Going Day II with my Z/28

[jerry455]

This is a fantastic thread- really fun to see this car come together!
The Day II plan is awesome-
Another thought on the heads:
https://www.castheads.com
Brzezinski Racing Products does some great work with the Dart Iron Eagle straight plug heads. They can mill them to look like the "double hump" factory head, plus porting to flow well with 200cc intake ports. check them out.
The bare castings are affordable and Randy's shop does great work- won't let you waste money on things you don't need and a true craftsman.
I had him do me a set of dart heads recently and also freshened up a set of used 077 BBC heads I bought from a member here. First class operation.
They can appreciate the old-school stuff, and got a kick out of an Edelbrock Smokey Ram manifold and late seventies Scorpion intake sent in to be test-fit.
I've been collecting parts to do a nasty small block build, not sure what stroke I want to go with yet- will be watching yours come together!
I'm sticking with solid lifter cam, bought an Isky 505T and Crane copy of #140 off-road design. still debating which to run-
Thanks for the entertainment and good luck with the build!
Jerry

[NorCam]

Thanks for chiming in here Jerry

I did contact Brezinski a year ago and looked at having them disguise a set of heads with some undercover port work on a stock intake, but later decided to forego that. I actually sent the block out for machining last week and from what I learned Friday, it's already advanced through the machine shop and will start going together early this week. For this CE block, I decided to upgrade the rods and will be using a set of forged I beams with 7/16" ARP bolts rather than pinks. Also planning on running a Comp 12-673-4 Nostalgia Cam in this one and see how that is with a tighter lash and modern ramps.

I'm trying to avoid getting carried away with too much cam in this one (if there is such a thing) and keep the motor together so it lives longer.

The stock 186 heads are freshly done and assembled with new valves, springs, screw in studs/guides, and also had a little port clean up while they were being freshened. I may just run the 186 heads for now and try and keep this thing under 7200 rpm between shifts. It's hard not to hotrod the crap out of everything as I really like horsepower and long duration solid cams, but at some point I have to reason with valve spring limitations, power brakes and keeping this car acting like the Z that it is. As plans firm up next week, I'll decide how I'm going to dress out the top end (Day II) but it now looks like the 302 will follow close to it's original HP rating with a few tweaks to wake it up a little & have it stay together with better internals. I may even run the stock intake since it's sitting here restored with its 4053 carb (undecided on this yet).

Another idea I am toying with is having my painter prep and paint a flat GM hood for the car and put it back to the way it was delivered when Kym first got it back in 69. Pop that flat hood with the fly breather, the Rev Pol ignition and vintage headers installed and this may be just the right look under that hood. That will also allow me to fit the Sun gauges on the cowl since I cannot fit (3) of them up there with the cowl hood on the car. I still like the look of hood mounted gauges and those combined with vintage Cragars & Lakewood bars will have the Green Z looking sweet'

[NorCam]

Below are the internals that will go into the 302 this week. And here's another set of Lakewood bars that will be going onto the car. A long set that David shared with me and were shipped with restored original hardware. I have some new Traction Action decals here and will soon install these along with the Hurst Air Shocks and the vintage Cragars that are on the way. Getting excited now as it starts going together.

[DW31S]

Awesome stuff Graeme! Nice job my friend!

[PeteLeathersac]

'

Lovin' this Day-2 build from the fences too, you're really hitting it so right on all counts!
Really looking forward to the final result of your hard work also can't stop picturing it w/ the yellow Lakewoods and Rally Green!
Great to see you're going w/ two sets of rims too, what tires are planned for the RG Steelies?

~ Pete


.

[NorCam]

For now Pete, I ordered a set of Wide Oval F70's. I should probably have gone for the Wide Treads but for them to sit in the corner I went for the Firestone's. Maybe I'll use them on a 70 Camaro somewhere down the road and add some Goodyear's when I find a better price on them.

I'm OK with the Firestone's on the Steelies for now.

[PeteLeathersac]

'

Thanks for the update and sorry I hadn't seen your other thread on the tires.
I like Firestones too, they'll look awesome w/ the RG Steelies!

~ Pete

.

[BillD]

Originally Posted by big gear head

I wish my Cragar SS 15X4s looked that good. I thought about having them re chromed, but I don't know how well that would turn out.

If you would like photos of rechromed Cragar wheels let me know and I would be happy to post them

[NorCam]

That would be great info to post Bill. I've been trying to BGH a contact in the US where they re-chrome Cragar's but stalled on finding the one that I had heard of. I was told there was a wheel restorer who separates the core, re-chromes both pieces and welds the centers back in but could not come up with the contact info?

[Xplantdad]

Bitchin Camaro, Graeme!