Brought Home The Dream: '69 RS Z/28

[tom406]

If you spray the back of the wheel black, don't let the overspray come through and get on the argent face. They were originally coated with black primer and the face was shot with argent, with some argent overspray coming through onto the backside through the vents.

[cruiserofland]

Good point on the rallys, though I won’t do it until I want to refinish the argent as well, to get the overspray on the backs. And original fuel clamps are in the mail

I got a set of beautiful decals from Don Lightfoot, so I went through and replaced all the decals from the original restoration from 2000-2010. I am guessing some of these were what you could still get over the counter at a dealer 20 years ago, but I’m grateful for Don’s work on all of these details!

For the posi decal, I used some Nitto tape and cut it into a rough “x” to approximate the way the decal would have been glued at the factory. That allows the edges to be a bit off of the paint which is a fun detail.

[cruiserofland]

A few more details… I brush-painted the trunk bolts with hugger orange touch-up paint from Mahopac, after a layer of black primer, done two at a time off the car so as to not realign the trunk, then final touch-up on the car after wrenched down.

I sourced a pair of restored Wittek upper radiator hose clamps. The dates are not correct, but I am amazed how much nicer originals are than the thin, fragile, and frankly BS reproductions. My brand new reproductions bought at various well-regarded suppliers are now forcefully jettisoned into the recycle bin. As many of you know, the repros can fail catastrophically, and in my small sample size maybe half of brand new repros go on just slightly crooked and become junk immediately. Maybe this is obvious but originals are so much stronger, and easy to use. I was close to just switching to modern clamps for peace of mind, but these originals are fantastic (and look great too)

New repro alternator belt from Quanta, B-442 or GM 3932438 which is for a small block automatic w/ AC and also the right length for a desmogged Z. Puts the adjuster bolt right in the middle of the slot.

Restored air cleaner wingnut with repro stud - correct black nut for cowl hood instead of the chrome finish nut that would match a chrome air cleaner. I also removed the rear side marker exterior gaskets - looks a lot sharper with that polished bezel directly against the hugger orange. I guess those GM designers knew what they were doing…

Cleaned up, tuned up, and ready to rock!

[Donnie]

be careful the first time I ran the rpm's up with the quanta belt it flew off.

[Mr.Nickey Nova]

Good point Don, mine almost twisted off, but tore the belt bad. Put the Napa ones back on. Those little details make a difference Matt...

[cruiserofland]

Hmmm, thank you for the tips about the Quanta belt. I had seen recent posts suggesting it was alright, but it's easy enough to change to have a driver belt and the occasional show belt...

[cruiserofland]

Went to our trusted local parts store (of which there are fewer and fewer), and got the AC Delco 15445 which was a match for the old GM 3932438. It’s just slightly longer so I’ll have to repaint that bracket again…

Thanks, all, for the idea

[njsteve]

Those Quanta belts are ONLY for display purposes regardless of what they tell you. They will shred, fly off, and damage anything in their flight path, the first time you rev that engine up.

[BillyHawk]

Lovely ride. Enjoy!