batbuilder's LP640 called "No Mercie"

[Tallon]

Doesn't that bridge get removed altogether? You need to frame mount the whole dash anyway to keep it solid 

[dratts]

IKR,  I have your dash and gauge cluster pod.  Unfortunately I sent it to the upholstery shop and now I have the same fitting problem.  I wish that I had cut it apart and fitted it before the upholstery.  I'm hoping that I can peal the upholstery back and reglass it for a proper fit.  Should I do the same refit technique?

[batbuilder]

hey italianknightrider, I'm a big fan of your build. So is this dash not fitting a common thing? We looked under and over and what if we trimmed this or cut this before we realized it ain't gonna fit. I'm hoping I will be able to fiberglass that bridge piece back in there soon. Last night I was dreaming about a way to hold the dash together after the upholstery is put on. I want that dash to stay tight even if I do a ''dukes of hazard' jump. Drives me nuts when everything is shaking when your driving down the road. The pod did sit nice and flush once that piece was removed. Just noticed we had shaved too much of the inside corner off the trim piece so that will have to be relengthened. Have an idea for the mirror mounts on the mirror. So hope to get that cut today. We are going to screw this dash together with some hidden stainless allen bolts then kick it around the garage to see if it stays together!!! Sorry about that Rob just kidding there. Thanks again for the kind words....dave

[italianknightrider]

dash looking good ,once that piece is removed from the main dash the pod can now sit lower an seat off inside the opening

[batbuilder]

Last pic of the night. The mount on the deck lid frame Thanks for looking....dave

[batbuilder]

Got the gas shocks on and working. They bolted up even to the Fiero hatch hinge mount.

[batbuilder]

here's a peek at the batwings. Appears to work pretty good.

[batbuilder]

got the batwing hinged

[batbuilder]

It really did fit well. I'll post as I reshape it..

[batbuilder]

Here we are cutting the only LP640 dash I own....Nervous got to grind down the fiberglass before we cut

[batbuilder]

With the pod on I think you can see the problem. The piece wont set down even if I were to trim the back. So off it goes

[batbuilder]

Here we needed to cut the whole cross piece off so that the instrument pod could set properly on the dash. This was really weird because that piece was holding the pod off at a weird angle. So i will have to rebuild that fiberglass piece from scratch but then it will be a perfect match.

[batbuilder]

Ok got a few pics. I started out just wanting to clean up the engine cradle and throw a coat of paint on it to completely tearing it down and having the engine cradle sandblasted and powdercoated. How did that happen?

[batbuilder]

So today the mirrors are finished except the mounts I need the car here for that. We also cut the brace under the front of the instrument pod. I just doesn't fit right. Took  the engine cradle and rear arms over to my buddy's powdercoating shop. Going to go gloss black on the cradle and all the control arms will be sandblasted only. We will paint them because I will eventually be trading them out for upgraded ones when I can figure out how far to extend the axles. Need rims for that...hint...hint
Looking for real lambo rims. Ordered an upgraded sway bar from West Coast Fiero. Chris was trying to talk me out of it but my original sway bar is rusted and pitted. By the time I sand blasted and powdercoated it I'd rather put that money towards a new bigger one $195 with the connectors. Went to pick and pull to get some shocks. Got two from a Seville and two from a camaro and a Roadmaster latch.

[batbuilder]

hey Onewickedsvt, the hinges were custom made  using a plasma cutter out of 1/4 plate steel. We used a 1/18 scale Murcielago as the model to go by. The front hood has C-hinges that we made as I wanted my hood to open forward. The batwings will also have C-hinges as we have figured out the optimum pivot point for these lids seems to lie right in front of the edge of the lid.
OK Tallon that makes sense because when the batwing goes down it doesn't fit flush I was thinking about slicing the fiberglass body to accept the lid. Then taping the edge of the batwing before I fiberglass the body so that the fit is narrow and tight. I'll also install a small tube within the fiberglass at the lowest point of the new edge. Its not really for rain but after washing the car the water can be directed to a point below the body so water is not held in that holder or dripping through a simple drain hole.
I think the side to side motion of the hatch has alot to do with the length of the hinge as it mounts to the hatch. If the length of the mounting hinge was 2 inches you would have a lot of movement. It the mounts were 3 feet long the movement would be greatly reduced. I try and think of problem solutions in extremes that way I can figure out which way to go. You can also put a truss to the side of your hinge that would brace the hatch. All of this might not be necessary since installing the lifting shocks will help to stabilize the hatch. I can tell you I have another problem I tend to overbuild things so we will cuts two of the cross bracing to "lighten" the hatch. Isn't this fun? Lol Hope that made sense. Dave