Hello all! new guy here, looking to document my project, and Id love some input. First off about me, Im Louie, 22 from Appleton Wisconsin (Lets hear from other Wisconsin people!). The car I picked up a few weeks ago is a 1982 Z28 that came with cross fire, but dont have the motor anymore. In its place is a (Im told) 383 stroker. I have no doubts thats whats in her, but im not just one to believe till I see it with my own eyes

The car is rust free, I havnt found a spot of rust on it yet, which is nice to see being from Wisconsin. The paint is ok, but you can tell someone who didnt really know what they were doing painted it, as there are alot of obvious issues (over sprays, things werent really taped off, or lines where it looks like there was tape, and shouldnt have been). The paint will do well for now, but will be getting sanded down and redone within the year.

The interior is pretty nice, but Ill be redoing it once I can find a complete black interior. The seats look nice, but the power options down work, and you can tell there was a mouse in the back, under the back seat who chewed the underside.

All in all I think its a good car, and will be alot of fun. I payed $3000 for it, and that may be a little to much seeing it didnt run, but I think it was worth it to me (Summer is upon us and I was itching for a new toy)

On to pictures:









The aftermarket TCI TH350 that it came with:



quarter stick shifter, Im looking for a 5 speed center councl plate thing so I dont have to cut mine to make room to mount this:



Rebuilt rear end with Detroit locker(Again so I was told, dont know the gearing):



The motor:



The shot motor mounts (no trans bolted to the motor, and it shouldnt lean that bad:



And how it sits this second:



and heres a link to all the pictures I have (most or either multiples of the same I posted here, or just random ones, but all the pictures Ill take none the less.)

http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ro%20pictures/


I have had the car running, but not driving as the trans that was in the car was shot. I needed to replace the starter, the fly wheel, the fuel pump, and rewire a few things. then I tore the trans back out, and Im pulling the motor now because it was pissing oil out the back somewhere. Also I have new motor mounts. While the motor is out Im going to pull the wiring out of the engine bay as its all not needed, and just rewire what I need.

Plans for the car, are eventually rewiring the whole thing, over winter I want to tear the motor down and rebuild it so I know whats in it. Im thinking about doing a back seat delete, but not sure how I feel about that yet. The battery will be going in the back, the motor will be getting juice, and just a few other random things here and there. Im all over the place on this car, Ills tart one thing then find something else and tinker with it (it took me 2 weeks to pull the trans because I kept find other things to mess with, lol)

Well thats good for now, Im getting ready to go down and pull the front nose off the car so I can pull the motor. let me know what you all think!

 

Welcome to TGO. Nice project!!

 

There's another Wisconsinite. That's a nice project. Tell me more about that shifter, is it made for 3rd gens or do you need to modify things so it will work?

 

I wasn't planning on posting any more info due to the lack of intrest in this thread, but ill update tomarrow with what all iv done.

As far as the shift I'm not sure. It came with the car, along with its own shifting cable, and all the brackets already attatched to the th350. I havnt looked at the mock up yet, but my plan was to get 2 plates of flat steel weld one to the floor in the councle, and mount the shifter to the other, drill 4 holes in the corneres and put threded rod in with nuts in there so I can somewhat adjust it how I want. I also planned on using the 5-speed cover so I didn't have to cut up the automatic one. Ill know more when I mock it up in the next few weeks.

 

I've wanted to see more of the 82's on here. Post more pics! How's the interior?

 

sub'd

 

got the broom out and dusting this thing off! Sorry for no updates, but I started a new job, got in a pinch and sold all my tools, and just didnt have time. Since starting my job I Rebuilt my tool collection and started to get work done on the car, I took pictures along the way, so Ill start in chronological order.


I pulled to motor because of a major oil leak out the back. I found it to be a bad valve cover gasket, and intake gasket leak, so I pulled the intake, and decided to also do head gaskets While it was apart I threw a quick coat of black on everything.












This is the only picture I took of the car while the motor was out. This was while I was doing the Motor Mounts (What a bitch)

 

came accrost these two of the bay after I pulled the motor








Bolted the motor to the TCI th350





Dropping her in. decided it was easer as one unit then dropping the motor in the lifting the trans.



sitting as snug as a bug in her clean bay




I also ordered a UMI trans cross member with adjustable arm. Excelent quality, faster shipping, and fits perfect.

 

Last post for the day. I wanted to mount my MSD box under hood, but couldnt really find a place I liked, so I made my own spot.

ince the battery is getting relocated, I decided to fab up something to cover this hole, and mount the 6al box there. Notice the shitt welds? that whole corner was replaced, and welded in a few sections. That will be addressed and fixed when I do body work this winter or next.



Made my template, and traced it out on a thick sheet of steel



not bad for cutting with a little Die Grinder





I drilled all the holes for mounting the bod and running the wires, putting grommets where needed.I also threw a quick coat of black.



as you can see fitment isnt perfect, but itll be eventually welded in, so it wont matter.

I might regret mounting it so low, but It looks nice.






So thats pretty much where I am right now. In the next few weeks Ill be ordering a set of the Dakota Digital VHX gauges



as well as a new proportioning valve, roll stop kit, and a 3 step adjustable box for the MSD and get started on the complete car re wire. That should be fun..

 

Well Getting the Dakota Digitals next week isnt looking good, its Thursday morning, and still havnt gotten called into work, so my check this week will be junk. Hopefully by the end of the month, we'll see though...

I did how ever find myself some time to go to the junk yard and found a nice Camaro to rob a few goodies off of. It was an 85, but had the 86 (I believe it was the only year) Serpentine/v-belt combo setup, and since I was in need of a few pullies I robed it clean. I like the serp/vbelt set up best because it uses the old bracketry which is whats on my motor, and uses the serp belt for the Alt/water pump.

I also cut down the Alternator bracket since I dont need the whole thing hanging there. I dont think I cut down on the strength of it since its not using that back bolt anyhow. I also had to modify the bracket on the back of the Alternator, as it used a different bracket between it and the head. no biggy just chopped it of and redrilled a hole.







As we were walking away my buddy noticed this thing



cleaned up with a quick shot of black



Frankly Im not sure how I didnt notice it. Iv checked every Camaro in that junk yard (I thought) and never saw one without AC. I was ready to order the fiberglass one for $150. I went to look inside to see if it also had the non AC air controls, and though it didnt, I was suprised to see this





If I wasnt set on the Dakotas, I might try these, but I doubt they would work anyhow.

I might go back and see what else the car has. seemed like a nice car, wasnt smashed up, so who knows why it was there.

Also picked up a new Fan shroud, I liked that it said Camaro (even thought its just stickers, Im guessing?)



Only other thing I really did was pulled the cover off the "Detroit Locker" that came with the car, and found it to be I believe an older Auburn Limited Slip unit. Well see how it holds up, Iv heard mixed things about Auburn.



Well see if I work tomarrow, otherwise I think the interior is coming out.

 

Looks good! Keep us posted.

 

The auburns are decent I think for non competitive drag racing, only issue is that they arent rebuildable. So once they wear out, they're done. HOWEVER, you seem to have an ABS reluctor wheel thing on your carrier, and I think those were exclusive to 4th gens. The 98-02's had Torsens, so that one is from a 93-97 ish fourth gen F-body.

I may be wrong, pulling long forgotten nuggets out of different corners of my head and trying to make sense of it...

 

Any clue as to what is holding up your gauges underneath the vents?

 

wheres the ABS thing you speak of? I didnt even think about this being a 4th gen rear... Also I knew Aburns weren't rebuild-able, however this rear doesnt look to have much wear and tear on it, so thats a good thing. I plan to go with a Moser when money permits.

screws drilled up into the vents.



I dont like it and will be doing something different. because of how the screws are you cant actually put the vents in there. My plan is to get the Dakotas for the main gauges (Speedo, tach, oil pressure, fuel, and water level) then get a swivel gauge cluster like this one below, and get a trans temp, volt, and some other gauge. Ill put the swivle cluster either under the vents but all the way back against the dash, or on top of the dash pad, well have to wait and see what looks good when I get it.



Also im debating between the Glow shift gauges, and sunpro Sport St or what ever they are. Leaning towards Glowshift, Iv head good things about them.

 

These are pics of two auburn posi units. The first has the ABS reluctor wheel on it, second does not.






This is what you would typically find in a 3rd gen:

 

Hmm, awesome, thanks for the pics!

As for work iv done on the car, is not much, I pulled 90% of the interior out. In hope to get it back running before snow, Im only putting one seat and the dash back in. Over winter Ill do more work in there sound deadening it, new carpet, new plastics, maybe some fiberglass work, audio, roll cage, well see. I can get some pics up in a bit.

 

So did you figure out if it was in fact a 383 or not. You stated you had to get a new fly wheel And that would mean one for the 400 crank. I'm just curious Nice work so far.

 

Since the screws aren't working the way they are you could always try some 3M automotive tape. I seen that used before and the owner never had a problem with it.

Just my .02

 

yes, the motor is in fact a 383, how ever it used a standard 350 fly wheel, my guess is it has an internally balanced aftermarket crank, i didnt tear the lower end apart as it was fine how it was for now. Once i get her running ill decide what my plans will be for the motor, if ill leave it, do a complete tear down and rebuild, or just start over.

also as far as the gauges and the screws there gone. i hated that "open back" look and ordered a different gauge pod with a closed back to hide the wires. the new one will be screwed in farther back so the screws wont get in the way. the thought of plactic welding the new gauge pod to the dash also crossed my mind, but that would only happen if i decide to do some other major mods the the dash, I havnt decided if i have the guts to cut and chop a really nice dash. Ill get pics later today, i got dragged into going out for a few drinks, and forgot to snap pics before i left.

 

ok, last day of working on the car for the week (hopefully, I need to get back to work!!)

I found some pin holes in the floor board, I wire wheeled them and suprised in how strong the surrounding floor is, I couldnt jab a screw driver through and I tried pretty hard (even left some nice dents)

Since its so strong, Im planning on just POR puttying the floor and painting with a black POR-15, then the floor should be good for years to come.

I did find one hole, not sure what Ill do, its not big, and its right above the subframe on the bottom side. I took some pics.

Also I should add that the floor looked good paint wise before I hit it with the wheel. I went over every inch of it lightly, and paint flaked off. I went back over spots that looked to be bumbling with rust, and the following pics are the final result.











with the lights off in the shop, and a light on the underside of the car



also, anyone know how to get rid of those sticky mats that are a pain? I hit one with a wire wheel and just made a mess.

 

Sorry but I may have missed it.What gear ratio did the carrier/gears have ?
I'm really glad this thread took off/is active again.
Allot of work and you definitely seem to have some skills. Have you been working on engines/cars long ?
By the way that is a really nice find with the car, 383,new trans,etc.

 

Im not sure on the ratio, Ill check it yet today.

Thank you for the compliments. Iv always been the kid who loved working on cars, but never had the money to do the fun jobs. Iv been working on cars since I was about 15, but mostly fixing things that broke, not modifying. I really got into modifying when I got a junky s10 pickup that came with a 305 in it, from then on I really got into changing cars and modifying them, but I still never had the money to do stuff. So I know what I want to do, but alot of the things is the first time trying them, there for I plan to mess up alot, but that all comes with the learning process.

Now Iv got a great paying job, and really nothing else to put alot of my money towards, so I was in search of a project car. I came across this one and pulled the trigger. I actually saw this car on Craigslist for a long time before I pulled the trigger. Im not sure why it lasted, it really was an awesome deal, but I guess I just got lucky that it waited for me

 

42 teeth on the ring, 13 teeth on the pinion, equals out to a 3.23, correct?

 

Not much to add at the end of the day. I got the heater box on



cleaned out most of the interior



found a nice spare tire where my battery will be getting moved to



and ran the main power wire somewhat close to how Ill be running it to see if the wire I had from my last batter relocate is long enough (It is!!!)



also not sure if I mentioned it, but this will be my junction box for now. dont say anything about taking the cheap way out, when I start to fulling put everything back Ill be running two seperate wires for the starter and alt, and be putting a kill switch in the back. Any recomendations on a good Push/pull kill switch, with removeable lever?

 

42 divided by 13 = 3.2307692 = 3.23 = nice ratio.

 

3.23 is a good all around gear. so i should be ordering my VHX gauges from dakota next week wednessday-ish. I also happened to see a gear shift indicator ill be ordering, it hooks up to the gauge cluster and shows which gear im in, may not be needed, but itll be nice getting used to a full man. valve body auto.

Also heard back from the radiator shop today. I took my 3 core up there to get tested and he finally finished testing, but wouldnt tell me if it was good over the phone, so im having a friend go pick it up tomarrow. hopefully its good, I dont really feel like shelling out a few more hundred bucks to get this running right now.

 

Well I ordered the Dakota Digitals today, should be here next week. I also odered a Trans and Oil temp gauges, as well as a Volt meter from Glowshift. Iv used them before, and was happy with them, so Ill give them another go. The only reason I got the volt is because there isnt actually a meter in the Dakotas, and I like to see what the readings are as Ill be having a system in this car.

I took a pic of the pod that I have, and were Ill be placeing it, lemme know what you think. Its upside down because I didnt want to mount it there yet, and wanted it to stay.




I also am thinking about getting the Wideband, Boost (for future power adder ), and noz PSI from glowshift, but Im not sure where Id put them.

Oh and I got the Radiator from the shop, it passed the compression test, so its good to go

 

For those of you that were wondering about the shifter install heres how I did it. I copied this from a thread I started about the install


First thing I had to do was remove the old shifter. I decided to utilize the plate that the old shift used so mine would be easily removeable if needed. I cut off all the old junk and was left with just a base plate (I forgot to take a picture, but I just removed all the crap...)

when I mocked it all up in the car, I didnt like how low the shifter sat compaired to the top plate of the center councel, so I did some measuring (guessing) and did some welding on the shifter plate, the final result after the flap disk and paint



then I threw it in to see how it would fit





with the shifter



now since the shifter wouldnt fit in the old shifter plate, I cut out a rectangle, basically where the gear indicator was



and the final result, fits perfect, olmost like I seasured it (but honestly this was all guess work after a few beers)





I also plan to add something to fill the gap. Im thinking something like those brisles you find on the snow scrappers for cars. this pic is what would be above those bristles, so basically what youll see in the end




Only issue I am running into is Ill have to drill a new hole for the shifter cable, also where the shifter cable goes through the shifter, will get in the way of the ash tray



I ended up cutting some of it out, but plan to add a thin sheet of aluminum in the ask tray and figure out how to cram a few toggles in there.



Let me know what you think!

 

Nice project!!
I would be cutting out some metal on those floors if it were mine. I would replace all of the pitted areas in that floor. You will be happy you did it in the long run. Peace of mind is a good thing.

 

did anyone else notice the cross fire Z28 badge on the dash?!

 

After looking at the cost to fix it with putty, I may actually go this rout. its only the drivers side that has pits and holes, so it wouldnt be much work. I dont have a welder, but Im sure I could get my welder buddy to weld them in. hes the one I have had do all the welding this far.

Correct! how ever in my first post

"The car I picked up a few weeks ago is a 1982 Z28 that came with cross fire, but dont have the motor anymore"

The motor was toast, and had been replaced before I got my hands on the car. good eye though. I do have the pristine condition badge pulled from the dash......

 

So Im going on vacation tomarrow, that resulted in having a day free, and I didnt do much, seriously. I recieved my Glowshift gauges a few days ago, and got around to installing them today. I also called Dakota Digital to see why my gauges havnt showed up from them yet, and I guess they ran out (What one of you ****'s ordered them before me!! haha just kidding) so there in the process of making more. Estimated time is 1-2 weeks, kinda dissapointing as I put rush shipping on them in hope to get them before I went on vacation so I could maybe start the car, but alas it didnt work out that way, anywho, on to the glowshifts.

sitting infront of their pods.



The box of wires and sensors for these



Easiest hook up ever, all plugs color cordinated This was a bad pic to show this, but this is the volt gauge, so both of these were power wire connectors, didnt matter which went where. the other gauges have a blue plug)



Front



Back out of all the wires, theres only 8 to hook up in the car. the volt meter has a 4 wire connector for constant power, switched power, ground, and a dimer wire, then a daisy chain goes from that gauge to the next, and from that one to the next. I think you can hook up 4 gauges this way, eliminates alot of messy wires. then just 2 that go to the senders for both the oil and trans temp.



After I got the pods all mounted I removed the pod from the base and mounted it



I also cut a hole behind one gauge so I can run all the wires up through the dash. I didnt drill ALL those holes, theres a few I covered up even.

and attatch the pods and the finished product

 

Also this is why I ran all the wires up through the dash where I did, because all the excess can sit right there when I run the wires. not in the way of anything, and not blocking the heat vent.



Also I hooked them up to power to test the power on function. the middle is the volt, the other 2 are flashing due to not being hooked up to the sensors. (click it, its a video) I still need to align them, but thats minor when I get it in the car.

 

Looking good. Keep up the good work and for the record, I'm originally from Burlington

 

Ahh so you know exactly whats coming up that Im not looking forward to (SNOW!!) haha

 

Yes I do, that's why I live in Alabama now. Great to have a project like this if you have a warm place to work on it. My wife used to frown on me bringing things into the dining room to work on them. Never could figure out what the problem was!

 

Looks like a cool project and will be a fun car. Keep up the good work.

 

Haha fortunetly I have a heated shop and even when I didnt my girlfriend said she didnt mind, as long as I didnt use the dishwasher as a parts washer (again) haha

Thanks and will do!

I got back from vacation today. Im waiting on my oil adapter to go between the oil filter and the block so I can get my reading for oil temp and pressure from there. Also waiting on the Dakotas, but I got wind that they should be here tomarrow! pretty excited about those,...

 

Not much of an update today. I got the dakotas, and so far there very nice.
All laid out



so I threw the dash back in. I didnt get the wiring out yet like I wanted, but I wanna get this thing fired up. I threw the dakotas in, and took a few pics, also I powered them up and put them in demo mode (which just lights them up and sweeps the gauges).

from the drivers seat. I put the seat back and put the camera where my head would be.



view of the glowshifts



Demo mode (its a cell pic so its doesnt do it justice, but its very clear and bright)




only other thing I did was fab up some more brackets for the shifter, and added the gear indicator stuff. Thing on the back rotates as I shift through the gears and sends a signal to the front box. front box does a few things, its sends a signal to my display to show what gear im in, it also acts as a relay for blackup lights, and a relay for a neutral safety switch






thats it for today. I have to go back to work later today, so well see when I have more time.

 

How was it wiring the gauges? How was the calibration? I am thinking about buying those exact gauges but with the white face. I want to kinda keep my car original but with a modern twist. I am keeping all the original parts bc I want more for my money if I sell it one day.

 

Wiring was super simple, it came with new senders, and wiring for them, just plug the wires into the sender, rout them how ever you want, and its only set screws to put the wires into the box, power wires and everything is just as easy.
calibration i havnt done since the car isnt running yet, however it apears to also be very easy. all in all id buy these again.