My 80 Z Clone Pro Touring in progress

[J. Chris Davis]

I will keep detailed progress on this project once I get going on it. The switch I got is a 20 amp momentary 2 way rocker so I don't think I'll bother wiring in any relays, but I will get a fuse holder inline. The actuator is only a max of 5 amp draw.

[813Demon340]

The seats look really good, pretty close to the stock upholstery pattern. The brake and front end conversion should make a noticeable difference.

[J. Chris Davis]

Thanks, I tried to find a set of seats that I liked and were as close to the stock look as I could get without having to reupholster. The brakes are a big improvement from the stock set up. I'm pretty happy with them.

[J. Chris Davis]

Got a new OER dash bezel. Fits pretty well. I had to make a plate to cover half of the lighted area on the wiper switched since this is a 70-72 bezel.

[J. Chris Davis]

Been a while since I've posted something on my build. I've been messing around here and there with stuff. I worked on my electric parking brake assembly by cutting down the cable bracket and redrilling the mounting hole for the actuator piston. Also bought some plastic stock to make some under dash panels and I got all of my weather stripping changed over to Soffseal which I really like. That is some soft material and fits like original.

[J. Chris Davis]

So I've gotten a little side tracked. I had to replace my driver door handle because it decided to break. I finally got my door windows adjusted to near perfect fit with the new weather stripping. Just a couple of tweaks to the weather stripping and I should have a good seal all the way around. Since I had to take my door panels off I decided it was time to add power door lock switches to my set up. Since 2003 I've only had my keyless entry remote to lock and unlock the doors. I think I'm going to go with some 4th Gen Firebird switches and put them on the arm rest surface of my door panels. I think once I get this new project finished I can get the car in the air and start working on the parking brakes and the lower dash panels.

[J. Chris Davis]

The door locks and keyless entry are wired and rewired and everything tests good. Found a couple of 4th gen Firebird door lock switches and a passenger side switch bezel to use. I started working on the switch bezel I got and started to cut that apart. Going to use that as a template for the switch holes and cut the switch mounts out of as well. Once I have a good template and measured on the lower door panel where I want them to go I will get that cut and start attaching the switch holders to the door panel. I think JB Weld should hold these on there pretty well. Along with the pictures I posted the wiring diagram I drew up for this setup.

[J. Chris Davis]

Got my templates made and door panels marked. Started cutting out the hole for the driver side switch. I will get more progress and hopefully some more pictures tomorrow. With any luck this should look good once I'm all done. I'm also thinking about using the steering wheel I put on my 87 IROC. I like the feel of it compared to the one I have on the 80. I'll just put the stock wheel back on the IROC for now. I can strip the black paint off if I don't like how it looks. It was originally natural aluminum, but I painted it for the looks in the IROC.




Picture of the steering wheel currently in the IROC.

[J. Chris Davis]

Cut the switch holes in the door panels and glued the switch holders on over the weekend.

[J. Chris Davis]

Picture of the harnesses I made for each door switch so I don't have to take the whole door panel apart to get the switch disconnected.

[J. Chris Davis]

Now that the glue is dry for the switch holders I got the door panels assembled. Clean up the wiring in the door and get it routed through the jam and I can put the door panels back on.

[rickpaw]

Nice work.

[J. Chris Davis]

Thank you

[J. Chris Davis]

Got the door panels back on the car and all the wiring cleaned up over the weekend.

[J. Chris Davis]

I've been working on tinting my front side marker lenses with VHT Niteshade on and off while working on the door locks. I just put the final coats of clear on the other day. I used 3 coats of VHT and I think it ended up being 5 coats of clear. The first time I did these they were too heavy on the tint and almost black so I had to sand them down and start over. I also had a bunch of dust that settled on it and stuck. This time they turned out quite a bit better. I think I'm going to start on the tail lights this weekend starting with tinting the rear amber turn signal lens with VHT red then tint all of the lenses with the VHT Niteshade. The last picture is with my camera flash on.

[JayinMI]

Picture of the steering wheel currently in the IROC.

What steering wheel is that? Nicest one I've seen in a while and I would love something similar.

Been a while since I've posted something on my build. I've been messing around here and there with stuff. I worked on my electric parking brake assembly by cutting down the cable bracket and redrilling the mounting hole for the actuator piston. Also bought some plastic stock to make some under dash panels and I got all of my weather stripping changed over to Soffseal which I really like. That is some soft material and fits like original.
]

What are you using for the motor to pull the parking brake? Is that a factory one from something?


Jay

[J. Chris Davis]

The steering wheel is a Momo Millenium. I really like it too. I like the grip on it compared to any wheel I've had. I also painted it black from the natural aluminum. The parking brake motor is a 225 pound linear actuator with 2" travel and I'm using a Lokar cable kit.

[JayinMI]

The steering wheel is a Momo Millenium. I really like it too. I like the grip on it compared to any wheel I've had. I also painted it black from the natural aluminum. The parking brake motor is a 225 pound linear actuator with 2" travel and I'm using a Lokar cable kit.

Got a link? Never saw one with a rubber boot over it. Are going to use something like a rack/awl (I think that's the term) to lock it in place so the pressure doesn't pull the actuator out again?

A friend of mine did something like that in an Acura RL to make room for kick panel speakers.

Jay

[J. Chris Davis]

I bought the motor and the boot off of an Ebay seller. The actuator will fully retract to hold the brakes.

[J. Chris Davis]

Got the side markers installed and started working on the tail light tinting. I took all the lenses apart and red tinted the amber lesnes. In this picture I have them glued back together and going to wet sand the whole thing again and blend the reds together with the red tint. Then I can glue the white lenses back on and start tinting the whole assembly smoke to match the front side markers.