I haven’t done much on the car this past week but did rough out the steering wheel crack filling. The MarineTek epoxy worked great. Flowed into the cracks nicely after I routed them out a little bit, but full bodied enough to stay in place. And shaped easily with a file and then sandpaper.

Next

Very nice work! That is going to be a beautiful Z

I was just thinking of this project and how it was going. Thanks for posting. Looks great!

Its been awhile since last update. Mostly because I haven't worked on the car much. After a June post, Mrs SMS gave me a budget to remodel the office in my shop. Room within a room kind of set up so I can keep the water on during the winter without having to heat the whole building. Plus better windows, flooring, lighting etc. The service station sign is a reprint of a 1940's newspaper ad my Grandfather ran in St Paul, Mn for his service station.

Got started on that around Father's day with demo. Then went in to the hospital for awhile. Resumed the remodel in mid July and got it mostly knocked out to where I could resume multi-tasking.

The car had been sitting there half blocked for flow coat. Finished that up and hit it with 3 more coats of clear two days ago. Its not quite as flat as I wanted, but the cut and buff protocol will be deployed next. Also I have the Matte Black single stage for the Rally Sport rocker black out treatment I'll probably do while its still on the rotisserie.

Pics of both projects now. :)

Both projects look amazing. Sorry to hear that you were in the hospital!

As Bruce said, both projects look great!

I amused myself this week, after spending months looking at original paint 68 RS cars and the masking profile of the door jamb blackout. Since the factory was all over the place with layout and consistency I finally decided how I would average the tape line and use the examples closest to my May Norwood car.

Started masking to shoot black this weekend. I was flipping thru my old pics yesterday and had my ah-ha moment. Long ago I took pics of my original jamb lines and the detail survived two paint jobs in history because they never painted the jambs when it had two color changes in the 1970s. (Flat black then white)

Glad I realized I had this info before I got the paint gun out!! Now I know exactly how my car was done at Fisher Body. :)

great examples and detail - love the red!

Blackout done. This is SPI Matte Black single stage paint. Mixed 4:1. The mix ratio controls the level of flatness. From 4:1 to 8:1 which is totally flat zero gloss. This should dry to a nice semi gloss eggshell.

Ashtray blackout as well while I had that mixed up.

That ashtray blackout is interesting. I've never seen that before and my car was black interior, but is now gold. Was that blackout on all other colors in '67-68 ? Looks like something I should be doing too.

Chevrolet didn't want dash colour showing through, especially when the ash tray was in the closed position. I'm sure that would've been done on any car that didn't have a black dash. Lots of cars did this kind of shadowing to help their looks....Joe

Mitch, yes that ashtray blackout is correct for a non-black interior.

Cool, thanks, guys ! good to know, as I am working toward getting the entire interior in color and semi gloss cleared in the next couple months.

SMS, related to the interior gloss level, does the dash carrier and steering column get the same semi-gloss finish?

great work, detail and color!

Yes. This 1968 chart shows the gloss level for the various interior components and what colors go with the trim tag number. The ones I marked happen to be for my 725 interior for the dash top and general interior paint.

Also this is the flattening agent I used on the dash face and glove box door.

thank you for the info - very informative!

Had dreams of it being in the ground for the next update, however it seemed like a good idea to do the tank, bumper, rocker trim, exhaust hangers and such with it all upside down. That seems to be working out ok so far.

Yep, I did that and fuel and brake lines while mine was hanging upside down and sideways. Went a lot better than laying under it later. The fuel line is a little long and will get caught on the upright of the roto, so watch that and you can flex it enough to go around.

First chrome.

You have the paint looking like liquid...:drool:

Love it

Mitch, did the fuel line being pre-installed give you any issues as far as in the way when you mated it back up to the subframe?

Such a beautiful car. I remember when you were looking for measurements on the RS lower trim holes. Looks like it came out perfectly.

Yes, drilling holes in a finished body is good for a pucker moment.

These are the dimensions I had in the original quarters before replacing them. Turned out to work real well. By feeling the backside it was apparent I could move the front clip forward an extra 1/2” so there was less cantilever of the trim. any further forward gets into multiple layers of steel for the door jamb structure.

Also having the original door holes really helped locate the paint line and molding vertically.

Turning out beautiful! Love this thread!

You sir have some skills!

I am sure you already know, but thought this might be helpful
1968 Z21 (*w/incl Z22) Wheel arch Trim.

GM rationalized (Deleted-Superseded) the RS Wheel arch Trim from eight part numbers to four, including these service instructions to modify the "Longer" Std trim pieces to the RS configuration.

This is for the "Fronts" I am sure there was a sheet for Rears at some point.

This is posted so others or you can refer to and maybe save a unneeded hole being drilled.

Keep up the great work.

Just saw this post and I luv it!

Awesome Job!

Great job. I'm an ASE certified and ICAR trained automotive refinisher with 45 years of experience, and that's a GREAT paint job right there. Looks like it was dipped in paint not sprayed.

Sorry !! Just saw this. My sub was fully loaded with drivetrain, so I was moving it back into the body carefully and did need to make small adjustments to many things, along with the fuel line, but nothing major. Slow and careful and it will all slide right in.
I do have the advantage of the body being held with my forklift and adjusting height infinitely to get the body to "drop" down on the sub with the trans and shifter, less the stick, in place. If you have the body on a lift, it will easy...:biggthumpup:

That red pops! It's going to be a beautiful car.

Very nice words. Thanks. Not sure if you saw the link in the first post, but it goes to a paint oriented forum so a lot more about the bodywork and paint there in case you are interested. A great forum and support/resource for hobbyists like me. (Southern Polyurethane Inc’s forum)

The paint looks awesome, great work!

Body drop.

Wow You Sir are doing an amazing job. Thanks for saving this car.

Great job! This is going to be one awesome car when finished!!! Before Charlie asks......... Can I have it?

Beautiful!!

I thought I already did.