My new 69Z's progress

[PhillipM]

Well I didn’t work on the ZBeater very much this weekend but the time I did spend on it was a rewarding escape from doing other things. We named this car ZBeater a long time ago and like many projects the goal has changed slightly but the name has not. This past weekend I extended my Lokar emergency brake handle to something a man older than 5 years can grab onto. I used 1” .120 wall tubing to extend the handle a total of 8 inches. At first I thought the 1” tubing was going to be to large but in the end it worked out perfect and feels good in the palm. The inside of these things is very basic and includes all thread and a spring with a few retainers. I went down to Ace hardware and bought a couple new springs and a longer piece of all thread to make everything longer. The total project really only took about an hour, and that included riding my bicycle over to Ace! I have included another before picture for reference. Moving on to the A/C system I made a couple new brackets so that I wouldn’t have a bolt through the firewall and also so I would have more room to route my hoses after the dash is back on it. I welded a tab onto the roll cage on the right hand side and just moved the mounting screws. I will fill the old holes with some 3M glue. The bracket in the back of the unit now goes straight up and bolts in through the cowl area. Well that was really it for Sunday. Tonight I plan to weld the dash back in the car.

[PhillipM]

Well tonight I was able to tack the dash back in the car for the first time in years. What a difference! It's looking like a car again.

[1969CamaroRS]

Wow awesome metal work, coming along nicely. Keep posting pics please!

[PhillipM]

Thank you for the compliment! I have about 7 months to finish the car. And seeing as how I really only work on it about 2 days a week that is about 56 days to finish. I'm sure as we start to get really close I will have to work a few more than 2 days a week, and at that it is really more like 1.5 days a week. But we will get it ready for Power Tour. This car will make it!

[PhillipM]

Well I just got back from SEMA and had a day to work on the car.. I decided to do some more work on my cage. Here are the results..

[rlplive]

Bad Ass

[ROACHZ28]

At first I was thinking how were you going to take the crossbar off if you need to work on the engine once the car is done. I was thinking it was welded on. Now I can see it`s not.

[olds87]

Are you going to have the cross bar bolt on and are you going to be at the Good Guys show this week end?

[syborg tt]

nice work - thank you for the pictures

[PhillipM]

Are you going to have the cross bar bolt on and are you going to be at the Good Guys show this week end?

Yeah I am waiting on some weld bungs from Kartek in California cause I'm to lazy to make them.. The whole unit will unbolt and pop out.

We will be at goodguys but we are bringing the Oldsmobile's instead of the Camaro's. One is a blueish grey 65 F85 and the other is a seafoam green 64 cutlass.

Hope all is well, stop in and say hi if you see us.

[rlplive]

Also I am kind of new around here, is there link to your dads car? All this talk has me wanting to see it. And your car is going to be sick!

[PhillipM]

Also I am kind of new around here, is there link to your dads car? All this talk has me wanting to see it. And your car is going to be sick!

Unfortunatly I don't have many pictures of his car but here is the jist of it..
LS7/ Wayne Due front clip/ C4 Dana 44 IRS and a TKO 600.











Thats pretty much all the photos I have of his car. Its an awesome pice of machinery thats for sure.

-Phillip

[olds87]

Yeah I am waiting on some weld bungs from Kartek in California cause I'm to lazy to make them.. The whole unit will unbolt and pop out.

We will be at goodguys but we are bringing the Oldsmobile's instead of the Camaro's. One is a blueish grey 65 F85 and the other is a seafoam green 64 cutlass.

Hope all is well, stop in and say hi if you see us.

How Long you Going to Be there at Good-Guys show?

[sik68]

Phillip! Lookin awesome! Your car makes me want to tear my car apart already and build a cage...almost. Hehe. I'll be keeping tabs!

-Steven

[PhillipM]

How Long you Going to Be there at Good-Guys show?

We'll be there all day on Saturday.

[PhillipM]

Phillip! Lookin awesome! Your car makes me want to tear my car apart already and build a cage...almost. Hehe. I'll be keeping tabs!

-Steven

Thanks for the good word Steven. Don't worry, we'll hit up some Track Days and you can check the cage out in person! Haha

[PhillipM]

Got a little more work done on Sunday.. The seat and the harness bar are now mounted and tacked in place. I am waiting on some parts for my welder so I am holding off the final welds untill I get them. I thought I would support local businesses and order it from the welding shop but was quickley reminded why you don't do that. First by the price and second by the rediculous wait I am going through. But I had to pre-pay for them so I guess I will continue to wait. I also need to call Mark at Arizen seats, as you can see my seat doesn't sit level and that's becuase one of the sliders is thicker than the other.. Weird. Here are a few pics of the progress.. Enjoy











* Edit: The seats and seat tracks were fine.. Turns out it was my floor pan. Thanks. -Phillip 11/22/08

[Steve68]

Has a little slant to it, looks good

[PhillipM]

Has a little slant to it, looks good

Yeah the seat is leaning and I'm not sure why yet.. The brackets looked funny so I still need to look into that. But the bar it's self is straight in the car.

[4406]

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