Heck... I'd even be happy with a three piece lens, like the late 80s Firebird had. Shorter taillight lenses and a separate panel in the middle.
Have you tried to see if the T/A tail lights would mount into the Fiero positions, and allow you to use them as-is, with a bit of body work on the Fiero to make them look right?
The 92 Firebird had the two piece lights that the prototype Fiero had:
Would be interesting to see those fitted into a Fiero as well. I don't think anyone is making replacement lenses for them either though, so if they are delaminated at all, they put you in the same situation. The T/A three piece lights at least have much less delamination area, and it would be easy enough to make a fiberglass or CF "lens" for the center piece.
I didn't realize that the '92 reverted to the two piece design. Seems like more trouble, but then GM really doesn't care how difficult something is to maintain - or replace - after the fact. Personally, I prefer the "honeycomb" mask behind the lenses, but that's all just "stuff" once the clear lenses are produced.
I mentioned the three piece design because that's what my 88 FB Formula had.
As an aside... the tail light lenses always looked good, but the center panel started to "craze". I forget what happened with the surface, but it certainly needed to be attended to, in a way that the Fiero lenses never did. I sold the car in 98, and it seems like I had it sorted out, but I don't remember exactly what the deal was. There are potential "gotchas" with any design.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 10-18-2015).]
Those are nice looking tail lights. I gotta be honest, I've always felt that the fastback Fiero tail lights are... not attractive.
They were OK for the time, I think. But comparing them to anything today makes them look really bad, for sure. With the LEDs and molded plastic lenses being used today, Now lighting is directly incorporated into the aerodynamic design of the body, so they look like core parts of the design, rather than an afterthought. It's interesting that Ferrari still uses the same round lights for everything though. Instead of designing more complex lights that better match the overall shape of the car, Ferrari works subtle things into the design, for the round tail lights to fit perfectly.
It would be nice if there was some way to "finish off" the rear of the Fiero a lot better, and have much better looking lights in use. Much of the rear on the Fiero just feels unfinished to me.
They were OK for the time, I think. But comparing them to anything today makes them look really bad, for sure.
Lots of the older tail lights are still quite attractive IMO. Heck, even the notchie Fiero tail lights are fine. I own both notchie and fastback Fieros, so it's not as if I'm biased at all, but the fastback tail lights have never struck me as attractive.
I really like these custom fastback tail lights that were on a GT being sold locally a few years ago.
Lots of the older tail lights are still quite attractive IMO. Heck, even the notchie Fiero tail lights are fine. I own both notchie and fastback Fieros, so it's not as if I'm biased at all, but the fastback tail lights have never struck me as attractive.
I really like these custom fastback tail lights that were on a GT being sold locally a few years ago.
I do think the notchie lights fit the body better than the fastback ones do. But they'd not look good on a fastback body either. There's just something about the fastback lights. Like I said, the rear end looks unfinished to me. The notch rear end looks more finished. I don't know a better way to describe it, though.
I don't really like those painted fastback lights, myself.
Have you tried to see if the T/A tail lights would mount into the Fiero positions, and allow you to use them as-is, with a bit of body work on the Fiero to make them look right?
The 92 Firebird had the two piece lights that the prototype Fiero had:
Would be interesting to see those fitted into a Fiero as well. I don't think anyone is making replacement lenses for them either though, so if they are delaminated at all, they put you in the same situation. The T/A three piece lights at least have much less delamination area, and it would be easy enough to make a fiberglass or CF "lens" for the center piece.
Take a fair amount of work to make them fit the GT (not as tall, more "flat" from left to right) - plus those particular tail lights are tough to come by in nice shape as well.
My own take - BITD.
Note: they did have a PONTIAC lettering too in the first version, but I thought it was lame since the bumper also says PONTIAC.
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 10-19-2015).]
Have you tried to see if the T/A tail lights would mount into the Fiero positions, and allow you to use them as-is, with a bit of body work on the Fiero to make them look right?
The 92 Firebird had the two piece lights that the prototype Fiero had:
Would be interesting to see those fitted into a Fiero as well. I don't think anyone is making replacement lenses for them either though, so if they are delaminated at all, they put you in the same situation. The T/A three piece lights at least have much less delamination area, and it would be easy enough to make a fiberglass or CF "lens" for the center piece.
Those look narrower than the Fiero GT lenses-- perhaps someone could make a fiberglass bracket that held them in place and conformed to the Fiero GT tail light opening? I think your bigger problem would be the internal structure that exists behind the lenses on the car itself-- it would probably take a lot of creative body work to get those to mount in right. Getting them to fit externally may end up being the easy part.
Heck... I'd even be happy with a three piece lens, like the late 80s Firebird had. Shorter taillight lenses and a separate panel in the middle.
Like this...
Actually, I think I'd prefer it. But that's a whole 'nother issue.
That would be a good idea - have the centre (if you where going for the oem look) as PONTIAC and then 1 left and 1 right as totally clear lenses I am not near mine at the moment but at a guess the bolting up should be ok (2 bolts per section)
I have only browsed through this thread which is a good think tank for throwing ideas about and I really do hope that there is a positive outcome and finally a set of lenses - However there is no need for any bickering as I have seen on previous pages just focus on what can be done.
As suggested earlier get a company to do the scans surely this would only cost you the price of a scan and this would save you buying a scanner which is obviously going to cost you a lot more.
Originally posted by sardonyx247: The clear plastics used in 3d printing are not up to the task, or so I have read.
This is true for the cheap 3d printers that most of us have access to, indeed. These use a head which pulls a solid wire through, melts it, and it then cools and solidifies rapidly. This is generally OK for very small plastic items, particularly non-clear ones. But it's not smooth enough to give a quality clear finish, especially for very large items. The lenses really need to be made in a quality mold that is highly polished, because the plastic picks up all the imperfections of the mold.
I wish the folks who have had success reproducing the GT sail panel windows would chime in on producing these. Go figure- a clear, shaped plastic with dot matrix print inside is at least something to consider in similarity of producing tail lenses. Even if they are not exact fits (perhaps using a different mounting system, like a partial cap held in place with 3M tape). I know from threads on here that the purists among us will be too picky, but anything to improve the common cracks and delam will surely demand a nice number of sales. As for the people suggesting trans am tails, they all suffer the same problems as the Fiero GT tails, and the 91-92 GTA tails fetch more money than our gt's do. I just scored a set of these GTA tails for my Trans Am, it took me a hideously long time to find these uncracked and within my price range. Will not even think about modifying them for my Fieros. Like posted above, it's just another can o' worms. I'm also a little surprised at the debate of the black molded portion, I would be willing to use 3M vinyl decals in place of a correct mold or even paint. Serviceability would be great in the long run, I'm talking about the stuff they "wrap" whole cars with. Millions of colors and patterns too. A simple die stamp could cut out "PONTIAC" and the buyer could apply anything he/she desires.
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