PLEASE HELP ME RESTORE MY Z26 (SUGGESTIONS NEEDED & WANTED)

[Styluss]

You don't necessarily have to replace the Ebrake button... My car hasn't had one for years. It makes for an awesome time in the snow/dirt when the Ebrake doesn't lock on you! Plus I can just reach my hand in the console and engage it when necessary.

[smokemokum]

Thanks for all the feedback and help. With the holidays I haven't had much time to work on this project but will be doing so this weekend. I will keep your guys up to date. Thanks.

[MY91GT(Z)]

If ur interested in my seats im asking 125 picked and i can get my hands on mint dash gray in color from a 95 for 75.00 lmk if ur interested

[smokemokum]

Can you post or send me pictures please?

[smokemokum]

Its summer time and I am finally ready to get this thing going. I think the first steps should be to get it road worthy and gettign the enterior back into good shape.

Here's a list of things I need. If you have any of this stuff please post pictures and prices.
Master Cylinder ( I think... I don't see any fluid leaking and it seems to be gholding fluid jsut fine. The pedal goes 95% of the way to the floor then finally breaks ever so slightly the last 5%)
Tires
Dash Board (I think its grey)
Floor Carpet
Interior matching seats. (I think its of the grey)
Emergency break handle. the rubber and spring button assembly

I will try to figure out the key issue. Thanks for the help on this.

Then I will start working on the body. The undercarriage seems to be good so I am hoping most of the rust is more cosmetic.

[smokemokum]

Just got done working on the car a bit.

The break pedal is firm and feels normal till the car is started then it has no back pressure and does basically nothing.

The key is still stuck. I checked the linkage by the shift nob and it appears to be working. But I couldn't get to the rest of the linkage. I am not certain but the metal rod that moves on the steering column when the key is turned is this supposed to be linked to the shifter as well. I ask because the shifter can shift with or without the break down. It also appears to not move this same rod at all no matter what position the shifter is in. Also is this rod type linkage the correct linkage that allows the key to turn the rest of the way off or towards the driver.

I wanted to investigate the linkage more but I couldn't get the shift nob off. Does someone know how to remove this. Sounds simple but doesn't seem to want to play ball.

Is there a good way to tell whats going on with the breaks. I do know so idiot was working on them at one point. Could he have simply not bled them correctly?

[Rettax3]

Just got done working on the car a bit.
The break pedal is firm and feels normal till the car is started then it has no back pressure and does basically nothing.
The key is still stuck. I checked the linkage by the shift nob and it appears to be working. But I couldn't get to the rest of the linkage. I am not certain but the metal rod that moves on the steering column when the key is turned is this supposed to be linked to the shifter as well. I ask because the shifter can shift with or without the break down. It also appears to not move this same rod at all no matter what position the shifter is in. Also is this rod type linkage the correct linkage that allows the key to turn the rest of the way off or towards the driver.
I wanted to investigate the linkage more but I couldn't get the shift nob off. Does someone know how to remove this. Sounds simple but doesn't seem to want to play ball.
Is there a good way to tell whats going on with the breaks. I do know so idiot was working on them at one point. Could he have simply not bled them correctly?

The rod on the steering column is NOT directly linked to the shifter -but the shifter has a cable (called a safety interlock cable) that is connected to the lock mechanism. The shifter does NOT move the rod. The rod DOES move with the lock switch. The shifter has to be in Park before the lock can rotate all the way back to off for the key to be removed. The lock has to be turned forward (one click or two, I don't remember for sure) before the shifter can be moved from Park. So, if something isn't working right there, something is wrong with either the lock OR the safety-interlock cable (or both...).

To remove the shift-knob, feel around for a wide, narrow slit in the front of the knob towards the bottom. Use a small flat-blade screw-driver or some such to pry out the thick staple-like piece in the slit, and pull up on the knob. It is easier to get to the staple-like holder if you put the shifter in "1" (with the engine off, of course).

For your year car, I do believe it is normal NOT to have to push on the brake pedal to take the car out of Park. That was put in on later-model cars because people seem to think they need double safety-measures on everything. I disabled the safety interlocks on both my old Z-26 and the Yellow Indy... To me, safety is paying attention to what you are doing, not mechanical blocks keeping you from doing the wrong thing. Edit: Sorry, I got confused, and was thinking you had an older Beretta with the TH125 three-speed tranny. Yes, you SHOULD have to hold the brakes in to shift out of Park, so something is likely stuck in your shifter preventing it from moving completely into Park, or the safety-interlock is jammed or broken.

As for your brakes, it does sound like they need to be bled-out for air. Harbor Freight Tools sells a cheap brass vacuum-pump/bleeder for ~$25 that has a full set of instructions on brake bleeding included, it should work fine for you, or you can get a cheap one-man bleeder kit (they used to cost ~$3, and were worth about that much), or you can do it with just a short piece of clear tubing and a clean cup if you have an assistant to push and hold the brake pedal while you open and close the bleeder-valve on each front caliper and each rear wheel-cylinder, just make sure to keep a very close eye on the fluid level in the reservoir while you are doing it, or you could suck air in and have to start all over again. If you are really unsure of what you are doing, I would recommend buying a manual for the car, like a Haynes or a Chiltons, or getting a step-by-step set of instructions with pictures off of the internet. If you are still unsure, you should probably take the car into a shop -brakes are not an area to mess around with on a car.

[smokemokum]

I remember the part about the shift knob now. Thanks

I was told I cant bleed the brakes on this car because of you need a computer to tell it to open all the valves in the master cylinder or something. Is this not accurate? I have bled breaks before. I can handle that but I don't have the computer so I didn't even mess with bleeding them.

I cant find any other cables going into the steering column. Is this accessible from anywhere. ALso to unlock the ignition do you pull or push on the line? I guess I will take out the center council to see if its broken or disconnected there.

Thanks for your help.

[Rettax3]

I remember the part about the shift knob now. Thanks
I was told I cant bleed the brakes on this car because of you need a computer to tell it to open all the valves in the master cylinder or something. Is this not accurate? I have bled breaks before. I can handle that but I don't have the computer so I didn't even mess with bleeding them.

I cant find any other cables going into the steering column. Is this accessible from anywhere. ALso to unlock the ignition do you pull or push on the line? I guess I will take out the center council to see if its broken or disconnected there.

Thanks for your help.

??? No, you don't need a computer to open any valves... Someone probably heard something about the ABS system and misunderstood how it works. The brakes on your car (or any ABS-equipped or non-ABS equipped Beretta) can be bled as normal.

I don't recall if the cable is pulled, or tension released, when the shifter is put into Park... But to disable mine, I simply unplugged the cable, so it would follow that tension is released in Park, meaning that it shouldn't be a broken cable, but could be a stuck one... You might have to get to the underside of the steering column and check on the safety-interlock that the cable pulls on, to see if that mechanism is stuck or broken. Or, it could be the problem with the lock-cylinder and the el-cheapo gear they stuck onto the end, like I was talking about in my first post in this thread. I suppose it could even be a piece broken off in the electrical switch under the dash at the other end of the rod, or perhaps a bent or sticking rod, but I haven't seen that happen before. The only other real possibility is a bad lock-cylinder itself. And you need to pull the steering-wheel to get that out.

Edit: Sorry, I got confused on the year of your car. You SHOULD have to hold the brakes in to shift out of Park, so something is likely stuck in your shifter preventing it from moving completely into Park, or the safety-interlock is jammed or broken.