My 69 Z/28 "building find"!

[69Z28-RS]

I hope this is the one you are referring to Gary.  What a great story!

http://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=141430

Yes, that is the article.. or at least the posting/thread about it on Yenko..

[Z28Project]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys!  I'm always open to your opinions on the car, whether they go along with my thinking or not.

As for the spoiler, I guess the possibilities are 1) it came on the car when new, 2) it was dealer added, 3) a previous owner added it.

I know the car was repainted in the early 70's, prior to the guy I bought it from.  Maybe during the repaint, the stripes were incorrectly extended, that is IF it came with the car when new.

If I look at the underside of the trunk lid I see 2 sets of holes for the Camaro emblem.  The thing that makes me think it could be original is that I don'e see any evidence of nuts being tightened on the holes under the spoiler.




And where the emblem is (one stud broken off).


Pretty certain that the inside of the trunk lid is all original paint.  It's not a huge deal either way, but I am curious.  What do you guys think?

[ZLP955]

John have you checked the diameter of the two torsion rods that pop the trunk lid up? If it's a factory-fitted spoiler, one rod will be thicker to compensate for the extra weight (leverage) of the spoiler.

[Z28Project]

I have not checked that but will tomorrow.

Thanks Tim.

[Z28Project]

I finally got a chance to check out the truck lid torsion rods, and they are different diameters.



This is looking at the driver side, and the upper rod measures .238" and the lower rod measures .280". That was measured with calipers. 


The passenger side looks like this:



Are those the right range of numbers for a factory spoiler car?

[X33RS]

Yep those are different diameters, I'd say it's a factory spoiler car.   I had a hunch it was way back when, Figured it was a pretty decent chance because it's rare to see someone add a spoiler to a 69 and put the short one on.  Everyone seems to go right for the 69 spoiler.

[asm69]

My early LOS built 69Z (Oct 1968) also has the stripes that go down the back of the trunk lid, I also have the short rear spoiler, and trunk lid torsion bars that are
different diameter. Paint is original as far as I can tell, no evidence of rear end accident, and I have the short rear stripes in the rear.

[6667ss138]

Great looking car!

[ZLP955]

Good to see that, highly unlikely that anyone adding a spoiler later on would know about the different diameter rods, or bother to change one to suit even if it was known.
John when you're next working on the car, could you please have a look at the top seam joining inner and outer wheelhouses on the passenger side? In your second picture above, just to the left of the trunk hinge brace, it looks like there's something stamped on that seam..... Could be a sheetmetal date stamp, but I can't recall seeing one there before, plus it looks quite long.

[Z28Project]

Tim,  It does appear to be a stamping. I may have to study it some more but it looks like it was stamped from the other side before the 2 halves were joined. I can't easily make out much other than maybe a 'C'.




It looks the same on both sides:



While looking at these I noticed the trunk hinge braces are also stamped:

[ZLP955]

Thanks for checking! I've seen the hinge brace stamps before (and week 49 lines up perfectly with a 12B trim tag for 'just in time' supply), but that wheelhouse one is yet another detail new to me. The learning never ends on these cars!
I'll have to check my notes, but certain I found '12437' stamped somewhere in the floor pan forward of and above the rear axle on my car. Thought at the time it was the Fisher Body style code to differentiate between a coupe or a convertible, but stamping was way too small to have been relevant as a check during body fabrication.....

[Z28Project]

Here's a short in-car driving video: 
 
https://youtu.be/gsxJlJANZoc

Since this video was shot I've done some carb tuning and it runs a lot better (doesn't die when stopping).  Just waiting for engine to get finished, then I'll get it in and everything should start coming together.

[Z28Project]

The DZ engine I'm having built is nearing completion!
They called and told me that they could not get to the compression ratio I wanted with the JE/SRP pistons that I provided.  What I had told them originally was that I wanted at least 11:1 CR using a modern head gasket, without a lot of head milling, and without bothering the V0820DZ stamp on the block.  They didn't like the idea of decking the block and not touching the stamping.  I know some of you guys have done it that way but they either couldn't or wouldn't.  As assembled with the parts I provided they said the CR would be 9.9:1.  I said that won't work.   I mentioned Speed Pro pistons to them and he said they are too heavy and don't use a good ring pack and I would not be happy with that setup.

He said the best way to go was with a custom set of Ross pistons, that way they could specify the dome height, etc., it's a nice light piston, and uses a good ring pack.  Of course they are more money, but I said go for it because I want the engine to be right.

Here's what the Ross piston looks like:


These will give me the 11:1 cr that I want, while using a .030 MLS head gasket and minimal milling.

I'm getting excited!