Restoration of HLS30-12070

[Captain Obvious]

Thanks for checking. Makes me wonder what they include in their kit for the 280's. A question for someone else who bought one of those.

Thanks again and good luck with the build!

[CW240Z72]

2 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Thanks for checking. Makes me wonder what they include in their kit for the 280's. A question for someone else who bought one of those.

Thanks again and good luck with the build!

I was looking through the build photos I have of a L28 we did two years ago. An ITM kit was used on that one as well, but I can't recall any difference between the OEM slack guide and the one supplied. But no final fitment issues occurred. 

[CW240Z72]

Another big accomplishment on the Z, all the parts came back from powder coating. They look GREAT, super happy with the quality of work from the guys at Quality Powder Coating (oil pan and a few smaller bits didn't make the shot). 

[CW240Z72]

We were very fortunate with this Z and the little amount of rust it had on the body. The one area that needed to be replaced over the entire floorboard area was a small section in the passenger foot well. Based on the isolated area of rust here, it was most likely from the dealer AC system that was installed in the car. 

The rusted area was cut out, surrounding metal cleaned, a patch panel replicated, welded back in, and smoothed down for a seamless transition. In the process of welding it back in we replicated the factory spot welds so that it looked as it did when the car was first assembled. 

 

[Patcon]

Am I correct in believing that some of the springs are corner specific? Some have different colored paint dabs...

[CW240Z72]

39 minutes ago, Patcon said:

Am I correct in believing that some of the springs are corner specific? Some have different colored paint dabs...

That’s correct. Front and rears are of different lengths, and they have different spring rates left to right which account for driver’s weight. FSM has this documented, I’ll try to find it. 

[CW240Z72]

From the FSM, front spring specs: 

Rear spring specs: 

[Patcon]

So how to keep track of which goes where while powder coating?

Never mind, they're all slightly different lengths. Provided the current free length is close to spec

Edited November 14, 2020 by Patcon

[CW240Z72]

Parts arrived back from plating for the Z this week, both in yellow and clear zinc. Now for inventorying every nut bolt and washer and to allocate them back to where they were previously installed. 

 

This is roughly half of the yellow zinc parts that were restored. 

And most of the clear zinc. 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by CW240Z72

[CW240Z72]

Slowly rebuilding the hardware that returned from plating. Hand brake mechanism, fuel tank hardware, hood release, headlight buckets, HVAC controls, and the proportioning valve were first for reassembly. 

Also started working on the suspension components. Here's the rear control arm brace assembly, powder coated and plated hardware. I know the lower control arm caps should have been black instead of clear zinc as they are now, but I thought it would be nice to break up all the powder coated parts in that area. 

Front strut assemblies are also reassembled now. As are the front calipers. 

All new bearings, seals, wheel studs, brake line, KYB strut, rotor and pads. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by CW240Z72

[CW240Z72]

Here's another side project on the Z that's on pause while we sort through hardware and body work. For the AC system, we'll use the restored dealer evaporator, a modern Sanden compressor (mounted on the lower LH side of the block), and all new hoses and components. 

One thing I didn't like about how these AC systems were routed, was how the dealers would use sheet metal screws and install the dryer on the RH strut tower. It's big, bulky, and ugly IMO. 

I mapped out the hoses, and I think the cleanest way to place the dryer is on the front side of the core support, next to the condenser. Behind the grille and blacked out core support I don't think it will be too obvious from the front, and from the engine bay all you'll see are the two hoses routed down the RH frame rail. 

In order to map this out I modeled up the core support mounting points (in green), the condenser itself, dryer, and fittings. I'm able to plumb the hoses in CAD, using the minimum bend radius of the hose and its physical properties to accurately plumb with it. The larger green holes are the openings in the core supports where the harness routes through. The bottom of the condenser has mounting holes for cushion clamps. My thoughts were to clamp the lower hose down to prevent movement and abrasion.

Thoughts? (sorry, terrible screenshot photos). 

 

 

 

[Patcon]

Did you plate the caliper halves?