Here’s my current ride height. Measured today at the rockers based on the assembly manual for shipping heights (fuel tank was mostly empty) and it’s about 9 3/4” front and 9 1/4” rear, so slightly high in front and within spec in rear. I prefer more of a lower trans-am stance anyway, so I’ll have to check what front springs are in there but I expect Moog 6308s will be in my future :cool2:

Did some investigative work and pulled the rear seats to check for any chalk markings. Turns out it looks like the car was taken down to bare metal to be repainted so no X3 behind the seat, but was a good opportunity to remove the protective plastic around the new upholstery that had been left behind 10 years ago. According to the records the interior was done by Biel Upholstery in Chicago - anyone know them? The seats are in killer shape, all replaced 10 years ago.

There were more hooks than I was expecting so photos attached for future folks looking to pull their rear seats. I used the killer trick suggested on Team Camaro to put a plastic mallet between front seat and rear, then lean on the front seat to help pop the rear seat bottom back and up to release it from the hooks.

Just caught up on this thread. Looks like you found a real nice little driver. Love the color and I really like the stance.

stance is right on IMO!

"right on" do you mean as a day 2 mod??

I agree that always looks good, but I assume a restoration like this down to the correct tires the OP is looking for the correct stance for a Z.

Don't know if the moog spring will get you there. I've never had much luck going that direction. I've always used Coil Spring Specialties out of Kansas and they've done an excellent job nailing the stock ride heights on various cars I've done.

Thanks, all! Since this will be a driver, I’m leaning more towards mild day-2, at least if it’s bolt-on. It’s already NOM and desmogged, and eventually I’ll go with radials and save the bias-plys for shows. Thinking about either reproduction rallys (to preserve the original YH wheels) or since I’m a big Donohue/Penske fan maybe minilites. :grin:

I’m more into road racing than drag racing so that may be why I prefer the lowered front look, but I agree that it looks pretty damn good right now too...

Pulled the speedo cable today to try to figure out why the speedo and odometer don’t move. Turns out they move just fine with a drill spinning counter-clockwise on the trans end of the cable. The teeth on the driven gear in the bullet insert seem to be intact, so I am wondering if there is a problem with the drive gear inside the tail housing? Looks like the factory-style plastic gear, and maybe a purple color? The yellow driven gear just barely fits through the bore in the transmission so it seems that it can’t be a bigger diameter, so I don’t understand why the teeth aren’t engaging unless there’s a problem with that internal purple drive gear. Hmmmm....

speedo
 

Hi cruiser your speedo gear and clip on the main shaft seems like it was installed upside down ,that purple gear should be in line with the hole in the boss. The steel clip that secures the purple gear is offset roughly 3/16. Nice clean z28.

Maybe the clip broke and the gear slipped on the shaft? That would be likely if the speedo was working before. Either way the tail housing needs to come off.


:dunno:

Graeme, did you catch the 02D build?


:biggthumpup:

Thanks, guys. The odometer reads the same as the paperwork from when it was restored 10 years ago so I would bet the speedo hasn’t worked since then.

02D club! Mid year is my fav: chambered exhaust AND functional headrests :biggthumpup:

Adjusted the toe last night, to neutral with these bias-plys, and in the process finally straightened the steering wheel. It is amazing to me what a difference it makes as far as connecting with the car to have the wheel straight! Also cruised for the first time at night - gotta open the headlight doors manually but the headlights are level and the gauges are super well-lit. Now I really gotta fix that clock, and someday soon pull the tail housing to fix that speedo....

This is exactly how my 42,000 mile Z sits. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Buddy

Got some interesting numbers this evening corner-weighing the car. This is with approx. 17 gallons in the 18-gallon tank. It’s possible my driveway isn’t totally flat although I measured the ride height as level left to right when I took the measurements. Just to break down the numbers on the screen, that’s 3380 lbs with no driver, approx 56% front / 44% rear, and a slight bias to the left side at the front end. Front/rear gets slightly better with me in it.

Pretty fun to see the mass distribution of what is essentially a factory RS Z setup, so spare in the trunk, factory-style interior (incl. carpet), console, cowl hood, spoilers, power steering and chambered exhaust, just no smog equipment.

You & the device weigh 233 Lbs. :D

That’s a really heavy device. Covid problems :grin:

Big lunch? Heavy wallet. Lead foot.

That's about exactly right and nearly identical to mine. I took our 69 RS Z over to Ridetech and had it 4 corner scaled.
Mine with ZL2 hood, spoilers, deluxe houndstooth interior, console gauges, PS, full size spare and jack and a full tank of gas.

Left front 958
Right front 944
Left rear 748
Right rear 787
Front percentage is 55.34%
Rear percentage is 44.66%
Total weight was 3437 lbs. with no one in it.

interesting info - so the corner weighting - i get the distribution but what does that mean - how do you interrupt it and what do you do with it?

Appreciate the dedication - i would not know it something as incorrect or not?

Those suspension places, like Ridetech where I took mine, use the corner weights to design the suspension/spring package for best handling/ride etc...

I'm sure all the SCCA guys do it as well to tweak their cars.

None of that was really any concern to me, I just found it interesting, and it was free :smile:

your car looks great!

Good stuff and thanks! In theory you could select each spring and valve each shock to balance the car and so make it handle the same both to the left and to the right. For me, these numbers will help the conversation if I want to change ride height with custom front springs. I can then get specific with a suspension company based on desired height and type of driving, plus the knowledge that I don’t plan to change the rear springs or mess with the spiral shocks. And best to do all this with the numbers that include the driver in the car, lead foot and all...

I was out for a lovely cruise yesterday evening, and while heading home the throttle rod fell off the carburetor :rolleyes2: I ended up using the little nose wire from my covid mask to reattach the linkage and drive home. Because 2020.

Looks like the little e-clip fell off and disappeared. It's about time I made a little go-bag for this car with tools, wire, tape, headlamp... Also kind of amazing that the throttle rod only stays on the carb with that little friction-fit e-clip. Do folks change that out for a different retention mechanism?

Mine fell off on a spirited run up to the local mountains. I was lucky, the clip was on the intake. While I was putting it back on, local CHP pulls in behind me. He checks out the Z, we chat for a bit as he holds his light for me, nice young man! Acted like he never seen a Z28 up close! :flag:

I'm still getting used to all the attention when driving the Z. My other cars have their fanbases but nothing like a bright orange '69 Camaro! No CHP yet but I've been followed into my work parking lot by a guy who bet his friend at a bar what year the car was as I drove by... the more fun one was a few weeks ago, leaving work and a kid on a bike starts chasing after me. I pulled over and he asked if he could take pictures. I was about his age when I started dreaming about this car so it was fun to pay it forward a bit. Pictures led to video and the question "... could you rev it?" Giant smiles from both him and me with that chambered exhaust singing above 4k rpm :biggthumpup: :biggthumpup:

Thanks to the brilliant build thread from Lloyd over on TC, I learned that the reverse lights shouldn’t have rubber or foam gaskets around the chrome bezels. I’m guessing my reverse light bezels are reproduction but at least now my gaskets are gone :) Looks much sharper this way. It’s the little things...

I spent some time tonight working on the throttle rod. The nub that goes into the carb linkage is much too long - I would bet the sloppy fit knocked the e-clip off during my drive last week - so I used a washer stack to tighten it up. I also finally checked the carb linkage position when the pedal is floored and found that the carb was not reaching WOT. So this throttle rod also appears to be overall too long! I lopped off the threaded end to make it as short as possible and it still won’t go fully wide-open when in the correct hole of the linkage, so for now I’m running the rod in the lower hole until I have time to tighten the bend and so make the rod just a little bit shorter.. In the meantime, the throttle feels vastly better with all that new pedal travel and the car finally feels quick!

Photos are from the rod in the correct position but not hitting the WOT stop on the Holley.

usually with vacuum secondary it’s not any trouble to get full throttle. I have found with mechanical secondary sometimes a challenge. You can “bend” the actual rod inside the car farther away from the firewall however be careful, it may break- yes, I broke one once! :dunno: Love these cars!

With all of the craziness of 2020 it’s sure damned nice to escape for a bit in the Camaro. Spent some time tuning the throttle rod again today then opened it up a bit to enjoy that roaring chambered exhaust. A good day and what this hobby is all about :beers:

Wow she's a beauty Matt.Congrats and enjoy!

Thank you :) I’ve so far wrenched a fair bit more than driven it but it has been fun to dial everything in. I realized I’ve worked on almost every “touch point” of driving so far: shifter, steering, throttle... so brakes are next!

Great perspective shot, I like the angle.

I believe that last photo is my favorite in quite a while. Awesome shot of a beautiful car!

Thank you both :)

Next up will be fixing the clock. In the meantime, it makes a lovely view when wrenching on something else...

Just caught your post on this.....I do indeed know Beil Upholstery. Here is a snap shot of, then owner (ca March 2007), Gordy Carlson and me. Gordy was the original owner of my ‘62 Max Wedge Plymouth Savoy and my son and I tracked him down at his business for a visit. Wonderful visit filled with wonderful stories of surprising the 409 boys at the local drag strips!!!!:worship::worship:

Very cool! Looks like one of the previous owners misspelled their name, which I guess explains why I couldn't find 'em. The interior was changed to deluxe houndstooth around 10-15 years ago, so Gordy was likely the owner at that time. So thank you Beil Upholstery for your great work! :) :)

A little evening attitude for ya:

Who is that guy without the beard:-)

Drove the car to work today and did a quick shot of the interior, with chambered exhaust soundtrack... I believe the deluxe houndstooth was added, given the standard black glovebox, but damn I love it. Console, rosewood wheel... one of the great interiors of all time!