1986Z28OWNER

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I bought this car In September of 2005 with the intentions of driving it in high school, it needed alot of work interior and body wise, the stock LG4/700R4 combo was tired and was in need of some serious work since the car had sat for 9+ years. Here are some pics from when we drug it home.




I made the decision to build a new engine for it rather than dump any money into the 305. Fast forward to January 2007, I purchased a recently rebuilt 355 shortblock that had ate a head gasket. The engine was in great shape and a friend who owns a machine helped me out big time. It was a 4 bolt main vortec "880" block that had been bored 0.030" over, had sealed power forged pistons, and ARP main and rod bolts. I took it apart, my friend hot tanked the block, replaced the cam bearings. touch honed the cylinder walls and polished the crank. He also supplied me with new bearings, oil pump, rings and gaskets, all for 400$! At this point I was in my senior year at high school and assembled the shortblock in my highschool autoclass. I used a comp XR276HR hyd roller cam and lifters, but after buying a bunch of interior parts for the car and some UMI suspension parts I ran out of money for the Top end. So I graduated high school and took the shortblock home. I started working at the local speed shop right after high school and this helped big time, fast forward another year I decided to start working on the engine again. I ordered a Moroso oil pan, Brodix iron killer heads, changed the camshaft to a XR294HR, Brodix intake and a messload of other parts. Finally in November of 2008 I had a completed engine!



The engine was put back into storage awaiting the car to be ready, at this point I got overwhelmed with the amount of parts I still had to purchase to make the car what "I" wanted and I lost focus.


In the spring of 2009 a friend of mine bought a 1991 z28 hardtop, 305tpi 5 speed, with the G92 perf package, the car seemed solid. So in March of 09 I bought the roller off of him and in the matter of 2 months I built a 355tpi for it, and had it on the road June 1st. I drove the crap out of that car and put just over 10k miles on it that summer.

1986Z28OWNER

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Last time I had the car out I hurt the engine. So in January of 2010, in 6" of snow in my backyard and below freezing temps, I pulled the engine.


At this point I had started a new job at a place called AMS Engines, we build strictly high performance race engines for drag race, circle track, and jetboat applications. It was also at this time that I found previous accident damage on the 91 Z28 that had been poorly repaired(pass side upper frame cracked, etc..) Over 2010 I evaluated options on repairing the 91 and finally in summer of 2011 I decided to part ways witht the car and completely stripped it. At this point I had Also sold the original 355 I had built along with the 355 from the z28.

At this point it September of 2011, and I dont have an engine, but I have a TKO 600, a 86 Z28 and some decisions to make. I decide to leave it till the new year and on December 31 I was browsing KIJIJI, and found a stripped and chopped up 88 GTA, It had brand new PA racing tubular A-arms, Moroso trick springs, PA racing caster camber plates, lakewood 90/10 drag struts, S10 manual steering box with flaming river steering shaft, All brand new Moog front end parts, all new brakes and some other misc pieces. I picked the car up new years day for 100$ which also included 150+ feet of 1 3/4" DOM .125" wall tubing, a tubing bender, tubing notcher, and a hyd press. YES all for 100$!!! This inspired me to work on my car! Some pics of the GTA.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Since I didnt have a engine I scrounged around through the parts I have collected over the past 5 years of buying/selling at swap meets, working at a machine shop and a speed shop, and came up with 75% of what I needed to build another 355. I started with a GM warranty core I picked up for 100$ with 150 miles on it, It supposedly had a knock but upon dissasembly there is nothing wrong with it. Im using the stock block, boring it 0.030" over, SRP forged pistons, Scat 5.85" H beam rods, and lots of other misc parts I had laying around. Top end is going to be a set of heavily worked over 906 vortec, a performer RPM, and a AED 750HO carb.

Here are some pics so far, goign to be doing the machine work this weekend, Im balancing the rotating assembly tonight and then I can assemble the shortblock!
Checking the mainline


Detailed the oiling system

Checking rotating clearance with new rods.



More to come on the drivetrain and suspension/steering and brakes!

ZZ3 Z28

Welcome to the 1986 Z28 owner's club. I'm partial to '86s since I've owned one since, well, 1986. Hope you get it back on the raod. The '91 was looking good there, too bad it was an accident waiting to happen...again. But that is probably the story with many of these cars, trashed and wrecked and pieced back together.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Yah, that car broke my heart, alot of time and money invested. Call it a lesson learned I guess. The 86 holds alot of sentimental value, and needs its fair share of work, including work on both quarter panels, but it was my first car and Im going to fix it right. Aiming to have it on the road with everything mechanical 100% new by this summer. Including paint.

ZZ3 Z28

You know, you're going to be called a h8ter for saying that the LG4 was tired so you decided not to put any money into it. I junked my LG4 in 1995. I'm on your side, bro, I'm with you all the way. But some people around here think otherwise. Don't let them get you down. Glad to hear the '86 is still in the mix.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

The LG4 is/was a gutless pig, serious lack of power.

1986Z28OWNER

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Here are some pics of the car along the years, including removing the POS LG4 and 700R4 slushbox. And some engine pics.





SRP Forged pistons

Crack checking the pistons

ZZ3 Z28

Thank you. You could not be more right.

hairysox33

iTrader: (4)

This^ haha

Good call man, can't wait to see some progress!

1986Z28OWNER

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Last night I took apart the 906 vortec heads which are in excellent shape(they only have 150 miles) Im replace everything regardless. Gave them a quick soak in the hot tank and then magnafluxed them. Im going to be cutting bigger valves into the heads (2.02”/1.60”) installing bronze guides, and cutting the spring pocket. Will also be doing some minor port work and bowl blending to accommodate the bigger valves, was also going to do screw in studs and guideplates, but to save time im just going to pin the press in studs. I know most are going to say all this isn’t needed on the vortec heads, but the last set I did showed considerable gains, and I have unlimited access to porting equipment and a flow bench. Anyways, enough ramblimg… here is a few pics.



Started some of the port work.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Alot of the parts I bought/used on my 1991 are going to be re-used in the 86, that includes my TKO 600, all the parts I bought to beef up a 10 bolt(zexel torsen, motive 3.73's, motive ten axles, etc) Im also going to run the stock 91/92 16" 5 spoke wheels with some 245/50-16 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's. Heres some pics.

Hooker Supercomp 1 3/4" long tubes

TKO 600!


Motive 3.73 gears

Axles with new ARP studs


Flexalite 180 fan, this thing moves ALOT of air.

one92rs

iTrader: (5)

wow that is going to be a nice car. working at a speedshop must pay really good.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Not really, but the perks make is worthwhile

1986Z28OWNER

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Got some more stuff done tonight, Cleaned up and painted the steering parts, This stuff is literally all brand new moog. Also got a box full of brand new brake parts. gave it all a fresh coat of gloss black!


Flaming River steering shaft

Shiny!

Manley 2.02"/1.60" stainless valves



MORE TO COME!

Edwardgp

It must be nice working with new parts, haven't done that very much. Now working were you do maybe you would know which headers would work best with the big block Thirdgen. I would love to run some long tubes into a 2 1/2" exhaust and maybe I could fine a good used set on this forum.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

If its just a stock or mild 454, a 1 7/8" or 2" primaries with a 3" or 3 1/2" collector will be just fine.

Edwardgp

I have not seen any headers for a 454 Camaro and was wondering if you knew a brand that did make a set.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

So last Sunday I dug the car out of the hole its been in for the past 3 years and drug over to my buddy's house where we are going to go through the chassis/suspension. Went over on Monday night and in -15 weather I pulled the diff to strip it down for the full rebuild it was getting. Finally last night I got around to pulling it apart.

Untouched since 1986(the bolts were a PITA)

Cover off and draining, the gear oil was black and smelt severly burnt. These was also small chunks of metal in the gear oil

The pinion has been leaking for a long time aparently

Axles and center section out(3.08 open)

Stripped of everything ecept the pinion/yoke(my socket broke when trying to remove it, Its going to a buddy's shop to get steamed and were going to take it out there)

And finally why this rear end wasnt long for the world


I already have all the parts to rebuild the diff which include:
-Zexel Torsen takeout
-Motive 3.73 gears
-Ratech install kit
-Ratech solid pinion spacer
-New c-clips
-New Axle bearings and seals
-Motive Ten performance axles, 28 spline, chromoly
-ARP wheel studs
-T/A Performance girdle rear end cover
-UMI Performance LCARB's
-All new rear brakes
-Joe Gibbs 75W110 synthetic gear oil

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

So today a friend and myself put the new guts into the rear end, it was super straight forward and took about 3 hours total.

Pinion in and torqued, rotational force was 13 in lb w 0.055" worth of shims on the ratech solid pinion spacer. Also got the ARP cap studs in place.

Carrier installed w/ the new motive 3.73 gears, nailed the pattern on the first set of shims, had 0.010" backlash.

The only issue i had was i had to grind about 0.010" worth of meat off of 5 of the teeth on the ring gear to get the cross shaft of the zexel torsen out.
UMI performance LCARB's TIG welded on

Axles in and TA cover on!



I also welded the axles tubes to the housing for a little bit of extra rigidity.

In the next couple of days im going to get the new brakes install, new lines bent, and the sway bar bolted back on with new energy suspension poly bushings and endlinks. but first and foremost, im going to paint it with POR15

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

After that I moved onto some pieces for the front acc's. I got a underdrive crank pulley for free because someone had forced it onto the previous engine and damaged the locating ring on the back. I hot tanked and then glassbeaded it then chucked it up in the lathe, dialed it up and machined it true again. Not alot of work, but not something that you could fix without a lathe.



While I glassbeaded that I gave the same treatment to the AC idler pulley bracket. I decided to re-use my old one because I am a cheap pr*ck, but the bearing had gone away in it. I figured no problem, pound out the old bearing, pound in a new one... not the case. The plastic idler pulley is cast around the pulley. went back to the lathe and machined one side till the bearing could come out. Couple swings of the hammer later the bearing was out. Once I get a new one I will epoxy it in place for good measure.





More pics of engine related things to come. Just got my brand new AED 750HO carb!

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Got some stuff done on the rotating assembly tonight. Started out by goign through the rods, magnafluxing them, honing the small end, check them for straightness. Then moved on to check the rod bolt stretch and the Big ends for out of round. Unforetunatly Im going to be resizing these rods tomorrow. No big deal.

Some pics!








Here you can see how bad the connecting rod is out of round.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Next I moved onto balancing the crankshaft. started out by weigh all the components and building a bobweight card, next built the bobweights and set the crank up in the balancer. We use a CWT Multibal 3000. Once it was setup I did my initial spin and saw that it needed weight added (35grams in the rear, and 25 in the front) Added 1 5/8" slug in either end of the crankshaft and was good to go after that.











Here you can see the slug of Mallory, these are press fit and will be tig welded tomorrow aswell.



Once the mallory was in, I had to remove a small amount of weight.




DONE!

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Got some more little stuff done tonight, Got a whole bunch of new parts and started going through them seeing what I still need to finish the engine.





New comp dual valve springs with Crower Titanium retainers.



Shiney!



Once everything was unpacked I gave the timing cover and oil pan a fresh coat of Primer and then Gloss black.









While the paint was drying I installed the moroso pickup into the Melling HV oil pump and check the clearance to the bottomg of the pan, came in just under a 1/2". Tomorrow I will weld it to the pump

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

I finally received the replacement drive for my MSD starter, I had run this on my previous car, but a bad ring gear had killed the teeth on the drive.

Chewed up teeth





All back together!



Also got My new AED 750HO carb, test fitted it on the manifold with the new fuel fittings and throttle cable brackets.



Making sure it all clears the air cleaner assembly.



Looks pretty good.

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

Nice build!

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Thanks! I was starting to wonder if people were even reading this haha, I kept updating but no one had posted in over a month.

KiLLJ0Y

iTrader: (1)

why keep the rear drums? you've spent so much money on this build.. but why drum rears?

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

I guess I have just skipped over it! Glad I saw it

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Using what I got, I will eventually upgrade, but in the mean time the car will stop just fine for what im going to use it for.

SiCkRs

iTrader: (6)

Damn parts after parts lol... good build ima keep looking at this thread.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Got a bit more accomplished tonight, I was tired so I went home early, 16 hour days catch up with you haha.

Got the crank welded up and cleaned it and polished it.



next I moved onto the block, I cleaned it, and did some blending on the oil drainback holes in the lifter valley and cleaned up some casting flash in the crankcase area. Once that was done I re-installed the caps and torqued them. The block is now ready for machine work.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Got a bit more accomplished this weekend, Stripped some more parts off my old 91 z28. Organized some more parts for the 86 and received the founders LCA's and panhard bar. Im going to be running some of the body panels off the 91, including the hood, doors, and rear hatch with a RS style spoiler rather than the bookshelf(hi rise)



Here you can see why I pulled the plug on this car...









More body panels

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

More parts!

the original GFX off my 86 dug out of the shed.



1LE alum driveshaft w/ TKO600 yoke.





NOS bowtie grill insert





Re-loomed forward light harness



3.5" mufflex exhaust w/ spintech muffler. Got this for 100$



More Damage....





Some rust...

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

And even more new shiny parts!!

Spohn Pro Series torque arm with transmission crossmember for TKO 600, Founders panhard bar





PA Racing tubular A arms, billet steering shaft, LS1 master cylinder, Hurst line lock and wilwood adj pro valve, Joe gibbs synthetic 75w110 gear oil, Moroso solid motor mounts, Energy suspension poly trany mount.



Allstar battery relocation kit, New brake line and fittings, Founder LCA's, Energy suspension sway bar bushings and end links.



I still am in the process of finding/organising all my parts. Il keep updating as more comes!

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Can you explain this a little more? These are new pistons? How likely are they to be cracked? And what is that red stuff you poured all over them? Looks like a useful technique for evaluating parts but I've never seen it before (although Im sure it's common).

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

They are not a new piston, they have been cleaned and detailed to the point where you might think they are, I scrub the skirts with red scotchbrite and varsol, wash them then glass bead the top, once that was done I sprayed the red stuff which is a penetrant which you leave on for 15 minutes, then wipe off, the penetrant will seep into any cracks and once wiped off you spray the piston with a developer which will show any cracks in the piston.

1986Z28OWNER

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Well I have some unfortunate news on the 86, Once we got the gas tank out we found some more hidden damage to the car, most likely why there is bondo in the drivers side quarter. That combined with the fact the passenger side quarter needs a patch, and the drivers side basically needs to be replaced, and the the minor damage to the front im pulling the plug on the 86, I would love to fix it, but it just needs to much work. It sucks because it was my first car but il just have to move on. On Tuesday I went and picked up the replacement for the 86... another 86! Its a 86 IROC 305 5 speed car, black with black interior, hardtop, and no rust that I can see. The car is very clean and shows no signs of damage other than the front passenger side corner(very minor) and It comes with all the parts to fix it, including bumper cover, crash bar with foglights still attatched, hood and a truckload of spare other parts! I think its a smarter decision to fix this one and tonight I am going to start diggin into it, and soon I will be posting pics of fixing the front.

Made some more progress last night, Started out by going to the registrations office and getting a vehicle information report on the new IROC. It has been tagged as salvage(which I knew about...) and was tagged almost 10 years ago and hasnt been registered in almost 14 years. Which is probaly why it's so solid.



Got my piston rings for the engine and some -12AN steel bungs for the screw in VC breathers



I didnt like the fact that the bungs were 1" high so I shortened them in the lathe till they were just tall enough.



After that I hot tanked the valve cover and the glass beaded them, the figured out where I want the breathers... The last remaining rear hole in the pass side valve cover will be welded up and ground smooth.



A close up, ready for welding.



The powdercoating on the PA racing caster/camber plates was peeling so I threw them in the hot tank to strip them, then primed, and painted them gloss black, I also gave the same treatment to the driveshaft, slip yoke, underdrive pulley, and rear sway bar. I ended up using my 91 z's steel driveshaft as it was in far better shape.

1986Z28OWNER

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More shiny black parts!

1986Z28OWNER

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After waiting a month plus I got the last piece of the puzzle I needed to start doing machine work on my cyl heads! CHE bronze valve guides!

1986Z28OWNER

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Here are some shots of the new IROC, its pretty straight and has no rust, which is nice haha, It has a few dents in the roof directly above the passenger side door but thats pretty minor since im painting the car. The damage to the front seems to be pretty minor, but im having a bodyguy come to look at the car tonight.

1986Z28OWNER

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Also got my oil pump pickup welded and the breather buungs welded into my valve covers.

1986Z28OWNER

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Just received my road race floats and jet extensions for my AED 750HO, so I pulled apart my new carb to install them. it was a easy install with no problems. took about 15 minutes.







All back together...

1986Z28OWNER

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Not much of an update, just more parts arrived today.

1986Z28OWNER

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Hot tanked the rear springs and gave them a fresh coat of gloss black.




Also pulled the aluminum adapter off my lakewood scattershield(im assuming this is a fortes tko600 kit) then hot tanked it aswell and gave it a fresh coat of paint









I decided to switch to the newer style serp setup, so I ordered a brand new GM A/C compressor, Power master 140amp alternator, Edelbrock aluminum water pump, a new tensioner assembly and power steering pump. Cleaned up the brackets tonight by glassbeading them but wasnt happy with the results, So i gave them the same treatment I did to my 91Z28, painted them with Duplicolor cast alum spray paint.



Also got some new soffseal weatherstriping for the car



We also just got our spring time Joe Gibbs Racing Oil order in, I am running all JG fluids in the car. There stuff is top notch!

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Thanks to TGO member HP52TA, I now have the mufflex y-pipe I need to connect my hooker Super Comp Longtube headers to my mufflex cat back exhaust!

1986Z28OWNER

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Couple small updates, cyl head guy got some work work done on my heads, cut out the old guide bosses and reamed the holes for the new CHE .502" OD bronze guides.











New edelbrock hi flow alum water pump.



Also made the decision after picking up a set of pistons at the swap meet this weekend to go to a 383 combo, The pistons are a 13cc Dish, which will keep me right around the same CR. Using a set of Compstar 6" H beam rods I had, and going to order a scat 9000 series crank.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Got a bit more accomplished tonight, more parts arrived aswell. Started off by pulling the front sprigns and wonderbar out of the hot tank and giving them a fresh coat of paint.







Then moved on to putting the driveshaft together with the new precision non greasable HD ujoints.



[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/92caprice/IMG_0626.jpg
[/IMG]



Sorted out all the bolts I needed for the bellhousing and test fit the clutch fork.







More Parts!!!

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Also ground the block for rotating clearance.

BADNBLK

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Looking good!