Topics

1

Maintenance / Help with windshield wiper transmission (linkage) 69 Camaro

« on: January 05, 2018, 11:11:27 PM »

I'm stumped.  Either something isn't right with the linkage or I'm missing something obvious on putting this together.
The car had no wiper parts at all when I got it so I don't have anything to compare to, but yet it seems simple enough.

After installing the wiper motor and the transmission, if I pull the linkage all the way to the driver side I'm about 1/4" from reaching the ball on the motor arm.




If I push the linkage all the way to the passenger side it only goes a little farther than the motor shaft center line.



It seems like it should go as far to the passenger side as the motor crank would reach when the motor rotates.

It all bolted up to the cowl area ok, and resembles the picture in the AIM.







Any ideas?

Thanks,  John

2

Garage Talk / Kudos to the CRG

« on: December 21, 2017, 03:52:30 PM »

I just bought the Browell bellhousing alignment tool for the TKO600 swap I'm doing in the 69 Z and look what they supply for instructions with the tool:



It's 3 pages straight from a CRG Research Report on bellhousing alignment!  They probably figured why reinvent the wheel when it's already done.  And probably in more detail than they would have provided on their own!

John

3

Originality / 69 Z/28 Water Pump Pulley Real or Repro

« on: September 24, 2017, 01:49:37 PM »

I found other threads about this but no overall guidelines about real vs. repopped pulleys.
I wanted to get you guys opinion on this pulley:






I thought the font looked good but I'm questioning the welds that retain the inner support.  I have noticed on crank pulleys that the welds on repops are on the flat face (like above), but on originals they seem to be on the side around the circumference of the mounting flange.  Is that correct and does that also apply to water pump pulleys?

Any feedback appreciated!

4

Originality / ZL2 Hood Grommet

« on: August 17, 2017, 08:36:26 PM »

I was looking at the available repop hood grommets that the solenoid wire goes through, and they are nothing like I remember them being back in the day.  They just have a big hole in the middle.

Did GM change to that style at some point later on? 

Does anyone make the original style or know any availability of originals?

John

5

Garage Talk / 40 Years Later, not that much has changed....

« on: July 19, 2017, 08:14:18 PM »

...except I got a hell of a lot older! 

1977  Rebuilt 302 going back into car:




2017  Rebuilt 302 going into car:



In '77 I had all of the machine work done and put the engine together myself.  This time I had the engine professionally rebuilt to my specs and then dynoed for proper operation, etc.

Looking forward to reliving my youth a little bit! 

6

Decoding/Numbers / 69 Z/28 trim tag

« on: December 28, 2016, 03:11:21 PM »

So, if I know what I think I know, this is not correct for an 09D build, right?

7

Decoding/Numbers / Instrument Cluster from Late 69 Z/28 (11A)

« on: November 26, 2016, 05:15:40 PM »

I picked up this really nice instrument cluster/dash from a late build 69 Z/28.  It was an 11A build with a VIN of 9N710xxx.




It is complete with the wiring harness and heater control, all in really nice shape.




I was hoping to find some distinguishing features related to the tach, but I'm not sure if there are any.  One thing that seemed maybe a little odd was two tags on the side, one on top of the other.



The paper is pretty brittle but if I pull up on the top tag, you can see an ink stamped number on the underneath tag.  The top tag is blank in that area.


Does the application of the top tag somehow relate to the updated tach that happened late in the build cycle?

Not a lot of info out there (that I have found) so I thought I would see what you guys thought.

8

General Discussion / My 69 Z/28 "building find"!

« on: September 25, 2016, 09:30:41 PM »

I've known this guy for going on 30 years, and the whole time his 69 Z/28 has not moved an inch.  He bought it in 1977 only to drag race it.
In 1986 he broke a drive shaft while racing and the car has been parked ever since.  He did some good storage things by putting it up on jackstands,
 backing off the rocker arm nuts so the valve were closed and the pressure off of the springs, and covering the carb.

I've talked to him over the years about selling it and he wouldn't.  In 2012 I made another unsuccessful push to buy it.  But I did take some pictures then.




Fast forward 4 years to 2016 and he asked me if I would like to take another look at the car.  He had a minor stroke a year or so ago and I think he finally realized he was never going to do anything with it.

We got a bunch of the stuff off of the car so for the first time I could actually see the whole car!




Lots of things have been changed on the car in his quest to make it quicker.  It has mono leaf rear springs, a Dana 60 rear end, a BW T10 trans, and the engine is not original.  He also converted it to front DRUM brakes.     It has been fitted with a fuel cell which required a small hole in the trunk floor, and unfortunately he cut part of the trans tunnel out for easy access.



But I finally have it bought and home!  Almost no rust on the car!  It has been mostly or completely repainted, and the wiper holes, radio antenna hole, front fender Camaro emblem holes have been filled.  I believe it is a factory spoiler car, but during repaint they ran the stripes off the back of the trunk lid (a real pet peeve of mine).  It does show evidence of having a front spoiler at one time.



Lots of work to do, but I'm excited about getting it running.  I want to change the cam, get rid of the Dana 60 (5.86 gear ), and put a 12 bolt with multi leaf springs in it, and convert back to front disc brakes.  If I can fit a factory shifter to the T10 I guess I have no problem leaving that in for now.  I'm glad he never put a roll cage in it.  It's kind of a time capsule of speed parts back from the day.  I'm not sure I even want to peel the stickers off of it right away.

9

General Discussion / Trying to close deal on 69 Camaro-Title Issues

« on: August 18, 2016, 01:37:09 AM »

I'm trying to buy a 69 Camaro from a guy I've known a long time who bought the car in 1977 and NEVER transferred the title.

He planned to only race the car, so he didn't care about plates or any of that.  He raced it on and off until 1986, and the car hasn't moved an inch since then.  The prior owner was killed in a traffic accident, so the current owner has a title and a death certificate. He checked into what he needs to do, and a notary at a bank said to bring the surviving spouse in to sign (the title I presume) in front of her and she will then notarize it.  He tracked down the dead guys wife (who luckily is still alive and in the area) but she's apparently not wanting to cooperate.  I don't necessarily blame her; after all of these years and maybe old memories of the car and husband, I might not want to either.

I've looked at the title and I don't think there is anything written on it about the sale. I think the wife signed it for the dead owner, and provided the death certificate with it.

I'm not sure if I should let this drag on week after week like it is, or just buy the car, get the title and death certificate myself, and try to resolve it on my own like the current owner never even had the car.

I need to look at the title again and see if she only signed it, or signed and dated it.  If it's not dated I could treat it like I'm buying it from her.  Maybe give her a couple hundred bucks for her trouble?

If it's dated as sold in 1977, then there is the issue of why somebody didn't transfer the title at the time of sale.

It used to be easy to handle this stuff; I have purchased both a car with no title and an old motorcycle that had never been titled and easily got those taken care of, but this seems different, AND I think the laws have tightened up quite a bit in recent years.

Anyone had any similar situations?  Any ideas?

Thanks,  John

10

Trans-Am Camaros / 1972 Road America Trans Am

« on: July 26, 2016, 02:33:10 AM »

We took a family trip to Elkhart Lake, Wis. in 72 for the Trans Am race when I was 16.
Here's a few of the decent pics I took with my cheapo Kodak camera.  These pics don't compare to most of the incredible pictures in this section, but I thought I'd share what I have.
The actual racing pictures are too small and distant looking to be of any value.
Other than the "0" Firebird T/A, I don't know who belongs to any of these cars.  I have recently seen the "87" Camaro in vintage races on tv.
Still have the program from the race.
















My biggest thrill was while watching the crew working on one of the cars, they asked if I'd roll one of the tires over to them to install on the car.    I never forgot that.

11

General Discussion / 302 Replacement Pistons

« on: July 25, 2016, 01:16:26 PM »

I'm looking at doing a 302 +.030 rebuild and going to buy a set of pistons.  There was a good thread on this a few years ago discussing the various pistons available, but it looks like piston choices have really narrowed in the last few years.  It looks like you can change rod lengths and use 350 pistons, which have more choices, but if I stay with a 5.7" rod, the choices I'm seeing are hypereutectic or the JE/SRP forged.

I don't really want to go hypereutectic, and I have no problem with the JE/SRP piston, I'm just wondering what others have done (if anybody has done any recent rebuilds), or if I'm missing something in my searches.

JE offers the pistons and rings along with some nice looking MLS head gaskets in various thicknesses (.027, .030, .039, .051").

One goal I have is to keep the compression UP!  11.0:1 at least.

I plan to run the stock 30-30 cam.

Thanks for any info/opinions.

John

12

General Discussion / My Old 69 Z

« on: July 10, 2016, 07:12:43 PM »

I bought my 69 Z28 back in 1973 when I was 16 years old.  I bought the car from the original owner (through a bank; long story there) and for no older than the car was, it had lead a pretty rough life. I slowly fixed it up over time and had a ball with it over the years.  I did a lot of autocrossing in the late 70's and made a few changes to the car and it really shined at the autocrosses; both low speed and high speed courses.

Back then the cars weren't that special, so mods and in my case, adding options the car didn't originally come with was no big deal.  I think the worst part about being that young with a 69 Z28 was that it was my everyday driver, 365 days a year.  In the winter, on went the snow tires and trudging thru the snow and salt like any other Impala or Malibu, etc.  As time went on it became more and more special to me, and the magazines called them future collectors items.  I'm so amazed at some of the survivor cars on here, the owners either had the foresight to know they were special from the start, or just plain luck, that these cars are around today in their untouched condition.

I remember when the "cowl tag decoded" articles started coming out in the magazines and I was so disappointed that mine only said X77 instead of X77D80 because I knew it came from the factory with the spoilers.  Now you guys have figured it all out when these different changes occurred, but they didn't know that stuff back in the early 80's.


Around 1975 or 76 I T-boned a girl who ran a stop sign.  It was a low speed accident but it did crumple the front end up on the Z.  It barely did anything to the hood but the insurance company called for a new hood!  Who could resist adding the ZL2 hood and supporting parts!!  All brand new right from GM!  Also, I always liked the black grill in these cars, so I opted for that too. The only part that was discontinued at that time was the correct extension to raise the flange and seal up to the bottom of the hood.  A few years later I was able to find a repop of the extension and added that then.

Here's the car around 1977:


I still have the jacket but unfortunately I sold the car in 1986.   I'm so glad I still have several pictures from back then and that I took a pic of the cowl tag while I had the car. A few weeks ago I googled the VIN: 124379N639570 and I was surprised it hit on a Keith Martin/ Ebay Motors website indicating it sold at auction in 2009 for $52,000.  All of the picture links were broken due to time.

Is there anything in the CRG databases about that car?

I am currently trying to close a deal on another 69 Z28 but I'll wait until it actually happens before I post anything about that car.

That's my little story.

Thanks,  John