Brought Home The Dream: '69 RS Z/28

[x33rs]

"right on" do you mean as a day 2 mod??

I agree that always looks good, but I assume a restoration like this down to the correct tires the OP is looking for the correct stance for a Z.

Don't know if the moog spring will get you there. I've never had much luck going that direction. I've always used Coil Spring Specialties out of Kansas and they've done an excellent job nailing the stock ride heights on various cars I've done.

[cruiserofland]

Thanks, all! Since this will be a driver, I’m leaning more towards mild day-2, at least if it’s bolt-on. It’s already NOM and desmogged, and eventually I’ll go with radials and save the bias-plys for shows. Thinking about either reproduction rallys (to preserve the original YH wheels) or since I’m a big Donohue/Penske fan maybe minilites.

I’m more into road racing than drag racing so that may be why I prefer the lowered front look, but I agree that it looks pretty damn good right now too...

[cruiserofland]

Pulled the speedo cable today to try to figure out why the speedo and odometer don’t move. Turns out they move just fine with a drill spinning counter-clockwise on the trans end of the cable. The teeth on the driven gear in the bullet insert seem to be intact, so I am wondering if there is a problem with the drive gear inside the tail housing? Looks like the factory-style plastic gear, and maybe a purple color? The yellow driven gear just barely fits through the bore in the transmission so it seems that it can’t be a bigger diameter, so I don’t understand why the teeth aren’t engaging unless there’s a problem with that internal purple drive gear. Hmmmm....

[MarcDant]

Hi cruiser your speedo gear and clip on the main shaft seems like it was installed upside down ,that purple gear should be in line with the hole in the boss. The steel clip that secures the purple gear is offset roughly 3/16. Nice clean z28.

[rlw68]

Originally Posted by MarcDant

Hi cruiser your speedo gear and clip on the main shaft seems like it was installed upside down ,that purple gear should be in line with the hole in the boss. The steel clip that secures the purple gear is offset roughly 3/16. Nice clean z28.

Maybe the clip broke and the gear slipped on the shaft? That would be likely if the speedo was working before. Either way the tail housing needs to come off.

[cruiserofland]

Thanks, guys. The odometer reads the same as the paperwork from when it was restored 10 years ago so I would bet the speedo hasn’t worked since then.

[cruiserofland]

Adjusted the toe last night, to neutral with these bias-plys, and in the process finally straightened the steering wheel. It is amazing to me what a difference it makes as far as connecting with the car to have the wheel straight! Also cruised for the first time at night - gotta open the headlight doors manually but the headlights are level and the gauges are super well-lit. Now I really gotta fix that clock, and someday soon pull the tail housing to fix that speedo....

[cruiserofland]

Got some interesting numbers this evening corner-weighing the car. This is with approx. 17 gallons in the 18-gallon tank. It’s possible my driveway isn’t totally flat although I measured the ride height as level left to right when I took the measurements. Just to break down the numbers on the screen, that’s 3380 lbs with no driver, approx 56% front / 44% rear, and a slight bias to the left side at the front end. Front/rear gets slightly better with me in it.

Pretty fun to see the mass distribution of what is essentially a factory RS Z setup, so spare in the trunk, factory-style interior (incl. carpet), console, cowl hood, spoilers, power steering and chambered exhaust, just no smog equipment.

[x33rs]

Originally Posted by cruiserofland

Got some interesting numbers this evening corner-weighing the car. This is with approx. 17 gallons in the 18-gallon tank. It’s possible my driveway isn’t totally flat although I measured the ride height as level left to right when I took the measurements. Just to break down the numbers on the screen, that’s 3380 lbs with no driver, approx 56% front / 44% rear, and a slight bias to the left side at the front end. Front/rear gets slightly better with me in it.

Pretty fun to see the mass distribution of what is essentially a factory RS Z setup, so spare in the trunk, factory-style interior (incl. carpet), console, cowl hood, spoilers, power steering and chambered exhaust, just no smog equipment.

That's about exactly right and nearly identical to mine. I took our 69 RS Z over to Ridetech and had it 4 corner scaled.
Mine with ZL2 hood, spoilers, deluxe houndstooth interior, console gauges, PS, full size spare and jack and a full tank of gas.

Left front 958
Right front 944
Left rear 748
Right rear 787
Front percentage is 55.34%
Rear percentage is 44.66%
Total weight was 3437 lbs. with no one in it.

[Mr70]

You & the device weigh 233 Lbs.