Car Looks great !!!! I agree Cars done perfectly, while I'm not a big fan of restrored cars. I love the nice "Natural" look to everything. Killer Job Graeme ! thanks for documenting all this with us

Thanks Jeff...

I was originally planning just a minor clean up and changing out a few incorrect parts, but admit it did morph into something bigger. Even with that, I was not intending to over restore anything, just clean it up...detail what I could while I was already in there and make sure the sum of the parts were better-matched when I was done than what they were heading into it.

Along the way some of the car was thoroughly cleaned, a few small areas were blown in or restored and much of that IMO was done better than the previous owners' attempt. The brakes were completely rebuilt using much of the original parts, the fuel system was redone, and the engine was further detailed to finish it off better now than it was previously, but still has some patina on the top end.

I'm more than tickled that a few others share an interest in these cars on sYc and the various ways in which one can approach a cleanup or mild restoration like this. At the same time...I'm totally digging the car and its cleanup and that's all that matters at the end of the day.

And for those who have offered advice or parts along the way...Thank you! :youguysrock:

Capped off the exhaust system install today and love how it rounded out the appearance on the underside of the car. I should have it tuned and running just in time for the driveshaft to come back from balancing this week. Can't wait to put some miles on it soon. :3gears:

https://i.ibb.co/hB3zpLs/IMG-0669.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/gSnd2ys/IMG-0662.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/JHzt5NZ/IMG-0644.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/gr006XS/IMG-0674.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/0J03rz5/IMG-0665.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/st39ZPC/IMG-0653.jpg

Love the chrome tips. Looks awesome. Guess you are getting tired of hearing that, right? Yeah, right.

Original paint car, right? Love the orange peel on the lower valance. Your car got WAY more paint than mine did at the factory. Mine had no orange peel on the lower valance from the factory, because they didn't shoot enought paint to orange peel.

Mine had primer showing at the lower 1 inch on pars of the lower rear valance. I couldn't bring myself to replicate that when I painted it (for the first time) in 2012. That's what I meant by "over restored" in my previous post. I hope you took no offense at all to that. Looking at the underside of your car, I just know few, if any of these cars, looked so good from day one. I restored mine to a level of what it WOULD have looked like had every guy or gal on the line taken their time and done the best they could. One example: the lead filled seam between the roof and quarter was horrible. Really wavy on BOTH sides. Yes, you are damn right I "over restored" it. I re-leades it, and then used maybe 1 cc of filler to make it perfect. I HATE wavy panels.

Great job. This will be a fun driver.

This one is not original paint Lynn. :worship:

The 3rd owner had the car repainted in the early '90s after hitting a dear. The interior is all original, the trunk is all original, and it still wears original sheet metal but has had one repaint. That is why I put all the effort into the car to clean and preserve those original floors.

I appreciate all your comments and your feedback Lynn and have always liked your Black Z. And for the record, I would not call it over-restored. Your car looks awesome and I truly love what you've done with it.

:Can-I-Have-It:

Very inspirational Graeme! I gotta get out of quarantine and get to work on my cars!
Buddy

Look's great Graeme. I'm sure the exhaust fit like a glove. So, are you keeping this one?? Hope you are...

Thanks,

Yes, I am planning to hang onto this one for a while.

I'll also be starting on the next project later this summer along with my son. The plan includes the two of us restoring a 76/76 Daytona Yellow car with 714 yellow Houndstooth interior. It'll be a full on Day 2 build with a host of good speed parts. More on that after it's started up.

On this one, the finishing details continue. The driveshaft is balanced with new u-joints and is now back in the car. Rear-axle stops are installed, the fuel system is plumbed, and the oil has been primed. We also corrected some front end fasteners yesterday and it's pretty much ready to roll here. I need to wire in the distributor tonight and add some fluids before firing it up for the first time since November. Here are a few more pictures as it's been finished up.


https://i.ibb.co/KjGG2Q7/IMG-0659.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/Lr81PyG/IMG-0692.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/10mgf00/IMG-0706.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/kXp2qwc/IMG-0701.jpg

Well...I finally got some time to address a couple of last-minute items and rolled the car outside to fire it up yesterday. With rolling storms through here most of the day, it was quickly put back in the shop with a few heavy downpours that took away the chance of a cruise yesterday. :burnout:

Car is smooth and quiet compared to others I have built, but then I have never owned one that was as true to factory originality & its numbers as this car. The Gardner exhaust with the resonators keeps it fairly tame until you wake it up but that was to be expected. The next step is to put a timing light on it...then clean the tires and torque down the wheels. Then it's ready for a couple of shakedown miles out here in the Rocky Mountains of Western Canada.

Trust me when I say I am totally ready for that! :beers:

I should also throw out a big thanks to my oldest son Devon who was quite involved with the finish work on the car. He's turned into quite the graphics wizard and he also put together the video of the car being fired up yesterday. Hood goes on this morning and some cruise video to follow in the days ahead.

https://i.ibb.co/QcK70tV/IMG-0741.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/RpZLZs8/IMG-0759.jpg