Frank gave me this idea in another post. A thread dedicated to the before and after shots of our cars. The road to show what we have done since we bought the cars. For some it will be a grave to greatness thread, for others, it will be far less noticeable, but we will all love to see the rejuvenation of our beloved Z cars.

Engine before:

Engine 4-20-2012:

Car before:

Car 4-20-2012:

with BRE centercaps!

It has been a wonderful journey, and as time goes on it will continue to improve.

Z's are like cheese, they get better (and more holey, with age)

The dusty roll out after sitting in the back of the garage for 26 years. A very long story about how it got in this condition.

The after is 2 years and one month later. Finally!

Bonzi Lon

Bonzi, Just WOW!

Edited April 24, 201212 yr by cygnusx1

The dusty roll out after sitting in the back of the garage for 26 years. A very long story about how it got in this condition.

The after is 2 years and one month later. Finally!

Bonzi Lon

Wow, so far you get the "Back from the Dead" award. I'd love to hear the long story.

Before:

After:

Bonzi, Just WOW!

Dave, that color is stunning! I love the look and the execution of your red Z, nice stance, clean interior and an L-gata with triples underhood!

Bonzi, I must concur that you get the Cinderella award. That took some serious vision to bring that car back to respectability

Before:

after:

Zeke when purchased in Aug 2008

The dusty roll out after sitting in the back of the garage for 26 years. A very long story about how it got in this condition.

The after is 2 years and one month later. Finally!

Bonzi Lon

Nice job Bonzi......A perfect example of what this site is all about.......restoring one of the greatest cars in automotive history!

Edited April 25, 201212 yr by Diseazd

Before:

After:

Thank you all for the compliments.

It was not a restoration, just paint, reassembly, get it running and on the road again. The short story...

Purchased in June of 77 as my college car with 88k miles. By Sept. 80 at 118k miles it wasn't running due to my lack of knowledge on this engine, mostly flat top carbs. Had it rebuilt with new carbs, head work, headers, bearings, etc. Expensive!

Trailered it home 3 weeks later and was talked into a new paint job for what a guy owed me. He would do what little body work there was, small dings, nose bruise, clean up some lines and spot welds, I would buy the materials, he supplied tools, fair trade, I thought.

I took it apart, he started work on it. After about 3 months, he had had enough of it and left the country, (in the condition of the before photo) with the materials. :mad:

Needless to say I was mad and now out of money, I pushed it in the back room of the garage where it sat for the next 26 years, with 96 miles on a NEW engine! (nothing was done for storage, battery still connected, radiator full, oil, fuel tank 3/4 full, etc.)

I credit my daughter for getting me motivated, she got me a computer and set me up with this site for help. I've learned more about this car than I thought possible. Thank you to all on this site.

In November 07, I talked 'Painter Ray' into spraying it, he said the guy that did the body work was very good, only shop dings and one dent I put in it. There was lots of cleaning of everything before it could be reassembled. In April of 08 was its first legal 'round the block' drive.

First time the battery was connected the clock took off and is still running today!

There is still more to do...

Bonzi Lon

spitz, that car is gorgeous, I love the direction you took it.

I am still at the before stage...

Bonzi, very impressive. I agree, without this site and its many knowledgable contributors I would have been lost and spent many $ getting to where I am. I lost all of my before pics when the "machine" crashed and will post after pics when its done here in a month or two. Zedy very nice ride!