As promised, time for more updates with pictures.
As mentioned earlier, we've fabbed up a battery box out of HVAC sheetmetal, so it's pretty cheap stuff and is fairly easy to form. Aaron did most of the sheet metal work on the battery box, I can't take credit for it.
One of the many interior pieces we had previously stripped out was the headliner, which was sagging in typical 80's GM fashion. Jessica fixed this, very cleverly considering she had absolutely zero guidance. First she removed the foam backing which had deteriorated so that the cloth and cardboard would get as good of a bond as possible. She pinned the headliner to the cardboard at the two mirror mounting locations to keep the cloth in the same spot as it was originally, then laid down a layer of spray can glue and stuck things together as necessary. As you can see, the time has paid off as this headliner looks pretty dang good for an original 80's GM headliner!
Some more of Jessica's handywork, freshly repainted engine vents. The half-price trim paint we got has really come in handy, the stuff looks spot on to how it was supposed to look out of the factory.
This is what we've used for most of the "restoration" work we've done, all half priced stuff from a GI Joe's that was closing down. GI Joe's - great idea, poor execution. It was a camping/hunting/automotive/sports store. Basically, a man zone. RIP GI Joe's. I've been really impressed with the VHT paint and the trim paint. We've had to lay it on a bit thin to stretch the can (for budget reasons) but it is still holding up pretty well considering the car has almost 3000 miles on it since we first sprayed it and the finishes are exactly as we'd hope for. These nozzles also work well, so it's an all around good deal.
Not the greatest picture, but here's a shot showing the recently detailed/repaired/repainted trim pieces. Lots of little stuff that all adds up like the air dam, mirror, quarter window (sail panel, in the Fiero world), door handles, surround trim, front emblem, wheels, etc.
Jessica is slowly getting used to the "point of no return" mods, this was her first power tool to car part experience like that. Sure, it's only a dremel, but we all started somewhere, right? Here she's modifying the center console so it can fit around our new battery pack.
I was so proud of my new EV cooling tubes that Jessica made me model them. The black ones are freshly painted and ready to install, the silver ones are what I started with. The tubes were only a buck each from another closing store, Linens and Things I think...not nearly as impacting as GI Joes but still good for something! I bent the tubes with my Harbor Freight pipe bender, it's not good for much but it was good enough for this job!
Over the last few nights before the truck was shipped out, we were consuming copious amounts of caffeine. Healthy, I'm sure...thank goodness it's only during crunch time! This was just from our last night of excitement:
Yuck! I don't know how people drink this stuff every day, but during times like these it is the nectar of the gods! Oh yeah, and lack of sleep had us a bit loopy too. Jessica was having a little too much fun...I guess if she wanted a mustache, at least she wanted a classy mustache? She wore this mustache for at least a half hour, I couldn't stop giggling. Perhaps you had to be there.
Not much to say here, I've been showing you the "how it's made" shots all along, here's what the under-hood looks like now (note the lack of wire explosion in the under hood and interior):
Exterior shot:
Interior shot:
We still have a few more things we are working on, of course, but that's all I've got to show for now. We're happy with how much more we got done this week, but of course there's ALWAYS more to be done. I hope it shows up to Florida in good shape!
Bryce
JUST KIDDING!). I've never had that much tire on a 6" rim, I wonder if you could even get a flat-ish contact patch. In any case, it would probably still be better in the autocross than the all seasons I've got now. Anybody in the Gainesville area know of any uber-cheap tire shops? I'll punch some numbers into my budget tonight to update the latest progress on the car and see exactly what I can afford.
