Brought Home The Dream: '69 RS Z/28

[enio45]

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!

[dykstra]

Car looks great!! Thanks for posting.

[cruiserofland]

Hugger Orange in the sun…

[olredalert]

----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

[cruiserofland]

Originally Posted by olredalert

----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).

[Mr70]

Amazing looking car,you did it proud.

[olredalert]

Originally Posted by cruiserofland

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 I am happy to share the stencil file if anyone wants. 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).

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

[cruiserofland]

Originally Posted by olredalert

----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

[cruiserofland]

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

[cheveslakr]

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