture just hit me with that image. keep up the great work Sofa King DEC 20, 10:39 AM Hi Guys, For those who have their heads and hands deep into their project cars... take a look around... the holidays are upon us. Can you believe it? Where did the year go? I'd like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope everybody spends time with family and friends and take the time to think about what's important. OK... Fiero's are important... but all the other little things. Be safe and Happy Holidays to all. I'll be headed to Vegas in a few days so the project will be on hold until I get back. I also want to thank everybody for all the kind words and the encouragement. I'm still plugging away. It always seems the closer you get to finishing a certain or step to a project all those tiny details just kill ya and slow up the work. I spent a few hours sanding down the radio cover - it's about 90%. I rolled the edges where the bevels used to be and it's looking really good so far. I still need to add a little bid of filler. I'm also working on a latch system to keep the cover in place - more on that later. The door panel is almost fixed. That was another 2 hours of heating and reshaping with the heat gun. A lot of cracking happened so I'll have to sand and remove material around those areas and then build everything back up with resin, glue and filler. I could finish the passenger panel but Id rather do everything and then install it all at once. Sorry... no pics. I didn't want to waste server space with the same ol thing. Sofa King DEC 20, 10:47 AM quote Originally posted by old one: sofa king i've spent the last two evenings reading this entire thread. once you start you just can't stop. you've come up with some amazing designs and more amazing you've been able to bring the designs to life with excellent quailty. you've got tremendous patience and sticking with it powers. after reading your thread i just felt like i had to tell you your a great inspiration to fiero owners who just aren't sure if they should try some ideas on their own cars. as i was finishing the last page i noticed a shot of your radio/ac surround setting on what looked like the back door step. and i noticed that the new sides you put on where it comes down and then curves toward the front and comes out flush with the base in front of the radio. i was looking at it and wondered if you started the curve forward a little higher ( maybe a 1" or 2" ) and bring it on out , you could incorporate the sides into the sides of a coin tray. i've never done this kind of thing but that one picture just hit me with that image. keep up the great work Hey Old One, WOW! Thanks so much. I really don't know what to say but thank you. You've just put a fire under my butt to get this project finished! One thing I have always said... if I can do this stuff (I was SO hesitant about working with fiberglass) ANYBODY can do it. But the key is to have patience and think your project through. But as Katatak will attest to... the project always changes, the design always changes and the ideas are always flowing! The joy of working on a project car. Because in the end - it's all yours! In regards to the "Coin Tray" area that sits right in front of the radio, I still have not figured out what I'm going to do. I have to design it so the radio cover still comes off without issue. Whatever it is will more than likely be integrated into a new shifter surround but that concept/design is still bouncing around my head. Again, thank you for the kind words. Hopefully you'll be working on something very soon? Have a wonderful holiday and safe New Year. Keep in touch! Sofa King DEC 22, 08:02 AM Hi All, Here are a few updated pics that show the curvature of the openings in the radio cover... Overview You can how curved the edges are - still lots of work to do - especially on the back side In this shot you can see the small lip over the top of the vents I tossed on a quick layer of flat black just this morning before work Another Still a ways to go before I can declare this piece finished. While the bulk of the work in finished, it's the fine sanding and filling (as I always say) that get ya in the end... Sofa King JAN 03, 08:48 AM Happy New Year to All! Here are a few updated images of the radio console. I have some tweaking to do on the back part that meets with the dash. Not a huge undertaking. But it's coming along! In the car More to come!