Quick update... The Secret Weapon is currently being painted and having the body kit installed! The rims/tires came in the mail on thursday, and I've begun wet-sanding the interior pieces! I'm sorry I haven't had time to document the steps I've taken this past week or so, but the military is really sticking it to me for wanting to get out. Duty after duty, time-sink after time-sink. I haven't even had time to check out of medical, and I am leaving the base for good on the 29th. :rolleyes2:

When I get back to Cincinnati on April 4th, I will throw up a bunch of pics I have been taking but haven't had time to crop and chop for posting here.

-Brad

Good job so far!

When I saw : " rims/tires came in the mail " I had this wierd image where the mail man tries to squeeze 4 wheels in your mail box :lol:

Welp, I got all moved back to Cincinnati and got a settled and a few job interviews out of the way. Aside from the body kit fiasco, I'm back on track. I got to work on the dash for a few hours tonight... Got the batting glued to the dash that I am going to use as padding for the new black vinyl I have ready and waiting.

For this, I am using 3M's strongest spray-on adhesive... I think it's #90 in the green can. About $12 at Lowe's. This stuff sets up like cement, so I shouldn't have the crazy peeling issue like with the stock vinyl.





...and here are a few shots of the Alero with her 3-day-old paint job, which is the Ford G9 series Vista Blue Metallic Effect. Beautiful, except for the BS body kit.







Tomorrow, I'll be throwing on some, if not all of the vinyl for the dash. That's gonna suck...

-Brad

looking great!!!!

you mentioned vibrant strut bars... F & R ones?? is it just me or does the rear not fit?? im about to toss this pos up on ebay..

Yep, I bought both and they fit just fine. The rear one is a pain in the ass to install though. It's like the mounting points back there have washers welded over the holes or something. I just installed mine over the washers. It doesn't sit flush against the tower, but it's only off by the thickness of the washer which is like 1/16th of an inch.

looks good man! you should post some more pics

Today was not nearly as productive as I wanted it to be, but it is a HUGE pain in the ass to get the vinyl down into the cracks of the seams in the dash. I ended up using a butter knife to poke it all down in there. lol.





...but you gotta admit, it came out absolutely fabulous. :coolio:

I still haven't trimmed that right end to mold around the side so it's sticking out a bit and I am waiting for the glue to cure before cutting out the vent hole there. I am astonished at how well this turned out... woot!

-Brad

do you mind getting me a few good pictures please? i'd greatly appreciate it darlin.
azulitoalero@yahoo.com

Looking great!!! Really! Keep it up man

Put a 454 in it!!

^ de da de

I didn't forget about you... Just been a hectic couple of days. I'll post them up here for all to see, hopefully tonight.

-Brad

Actually, I am in the process of putting an LS1 in a 1984 Fiero SE. Should make for interesting reactions when I smoke a 911 turbo in a $500 car. :p

O.O ooohhhhhh

im a huge Fiero gal....
you shouldnt have said that!!

I wanna see pictures and videos!!

Well, all I have right now is the car and some of the parts I need. I'm pretty sure I have the engine locked on, but if the deal falls through I have about 50 backup plans. lol. Not sure if a Fiero engine swap thread is appropriate on an Alero board. :)

I'll post a link to a thread on a fiero board when I really get knee-deep in the project, but the Alero takes priority since I'm so far along. :)

-Brad

I've discovered people on this forum are very open minded and don't mind talk about other vehicles. Some of us don't even own Aleros.

But the Alero project looks good. Keep up the good work and continue posting pictures of the progress.

Not sure if this is what you wanted... I can't get my camera to take a picture in any kind of focus for a top-down view, because it has to be so close when I put it up inside the hole there.

For anyone who isn't up to speed on the conversation, this is just a shot of how the Vibrant strut bars fit in the trunk, which is a bit funky but it does work.

Let me know if you need anything else. :)

-Brad

EDIT - The guys at A+ Performance shipped my bars to me assembled incorrectly. They had the rear bar attached to the front brackets and the front bar attached to the rear brackets. Just in case there's any confusion, the C-shaped brackets go in the rear and the full circle ones go up front. :)

and i assume thats the cavelier/sunfire/grand am one? They said it wasnt long enough to fit in my car.... the front fit fine though....hmmm