Went to pick up some new bolts for the springs today. These are 2.0" UHL but they are 3/8" diameter vs the originals which were 5/16". Hoping I can drill the springs out for the larger bolt provided the steel isn't hardened? I don't want to pull the springs out again just to drill the holes 1/16" bigger.

https://i.ibb.co/RNXTxmc/IMG-7249.jpg

You're probably done by now, but spring steel is rather hard. Just keep the drill speed slow and use cutting oil. You'll be fine.

Graeme- Standens should have the correct spring bolts

These came from Standens Mike.

I was there yesterday and asked for 5/16" x 2" UHL and some new guy came back saying he only had 1.500" UHL in a 5/16" which is what I already had. As he knew this wasn't what I asked for, he just gave me the 3/8" x 2" bolts in case I could make them work. (Larry & Steve were both busy when I was there).

After seeing how much of a PITA this was going to be to drill the springs for the larger diameter bolt, I called Travis up earlier today and explained that I needed 1/2" Fillister Head center bolts in a 5/16" size but that I needed something longer than 1.50" UHL. He totally got it and asked me to drop back in as he found some 4" long bolts with the correct 1/2" Fillister head that I could cut down. He also gave me some hardened 3/8" washers and spacers along with some double nuts for the bottom but won't need the spacers or washers as they are too big.

I also checked Bolt Supply looking for a deeper barrel nut but there wasn't anything in fine thread so I'll try this stuff out tonight and see how it all fits together. I should be able to McGuiver something. (lol)

https://i.ibb.co/DbBmb0H/IMG-7259.jpg

Wow. A question purely out of uninformed curiosity, but looking back through this thread you have spent a lot of time on traction bar "geometry", bolts, angles, U bolts, heights etc. Was it this complicated to set up traction bars in 1969 (asking folks who were there back in the day)? Or are you looking for the suspension to do something more "specific" than the Lakewood technology was able to do 40-50 years ago? Fascinating stuff, but I would have long ago pitched it all in the garbage can hahahaha :) You're a patient and driven man obviously - which is what makes this build so interesting.

Nope...

I think most people back in the day would have just slapped the bars in, tightened up the bolts and went out and tortured the car. Some of those people broke lots of $h*t, some never got them to hook up right, and some likely experimented in similar fashion while learning along the way.

I am OK with tearing back into the suspension if it means I am adding another cool piece to the puzzle or scooping the right Day 2 part. That has happened more than once already...but it's all good. Got nowhere to go with this Z/28 at the moment so I might as well dial it in tight before I bring it out of the box!

And it's getting there...:scholar:

Got out to spend a few hours working on the car while finishing up the suspension today. Wedges are now installed, trac bars are roughed in on both sides, and I flipped the bases around on the airbags to help clear the rear straps on the Lakewoods. Once that was finished up I installed the driveshaft and bolted the NMW safety loop up through the floor. Since the bolts came up under the seat pan, I drilled the top plate with a hole saw and dropped the washers and nuts down into the cavity to conceal the hardware once the carpet goes back in. I'll load the suspension in the AM and will then make some final adjustments.

https://i.ibb.co/LS9v162/IMG-7283.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/Q6Yy4s5/IMG-7285.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/6wt74HG/IMG-7277.jpg

Looks fantastic Graeme!

Lot's of little things on the docket today. Once the shop is tidied up, I need to nip the length from the bolts on the airbags, put the wheels back on the car, and get all the hardware torqued to spec. Then I want to get the ground straps onto the motor, install the clutch rods and get the wiring to the solenoid and starter finished up along with the remaining wires to the battery posts & ignition so that I can fire this thing up. Planning to bleed the brakes tomorrow and get that out of the way also. Guess I'm going to need some stop-and-go power when I roll it outside to warm up those headers in the days ahead.

From there I am onto the interior to get the door panels fitting better. I mocked up one side and installed the door seal the other day, and I am really not digging these reproduction latex OER seals or the molded Al Knoch deluxe door panels which have a plastic backing. The panels do not want to sit down over the thick rubber blocks of these seals and are going to require some thinning of the rubber blocks to bring the panels into the right position and allow them to drop down over the tops of the doors. I kind of expected this and it's all about getting things to fit perfectly so I can get the interior looking just right. More on this battle when I get it in the win category.

(a·hem - a-nal) :grin:

https://i.ibb.co/0frH7Zq/IMG-7210.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/vm2y304/IMG-7211.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/QYZCcjj/IMG-7234.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/NVL3LY1/Junk-Seals.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/HKyBPs4/Too-Thick.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/JvKy8Jk/IMG-7238.jpg

Suspension is finished and adjusted. Next up is the engine wiring. I'll clean the smudges off the tank when I'm ready for final cleaning.

https://i.ibb.co/gPdM1yT/IMG-7298.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/3F5jkfd/IMG-7302.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/Jp5T6JB/IMG-7303.jpg

Just wondering, is it possible to spray paint or something inside those traction bar tubes to prevent rust? Or is that primer that I see instead of bare metal?

Primed and painted yellow inside Freddie. There is nothing at all for bare metal.

On a humerous note...... if I had that sticker on the axle tube of my car I would change the O to a U.lol lol

I’m needing a yellow 1969 Z-28 fix………any updates Graeme?

My business has kind of blown up over the past while as we emerge from the pandemic lockdowns. Seems commercial enterprise is ramping up and that's very good for us. As the owner, I've been so involved with things recently, that I haven't spent much time on the car? I did get out to button up the bottom of the car over the weekend and I've also been working a bit on the interior. Other than that...I am really close. I'm trying to clear my plate for the remainder of the week to help get this finished up. Today is all paperwork for me, but Thursday thru Sunday will be spent on the car to get it running and rolling under its own power.

Here's the exterior & underside of the car as most of it is now buttoned up completely. Just added an MSD mini starter to it the other day and wired that up along with the battery leads and the front lighting harnesses. Also added some low-tension hood springs so I'm less reliant on the prop rod unless it's windy out. I need to add a couple of ground straps to the motor, adjust the clutch and bleed the brakes before it's ready to fire.

Yup...really close.:worship:

https://i.ibb.co/prVc7Ky/IMG-7456.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/wQbtHK5/IMG-7452.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/svrwN5L/IMG-7450.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/HCNwdwZ/IMG-7458.jpg

Graeme how did you get the battery cables to fit with the battery orientation?

That's just a temporary battery for testing purposes...but the cables would appear to fit without any concern.

The car looks just awesome :beers:. I am not too familiar with the extra pins on the hood latch. Is that just for the stinger hood?

Those pins (hood levellers) are for support so that there's something to support the centre structure of the hood when the sides are pinned down. They will also keep the hood from sagging over time. I'll take the foams off once I get the pins powder-coated black. They are zinc right now so I covered them with some foam as they stood out too much.

Slowly but surely I am winning all of the little battles as I get near to finishing up on this car. That also means going over everything again to verify I am happy with things and finding some items that just aren't good enough. Like yesterday for example. I pulled the shifter linkages back out, tweaked the tunnel for another 1/4" of clearance and adjusted the rods to fit better. I now have the shifter working perfectly. I also set up the clutch pedal which reminded me that I forgot to clearance the fork arm before putting it into the bell housing. Mini die grinder worked perfect to trim the upper web on the clutch fork arm and gain the clearance needed.

Finally, I terminated all the ground wires, added all the bulbs to the harnesses, repaired one park lamp socket and powered everything up so I could check the electrical system before firing the car this weekend. Happy to report all but two dash lamps worked and those I will change out tomorrow. Radio works, horn works, wipers are good to go, heater blower is good and there does not appear to be any electrical issues anywhere on the car. I have a few more wires to terminate tomorrow and then I'll get the brake system bled. I'm shooting to fire it up and roll it out on the 4th of July with open headers. After that it'll be the push to dial in the door panels and finish up the interior.

https://i.ibb.co/R7LKZnL/IMG-7008.jpg
Original T3 lamps courtesy of the previous owner.

https://i.ibb.co/VM7FW6j/IMG-7517.jpg
Powered up with lights on for the first time in nearly 35 years.

https://i.ibb.co/yS7FWQj/IMG-7518.jpg
Added courtesy lights under the dash and still need to add some bulbs to the gauges.

https://i.ibb.co/n0pqnts/IMG-7520.jpg
Brake lights and signals all tested and working perfectly. Only new harness is the engine bay.

It's got a pulse....Hopefully tomorrow it comes alive! Awesome job!

Really looking good Graeme!

Thanks...

Laughing here as I contemplate the final location of the tach. To be honest, I never thought I'd spend so much time trying to figure out where I'd ultimately mount the thing. Well, it's decided now. I mounted it Halo style atop the pillar pad and really like it up there. Just figured out all the wire lengths and got them ran under the dash. Next up is the MSD ignition box which is hidden away in the glove box. I still need to wire the Line Loc switch/solenoid and will also mount a reverse switch down on the Muncie case. Brakes will have wait until tomorrow at the rate I am going with wiring.

https://i.ibb.co/HNzXhhH/IMG-7523.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/rwj5mC5/IMG-7524.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/VpvQKqT/IMG-7526.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/5FCf67n/IMG-7528.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/5Lfd5Kh/IMG-7527.jpg

Now I remember why I left the aftermarket under-dash wiring until the end. Because I hate working on my back and twisting around under the dash to add switches, ignition boxes, tachs and extras. If I see one more pink, green, red or brown wire I'm gonna open a bottle of whiskey. Then nothing gets done until Monday?

OK...maybe it's BEER time! It's 5:00 O'Clock out east right?

Sounds like it's time to eat...you sound hangry..:headbang:
THEN it's beer time, well for you. I'm not allowed to have that anymore. I was told I get in too much trouble...or was it create too much trouble...:dunno:

First thanks Graeme for taking the time to share this amazing build with us all! Second I loooooove the attention to detail and the day 2 look being executed on this killer bow tie.

Thanks for the feedback. :headbang:

Had to run for a few parts this morning and came back to button up the brake hoses from the vacuum pump to the booster. At this elevation & air density, the pump maxes out about -18 inches as shown on the gauge here. I was going to mount a small gauge up on the cowl vent but decided against that look for now, and installed a gauge on the vacuum can instead. It's been sitting here for an hour w/o any bleed down so all appears well with making some decent stopping power given the fact the cam is a bit large for a power brakes application. I think this pump will have helped the cause.

https://i.ibb.co/bLrSbmt/IMG-7538.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/r5tQWH4/IMG-7537.jpg

Well...I was gonna fire it up today but these thunder boomers may have changed that direction for the time being. Now that I am finished with the bulk of the underdash work I figured it was time to crawl out of there so I installed the rear side panels, seat belts and those bright yellow rear seats. Starting to come alive in there now. I'll fire it later on when this weather clears up. Happy 4th to all y'all down in the USA.

https://i.ibb.co/TR6JCb1/IMG-7555.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/fMCXRCM/IMG-7551.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/yktYx5J/IMG-7550.jpg

WOW, had to put my sun glasses on to look at those pics...:cool2: Very bright interior.

We're baking under a cloudless sky at 93 degrees today...:tongue:

You are NOT going to allow grandkids with food on those georgeous seats ..... are you?

Grandkids? LOL

If I own it that long we will see.

Made a little more progress with the interior tonight. I'll start the other side tomorrow as the rains continue here. Hoping to have the car 100% complete for Saturday. That will mark the 1 year point from when I started tearing into this one. Pretty amazed about that timeline, but cannot wait to get out and enjoy this car.

https://i.ibb.co/gJ4X7Zk/IMG-7557.jpg

Cal, It looks kick A** Always looking forward to the progress my friend!!

Just amazed at that interior!

Still raining here so the little straggler things are being done. Today I put a switch on the transmission and will wire that into the circuit for the reverse lights. That will be the last task to be done under the dash so that the drivers bucket can also go in. Slow progress but really having fun here.

https://i.ibb.co/yf6JBHN/IMG-7562.jpg

Does anybody out there have a factory reverse tab with the hole for the switch leg off a 68 manual trans with reverse light switch? I tried drilling the Hurst shifter tab and it's hardened A36. I'd like to find the right reverse tab to use with the reverse light switch off a 68?

Don't think I need a hardened reverse tab. Not doing demolition derby just yet. (LOL)

https://i.ibb.co/N1D3X4H/IMG-7564.jpg

If you don't find one send me the one you have and I'll EDM drill a hole in it.

Graeme, A 68 trans tag wont work either unless you grind/modify it for the bolt type retention, your trans appears to use bolts to retain the tag, 69 style, the tag has 2 indents for the bolt, 68 tags use a stud that is flattened on both side.

You may be able to drill that tag if you use a carbide tip bit and a little heat.
Ron Derrry at Custom balancing has a EDM machine if you go that way.

Ill look tonite in my orphan Hurst stuff to see if I have a tag that will work.

Good point Mike. Never thought about the stud (rookie oversight)

Just out soldering a couple wires to finish up and get it ready to fire. The b/u switch is nice to have for reverse lights. I can go back and get it later but might just be a good idea to take the tab over to Ron. :cool2:

Bleeding brakes later today and plan to fire it up after that. It has a driver's seat in it now so I don't have to sit on the floor any longer.

https://i.ibb.co/VDvvbfv/IMG-7580.jpg
Added a fused link for the lead wire on the vac pump.

https://i.ibb.co/RNGTyZ8/IMG-7583.jpg
Soldered in a fused link for the solenoid too.

https://i.ibb.co/51Z98qc/IMG-7579.jpg
Mounted a seat to keep my backside comfy when starting it up. (soon)

Wow that interior pops Graeme.....good job!!