Nice to see that you've got a proper 4 speed manual there.  And I'd say nobody ever did something stupid like rip out the 302 V8 (that's right, the early ones were 5 liters built for the Trans Am series) and drop in a 350 V8 and autotragic transmission.

High school friend had a cousin that had an early Z28.  And he did that exact thing...

GMorrison

That's pretty amazing. If I see this car again this week I'll take more pictures. Today was old-car stuff.

 

I have yet to see another Z/28 around me.  I've only been to a couple car shows though.  I'm pretty sure if there was another one in the area I would of seen it by now. 

Did some work on some parts at home today.  Cleaned up the inside of the bumpers, and sprayed them black.  Polsihed them as well.

The pile of parts in my basement that are ready to go back on the car.  Grill, bumpers, emblems, air cleaner housing, tail lights, side marker lights, fender braces, windsheild and rear window trim, wiper arms, headlight bezels and trim rings, and hood hinges.  I boxed/wrapped everything up so it doesn't get dusty or knocked around.

Ordered some parts last night as well. 

That's pretty amazing. If I see this car again this week I'll take more pictures. Today was old-car stuff.

GMorrison

 

Well now that would be pretty close to what my car looked like originally.  It was Daytona yellow, with the yellow houndstooth interior.  It has the X77 code which was classified as "Base car with Special Performance Equipment"(Z/28)Which means it didn't have the trim pieces along the bottom of the door, or on the shark gills.  That car in the picture would most likely be an X33 code, which was classified as "Style Trim Group with Special Performance Equipment"(Z/28)Which means it has the trim. 

The only picture that I know of that is still around from when my Dad first bought the car.

Before these were collectable, they were just an old car - always interesting to see what folks did to keep them on the road.

Just started working on a 1928 Model A Phaeton getting it ready for a friend to sell. Pretty good shape, but several tell-tales it was "refurbished" in the 60/70s. Going to be a nice car though.

keavdog

Fun and meaningful project.  I might steal that c-clamp idea ;)

 

It sure is!  I had a good laugh out of it.  Along with that I found one of the bumper bolts wasn't the correct one, and it had a wing nut on it, instead of the normal one, lol.  I'm sure he would just shrug his shoulders and say it worked at the time. 

Fun and meaningful project.  I might steal that c-clamp idea ;)

Nice!

A few more things stripped off the car today.  Pulled the trim around the windshield and back window, took off the wipers and the cowling as well. 

Took out the radiator, removed the front spoiler, and the turn signal lenses.

Took out all the wiring in the engine compartment. 

The pile of wires I need to clean, fix up, and make look nice again.

I got a good laugh when I went to take the front spoiler off.  I guess my Dad decided on a quick fix when a bolt got lost/misplaced.  He used a C-clamp to hold it on, lol.  Not sure if he just forgot about it, or decided to leave it that way. 

Thought of you when I saw this today. 1969 Z28.

Car Week!

Tanker - Builder

Hi Keyda !

 You know . Following this , I wonder , are you going to do a model alongside the real one anytime soon ? That would be cool . It's to bad you can't pack up the Chrome goodies and send them to Chrome - Tech for a re-do !

 I bet that would be the biggest model Chrome order they've ever done LOL.LOL. Oh , by the way . Keep on doing the good stuff , you won't be sorry . T.B.

 

I built one last Fall.  If your like me, you don't frequent the auto section very often.

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/4/t/176962.aspx

I have the original fasteners for the badges, and plan on using sealant on them. 

plasticjunkie, I have used POR-15 before.  I purchase a motorcycle gas tank sealer kit, and used it on my old 89 EX500.  I also did my brother in laws ZR-7S gas tank.  It worked beautifully.  Inside of my tank still looks brand new.  I never thought about using it on the car though!  I'll look into that!

Thanks Gamera! 

Sharp! You're making great progress!!!

Once you get to the paint and body work look into POR 15 . I don’t know if it’s still around but it’s fantastic at blocking and stopping rust on parts. I used it on my Chevy’s frame on lightly surfaced rust. Paint Over Rust will isolate oxygen from getting to the rust  stopping it dead on its track. It comes or came in black, silver and clear and can be topcoated. I used the silver to paint the inside of a 1952 Coca Cola cooler 25 years ago that had surface rust and it still looks brand new.

Keyda !

Like " G " said be careful with those badges . Find what the dealer uses to fasten them back on . Gee , back in the day we had these little holes that fit pins on the badges .

  Then we put retainer lock washers on them and slathered a rubbery goop all over  the back  of them  , inside the fenders and doors to keep rust and other stuff away .

Hi Keyda !

 You know . Following this , I wonder , are you going to do a model alongside the real one anytime soon ? That would be cool . It's to bad you can't pack up the Chrome goodies and send them to Chrome - Tech for a re-do !

 I bet that would be the biggest model Chrome order they've ever done LOL.LOL. Oh , by the way . Keep on doing the good stuff , you won't be sorry . T.B.

GMorrison

Is that your cousin or your husband?

Hey so be careful though with the badges. I haven't done a resto project in a while, but I always had a hard time getting them to stay on the way they do originally.

Some jerk stole the badges off of my other car's wheels not long ago too.

 

Are you talking about the picture at the top with me and the car?  That's my Dad, it was taken when he gave me the car.

platicjunkie, I don't think I've ever seen a bicycle like that!  It's nice to bring things back from the brink of "death"  Hubby and myself fixed up my almost 30 year old motorcycle a while back.  It's still a trusty, and fun ride!

Got out to my cousins house yesterday to see the baby, and get a little bit more done with my car. 

Pulled a few more bits off the front of the car.  I'm going to sand blast and re-paint some stuff at home.

Looking at my car this way.......well, I don't like it, lol.  But I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.

Motor's out.  I'm not sure where my oil leak is, there is oil everywhere.  So I think I'm just going to replace most of the gaskets.  The motor was rebuilt in winter of 07-08, and not a whole lot of miles were put on it, so no reason to rebuild that, it runs great.  It will be cleaned up though. 

The gaping hole, lol.  Will be cleaned, and repainted, wiring fixed up, etc.

I have a pile of parts in the basement that I've polished, re-painted, but I'm leaving them there until they are almost ready to go back on the car.  No sense cluttering up my cousin's garage with a bunch of parts, we need the room to paint the car.

Badges look great! I did the same thing you are doing to a Schwinn bike badge.  About  15 years ago I picked up a crappy looking old Schwinn for $40. I knew it was old but once I had it and checked the serial number on a Schwinn bike site it turned out to be a 1953 Schwinn  Panther! It still had the correct carrier out back.

I stripped it to bare metal and repainted it myself using Krylon paints. Even used stencils to recreate the pin striping with my airbrush. I had the fenders replated and got a bunch of repro parts to replace the rusted out ones. I had it for a few years and then someone saw it and named the right price! That bicycle weighted almost 40 lbs. and looked like a motorcycle even having a chromed frame tank .

Is that your cousin or your husband?

Hey so be careful though with the badges. I haven't done a resto project in a while, but I always had a hard time getting them to stay on the way they do originally.

Some jerk stole the badges off of my other car's wheels not long ago too.

Worked on the Z/28 emblems the past few days.  Got them all ready for a protective clear coat.

Stripping the old paint off with a bit of acetone.

The red paint on the grill emblem just wasn't budging.

Repainted.  Just letting them dry for a while before I throw a clear coat on them for protection.  Not bad for almost 50 year old emblems. 

Now it's on to something else that is small enough for me to work on in the house.  It's super hot and muggy outside right now. 

Small little update.  My cousin and his fiance have welcomed their baby boy into the world, but she's been having some complications afterwards.  They came home yesterday so I went out to visit, and pull some more stuff off my car that I can work on cleaning up/polishing/re-painting at home. 

The pile of parts.

Both bumpers, tail lights, side marker lights, all the emblems, grill, headlight bezels, shifter, fender braces and the air cleaner. 

Hoping to get back out this weekend and get the engine out of the car, and find the oil leak.  Need to drop the gas tank as well, I have a leak at the top somewhere. 

Christine,

Love your smartfone. I use mine all the time when I take stuff apart. It's like a virtual memory.

Thanks scottrc!

Thanks Toshi!

PFJN, I'm sure I'll be using stuff I've learned here as well!  I'll need a steady hand to repaint the emblems!

WillysMB, I have to agree with you there, I've met some pretty nice people at car shows, and everyone here is great!

plasticjunkie, I have some old plastic containers, and I'll be getting ziploc bags!  We've put most bolts back where they came from, and if we couldn't, put it in a container.  I did the heater core on my Blazer last year, and the whole dash needs to come out of the truck.  I made sure everything was bagged and labeled, it went back together very nicely with no left over or missing bolts! 

Hopefully I'll have some more work done during the week. 

That is so cool that you are working on your dad's car. You are not erasing your dad from it but rather honoring him by sprucing up the old gal and making it a safer ride.

I hope you guys are taking lots of pictures, bagging and tagging where parts go back to. Makes the assembly process a lot easier. My buddy bought a 67 Goat hardtop and used this method to keep things easier for his rebuild.

I wish I still had my 55 Chevy hardtop. I had her for 15 years and worked her to almost a frame off. Sadly I sold her off after I retired back in 2007.

Fabulous! Now you can indulge in two obsessions. They do complement each other well though.

My tastes are a little older, Model T, Model A and early V8, plus my 42 MB Jeep.

The only folks as nice as modelers are car guys and gals.

Hi,

This sounds like a neat project.  I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.  I've actually been working on my old car a bit and have been amazed at how some of the stuff I've learned from these boards has been applicable to the car (especially stuff like refurbishing the hood & trunk emblems, etc)

Best of luck with your build.

Pat

That is awesome, historical!  I used to be able to restore cars as well.  Lol! My first car I bought in 1985 was for $500.00.  It was in poor condition, it can drive, yes It actually was very fun car.  A 1989 Ford Mustang.  Someone took out the 427 and replaced it with a 3.50 (basically a 289).

Good luck to you and your family in the restoration!

Great project Keyda. I had done a few restorations and I so look forward to following your progress. 

GMorrison, she will be a driver, always has been.  Only gets put away for winter time.  My Dad even towed stuff with the car, lol.  As for the rear view mirror, he always had a pair of fuzzy red dice hanging there.  I have a brand new pair, along with a small glass ampule that I'm going to put a bit of his ashes in that I will hang from the mirror. 

keavdog, She is a true Z/28, but no where near original.  I was never concerned with that, it might fetch you a higher price tag, but this car will be kept in the family.  I like the idea with the Gopro, I may have to give that a try one of these days.

tempestjohnny, I rebuilt the heads from the engine in my basement one winter, lol. 

jeffpez, it always sucks when someone thinks they have the right to just take your stuff.  I've had a few of my vehicles broken into over the years, it's a horrible feeling. 

Tanker-Builder, We'll be painting on the stripes as well.  The interior in my car was also changed at some point.  It originally had the yellow houndstooth interior.  Glad it's not there anymore, I'm not a big fan of yellow, lol.  I totally understand being too protective, I'm sure I'll be the same way once all the work is done!  I'm already to the point where I won't let anyone else drive her!

Another great build, Keyda! How are you going to hang it from the ceiling?

Oh My ! ! 

 Hey Keyda ! I have a friend who has a Yellow one . He got the repaint , Stripes included , ( In paint not vinyl ) and made it a daily driver . Except he got to protective of the old girl . She is 100% original inside !