Hello all,

New member to forum since I just purchased a 91 Z28 vert 5spd in black over the weekend. I formerly owned an IROC vert in black that was very similar to this car, but automatic. This car is a minor project that sat for most of the last 5 yrs, but it starts, runs, and stops. I'm hoping to get it into shape this winter and enjoy it during the spring, so I thought I'd ask the experts a few questions:

I know production for Z28 verts is around 3200, but is there any breakdown that would tell me how many were 5spd? This car has TWA Motorsports stickers under the rocker panel badges, does that mean anything or is that likely a local shop (car is from Missouri). The rear bumper cover has a 5.7 TPI badge on it, I assume that isn't possible. Any other interesting information about these cars.

Generally speaking, the car is in good original condition showing 165k; paint shines with a few blemishes on bumpers, few minor dings in body but no rust, top has few small wear holes on driver side, interior has cracked dash and the air back cover is peeling plus driver seat and carpet are worn. I've only driven it enough to load and unload until I get time to check things out. It's missing one factory wheel, one fog light lense, and two of the plastic trunk panels. Other than the stereo, an aftermarket coil, and air shocks it looks factory. So far the problems I've noticed are check engine light, bad outer window sweeps, slow window motors, broken RH tail light, and the top/boot release isn't working (or I don't know how to operate it). Overall, I'm pleased with the purchase and ready to start gathering a few parts to get it back on the road.

Will post pics in a few days. Looking forward to hearing comments from some other forum member and convertible owners.

 

Welcome to the board, and congrats on the purchase. Sounds like you got yourself a nice project that should be ready for some top down cruising next summer.

There is no breakdown further than V8 convertibles.

Did a google search, and found a TWA Motorsports in Aurora, MO as you guessed. They may have some background on the car if you are inclined.

All the items you have noted are readily available. The fog light lense is not available separately, BUT allot lense retainers have rusted out and parts may be available. Factory replacement lights are damn expensive.

Good luck and have fun with it!

 

Thanks RogRoc I'll google TWA in Aurora and see what they can tell me about the car. I just started looking for some of the missing pieces and most seem reasonably priced for used pieces. With a little luck I'll have it ready for a first drive after Christmas.

 

Welcome to the club. Sure wish mine was a 5spd. Now stop teasing and post some pics dude.

 

Thanks RocFather - I'm working about 200 miles from where the car is stored. I picked the car up around 2PM on Sunday and had to leave for my work week at 5PM. I'm foaming at the mouth to get back to it, but it may have to wait til after Christmas. My neighbor promised to send me a few pics when it stops raining (all I had was crappy cell phone cam), so I'll post as soon as I have them. For now I'll just have to satisfy my Camaro cravings via the internet and a few trips to Pick-N-Pull to search for parts.

While I'm thinking about it, what is the sequence to release the tonneau and lower the top - does the console button release the top latch or pop the cover? For some reason, the top won't latch at the rear either. I probably just need a little quality time with the car to figure everything out.

 

welcome to the vert club. i too wish mine was a manual..... and though i've thought of going the T56 route i can't bring myself to cut a hole in the car. so i'm looking into auto trans options built to shift on the fly with little to no lag and use a paddle shifter.

With my 92 everything except the primary bow latches are on the drivers side tonneu. (in other years i think the tonneu release is between the window switches in the center console)

1). roll the windows down.
2). unlatch the primary bow latches.
3). pull the cable release on the tonneu to release the latch on the last bow. pull up on the last bow till it won't go any more comfortably (about straight verticle on mine)
4). click the tonneu release (which looks like the old hatch release button, and if the solenoids are working should give you a satisfying click sound when they release) guide the tonneu up till it comes to a rest.
5). lower the last bow back down like you were going to close it with the tonneu open.
6). push gently on the last bow, to pop the primary bow upward and begin tucking the top into the compartment. once enough room is available grab the primary bow and guide it back into the compartment. should go without a fuss so if it gives you a fuss check to see what is hanging it up.
7). close the tonneu. (some people slam it down to latch both sides and i cringe when i see it. i click one side down then walk around the car to the other wise and click the other side down.)

to put it up reverse the process being careful again to not force the top up , and when latching the last bow i typically gently lay it on the tonneu while i lock the tonneu down by each side, and then line the last bow post up with the hole and use the palm of my hand right over the part of the bow where the post is to click the last bow in place.

 

The 91 z28 verts didn't come with the standard plastic trunk pieces on the sides.
They just thru some carpet in there. You can add them very easily.

 

That would be 92 you're referring to. My 91 has them but both of my 92s have the carpet instead.

 

Thanks for the instructions Da Spudro, I'll give them a try next time I'm near the car.

This car definitely has plastic trunk panels - the driver side panel is there, but the others are gone along with the latch mechanism. Nice to know that carpet is an option though; replacement plastic panels (at least side) may be hard to find.

My neighbor sent me a few pics - keep in mind the car hasn't been on road in 4 or 5 years, and has sat in storage for the last 3. All I've done is hosed it off at the car wash. I can't wait to dig in.

 

dude.... the car looks great ... interior needs a smidge of love as does the drivers rear tire, but otherwise, it looks really good man.

 

You won't get a solid figure on production of your combo, but if roughly 15% are manual trans, then you are looking at a very round estimate of 500.
My advice is that your restore that thing properly - it deverves it. A factory manual transmission convertible is always the most desirable combo as time goes on. Check the history books.

 

I agree eseibel67 - black Z28 vert with 5 spd has to be a desireable combination no matter how new or old.

It was originally described as an RS automatic convertible with an asking price that seemed a little high - I almost passed on the deal without looking at it. Imagine how thrilled I was when I saw it person an realized it was actually a manual shift Z28 vert.

The only car deal in my history that even compares is the low mile 89 TTA that I stumbled across 4 yrs ago in the middle of nowhere - I assumed it was a white T-top GTA until the owner said it was "one of those V6 turbo cars". I didn't let that one get away either. There is still some unique old iron out there if you look for it.

 

I got my first chance to work on the Z28 convertible today - battery, oil change, check fluids, air filters, fresh gas and injector cleaner, and finally figured out how to lower the top. A few hours of work and I got to enjoy a short top down cruise on a beautiful winter day. I added some fresh pics.

The good:

runs pretty well and drove okay (considering none of the tires match),
no smoke, scary noises, leaks, or overheating,
front suspension looks fairly new,
off the chart fun factor with the top down, 5 speed, and throaty exhaust.

The bad:

pulls hard left under heavy braking,
idles too high most of the time,
air shocks on the rear need to go,
shifter takes some getting used to,
tilt column is loose,

Next on the list are tires (need to find a wheel), sort out the brakes, flush coolant, change trans and diff oil, tune up, figure out the idle and check engine light issues. Those items and a thorough cleaning and I should be on the road albeit with plenty of little problems and cosmetic issues.

I'm still a little confused about the top operation; there is a button between the window switches that seems to do nothing - I'm guessing it should operate solenoids that release the tonneau, but I had to pull two cable releases behind the rear seat on each side (are these just a backup). The handle that releases the third top bow is broken, and there is no latch mechanism (pin on bow but no catch in the tonneau), so top won't seal against the tonneau. Any idea where to find the broken and missing convertible parts?

 

There's a handful of vendors that supply parts. I would check with Lon from Top Down Solutions as he tends to carry some of the more obscure vert parts. other vendors would include Hawks Third Gen, Youngs F-body Motorsport, Modern Day Muscle, and Ebay. As for the operation, you're right the switch should release the solenoids to release the tonnue and the cables are for emergency release. If they do not pop with the switch, you either have an electrical problem, or the solenoids themselves are bad. Most of the time though (from what I've seen on this board) it's just an electric issue.

Depending on what code your getting, if your car is stock-ish but has an aftermarket exhaust, the open-ness maybe causing the code to trip. For example both my old 91 Z28 and my 92 Z Vert have Flowmasters on them. They would both trip a code 32, and even though every piece of relevance from a code 32 was replaced it would still trip it. Come to find out it could also trip it if the back-pressure wasn't great enough caused by higher flowing aftermarket exhausts. so my engine lights are more or less false alarms. yours might be as well.

 

Thanks Da Spudro, I'll check out those vendors for convertible specific parts.

What about all the tune-up parts, belts, hoses, shocks, etc - I buy parts from Rockauto.com, but what other online vendors offer quality parts on the cheap?

What about a source for used parts (right tail light, front wheel, factory stereo, fog light lense, steering wheel with airbag)

 

I usually check one of these three places on the web (Google and you should find them):

Advance Auto Parts - usually they have some good online only deals running which will net you the part cheaper then walking into the store. With the exception of oil, coolant, etc you can have everything shipped to your door free if you spend more than $75 (which isn't hard to do). they won't ship fluids, greese, etc but you can select to pick it up at your local store, they usually have it boxed and waiting for you in 30 min and you still get the online deal vs. walking into the store. I've found over the years parts in store are harder to come by for these cars, but you can still typically get them online.
also if you go HERE you can find codes that will typically give you a better discount then what they advertise in their emails, or on the website itself.

O'Reily Auto Parts - a good back up for above and carries some parts advance doesn't.

AutoZone - never had a good experience with these guys in store so i reluctantly throw this one out there, but that being said sometimes they have stuff the others don't so it's a good last resort.

Fuel Injector Connection - this guy usually carries fuel injectors and other TPI sensors for the cars you can't by in store. His prices aren't bad either and he's very easy to talk to if you have any questions or troubles with the parts.

Should be able to use any of the sites I gave in my last post as most of them have a used parts section.

 

So here's my parts list to get the car on the road. Anyone think I should add anything to considering this car has been sitting for 3-5 years?

Cooling system:
thermostat and gasket (should I get 195 degree)
upper and lower radiator hoses
serpentine belt

Tune up:
plugs, wires, cap and rotor, OEM style coil

Suspension:
rear shocks

Body:
(2) door pin and bushing sets
Left and Right outer window sweeps
clutch pedal pad

Parts are pretty cheap for these cars - for the list above including shipping (from 4 different locations), the grand total is $175 from Rockauto. Besides fluids, what am I missing?

 

Nice car! If you havn't done so already you might flush the brake fliud as well and check sticking or frozen calipers.

 

At one time my ride pulled hard to one side under braking. Tried bleeding the brake fluid at each tire. Discovered a plugged brake hose on the front right (no fluid came out). The front left was doing the braking thus the pull. Replaced the hose and the problem was fixed.
You'll easily discover if this is the case (or something else) when you do reride's advice above.
Good luck on the nice ride!

 

Pulling hard to one side might mean a failed front brake line on the opposite side. This was the case on my '88 IROC Vert, and I understand its pretty common. Check out the "Brake Board" for more info.

 

There is a safety switch on the decklid motor (pull-down) if they ever open together it will bend. Check to make sure the safety switch is in tact on your pulldown motor in the trunk, if it is out of alignment it will stop the switch in the center console from working