01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

People still use these forums? Well let's give it a whirl.

Purchased this from a buddy for the grand sum of $350. I drug it home on the trailer due to a supposed fuel leak. The car is a 94 Z28 convertible. It's currently running an early 2000s LM7 5.3, ls6 intake, stock heads and cam, long tubes, PTC 3600, stock (my old one) 4l60e, Motive 4.10s, fbody 98 PCM and harness. It has midwest chassis SFCs, all AC deleted, top motors gone, and midwest bumper supports. Probably 275k on the body (LT1 lasted over 200, which met its death by eating all the bearings), 150k on the trans, rear end 25k.



Gouged plastic fuel line spraying fuel. Hmmmm



She runs now, look at that oil pressure.



First things first lets get rid of the tarp (massive hole in the top). After a bit on youtube, and a $200 ebay replacement top on hand, we remove the old torn up junk. The ants that made a home werent happy with my decision.



My money is on this is original and 26 years old.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Total time, 7 hours.



Now that its not leaking water everywhere inside, we can move onto the next step of the build. The god awful paint and body.



Ebay, $100 paint, $50 HVLP paint gun, $75 2k high build primer (grey), $75 variable speed buffer, $50 misc sandpapers, $50 Mequiars compound and polish.



Jump the gun here big dummy, it needs wheels first right?



If you havent noticed this is a budget build and I'd like it to be a driver....so no high dollar **** here. I went with Jegs stars F+R, 17x4.5 2.25, and 15x8 5.5. Tires are Hoosier prostreet fronts, and Mickey S/S rears.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

God it's still ugly. Cat not for sale. He does however think the new top is extremely comfortable to lay on, like a cat hammock. Where's the airsoft gun when you need it?



For thos wondering that's a Harwood cowl hood.



Before we screw the whole dang car up, let's try one piece and see how it turns out.



Now in white.



Aint gonna lie, kinda impressed. First time ever.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Random part pics......Walbro 525 Hellcat pump.



ET lugs with spline drives (will fit the wheels better) and -10AN catch can



Power window motors, new GM keys and locks, and GM ZR1 map sensor.



Fuel pressure regulator, 44mm wastegate, fuel filter.



Rear diff cover and redline oil.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Sidenote, I already have an intercooler, injectors, turbo, BOV etc etc sitting on shelves waiting to go with this stuff.

After a little more youtubing, and talking with friends, the manual labor begins. The procedure I selected was, sand the whole car with 80, spray with the high build primer, sand the entire car with 400, spray the white, sand with 1k, 1500, 2k. Then machine buff with a foam pad using compound, then again with finishing polish. 2 coats of wax. And off we go!



Primer, yeah its grey.



Proof.



Fresh white.



After a very long weekend, she's back on the ground.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

whew, junkyard averted, because that's where she looked like she was heading.





Not too shiny before the wet sanding. Hell I was just happy it was all one color.



Much better.



Getting the hang of it. And yeah I did the spoiler first, again.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Ain't gonna lie, I'm happy with my $100 paint.



Old tail lights were VHT black, hated them, so I found these on LS1tech, new key lock installed also.



All lights are reinstalled and working, and I added a black grill. My next focus will shift to interior (window motors, carpet, floor mats, trunk is a mess, radio and ac panels are missing etc etc). But for now, let's pull both the cars out and get their first pic together.

Attachment 713435

White one is a budget build, red one is what could have potentially been a nice 401k. Well when you die you can't take it with you right?

Attachment 713436

onebadbowtie86

iTrader: (13)

Nice job bringing her back to life. tough to go wrong with white on these cars!

440_Stroker

Awesome job bringing the old girl back! How about painting the headlight buckets black?

383z

iTrader: (2)

Damg, awesome job!!
you didn't waste anytime.
Can I suggest blacking out the head light area? That would make the car look 10xs better in my opinion.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Can always be changed later. For now, gonna leave it as is, I'm burnt out on paint and body work at the moment.

jhshnh

Looks great. I love those hoods. Can’t go wrong.

kevin99hoss

iTrader: (4)

Nice build, I always like seeing 4th gen cars saved

Kingc8r

iTrader: (21)

Nice ressurection

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

This one is gonna be back, better then ever.

Quick pic, new floor mats (ebay), new to me (used 2002 passenger window switch), new NOS GM driver switch bezel (old one was cracked), and 2x new keyless remotes from ebay. What's not pictured is two new GM window guide felts and driver lock motor. Both installed, remotes work perfect, keyless entry is flawless. Did it ever work? Who knows, next up is complete interior revamp then boost. .02 the underside is so filthy I dont even wanna work on it, think I'm gonna pull the motor, reseal everything, and paint the underhood fresh white.

2JAWZ

iTrader: (1)

This is awesome man! Any updates? Can you tell me what you did the wet sanding and finishing touches with? This is exactly what I've been telling the wife now, I need to learn paint my own cars

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Not gonna be too many updates as i had surgery last week and the doc says no activity for a while. I have bought the rest of the turbo kit, some gm manifolds, all gaskets, a new be cool radiator to move forward and down, deka 80s, all new ptfe fuel lines etc. As far as the sanding the steps were mentioned above. Ive dabbled with bondo and an hvlp spray gun before so this wasnt a huge leap. When you sand, then let the car dry, youll see it will look like the skin of an orange, with lots of low spots. Basic goal is to get those out. Once painted, you can go too far and go through the paint, which is bad. So i slicked it down but did not remove all the peel from it on purpose. Your eyes and feel will guide you. Once you try it it will make sense. Plus there are tons of youtube videos.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Did these a long time ago for Johnny. Red vinyl panels were falling out.



Used the hell out of some hot glue and some black speaker box carpet i had laying around.



Getting some wet carpet, Thinking this is the issue, but not sure. Convertible life......



Fun stuff coming. Sloppy stage 2 turbo cam, 228/230. Got lots more parts waiting to be pictured.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Here she is, 25+ years old, a few engines, lots of battle scars. Lets get to it.



Lots of parts going in the trash, lots of cleanup to be done. That ABS block and bracket was heavy. Fat girl is on a diet.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

If you refer to the old pics, intake was silver and the whole engine was filthy. Cleaned and blasted these, -10AN welded into both valve covers that will be routed to a catch can, and a 10 drain into the timing cover to return from the turbo. Going with a clean simple look this go round. No silver or flashy colors. Imagine your spare bedroom in your house, I have that filled up with parts. Lots of fun stuff to come.