Alero Project, Exterior

[Eh_nigma]

For those who have followed this project, from way back when it started, well, yeah, it's been one heck of a time. A couple months ago, I had to pull myself from this project, as well as a number of other things that had nothing to do with the Alero.

A culmination of a few things that ended up causing a bit of a hard time involving work, health, friends, family needed me to basically pull back and evaluate things. As of now, though, with a change in scenery, things have been sorted out to where I feel it is the right time to get back into the swing of things, including this project. However, a different outlook and approach to things was needed.

Not wanting to go into detail about the problems in my personal life, and sticking specifically to what this forum involves, with the Alero a number of problems were needing to be dealt with. Most of the electrical work was complete inside the vehicle, and it was getting to the point where parts were being prepped for fiberglassing, painting and installation. One of the few things I went to an outside source proved to cause problems that snowballed to the point where the option of scrapping this car and either starting over or leaving it as is were strongly considered.

To be exact, the installation of the sound system (Subs, Amps, Cap, and 6x9 hookup) ended up causing a chain reaction of failures needing a substantial amount of repair (requiring both time and money). Legal action was also considered, however, the beauty of a small town area where businesses depend on reputation to survive (and due to the fact that a large portion of their business is military members such as myself), compensation was reached that left me satisfied.

However, inlight of that, my current - well, for lack of a better phrase - health, doesn't allow me to really work inside of the car to replace/redo what needs to be fixed. So, the interior is going to be put on hold for now. One of the "bright-sides" to being in this position, looking at what was done, and being able to go back and say "no, I don't like that, let's do it differently", but that'll be at a later time.

Right now, the car is in a garage, under a cover, and will likely be there for probably another few weeks - lets not forget, still working full time, and a schedule in this line of work is anything but "regular". Exercises, training, courses, and other things will take priority over the project. But, as the plan goes, I am waiting for the AAS Kato kit to arrive, thanks to a fellow member - Rodney, who has been a huge help, and very patient. An absolute pleasure to deal with - thanks again.

Once the kit arrives in a couple days, and when I have a chance to, the kit will be mounted onto the car, and work will begin on making it look the way I want it to look. Changes in some areas will be made on the front piece, the driver side side skirt (to accomodate the side exhaust), and the rear piece.

When it comes to the plans for the exterior of the car, its a simple list that entails a bit of work. Not a bit, quite a bit:

1.Hood - Make a single piece hood that incorporates an off center, ram-air system.
2.Low Profile Roof Scoop
3.FG Quarter Panels
4.Replace the rear quarter windows with FG Ventilation Covers (a lot of words to simply say "a free flow scoop"
5.Make a new spoiler

The whole goal is not to take an existing part and add to it. As with the Kato Kit, the plan is to use these parts, and existing parts, change the look of them to where I am happy with the look, make a mold, and make these parts myself. This gives me a couple things that I want - Unique Look (remember folks, custom doesn't come in a box), and replaceable parts (lets face it, parts break, thats half the fun with vehicles, should a FG piece break, I want to be able to get my mold, take a bit of time, make a replacement, or put on a spare piece made, without having to start from square one all over again).

I don't know why I was feeling so lost the exterior - this is something I've had the good fortune of learning while working on aircraft, the process of modling, FG, finishing, etc. The only difference, these molds will be about 4-5 times the size, but the idea is the same.

The cars already lowered thanks to the suspension package that I got sent to me from Pawz, so, it's sitting roughly where I want it (ultimately, sitting on 18's, but that's for another time).




So, that's where I am with the project right now. Waiting patiently for parts to come in, get a look that I want, make these parts, knowing full well it's going to be a hell of a lot more difficult to do than what I simply wrote here in 20 minutes. But, that's where I am. One day at a time, plug away at this whenever I get a chance, and slowly get to where I want to be. The ultimate plan, being simply to finish the outside, make the inside reflect what the outside shows, give it a nice pair of shoes, a bit more power, and then drive the hell out of it (responsibly) and enjoy it. When that point will come? Who knows. All I know right now, is that I can't wait to get at it, and take things one piece at a time.

Thanks again to everyone on this forum. Your help, your support, your encouragement, and critiques (read: constructive criticism) has helped me in this ongoing project more than I think you all realize. With that, I bid you all a good morning. Happy New Year, all the best.

Edge.