Well after three straight weeks of 75-80 degrees, today it rained all day. There’s been a couple of things I really needed to do so this was the perfect opportunity to get them done.
First thing was to reacquaint myself with all the parts I’ve purchased for this car that I haven’t put on yet. My fear was that I was buying pieces I’d already bought (damn memory anyway). Turns out, it was just the opposite, there are parts I thought I already bought that I have not. Opportunity abounds.
It was also a good day to focus on more parts reconditioning. I’m trying to recondition parts during my down time so they’re clean and ready to install once I get in high gear.
These are the Left Side latch mechanisms after they've been glass beaded and/or wire wheeled.
Here’s the Front Bumper Hardware.
Here’s the stuff after Bead Blasting and Etching Primer.
Here's the Rear Bumper Stuff. This
isn't an example my crappy welding, apparently my body guy in Michigan made it easy on himself to reinstall the bumpers by welding the studs to the plates. I have no Idea what these Square Metal Cup things do. Hoping someone has a photo and also some better pieces I can buy. The pieces I have obviously aren’t worth a darn.
My fuel system looks menacing sitting there keeping watch vigil over the shop.
So I’m to the point I need to pick Interior Paint and Dye colors. The great thing about SEM is when you pick the color you want, you can get both Paint and Dye the same color.
Extra Hardware. You never know when you’re gonna need another one of those widgits.
And here’s the part I’ve been dreading, unfortunately I don’t really see any way to fix it without changing the entire rear brake setup. A little history; Most well balanced cars have all of their weight focused on the middle of the vehicle chassis. This includes caliper mounting, most well balanced cars have the calipers facing each other, i.e., the rear caliper pointing to the front and the front caliper pointing to the rear, both calipers inside the wheel base. That’s the way I wanted this car. Problem is, the rear calipers will hit the chassis under load or my bigger fear, under heavy acceleration. I’m not talking about from forty to sixty, I’m really talking about banging gears from zero to sixty. Hence my dilemma.
I could completely change the rear disc brake setup to one from an 89-92 Z28 or a 93-97 Z28. Both of these applications have rear facing calipers at the rear of the car. Both of these alternatives are outside of the sweet spot of within the wheelbase envelope. The 85-88 Z28 will not work as one of the calipers faces rearward and one faces forward. (Never knew that before, Weird). Is it really that big of a deal? Just the extra work and extra expense. It's not like I'll be auto-crossing the car.
Last resort, most invasive option, is to cut the chassis and weld in a channel to provide the additional necessary clearance. It’s not like it’s a critical piece of the frame, it’s just a pain in the rump to get it done.
I have the chassis tied down to represent a load or full loading of the rear springs. If all the weight was loaded on the car, tailgate, lift glass, interior, spare tire and etc. I might be able to get away with it. But based on where the car sits now and what it does when I put two hundred sixty pounds on the back (me), I don’t think so.
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