This shows one side almost finished. The only thing left is to put on the wheels (which I just got tires for, so I can see what it is finally going to look like on the proper wheels). I did buy the aluminum wheel spacers, which have to go on first.
This is the rear suspension with the 2" wheel spacer. The fronts get 1" spacers.
One small problem with fitting the wheels. Since I am using spacers, the proper lug nuts to go with them have the usual tapered seat that sits on the wheel. They also have the short section of "tube" that fits in the hole in the wheel to help align things. The problem here is that the portion of the lug nut that goes into the wheel didn't fit. It was about .025" too large on diameter, so I had to machine each lug nut down a little bit to fit into the hole in the wheel. A bit tedious, but it did go fairly quickly once I had the lathe set up to take the right amount off in one pass.
Finally it is on its wheels! I think these wheels really suit it nicely.
OK, enough time admiring it, there is a lot more work to be done. This is the old radiator from the 4 cylinder car and the new one that is going in; quite a difference. It does fit with a little trimming of the rubber mounting points.
This is why progress was a little slow this month. I had to pop down to Arizona to pick this up.
I bought exhaust tips a while ago and just got around to installing them. These are off a C6 Vette and are very nice polished stainless steel units (used, but still nice).
It was pretty tight trying to fit the tail pipes in. I had to tighten up the bend in the pipe by making some cuts in it and rewelding it back together. Then I needed an adaptor to go from the 2 1/2" exhaust pipes into the 2" (or 2 1/4", I forget exactly) exhaust tip. I had to really cut down the adaptor piece as well, but it did all fit in the end. Still have to clean them up and paint the pipe portion of it black.
I had to make a small part on the lathe, to hook up the throttle cable to the carb. The part I had was not in very good shape and the threads that the bolt goes in to hold it on were pretty much stripped. This shows how it bolts to the carb throttle arm with the throttle cable hooked up.
This is the display unit that comes with the transmission controller. I finally got it all hooked up and ready for a test. It displays engine RPM, vehicle speed, what gear the tranny is in, the torque converter locked-up activation, battery voltage, tranny fluid temperature, throttle position, and tranny shift pressure. Pretty neat! You can also control the shift RPM and shift firmness with this, and also use it for tap-shifting.
Dinero hits the road!!
Pretty cool looking car (if I do say so myself).
Since everything was pretty much ready, it was time for a test drive. OK, so it wasn't quite finished, it did have everything it needed to drive. It ran pretty nicely and the transmission controller worked well; the shifts were very smooth. I did drive it easy and only up and down the street once. I just wanted to make sure everything was working properly. Very pleased with it. Now that it is pretty much done mechanically I can work on finishing the wiring for the lights, bodywork, and interior.
This is the stock interior. It is in very nice condition and the only thing wrong with it is that it looks like a Fiero. Nothing wrong with that if you want a car that looks like a Fiero inside and out; I don't. So you can probably guess what is coming next.....
Yup, took out the dash. What is going in to replace the stock Fiero dash??? Stay tuned.
This is the new trunk floor welded in. It is spaced a little above the mufflers to let some air flow under it to help take away some of the exhaust heat. The plan is to add some insulation on top of this and then another layer, probably wood, which will be painted black to match the rest of the area.
Jumping back to the other end of the car. I've never liked the front turn signals. They are the actual Dino light covers in the correct place. Maybe it's because the wiring was done so poorly or the fact that it only has turn signals, no parking lights, but I just don't like it. I've been looking around for an alternative. Something that combines parking lights with turn signals, and looks a little more modern than this. Yes, I know it needs a lot of work around this headlight too.
I found a light that I think will work nicely in this spot. A lot of newer cars have a combination light mounted in this area. I'll fill in the opening for the previous turn signal light. Time to commit myself to the job by cutting a hole in the fiberglass body.
Not bad, eh? I found a light that looks very good here and actually matches the curve of the body as well. I'll have to make up some sort of fiberglass flange in behind it to attach the light to, but I don't think that will be too hard. So where did I find this light and what car is it from?.....
My wife's Beetle! Now that I've put it back, I'll have to buy a set for myself (she might notice if there are just wires hanging out of an empty hole in her car).
Back to the tail lights. I bought some LED lights (that you can just see on the right) which are very bright, but I don't like the look of the lens on it. I found some trailer lights that have a very nice lens, but the rest of the light is not suitable at all. So my plan was to take the lens from the trailer light and put it over the LED light (the LED lights are easily bright enough to shine through both lenses). I would need some sort of trim ring to hold it all together and I couldn't find anything that would do the job.
This is what the trailer lenses look like when taken off. The bonus here is that I need a red and an amber for each side, and that is just what I get with these.
I bought a length of aluminum tube and turned a trim ring on the lathe. The trailer light lens needed to be sanded down just a little on the outer diameter since it was sort of a taper and I needed it to be the same size as the LED light; the plastic was thick enough to do this. The LED light had a small flange protruding out that I also sanded off. You can see how both lights will fit into the trim ring up to the step.
Not bad, eh? Once I'm sure it all works I'll use some RTV to hold the lens and the LED light in place. Now to make one more ring for the amber light and I can see how it looks on the car.
Looks pretty good. Looks especially classy with the stick-on Ferrari horse, doesn't it? Now I have to make 2 more trim rings and then I can wire up the lights.
Onto page 12 and an exciting new phase of the project
(or, back to page 1 if you like)