Building Up HLS30-59920

[CW240Z72]

Figured I'd post up another build thread we've been working on for some time now, if anything for the entertainment of others to view. 

This is my personal Z I've had for some time now. Was actually in the process of tearing it down when a Series-1 came up for sale locally, temporarily putting the project on hold. If you're more interested in a completely bone stock resto you can hop over to that build thread here: Restoration of HLS30-12070

Back on the current build and some history on the car. It’s a late '72 build that had been sitting since '86 in dry storage when I bought it. 51K on the clock, few bumps and bruises but a very solid and complete car to work with. We did the typical work to get it road worthy again - brakes, suspension, fuel system, etc. Overall not a great deal of effort to get it running and driving. From there I drove it as-is for 6-7 years. Was really a great car, decently comfortable and reliable in stock form. 

Then I got the great idea that it was in dire need of some improvements, and the whole 'While I'm Here" mentality eventually lead me to stripping the car down to a bare shell and starting from scratch. More post to come from where the car started out to the latest progress on the project. 

[CW240Z72]

Here's day 1 of the build before the full blown tear down began. Pretty typical Texas car that didn't spend much time outdoors, if any at all. I believe we had pulled the front bumper to replicate the mounting brackets for another build at the time, but a complete car otherwise. 

[CW240Z72]

First major milestone - strip the Z down to a bare shell and get it on the rotisserie for media blasting. Took pictures throughout so that I could use as reference and documentation. 

Overall pretty solid car. Didn't uncover anything major (yet) on the body during the tear down. You might pick up the group of Klassic Fab JDM replacement panels underneath the car. I'll get to those shortly. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by CW240Z72

[CW240Z72]

Same process I used on the Silver Z, we had the entire shell dustless blasted back to bare metal. I did have them avoid the roof to prevent potential damage. Being that the quarter panels were mainly original paint, they required very little effort to blast and a low risk for damage. 

Doors, hood, hatch, fenders - these only received blasting on the interior surfaces and around tight areas sanding would be difficult to complete. For these exterior panel surfaces we'll take those down to metal manually.  

Edited February 27, 2023 by CW240Z72

[SpeedRoo]

Great to see another "Z" getting your treatment. Can't wait to discover what you have planned for this one.

[inline6]

So, will this one a be a resto mod?

[CW240Z72]

3 hours ago, inline6 said:

So, will this one a be a resto mod?

Absolutely. This will be a complete 180 from the silver car. More to come! 

[CW240Z72]

After blasting the shell and bits were sealed up with a DTM primer in preparation for metal work/panel replacement.

First area to address were the floors. Drivers floor showed little corrosion, but a good amount of damage. Passenger had both unfortunately. 

To fix this I ordered the complete floors from Klassic Fab JDM as well as the Bad Dog rails and extensions. 

Figured these would be a good improvement over the stock rails, especially when we throw a bit of horsepower at the car. 

[CW240Z72]

 

Pacing myself and double checking measurements, the drivers floor board was a straightforward job. First removing the frame rail and then drilling out the seat bracket spot welds. This allowed me to use them as temporary locating features for placing the new floor. 

 

Once the panel fit the body correctly, we then removed the seat reinforcement brackets and staged the floor for welding

 

didn’t grab a picture of the drivers side, but the factory frame rail was first welded down before installing the Bad Dog reinforcement rails. In theory you could install only the Bad Dog rails, but I couldn’t get a good fit and finish with them alone. 

[CW240Z72]

Passenger side was a bit more interesting. The Z had a dealer installed AC system which was poorly done with holes cut into the firewall to route lines. I’ll be installing AC again in the car, but in a different manner. 
 

There was also some corrosion where the RH floor met the bottom of the firewall, below the battery tray. Rather than patch the holes from the AC and the rust, I opted to replace the whole section of firewall. I’ll also route the electrical elsewhere so this new panel will give me a clean start. 

Found these panel clamps at Harbor Freight. They’re great! 

[CW240Z72]

Passenger floor and frame rail final fitment before welding in. I’ve yet to use one of these Klassic Fab panels that wasn’t a top notch piece.

 

Now the Bad Dog parts, that’s a different story. The rails and extensions needed a lot of work to get them to fit. So much so I feel making my own would have been easier. Was really surprised how bad they were (no pun intended).

You can see above how off they were from the rear floor supports. This was the best fitting part of the set. Fortunately I was able to salvage them and wrap up the floor pan job.

Edited February 28, 2023 by CW240Z72

[SpeedRoo]

Wow you have been busy, you did all this in one day!