69 Z/28 Day II Project (Air Force Brat)

[Tracker1]

Wow, that Stamp RITE tells you how complete that car is. Impressive.

[Damien]

Can't believe I'm late to this party! Looking forward to another fantastic build.

[ZLP955]

IIRC the Stamp-Rite bracket only appeared in later production, but good to get a hard-to-find part with the car!

[NorCam]

I always thought the carb bracket was a late issue part too Tim, but I've recently seen claims of them also being found on early cars. Funny thing is that this one was paired with a very early carb that is dated August 68. Go figure?

[ZLP955]

Hmm. Earliest car I’ve heard of with that support bracket was around the early July ‘69 build timeframe. But no matter, it’s a scarce part that you could run with, put on the shelf, or sell to help fund the build. Either way, a very cool day 2 project.

[rszmjt]

My 06A RSZ28 has the support bracket, actual production June 21/69, owned the car for 46 yrs.

[Mr.Nickey Nova]

I have a late June car with the support bracket also.

[NorCam]

Parts are starting to come together for this build. First off, Bergy was kind enough to hook me up with enough parts to rebuild the V75 liquid tire chain option including a case of traction compound. On the transmission front, Jeff Collins is building me an M23Z with a 2.99/1.87/1.35/1.00 gear ratio. For the shifter, Eric Davidson is rebuilding a stock 3138 shifter for me and I'll keep the inside somewhat stock looking with the factory console.

I will however add a couple of gauges to the cowl panel and one to the column as I have purchased SUN Fuel and Vacuum gauges with 2-5/8" chrome cups and further scored an NOS NC-5 Cup and SST 10K tack for the steering column. Finally I also managed to scoop an NOS Hurst line loc kit so things are progressing well on the parts front. Next up is to secure a nice set of original Torque Thrusts or perhaps a set of Fentons to round out the look I am going for.

Anyone have a nice pair of Fentons or M/T stashed away? (Oh Grady!)

[ZLP955]

Very cool parts stash

[NorCam]

Originally Posted by Chuck_Burg

I have a 496 going in my 67 with a standard close ratio M22 with a 2.20 first and 28" tires. I'm in a similar boat to you, not really concerned with driving it on the highway for sustained periods... Not sure which gears to go with. It is a street/strip car with 90% street use. I think 4.11s are ideal but will blow the tires away on the street in probably every gear. May go with something around 3.55 even though the first gear will go forever... What are your thoughts?

Chuck, that 2.20 first gear with 3.55 gears and 28" tires will have a final ratio of around 7.80 which is going to pull the engine down when you let go the clutch. Granted your 496 is going to have more torque but there are much better transmission gear ratio combinations for street cars that will also see some highway use. (See the AGE gearing options here)

To keep it fun off the lights with 28" tall tires, I chose to run a 2.99 first gear. With the stock 3:73 rear, this should have a final ratio of 11.15 and will feel like having 5:13 gears off the light. Granted it will be a short shift when driving normally, but at WOT this should keep a good set of sticky tires running on the ragged edge until 2nd gear is pulled at 50 mph. I'd then pull 2nd gear at 4500 rpm and 3rd/4th would keep me in the 5200/5300 range on a full pass.

Best part is I get all the excitement of a great rpm launch that won't pull the motor down and will still have the final gear ratio of 3.73 for the highway runs in 4th. I may even choose to step down to a 3.55 rear gear when I rebuild the diff. That would have me in the 10.6 final range which is even more ideal. With big block torque, you could even go 3.31 and still have a better transmission ratio to easily launch the car without pulling the motor down off the line. Plus it's way more fun launching like it has 4:88's.

Might want to look into the gearing options here and check the multiplier on trans gearing x final ratio.