Frank's folly

Every build has a starting point , and this one started with a trip to see a Lamborghini kit in someone's yard for sale .
When I saw it , I had to have it !
My wife wasn't so happy when this was dropped off in our yard , but the kids were thrilled . And I had a project I'd been wanting to do for a long time .
 

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That was 2 years ago , and the next weekend I had the body some what hanging in place . And finding just how bad it was going to be . Well not bad ... just its own challenges . The fiberglass has sags , and miss fitted pieces to be sorted out . Its just time , and my modifications that will make it more convincing to those that know what this should look like .

What I got was the second companies' version of the kit , ASPP .
The origin of the molds seem to be a company called NAF . The owner had purchased Holman Moody's MKII molds , and adapted them to fit on the Fiero before selling the molds back . From the windshield forward it is GT40 . The rest , well .... is as close as it could be without changing the Fiero's structure .
The Fiero is an '87 SE with 2.8 V6 , and 5 speed trans axle . And 80k miles on the clock .
The Chevette front suspension had been replaced with a HT Motor Sports slalom , but the spindles are missing and the stock Fiero ones are in need of replacing for bigger brakes , and lower ride hight .
The rear has an aftermarket sway bar , and a bump steer kit that is only a slight improvement over the stock set-up , and will be replaced with HT Motor Sports rear control arms , which is the next best thing to an '88 Fiero conversion .
16" Compomotive wheels with dry rotted BFG Comp TAs for rolling stock .
Its a shame no one makes tires that work with 16" wheels anymore .

The only other up grade is a short throw shifter .

Now to to work on catching those interested up on the last 2 years .
 
So the next weekend I had to see the body on the car .
This took some modification to the radiator support , and the removal of the bottom of the rear luggage tub . Some of the pics have fallen out of existence , but you can see the progress . This took from saturday morning 'til sunday evening ...
 

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Other than the off road ride hight , the rear clip just doesn't fit .
And I work off and on adjusting and trying to heat the 'glass to make it match the roof with no success . The rear clip is 1/2" shorter and 1/2" lower on the right side , and the rocker panels curve up to the rear from the bottom .
The door panels don't fit the doors ,and are too far away from the door glass .

Not much really happens over the next year due to my job , and work I was doing to the garage .

I did find tail lights .
And order a dash from Superformance around June . Which showed up just before Christmas . Thanks Auto Haus in YorkTown , Va.
 

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And this was 1 year ago , in the new room I built on the back of the garage . And the just arrived dash .
 

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This body was sold by ASPP in 1997 , and shipped via Roadway to Va.
$1185. in shipping , and most likely $8000 for the body . I have the shipping bill .
I don't think anybody sells a good copy now . And I haven't found the molds that NAF or ASPP used . Also offered was a MK! rear clip , and a dash .

Bodys show up on Evilbay from time to time , but are very thin and appear to be pulled from copy molds . Pennock's forum has several threads about them .
 
Since I'm terrible at telling stories I'll just show pictures .
So first is the Fiero pod style dash that looks just like the one in my '93 Chevy pick-up .
Then a greatly improved look , but doesn't really go with the whole GT40 thing .
And then old and new dashes .
 

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What the last picture shows is the two dashes are about the same size , but the steering column is about 6" to the left on the Fiero dash because the fuel tank is between the seats . So some trimming was necessary , and then some stretching on the other end .
 

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With the dash now wide enough , it needs mounting points , to adapt to the defroster , and to transition to the windshield .
I had searched for a de-mister grill , and didn't really want to move and plumb the thing to make it work ...
So I decided to use the top part of the original dash . And I'll keep the speaker locations .
 

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The mounting screws for the dash at the windshield are hidden by the speaker covers . And with the top of the dash set , the bottom had to extend to meet the lower mounts . I also decided to put the front hood release on because .... well that might be getting a little ahead .
 

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I don't think I would put one in a car either . I like this one though , it will work with just about any speed sensor .
I think on a chopper , GPS would be ok . I'm going to put a GPS on my bike to get the cable off the springer . I never look at it when I'm riding anyway .
 

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Do you mean that this will be even more difficult to get in and out of than a GT40 with doors that go over the roof. I had that trouble with a Lotus Exige where entry was compared to posting yourself through a letter box.

Chris
 
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