69 Z/28 Day II Project (Air Force Brat)

[rlw68]

Originally Posted by NorCam

I am very happy that the Can/US border has reopened to us now. I made my way down to Montana today and picked up some needed engine parts for the 302 along with some new tires. Big thanks to Scott and Rich for the parts, and a huge thanks to Mr. Day 2 for intercepting the rally wheel at MCACN before packing it up and arranging to have it shipped over to me. Great packaging and this was very much appreciated!!!

Hey Graeme, the dust shield (3843943) is still available from The General for less than 20 bucks. Is there any diffence between this and the original ?

[NorCam]

Yup. These originals were the ones that always vibrated and squeaked. Shortly after being issued, GM fixed that with the little tabs added near the middle. They help space it and align it off the oil pan to stop the dust shield from vibrating and rattling from the harmonics of the crank. That super annoying little squeak the originals were know for. And these annoying ones like this are super hard to find now days.

[NorCam]

Top one has tabs like the current GM offering.



And below is the Corvette Specialties Copy of the Original w/o Tabs

[NorCam]

Now that the parts are here, today I started getting the DZ Motor ready to head off to the machine shop. Also rolled the car outside to warm up the engine and move some fluids around before the deep freeze sets in for the great white north. It was mild up here today at 38 degrees, but it's surely gonna get cold soon? The first day of winter is only 10 days away now. Brrrrrr

[NorCam]

Was going to try and sell the car, but the more I think about it, the car will be staying where it is.

[Z282NV]

GLWS Graeme, the quality of this build will make any new owner feel very proud to be the next caretaker!

[southernfriedcj]

Finish reading all 1039 posts.

Great thread, great car, great job!

[dykstra]

Originally Posted by NorCam

Was going to try and sell the car, but the more I think about it, the car will be staying where it is.

Wahoooooooooll

[NorCam]

lmao...now that there is funny!

First of all...Thanks!

It was extremely fun doing this build and sharing the details. I've read back through it like 3 or 4 times now.

Takes a while don't it?

[NorCam]

As a bit of a progress update, the severe deep freeze that western Canada was locked into...finally broke. That said, I did finally manage to haul the DZ302 up to the machine shop on Wednesday. The bores will be measured to see it we can rebuild it at .030 which looks like a really good possibility right now. I bought this block from Larry Christensen and he honed the cylinders at .030 because there was no ridge wear. It looked by all means to be rebuildable at .030 over with a simple hone, bearings and a new set of rings.

I have since picked up some .030 forged pistons from Steve Shauger that look like new so we will measure them up to see if we can use them with this build. I suspect the clearance will be fine but if need be, I can always ceramic coat the pistons. The 1178 crank is actually cut & polished at 10/10 so my error on the earlier stated condition of the crank being standard. It looks good to go and if the pistons match up with the bores, the rotating assembly will be balanced and blueprinted for this engine once the block goes through a thorough cleaning and a few tests.

The short block will now be washed, inspected for cracks, bores measured and machined if necessary, main cap alignment checked and all the oil galleries will be thoroughly chased. It'll then be hot tanked and jet washed for a second time before going together with new frost plugs and a set of cam bearings. Once ready for the assembly to drop in, it'll receive a full set of Clevite "H" bearings and the bottom end will be buttoned up. Next, we'll add a Nostalgia plus 30/30 camshaft, Cloyes true roller chain and a new Melling oil pump with factory windage tray. When ready for paint, it'll see an original Z/28 oil pan and an AOR 8" timing cover w/ original 7708 balancer.

I did have to put myself in check this week and not choose a bigger camshaft than needed for this engine and that's hard for me to do (lol). Choosing a smaller cam allows us to clean up the 186 heads, run fresh 1.250 Z/28 springs with screw in studs & guides...and call it a day. I'll now need to find some decent lifters and measure up the pushrods before adding the 472 intake and a set of NOS long slot rockers with stock valve covers. Once finished, the upgraded components should help this motor run stable to 7000 rpm.

More when it's all back from the machine shop.