My name is Lior and I've been lurking these forums for quite a while, but haven't really posted much, up until lately when things have finally slowed down a bit in my life and I've had more time to get back to fixing my 88 GT (so glad I didn't get rid of it in the end) which I bought and started working on 2 years ago, but that's a story for another time, I will be making a thread in the future to show what it looked like before and pictures of the gradual changes.
In my time lurking here I have learned a lot from the people on this site; everyone is really helpful and informative. The one thing that really made me realize how great the Fiero community is and want to stay a part of it, was the story of Tyler Shipman. That being said, I've been trying to think of a good way to give something back to this community. My mechanic skills are average at best, but I've been working as a carpenter, building and installing kitchen cabinets for the past 4 years or so, so if there's one thing I'm definitely good with it's wood.
So here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to go buy a block of wood (if I can't find a block the size I want I will make one from a few smaller pieces glued together), hopefully sometime in the next few days. I'm going to carve this block into a Fiero (it will look like Tyler's Fiero, that some of you worked really hard on), paint it and finish it nicely. (I'm still unsure of how exactly I will carve it, whether I will do just the exterior or both interior and exterior, which would take more time and detail but would definitely be nicer. Was also thinking about making it so the wheels can actually turn? The amount of detail put into it will depend on the amount of interest) Once it's a ready and finished product, I'm going to either raffle it off, or maybe auction it, with all proceeds (minus what I spent on materials, paint and shipping to wherever it goes) going to the Tyler Shipman Scholarship Fund. I will contact nellieship about this for photos of Tyler's Fiero so I know exactly what to carve and to see if she might want to do the raffle/auction herself (as you all still don't know me and might not trust me), if I see that enough people are interested in this. I would also ask if both parents would be willing to autograph the bottom of it so it actually has some connection to Tyler.
I would have loved to have it done for the annual memorial show, so it could be given away at the show, but seeing how its in a week and a half and I only just came up with this idea today, I highly doubt I'll have it ready before then.
So let me know people what you think people, are you interested?! How much detail do you think I should put into it?! I would love to do this if enough people are interested in something like this, so if you are just leave a comment of some kind down below so I can count the amount of people interested!
I'm sure most of you who are reading this understand that this wouldn't be an easy job and since I have a daily job I work at, I don't always have free weekends, and I would also be spending some time working on my own Fiero, to get it back running, this would take some time to do. I myself don't know how long it would take me to complete such a thing. Maybe a month, maybe more. Which is why I will only do it if I see real interest in something like this.
Just thought I'd mention this again in case I wasn't very clear. Thanks.
I think it is a great idea! Personally, I would forgo doing the interior. The time and effort involved trying to carve through the side windows would be enormous! Tyler's Toy has nice dark tinted windows, and I think you can easily get away with doing just the exterior, and painting the windows black.
If the vehicle is large enough, say a 8" or greater width windshield, I can create the "Fiero GT" out of vinyl to put on the front window, unless you wanted to paint that in.
Fore reference, Here are some photo's I have taken of Tyler's Toy from different angles:
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 07-15-2014).]
Those are some good shots, thanks for the pictures. Might you have one of the back? I'm sure it's like any other GT from the back, but would be nice to have a picture to be sure of what I'm doing.
Oh no, carving the interior through the windows would be practically impossible. My plan, if doing the interior, was to carve out the roof, slice it off, carve out the interior and then stick it back on with some good glue, wood filler for any gaps and with the paint you would never see it was cut off. But I've though about it over night and carving the interior would still be kind of a nightmare. So exterior only is what I'm going to go with.
I've only got one answer from you so far, but while thinking about it last night I realized, people probably don't even believe I can do this, why would they show any interest? So that being said, I've decided, interest or not, I'm going to do it anyway, and when I have a finished product to show you all, I will decide what to do with it. Since I definitely can't have it ready for this years memorial meet (which I would have loved to come to, but can't) maybe I will just keep it until next years meet, which I'm hoping I can attend, and then bring it with me as a donation to be given away.
I'm still unsure of the size I'm going to make it, at the moment I'm thinking of using a block that would be about 18" long x 10" wide and I'm not sure if to go with 6" or 8" high. Hopefully I can make some sketches during my lunch time today and figure out my rough design. I will be using this thread to post all my pictures and progress.
I do not have any photo's of the rear that I can find off hand. I can however take a few different angles next weekend and post them in this thread.
Yea, a t week deadline for something so complex, is a bit much. Having it for next year is a good idea, and allows you to take your time.
Do you happen to know Danyel? He is also from Quebec. He is involved with Tyler's Toy, and has done and maintains the websites. He will be at the show this year, for a second time.
I am so looking forward to seeing your sketches and progress with this!
So today I managed to draw up my first sketch which will be used to sketch out the two sides of the car onto the block, which I have yet to buy. My next step will be to draw up a top view of the car, which after I mark and cut out the basic shape of the car from a side view, I will use to mark the shape from the top so I can do the same thing as the sides.
Here are a few pictures of the first sketch.
So first thing I did was make an 18 inch long piece of paper because that's going to be the approximate length of it. Once I'm done carving it should come out to about 17 1/4 as you will see in the next pictures.
Next thing I did as you can see was split the car into 4 sections according to the different angles on the car. From the front to the bottom of the windshield, from the bottom of the windshield to the top, the roof section and then from the back of the roof to the back of the car. I approximated how much space each section would need and then drew my lines. I traced out the different angles with a ruler, and from there sketching the car was pretty simple.
I then added in the measurements in order to give you guys a better idea of the dimensions.
As I mentioned, my next step is to sketch out a top view and I'll post that when it's done. As for the block that I still need to buy, I have already found a place that can most likely supply ont according to the dimensions I need, but I'm only going to buy that after I sketch out my top view and I'm 100% sure about my measurements.
I'd like to add a special thanks to John for the almost perfect side view picture he provided. It really helped to visualize it and calculate measurements.
The sketch isn't much, but it's all I need to get the basic shapes, detailed stuff in the future! Although I'm still unsure if I'll bother sketching out detailsdetails, I might just carve them directly into the block once it's ready for that.
[This message has been edited by 88GTFTW (edited 07-16-2014).]
Here is a top down image of a GT that should be a pretty good reference. I had bookmarked the image some time ago, and not sure what it was for, or the original thread on PFF.
Now that I know the dimensions, I know I can do that front window sticker in vinyl if you would like, as well as the "Tylers Toy" one on the back window. If you want to paint them, great, or if you need them, just let me know.
Dude, you rock. I was going to google a top view, but this is perfect. Hopefully I can sketch out my top view with measurements on Friday or over the weekend.
Quick question, how do I change the name of the thread, if possible?
[This message has been edited by 88GTFTW (edited 07-16-2014).]
Unfortunately you can not change a thread title after the fist post after starting the thread has been made. You can however PM Cliff and ask if he would do it for you.
Hello Lior First of all I want to thank you for doing this to help The Tyler Shipman's Scholarship fund. It would be important to post progress of your awsome build in this thread. I will make a place on Tyler's website as you progress. Post pics here and I will update Tylers site as you move forward. regards and thank you Danyel admin(at)tylerstoy(dot)com