Messages

2071

General Discussion / Re: 69 Z28 Engine Bay Pic's

« on: July 09, 2013, 11:32:23 PM »

The installation requirement in the AIM is "Tune-up sticker must be readable from front of vehicle" so either works but A/C cars could not have it on the core support.

2072

General Discussion / Re: 69 Z28 Engine Bay Pic's

« on: July 09, 2013, 05:35:02 PM »

Nope. Other than the cover and possibly a feature car color was rare in magazines back in the '60s. The only color engine photo I recall was the L78 in the Mr Bardahl '68 Camaro SS.

As for Car Life and the cross-ram you have to wonder what they expected. The test car had exhaust manifolds and 4.10 gears-even a stock Z/28 was a mutt with that setup. The July '68 Car and Driver had a '68 Z/28 from Chevy engineering with everything imaginable. The engineer with the car stated the cross-ram was for track use only, designed to work at sustained high rpm. That's 1,200 cfm of carburation. I bought the remains of a T/A car in the '80s and the owner said even on the track a cross-ram was hard to drive.

2073

Originality / Re: Engine hook bolts on manifold

« on: July 07, 2013, 04:14:00 PM »

Lift hooks on engines with aluminum intakes are known to have been brush-painted to match during assembly.

2074

Originality / Re: 67 exhaust system questions

« on: July 06, 2013, 02:10:04 PM »

No chambered but there was the N61 "deep-tone" dual exhaust option; n/c on SS models. It eliminated the resonators and used a different muffler.

2075

Restoration / Re: Remove trim tag or not ?

« on: July 02, 2013, 02:34:44 AM »

Kind of amusing to read the responses here.

I've seen re-bodied cars and Dynacorn bodies with swapped VINs sell for six figures at major auctions. Repro tags with altered provenance are common. Someone wants to clean up the rust under a '68 tag with no build configuration info on it whatsoever and paranoia reigns.

The sky won't fall if the tag is removed.

2076

Restoration / Re: Remove trim tag or not ?

« on: July 01, 2013, 11:01:28 PM »

Push on the rivets from behind. If you're careful it may pop off with the rivets intact.

There is nothing on a '68 tag to indicate build configuration. You already have photos.

2077

Decoding/Numbers / Re: Cowl Tag Stamping Error

« on: July 01, 2013, 10:54:56 PM »

There is one other 091 example in the db along with 051 and 061.

2078

Originality / Re: 69 Z 302 pulley finishes

« on: June 29, 2013, 08:02:15 PM »

I have a book about Honda and how they transitioned from making motorcycles to cars. They interviewed a supplier that had shipped 316,000 pc of a particular part to the Ohio plant. Of those 44 were rejected. That's .0001%. Honda graded their quality "satisfactory, not outstanding."

The book was written in 1988. Probably not good enough today.

2079

Originality / Re: 69 Z 302 pulley finishes

« on: June 28, 2013, 05:45:31 PM »

Engineers do not always have the last word. Those who work in sourcing will tell you there is continual pressure to reduce costs. Generally mentioned in your goals for the year. Nothing is sacred in that endeavor. If you have to go back to engineering and have some spec changed that does not affect form, fit or function [like plating] that will save 10¢ per part so be it.

The '458' AIR pulley went from phosphate with a hard-stamp part number to painted with an ink-stamped part number. Maybe the source changed; maybe some buyer at Chevy gave the supplier a new cost target. Meet it or lose the business.

Today there are entire departments that determine what parts and tooling should cost before a supplier sees a drawing. Very tough dealing with the auto industry.

2080

General Discussion / Re: 69 Z-28 for real?

« on: June 28, 2013, 12:39:22 AM »

Looks to be the real deal to me.

2081

Restoration / Re: Y55 Battery Warranty Label/Sticker

« on: June 24, 2013, 02:26:02 AM »

I checked two original road tests: an early production 69 Z/28 in the Jan '69 Hot Rod and a later Z/28 in the August '69 Car Life. The batteries are visible in both photos and neither has that label.

2082

General Discussion / Re: 1969 Z/28 to Rallysport Z/28

« on: June 23, 2013, 05:37:09 PM »

Simply stated you would be ruining whatever remains of the cars' originality.

Unless you really know what you are doing AND have every OE part needed for the conversion it will be detectable. There is more involved than you may be aware.

2083

General Discussion / Re: Is This a Legit Z?

« on: June 17, 2013, 10:05:53 PM »

Tag looks real. Supposed to have a medium green standard interior [721] which appears to have been changed to black. 59 E is frost green with parchment vinyl roof. No one is looking for those colors.

Block appears to have been decked with a chain saw and re-stamped.

2084

Restoration / Re: 1969 Z exhaust and smog systems

« on: June 15, 2013, 05:22:26 PM »

Whatever system your car had new it wasn't very good. Worst of the bunch was probably NC8, chambered. 4 mufflers, small diameter tubing, lots of bends. On a ZL1 dyno test many years ago a stock engine with headers picked up 80 hp when the system was disconnected.

I read somewhere the '65-'69 Corvette side-mount system [chambered also] was about a 50 hp hit on a BB.

2085

Restoration / Re: 1969 Z exhaust and smog systems

« on: June 15, 2013, 04:01:26 AM »

No...