batbuilder's LP640 called "No Mercie"

[batbuilder]

Ok I'd like to put in my two cents. I'm big time convinced on the fiero donor. I'm not a proponent of cutting the unibody in any way structurally. I like the ectoskeleton build where the square tubing surrounds the unmolested Fiero passenger compartment tying in the front end to the rear unibody tubes. A strong tubular bar welded to the bottom of the rear square tube moving the engine cradle 10 1/2 inches backwards. Then square tubing on the upper rear unibody having long lateral welds.
The Fiero being a GM platform has so many drivetrain configurations.. The 3800 grand Prix v-6 actually bolts up to the Getrag 5 speed. My last replica had a 327 corvette engine with tune port injection. Which was too crazy for everyday driving. And then there's the Northstar. The mother of all conversions. A buddy of mine had a ferrari 550 replica on a MR2 turbo platform. I now understand turbo lag. The only bad thing about a Fiero conversion is to tell people its on a Fiero. engine fires, underperformance, 24 YEAR OLD donors. So modified tubular chassis on Lotus inspired suspension sounds better.Lol Thanks for looking....dave

[batbuilder]

Here's both of the headlights I made. Kinda gives you a good feeling making them with your own hands.

[batbuilder]

Here's an example of a top piece I made in black. I'm planning on using a set with the plexiglass lense on my Big Kahuna. Would be cool to have some lambo lights on the bike. Wonder how many people will recognize them.

[batbuilder]

I've really learned a lot on this site and hope some of my pics might help someone here. the headlight looks pretty good sitting on the body. Its not anywhere close to being mounted but I'm really enjoying the process.

[batbuilder]

I tried a couple combinations with the molding process. The hood I sanded down to 1500 grit using wet sanding method. Noticed the PVA didnt want to work so I used carnuba wax release. It worked pretty good. The PVA works good up to 400 grit but no more. PVA is not really used for car parts but I liked it for the headlight molds but theres a trick to it for sure.
Oh you can see the rear housing piece I made. pretty cool looking

[batbuilder]

Here is the first pull that I got from the mold. It was a little rough but I am going to use fiberglass to fill the missing spots. The release agent was PVA that was sprayed on using a spray gun. the PVA goes on kinda weird with some bubbles but within 30 minutes its spreads thin and forms a barrier between the mold and the gelcoat. Its water soluable so it usually pulls off fine. I think I want to do a video on it since I've had some luck with it.

[batbuilder]

Don't know if you have ever talked to coders before but todays appt was pretty weird. But soon in the conversation you could tell this guy was really good. They just never sleep.

[batbuilder]

Here's a pic of the skidplate. I remember so well having to back up when a driveway was too steep for my Testarossa replica. Oh also I have rwo rubber rollers under the skidplate...

[batbuilder]

Here's a pic of the front end of the roadster. oh yeah we did get the body off the roadster and are welding the rollbar and bracing up the windshield. The body actually came off really easy. Now the jig is being made up for the body. That way we can move it around.
Had a big 3 hour meeting with a webdesigner. He specializes in app development and has some real good ideas for the batbuilder site. The site currently looks a little sad. Hopefully it will have a dramatic improvement by the 18th of this month. Have a couple meetings in Hawaii that revolve around the batmobiles. But we have had promises made in the past on web developement that have not panned out so we will see. Gave him a deposit so the balls in his court.

[batbuilder]

Our goal was to replace all the accessories as I didn't want to get it all together and then something would not work. But the price list I was given was from Carquest seemed a little high so I'm going to check with Summit. Here's a pic of the skid plate under the front of the roadster

[batbuilder]

Hey ShulzeA, yeah I'm not sure but someone in the know had told me they turn as the car is turning. I have no idea. I will post a pic of the headlights I had bought. Yeah dustin thanks for the kind words. yeah they are replicas but looks like they were made off of real ones. I got a set of real glass ones and some nice plexiglass ones. But thanks for the offer. The coolest thing is the rear housing for the headlights i had never seen those before but made a couple sets of them.
Here's a pic of the water pump on the 50k riviera motor. It was highly corroded. That was kinda surprise since the seller seemed so honest.lol

[usmc_butler]

My morning NEWS channel is back up! Im so happy ... Hey the mirrors turned out FANTASSTIC Headlight buckets turned out great, where they OEM? My OEM headlight glass should be here in a week or so if you need and dimensions or anything Again, glad to see you posting and progress, it really motivates everybody to get to work



Dustin

[SchulzeA]

Does the murcie come with headlights that move? Besides for adjustment. 

[batbuilder]

Now it fits a lot better. Thanks for looking...dave

[batbuilder]

Here is where the piece had to be broken and reset. The piece was too flat and wouldnt fit the housing