Project Second Chance Pics, Vids, Update PG19!

[90GTZHO]

So, just goofing around with all the aluminum intake tubing i have laying around, i made myself a short ram for the car. I do plan on making a true cold air setup, just not quite yet,





Only thing left to do is get the intake temp sensor mounting hole drilled and put that in. I was happy as hell when i found some hose and piece of intake pipe that had a nipple to work with the rear breather hose.

[90GTZHO]

So i got the IAC sensor factored into the intake pipe. Now all i need to do is get the rest of the system installed and working.



I also got most of the front end torn apart and got my first look at the damage that was covered up buy everything being installed. Im not too happy about the fact of how much damage and busted parts are actually in here, but hey, it was a $350 car....







If you notice, the bumper struts are compressed from the bumper reinforcement. Only thing holding the steel up was one stud/bolt on the drivers side of the car. so out of 8 bolts, only one held it on, and the rest of it was held up with modeling wire...

Driver Side



Passenger Side



Then found out the header panel upper support bars are bent too. With the damage that was done to the front of the car that i have seen, those struts got bent pretty good, the fenders are not the original and neither is the bumper/reinforcement and cover. So, lucky for me i found someone who has a parts car i can get all i need from.





Other than stupid stuff, the car still seems pretty solid. I needs alot of stupid stuff like door stays, gas door, and all the interior parts. Lucky for me, the headliner board is in near perfect shape, so i will just strip the fabric and redo it, along with the kick panels, and deck board.

More coming soon. I'll get some pics tomorrow or try to and then get some more updating up.

[90GTZHO]

Not much going on in the way of changes for the car at the moment. Im hoping to get some more dissasembly done this weekend and see more of what i have to work with. I did get my cold air intake finished up and it will fit alot better with Z04 bumper cover on it. I did delete the washer bottle for the time being but i do have plans to have a different setup for that as in my area, you kinda need them more often than not. I will prolly find a way to mount an 88-91 N-body washer bottle up front somewhere and just extend the wires and tube. I have pics of the completed intake and will get those up within a few days.

Things will start moving right along once i get the body parts here and am really able to start working on things. I did discover that the struts are in great shape and i just need mounts for the front and rear, otherwise those are good. I got the drivers door working perfectly and working normal. Now i just need to tear into the passenger door and find out why it does not lock, but acts like it does.

I also go the exhaust fixed for the time being so im not getting a massage as the engine revs. It sounds way better and is actually decent sounding with that muffler on there. I'll try and get some clips here in the near future.

[3X00-Modified]

there are two different style washer tanks... Not really sure why you had to remove the 95+ one since my 96 tank fits with my CAI... where do you have the pipe ending and the filter placed? I know the older models I think pre 94 actually had the tank right where we want to put the filter on this setup because I swapped to an older style back when I had the air filter going way out into the front of the bumper.

[90GTZHO]

Jon, i did put the filter up in the front bumper area, right behind the turn signal light. I kinda like having the filter up there. With all the air that flows thru the front of the grill area, i like cold as possible air without getting wet. The washer tank sat right where the filter is now. I'll show ya what i mean... (Don't mind the different color couplers, I'm working on converting the other two to black)







And with the battery back in





And an overall just cause.



As of right now, i have the steering column torn apart trying to figure out what the deal with the turn signal stalk is and not working the high beam switch. Apparently, the stalk itself was cracked and folding under pressure. So i put a new one of those in and the cancel cam had the horn plug break off so messing with that one. I also found two wires, a green and tan one that come up from the multifunction switch connection and stop short of the clock spring. I don't see where those are supposed to go and everything is working normal, so i gotta track those down, just to be safe while its torn apart.

I am glad that i dont have to do much suspension work, but i am thinking of finding a way to make the FE7 front bar work, if i can find one for the V6 models. Otherwise, it will just be the upper strut bar, a custom lower and a rear sway bar.

Im gonna be tearing more into this here soon and will keep posting as i go.

[90GTZHO]

So today i was able to get the front struts out and get the mounts replaced. Driver side was not too bad but the passenger side was falling apart. Im sure its not the cause of all the knocking and banging i heard up front during my last test drive, but it was part of it.

I also got brand new endlinks for the "never noticed before how tiny it is" sway bar. Definitely gonna need something bigger up front for that one, would explain why it handles like a tractor. Well that and FE1 lol. But yeah, i sprung for the good eurathane endlnk kit, made in the good ol' USA

I did discover, however, that the rear bushings on the control arms are wasted; like "gently caress this crap, im done" done. Im willing to bet, that was also part of the knock. Im undecidex if im gonna buy new arms, or just change the bushings out. It would be nice to have replacable ball joints if i keep thd stock arms, but having new everything is always nice too. So ill leg that one stew in my head for a bit and see which would be better to go with.

Along with this knock, i believe i found the full reason for it. The idiot before me had ground down the splines on ths strut to spindle mounting bolts. Yeah, pretty sure those are important to have, not sure why he ground them down, but i facepalmed pretty hard. The struts were loose on the spindles even when tightened, and he wondered why it ate up front tires. Good news is, theres lots of those bolts in the yard to pick from. I had one left from the previous car and it works perfectly. Good thing they didnt destroy the spindles.

I also managed go get the high beam switch working properly and functional with a new cancel cam as well. Good to have a good working steering column in it. Now just need go do something about that nasty blue paint.

Ill try and get the pics up tomorrow as i just got the Tapatalk on my phone and im still working with it. Once i figure it out, things, and pics, will be easier to post up, instead of doing at work on my breaks.

Keep checkin in!

[90GTZHO]

So heres the pics i got thus far:

Exhaust "fixed"





New end links



Strut to spindle bolts that he ground down



Lucky, i can still use the spindles



Control arm rear bushings, pretty shot!





Sterring column ripped apart



Then at some point need to investigate this



More coming!

[zcylex]

Nice progress, the last pic looks like the crankshaft seal is leaky(just like mine lol)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[90GTZHO]

Yeah, i cleaned the old stuff off with brake cleaner before i finished out the day. Gonna watch it and see what happens. I couldnt tell if it was coolant or oil as the really wet stuff was nearly clear. I also couldnt tell if it was leaking from the seal, or leaking down the cover behind the crank sensor and winding up there. I'll take a closer look. If i have to, i will put a new crank seal, might anyways just cause its so easy to get to.

[90GTZHO]

So yesterday i got motivated and gutted the back of the car. Took out the console, back seat, rear deck, rear upper plastics (for now), and the insulating pad that goes behind the back seat. Found some bags of incense under the back seat, that was funny. Anyways, heres what i got pic-wise.

Whats left of the console



The shitty amp wiring i yanked out



Stripped doors





Stripped back end











Rear deck is in decent shape board-wise, just the left speaker cover is a little busted, need to figure out how to get that repaired.





Under the console, sorry this pic turned out shitty



The cleanest upper filler panel i have ever seen in person

[90GTZHO]

Not sure what im gonna do with this. Might leave it in the car, but im also wanting to put a GTU spoiler on my car so the window mount wont be neccisary.



And tips from a 93 Lumina Z34 i was thinkin of putting on the car, and yes, i would be doing the duals





This is the tip thats on the car now, looks horribly out of place.



Im gonna be changing the subframes out with ones from a 93 so i can run the older style better control arms and throw those energy suspension bushings in them. I remember from my old GTZ those with the energy suspension sway bar bushings, that front end was hella tight! Im excited to get this thing running! Aside from solving the trans knocking issue, so far im on track with what im doing to the car

[CorvetteBeretta]

Its getting there man good work im glad you took that wing off

[90GTZHO]

So, it has been a long while since i have had made any updates on this project, but i have been progressing on it; slowly and surely.

I was able to get the frame rails switched out with rails and control arms from a 93 Grand Am, which are, the same as the L-body rails (duh). It was a pretty straight swap and the mounting for the torque strut lined up perfectly. Everything is bolted back in and looking pretty good. I am happy with the ending result. And the good thing is, i can now get ES bushings for it when the time comes.

Installed new lifetime warranty ball joints on the older arms. Drilling out the old rivets was a fun task without having a drill press.





A peak in at the car being "frame-less"





Goodbye shitty 94-96 frames

[90GTZHO]

As some of ouy prolly saw on Facebook, i met up with the 88GTZ (Joe), the guy that bought my old GTZ from me, and picked up a crap load of parts for the car. From a complete Z04 kit with spare front bumper to header panel, lights and grill, left fender, passenger door, my old GTZ wheels and deck lid. Took the trip up in my fiance's moms cobalt with a Uhaul 4x8 enclosed trailer. That was a fun journey

Heres pics of the all the parts i picked up.

Head and tail lights



The rest of the parts

[90GTZHO]

I also got the bumper reinforcement installed with the bumper struts and im not sure if i need to do some more adjusting or if the frame of the car is bent/twisted. Im hoping its the lesser of two evils.

Drivers side



Passenger side



The car is also currently sitting a little uneven on the jack stands as my ground is not a nice concrete surface, so im gonna get the car back on the ground and see if its just the way its sitting on the stands. I also did it in kind of a hurry, so i may have rushed a little too much. I'll take a closer look this week when my next day off hits.

I also want to strip down the wheels and get the white powdercoat off them (one of the wheels is Quazar). Im just not sure what i want to do color-wise. I was thinking black, but now im thinking a gunmetal or whatever color the car winds up. Im playing around with ideas and since i have two front Z04 covers, i am also bringing back one of my concept ideas for the front end to make it more aggressive looking and, for my liking, unique.

I'll have more here soon.