I GOT IT!!!!!! I GOT IT!!!!!!! I tried to contact the shipping company but they have closed for the day. It is 4:30 PM here now. I'll contact them on Monday and we'll get these things finally on their way!!!!!!!
I don't wana spoil it for nobody. And i hold nothing agains Fiero1Fan. He provides an exilent service. But the nose was a lot wors than i expected it to be. I expected there to be some smal items to fix. This one need's more than just a litle, to look good. (Sorry for the large pic.)
1-2. Shows the fitt nose to left fender. Totaly different kurb/shape. Needs to be cut open all the way to the front, and redone. 3-4. Right side, same problem on this side and part has been grinded of. Needs to be rebuilt. Also the right side is pointing out a bit. 5-7. These three pic shows the profile over the 3 "corners", left, center and right. Shouldent this curb go the other way to match the curb of the hood? 8-9. From a litle distance it looks good already! 10-11. Left/right. Just wana show that i need to remove some metal to fit the lights. (This i was aware of before i orderd the nose.) 12. Looking good. 13. exilent fitting to the wheel-well. (Same fiting on the oposite side.) 14. The reason for my Fiero project being halted. On the left side right under "14" there is two cracks in the wall, so i grinded all old paint of. Thats why the Fiero is coverd with dust on the pic's.
I should have test fitted and posted sooner. But this was the first chanse i had for weeks to even look at my Fiero. Over all, i'm a litle dissapointed. (It was rather expensive, and therefor i expected it to be better.) But with the knolidge i have now, i would still buy one. I just wanted to share this info, so the rest of you that orderd the nose, will know what to expect, and hopefully you wont be as dissapointed as i was, when i realised how bad the pice fitts. (It will require craftmanship to fitt good. Either you know how, or you need to pay aditional money to someone else to do it.)
Thanks for the pix Kristian. I'll check into this some more. They should fit better than the original that I gave up for the mold to be made. Not worse.
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06:25 PM
Kristian V Member
Posts: 217 From: Göteborg / Sweden Registered: Feb 2006
Fiero1Fan, i sent you some hi-res pic's, so you can se what i'm talking about.
When Sharkman saw the pic's i posted, he replied "That thing is in even wors condition than mine!" And we both agried his needs a loot of work to fit a Fiero. His had the same mis-fitt to the fenders. I was bying this in hope that that isue would be fixed. And his was sticking out a lot on the right side. I should have bought the other one that was delliverd from Dietmar. The one not own by Sharkman was offerd to me this summer.But i sayed NO since i was hoping to get a nose with better fit... What do you know!
Don't get me wrong! I will make this one fit a Fiero (Not sure what car it's seposed to fit right now.) And like i said, with the knolidge i have now, i would still buy one. But for that kind of money... I expected something i could give a final touch and bolt on. Not one i have to completly redo.
Fiero1Fan, when you meet the guy who made this one. Give him a deep fotprint in the behind, and say hi from me. I still have about two weeks work on the house before i can start working on the nose. But when i do, i will post a thread showing exactly how much it takes to get this pice of #¤%& to fit.
Fiero1Fan called me today. He had a chat with Dietmar, and according to Dietmar the top shape will straighten out when the nose is bolted on. (Though im a litle suspicious... This is fiberglas. It's hard. I hope to have time and bolt it to the car, next week, to find out.) Also the sides are seposed to straighten out as well, when bolted on. Its about 1/3" offset in the midle on a 4" long part, i can't realy se it happening. But i will try. I need to bolt it on anyway to se how much i need to fill/cutt. I will keep you all posted as soon as i have a chance to work on it.
(Bad timing. Right now i'm in the midle of house repairs. Friends came all the way from Norway to help out. If i would start on the car right now, they would probobly drive back home. )
Um, fiberglass doesn't give much when you mount it. Don't expect anything to change drastically from what you get. Have had done a lot of custom fiberglass work on Corvette's and it pretty much is as is when you get it. That is kinda to bad. Was hoping for better than this????
Darn, I was hoping for more of a straight "bolt on" than a "bolt on and spend 30 hours making it right" kinda part.
Hi Kristian ! True is I don`t know of this bumper , because I never saw this produkt . So please don`t understand me wrong , maybe I can help you because of the pics you sent . First I saw , that the metal from your old bumper is still mounted . I never have mounted a nose with this big , old metal . I everytime took an aluminiumplate , also for save pounds . Pic 2 shows me , that maybe there is something wrong with your hood . Pic 3 shows me , that maybe there is somthing wrong with your fender . Pic 4 shows me , that you have mounted an accident hood . I also phoned with Timo today , and I told him that also GFK products get some different form after everything is mounted correct . I hope you don`t understand this information wrong , and I also don`t want you believe I think your 355 nose will be perfect after mounting everything . Maybe this 355 nose will be much more work as mine produkt , but Timo took somebody for copy my bumper , because I told him my form is going worse and I have much work on it for repair . So him have done his best . I also understand that you are disappointed , because of work , which wasn `t calculated . I also had this feeling many time with GFK parts I got for other cars . I also know , after this work was done , I was more proud of myself that I could manage this job . Take the time working on your Fiero as freetime , and you will see , your problem won `t be so big as it seems to be now . Maybe I see this things with different eyes , because the problems you have shown by your pics , will be managed for me in less than 2 hours . So take it easy and I believe you will be able to mount your 355 nose perfect !
Hold on Keith. This nose was copied from a nose from Dietmar and not made by him. He is trying to give some ideas on what "might" be done to help correct the issue. I am responcible for this nose not him. I am looking into getting the problem corrected. The gap that is on the front right side should not be there. I didn't have the chance to test fit the new noses I have before I sent the nose to Kristian ( a guy). All fiberglass pieces always need some modifications when they are first mounted to the cars. I am trying to reduce the work needed and I will correct the issues that Kristian has posted the pictures of. Even the original Dietmar nose needed some work to have fit correctly but the copy I have as some issues that his didn't and those will be corrected.
Anyone who doesn't want the nose that they have ordered just let me know and I'll refund your payment. Please mlet me know ASAP as they are being shipped on Monday.
[This message has been edited by Fiero1Fan (edited 09-09-2006).]
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01:38 PM
ryan.hess Member
Posts: 20784 From: Orlando, FL Registered: Dec 2002
Keith , unbelievable to answer my message , without reading carefully . Your comment poorly products made by me , doesn`t help anybody . My first sentence was : I don ` t know of this bumper and I never saw this product . In the last years I sold only one 355 nose !!!!!!!!!!! So my form is old and I have to repair it first . Kristian is disappointed, but him never give up statements same you . Him also wrote that him will try the best and him would buy things from Timo again . Now we try to help him to find results for his problems . Pics Kristian gave us , shows me defenetiv also something wrong with his Fiero . I don `t want to find any excuse , that was only a point I saw in his pics . Timo tried everything to give these things , many members are screaming for . Everytime him got more and more problems . First many order , after cancel . Him also want give evertime high quality for less money . Also him search for many chances to find out lower shipping prices . Shipping is the point , which make parts expensive . So I also don `t understand talking about high prices . All parts Timo sent before got positiv reaction and customer talked about high quality , easy to install . I also know , that sometimes the product you get out of a form isn`t everytime same . This is the result of doing it by hand , and as we all know , people are no machine .
I am thankful for the offer on the refund, and will let you know Sunday around midday. I am going to talk to my body shop guy today and show him the pictures and see what he thinks it will cost to fix this as it sits. one question though. you stated that you were going to try to get the gap fixed but that the pieces would ship monday. I am pressuming that all the ones shipped will still have the gap/problems exibited above as there would not be time to change them between now and then correct?
Sorry this has been such a head ache for you. You really gave a good shot at making a product available.
I think Timo has done a super job on working to get these pieces to the U.S. Every fiberglass piece that I've ever ordered needed finishing work. The beauty of fiberglass is that it's pretty easy to work with and modify to make it fit well. I ordered Aus side scoops and out of the box they needed work, If you hold them up to the car without finishing them the same arguement can be made that they dont fit well. But once done, they looked excellent.
I've never seen a "bolt-on" fiberglass modification,... well at least one that looks good. I'm no fiberglass expert, but I have worked with it and with some patience anything can look great.
Also, I think that the cost of this peice is high becuse of shipping costs and a weak dollar against the Euro.
Thanks Timo for all your hard work on getting these sent.
Danke
[This message has been edited by MaxQ (edited 09-09-2006).]
You are welcome. I am glad to help. Believe me I wish there was something I could do about the shipping costs. I am still working on it. I even started a new company hoping to be able to make a contract with UPS, DHL or someone to get the costs down.
Just to stick my nose in here, every single fiberglass piece that I have purchased required some degree of finishing, up to and including modifications to the shape of the product in order to get them to fit correctly. There is in my experience no perfect piece that does not require some amount of work. For example, the Aus stage 2 scoops that I have are of good quality but are no where near perfect out of the box. They have pits and dents, cracks and fitment problems, none of which are insurmountable. Everyone knows how popular these are inspite of the flaws.
I have not seen these Dietmar pieces in person so I can't comment on the fitment of these particular pieces but I hope that no one is expecting to just bolt them on and spray some paint.
Just my two cents worth. Nolan
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02:26 AM
Kristian V Member
Posts: 217 From: Göteborg / Sweden Registered: Feb 2006
Thanks for the input Dietmar. Youre right. The hood is the one i had the accident with. I fixed it up. But it's not the one i'm gona use. (In pic8 and 9 you can se the hood im gona use, behind the extra engine.) I just needed the space in the garrage, and where better to place a hood than the front of the car Same reason i found out the bad fitting. I needed the space in the garrage, so i lifted the nose up and set it where it belongs. (= On the car!) I measured the fenders towards eachother, and left and right are same so no dammage on fenders. The metal part is al litle bit bent from the accident, but that don't affect the shape of the nose untill the bolts are tightend. (I'm planing on straighten it out first.) On pic 3 you se the hood just placed on the car. It's not attached in the hinges. The front end of the hood is loose. (May look as the fender-hood-nose don't match. The only part that doesent align up is the nose. I can lift the nose of and place the original front in it's place, and it fits. Timo called me on my cellphone this morning, explaining the shape of the top, would be corrected when i tighten the bolts. I will try that as soon as i get the time. (Right now! This weekend i'm going from regular radiators for heating the house. To floor mounted water caried heating. So the car has to wait. BIG plumming weekend going on. ) How ever, if you look at the pic's where i hold the yellow STRAIGHT thing to the top part of the nose, there is 6-7mm of air in the midle. I would expext there to be air on both ends, to match the curb on the hood. (Like the original pontiac nose does.) Sure looks like it's bent the wrong way. Same thing with the sides, (Pic #1.) the parts meeting up with the fenders... There is a lot of "offset" there, even if i could "bend" it a litle, when tightening it in place, i can't se it going in enough to just grind it down a litle. It will most likely need to be cut open, and bonded in the right possition. And for €450 i was expecting part that didn't have that bad faults.
I will take it easy. And i will get it mounted on my Fiero perfectly. All im saying is that for the money i payed, i expexted better. Would this part cost me €250, i would not said anything. I ended up paying €730 for the nose with turning/fog-lights. My plan was to finish this car, and then buy a seccond nose to my other Fiero. Now since there will be a lot of work on this one, i will fix it, and use it to make a mold, so i can make two "perfect" noses for my two Fieros.
KeithGT... Dietmar didn't mainifacture this nose. I apriceate his input in this. He is not responsible in any way for this nose. All we can blame him for, is to have the good taste of making this design.
Fiero!Fan... I sure hope i didn't spoil your buisness. But not saying anything about this would been wrong. I hope ppl will buy the noses, i just wanted them to be aware of the fact they will need a lot of work to fit. And hopefully you will get the next batch sorted out to fitt perfect from the start. €450 is more than OK for a F355-nose, IF it fits on dellivery. (Not that hard to accomplish.)
ryan.hess... I know what youre saying. But many ppl orderd, and are awaiting the noses from Germany for there good design. (Thank's Dietmar!) They could have bought there noses from fierowarehouse.com, but they spent 3x the money, and waited for months to get it. They deserve a nose that only needs a final touch before painting/mounting.
MP5Na3... Go on, buy the nose. If you like me waited for this design, instead of bying the fierowarehouse.com version, you should still go with this. Like Dietmar said, it's only gona take a fiew hours for a bodyshop to straighten out.
Edit: Just fixing type-os!
[This message has been edited by Kristian V (edited 09-10-2006).]
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03:44 AM
Kristian V Member
Posts: 217 From: Göteborg / Sweden Registered: Feb 2006
This is the "Cut open and redo part". The other sidelooks OK. And it cant be adjusted by moving the parts towards eachothers, since the top section is a good fitt. It needs to be reshaped. Its about 1cm difference, (Surface to surface.) The top is easier to do, needs refilling, to get the curb to follow the hood.
Edit: To compressed pic. (Less than 100k.)
[This message has been edited by Kristian V (edited 09-10-2006).]
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04:24 AM
Kristian V Member
Posts: 217 From: Göteborg / Sweden Registered: Feb 2006
So! Finaly the helpers left, and the house slowly goes back in normal phase. (Only with water caried floor mounted heters that get the heat from a 150m deep hole in the ground.) I finaly had a chanse to have a look at the car/nose.
This was the thing i saw as soon as i opend the box (Realy well packaged Fiero1Fan! ) First a profile of the hood. There is air in both ends, not in the midle. It's curbed. Now a pic of the nose profile. There is about 2/5" (1cm) of air in the midle..? Hence, it's curbed the other (Wrong) way..?
Question to you Dietmar! Do you belive this will bend enough to match the profile of the hood, when tightend in place..?
When i adjusted the nose, both sideways and in hight, so the humps from the hood line upp with the humps on the nose, It's quite good fit (Not perfect, but close enough!) on the right side. That's about the fitting i expected for the whole nose.
Then this is how it looks on the left side!
And i noticed another thing today. The humps (What are they called in english..?) doesent align 100% and they don't go the same way as on the hood. I marked them so you can se better. Not only doesent they go the same angle as on the hood, one is longer than the other.
Like i said, i would still buy one, to get hold of the design. But the person who made this one can't take much pride in what he or she does. These are things that can be sorted out in a mater of hours. So why take shortcuts like this..?
All these faults, exept the cut of pice on the right side, is all things that where there already on the nose Sharkman got. All these faults where seposed to be adressed on this batch. That's the reason i didn't buy the nose for sale, here in sweden. I waited for 4 months for this nose, cause it was seposed to be beter. From what i can tell. Sharkman's nose where made in 3-pices and then bonded together. This one looks like it's made in one pice. But that's about the only thing different. All the flaws are still there.
I say it's worth to get the design. It makes the car look better. (My own personal opinion ofcorce. ) I'm realy sory to be the one, but these things need to be drawn out in the open asap. I'm sorry since this must make it even more differcult for Fiero1Fan. I know how hard he works to get "Fieroseurope" (his company) running.
Hopefully next batch of noses will be better. All it realy takes, is to modify ONE nose to fitt 100%, then make a mold of it. The pices coming out of the NEW MOLD after that should be at least 99% OK.
Kristian is correct that these issues were suppose to be corrected. I have sent the pictures to the person that made these and will have the problems corrected.
[This message has been edited by Fiero1Fan (edited 09-10-2006).]
Fiero1Fan, email sent. If it is ok, I am going to continue with the 360 vented rear order and cancel the 355 front order. I hope it will be ok to split the order like that.
Thank you sincerely for all of your effort on this.
If a corrected front is ever available in the US, I would be first in line to order that. But as I don't do any bodywork for myself right now and have to hire the work done, the current one available has to much work ahead of it for me to be able to justify getting it.
My apologies and continued appreaciation for your superb customer support.
I have 2 people who want to wait on the noses. Are there any others who want to wait? If I haven't heard anything by Friday they will be shipped as is. Please let me know what you want to do!!
F1F
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02:45 PM
JaxDomino Member
Posts: 322 From: Jacksonville, FL, USA Registered: Oct 2005
Here are some pix of the f355 nose after painting and mounting. The nose is as I have them without any of the repairs that will be done. The gap in the front right corner still needs to be filled. The rest looks pretty good. What do you think?
Looks pretty good. Couple of questions for you. I circled a few spots in your pictures and reposted them below, it "looks like" in the picture that these spots are sagging down quite a bit (which would corespond to the pictures of the one further up this thread that Kristian posted), that mounting it did not raise those areas up. Is that true or just the way the light is reflecting off.
Looks better overall than I thought it would though.
Yes those areas do sag. Just like KristianV mentioned. Those areas would need to be filled to have the right curve. While filling the areas it would also be very easy to straighten and correct the length of the darts that come down from the hood.
)
