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.

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.

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) :beers:

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! :3gears:

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

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...

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...

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 :beers:

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.

Lovely ride. Enjoy!

Route the PCV hose around the front of the carb :-)

..and wear shoes.

Ha!

And good eye, Charlie. The 3310 on there now has the PCV inlet on the back of the base, so I didn’t have to change the hose length to route it that way. I recently had the original 4053 restored by Eric Jackson at Vintage Muscle Car Parts and my goodness what stunning work. So the 4053 will be back on there soon :)

Photos by Eric from his test stand:

can you show us a photo of the fire wall tag

The tag is a repro, installed in the ‘90s or early 2000s when the restoring owner changed the interior from black standard to deluxe houndstooth. Original tag is likely, sadly, long gone. Jerry MacNeish said it was “one of the better reproductions” but definitely repro. Maybe the original will turn up in the restoring owner’s family’s things someday, in some attic cardboard box…

Got out for my first cars and coffee of the year. Running strong and hugger orange enjoying the sunshine :beers:

Way cool! As usual your car looks great!

Sweet car. Looks great. Like the wheels.

The fit on that grill looks excellent! Headlight doors fit great!

Beautiful day and spectacular cars at my first show of the summer :beers:

I know this was already said - but man, that is the best fit i have seen in a long time on the grill to headlamp covers......perfect all the way around!

Car looks great!! Thanks for posting.

Hugger Orange in the sun…

----This Z is (to me)exactly how a 69 Z should look. Stance is great and wheel and tire combo is better than great. Have to ask, (I may have missed it),,,where did the Goodyear stencil come from?....Bill S

Thank you for the kind words. I drew the stencil in Illustrator based on some photos I took of the modern Goodyear Blue Streaks used on the historic Trans Am series cars. A friend cut the stencil with his Cricut out of manila envelopes, I spaced it slightly from the sidewall with blue tape to get a bit of soft edge to the letters, and sprayed with white Plastidip from a rattle can. The color is fading nicely with the rubber coming through to yellow the white, and it takes to Meguiars hyper dressing really well. It’s been over 2 years and still holding up. A rough rub with water and a microfiber would remove the letters, though easy enough to respray. Pretty happy with it :) Note that the flying shoe is not quite accurate, as I had a hard time finding a great photo of the 60s era of the logo (at least in the time I had to borrow time on my friend’s cutter).

Amazing looking car,you did it proud.

----Never thought to ask, but pretty sure I can guess the answer,,,are the tires actually Goodyears?

They are actually new BFG Radial T/A’s, modified by Diamond Back Tire to have smooth sidewalls. Diamond Back Tire calls them their “DBIII Blackwall Smoothy” which gives you the DOT-legal, old reliable BFGs but with a blank canvas to do the stencil. Diamond Back’s main business is adding whitewalls or red lines to modern tires for hot rods and Cadillacs and such, but they also can just do black :) Tire sizes and the wheel details are in a previous post of mine but these are 215/65s and 255/60s on 15x7 and 15x8 :beers:

Went for a beautiful drive up into the Santa Cruz Mountains yesterday with a rather eclectic crew. First proper drive since doing a lot of the above-mentioned work on the suspension, steering, cooling, engine tune, wheel & tire combo... in particular I am really happy with these stiffer front springs - confident cornering while still a comfortable ride.

I continue to be delighted how fun the '69 Z can be on twisty mountain roads. The European GT inspired N34 steering wheel, the chrome ball Muncie shifter, the cloth-insert seats on a hot day, that chambered exhaust with the windows down... what a good day :beers:

Those mini-lites just scream run me till I beg for mercy.
Perfect complement to a beeyouteeful Z.

Details from the fantastic Saratoga car show last weekend. Happy summer, y'all :beers:

What a beauty! Love the wheel/tire combo!

Exactly!! You nailed the stance!:3gears: