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

[smokemokum]

I loved my Beretta and that why I kept it all these years. It used to be my hobby and I used to be on here all the time. Well I am returning to get my old ride restored to its former glory. It has been sitting for about 6 years and I am finally ready to start rebuilding it. I wanted to create this thread simply to get help on what to do with it and how to do it. It is a 95 Z26 V6. The last time it rain the car ran fine shifted fine but had major break issues. I think the best way to do this is to list the good and the bad and take suggestions on how to get this thing to stage one which would be back to decent shape. The second stage would be to fix everything back to close to perfection. The third stage would be to increase performance. I am not apposed to doing some of stage three while going through the first two stages but it isn't the primary focus at first.

Good
120,000 Original Miles
Transmission Seems To Be Good
Car started 3 years ago no problem

Bad
Car hasn't moved in about 5 years
Rust above the front window
Rust in the door sill corners
Breaks don't work. Seem to not pressurize.
Water got in and the interior has mold on it especially seats.
Dash is damaged by the sun.

What I think it needs part wise from day one. (Hopefully you guys can help me with this stuff.)
Breaks fixed (Maybe break lines I vaguely remember someone saying this many years ago)
Seats (Especially Front)(Maybe restored?)
Dash is sun damaged
I am sure once I dig into this I will find tons more stuff.

I am open to suggestions on basically all of the above. I am trying to get this done by my ten year high school class reunion. I graduated in 2003 so I do have a bit of time. The car used to be awesome and I actually remember it getting some good recognition here when I was in high school. Please help me bring my first car back to its former glory.

Wish me luck I am going to try to get this thing running next week for the first time in 3 years. Oh with that being said is there something I should do before cranking it? I was thinking draining the gas change the oil etc. Suggestions???

Thanks

[Bman Gtz]

Sounds like it may be more feasible to use it as a parts car.

[MY91GT(Z)]

Like bman said but if u need seats and serious bout redoing the car I have a full set in mint shape aside from being dirty lil bit lmk if ur interested (im in ny) not sure where your from

[1990BerettaGTZ2.3L]

Let me know where your from there are 2 z26s in a salvage yard near me

[Money pit Beretta]

I'd change the oil, then pull the injector fuse and crank it. Or you could unplug the injector harness. The point is to get some oil flowing before you start it.

We will need to see how bad the rust is. Oh and carpet is no big deal, that is one of the few things we can get.

[scd88ga]

Sounds like it may be more feasible to use it as a parts car.

I'd have to agree. If it wasn't for the rust I'd say go for it and try fixing it up! Sounds like you only have 6-8 months to redo the whole car. It takes a long time to find good interior exterior cosmetic parts for these cars because you have to get most of them used now. Your car just doesn't sound like a good starting point for fixing up anymore.

[smokemokum]

Thanks for all the input. Let me elaborate a bit more. The rust is about three inches my three inches by the window and about a 2 inch round spot on the sill by the door hinge corner. Both are not rusted through and still seem to have sollid material to them.

I saw a identical black 95 z26 on here for sale with 65K original miles. Maybe that guy would want to take my car in partial trade for his. That way its at-least the same car basically just a different vin and a different story. I still would prefer to rebuild this one.

With that being said I am at-least going to get it running and find out what all needs to be fixed. Thanks for the advice on the first start process. I will keep everyone up to date. I greatly appreciate your assistance.

1990BerettaGTZ2.3L I am in Cincinnati Ohio but I travel quit a bit. I am not apposed to traveling or shipping stuff to get the right stuff.

MY91GT(Z) How much do you want for the seats and what color are they? Can you post some pics please.

[smokemokum]

I will post pictures when it gets moved and garaged next weekend. I have a two car garage awaiting the arrival of this project. Hopefully I will have a better idea what it needs then as well. Thanks

[Money pit Beretta]

If it's not that bad you can cut that rust out or if it's just bubbled up sand it out and treat it.
Yes pics would be helpful.

[berettaboi]

yep, start by investigating that rust, see exactly how bad it is... That will be your determining factor whether this is your parts car, or project car. it's getting harder to find rust free cars, so don't be afraid to do a little bit of metal replacement.

[smokemokum]

Well good news the car started and drove. It isnt road worthy though. The break pedal goes to the floor with little breaking. Basically the last 1/10 of the pedal actually does something. Any ideas on what might be the cause of this? My first thought was the breaks need blead but this seems more extreme of a issue. The rust by the doors has gone through and metal will need to be welded and replaced. This isnt a noticable spot. You can only see it if your looking for it with the doors open. The rust area and paint pops above the windshield appear to be surface issues. Or atleast still very sollid. I will need to remove the glass to rectify the issue for good though. The frame and undercarriage is in great shape.

That being said I think I am going to move forward

Here are other issues and things I know I need so far.

Emergency brake handle button and linkage.

Key is stuck in ignition. Any ideas?

Front seets and floor carpet needs replaced. Back seats optional.

Brakes not working correctly.

Needs a new dash.

Side door window gaskets are trashed. The hard rubber that keeps water out of the door.

Factory rims have always leaked. I had a real nice set of aftermarket rims but they got stollen along with the entire sound system.

Thanks for the help. If ypu have suggestions or parts please post. I appriciate your help.

[berettaboi]

The rust holes in the door frames are very structural problem in these cars... I did not have a means of repairing/replacing my inner rockerpanels, and just welded a patch on... my car has a bit of flex in the door frame area (under extreme cornering... i drive like an ass at times). Those inner rocker panels are usually something best left to an experienced shop... if you are wanting to keep the car, i would definitely start digging deeper there first. That spot on the roof area, you obviously need to pull the windshield out to do properly.

You likely have a rotted brake line somewhere (especially if the car has sat near grass for a while... the under side of the car needs a good look over...). It could be a rear brake cylinder as well, but after you add some more fluid up front (that's the biggest tell tale sign you have a leak... less fluid than there should be... and do not run that reservoir dry...). otherwise the master cylinder itself is problematic. less likely of the 3 though.

stuck key, wd 40 or equivalent? you would have to expand more on the problem... rather rare and odd that a key gets stuck unless it was already damaged before you put it in there.

A lot of the part you will be able to get off of other members on here, the "dew strips" on the outside of the doors, you will need a lucky horseshoe up your butt to find a decent set.

[smokemokum]

I will have this looked at. While jacking the car it doesn't seem to have abnormal frame stress or flex for that matter but I value your opinion and will have this looked at by a professional. I will also post pictures soon of this issue. It is not rotten through anything but the first layer of metal. The frame below etc looks solid based on my preliminary investigation. The rest of the frame is also very solid with little to no surface rust.

I will have the windshield removed to fix the roof line. I will also have this completed by a shop after I do the rough work on it.

The car is not leaking brake fluid. It has a full reservoir and has not had any put in it for a very long time (actually dont remember putting any in ever). The vehicle was stored on concrete, so hopefully that helped.

I tried just about ever kind of lube on the key. It wont turn all the way back to the release spot. I have never had this problem before.

That's a major bummer on the dew strips. But good new on the rest.

Thanks

[3X00-Modified]

If your pedal is going to the floor there are only two possible problems... Bad master cylinder that caused air to get in, OR you have a major leak somewhere.

Regarding the rust, if you have holes at the top of the rocker then its rusted further below, the rust starts from the inside and works its way out from that area so I can only assume when you cut the top portion off to replace with a piece you will find much more rusted below and none of those parts are sold anymore. You would have to get parts hand fabricated or find a junked smashed up car that doesn't have this issue, cut the whole corner of the car out right there and section in the pieces you need.

[Rettax3]

Since you have the automatic, it could be the safety-interlock cable coming from the gear-position selector in the center-console. Make sure your car is in 'Park' all the way, if that doesn't work, try shifting it through all the gears several times and put it in 'Park' hard. Next, try getting into the center-console to make sure the cable is moving there, and drop the steering-column (and necessary hush-panel and under-dash trim-plate), and check for proper cable-movement at the ignition-switch. That is likely your problem.

HOWEVER, my '90 turbo 'Retta once stuck me at a 7-11 with a bum ignition lock, which is why I rebuilt it better than factory. Here's the issue: the ignition lock has a small gear at the end of it (opposite from the key-port) that works like a rack-and-pinion gear-set to slidel a small toothed bar, that attaches to a rod, that actuates the electrical ignition switch way down on the steering-column, under the dash. That gear is held on to the end of the lock by many little impact indentations (dimpling) around its' inner circumference, and none of this is high-quality metal, so it CAN work loose over time. If this happens, the gear can fall out of position and jam-up the toothed bar, preventing everything from turning/sliding/pushing/pulling correctly. The solution is to remove the ignition lock, dig out the gear (if necessary), reinstall it and carefully re-dimple the circumference of the gear. On my car, I then drilled small holes in the side of the whole thing and safety-wired the !$@#$er in place -it will likely outlive the rest of the car now.

For your seats, if the fabric is not too torn-up and you are just worried about dirt or mold, you can remove the coverings in an afternoon (the whole set), wash and dry them, and put it all back together the next weekend -I'm half-way through this same process on the '90 yellow Indy I just bought, and it is turning out pretty well so far. It is a PITA, but the seats are as clean as you will ever get them again. Just spray some diluted bleach on the foam while the coverings are in the washer to kill the mold, and let them dry in a warm place for a few days. I'm planning on doing a write-up on this soon, and have the pics already ready to go for it. Actually, I don't think I'll be dismantling the rear seat-back because mine isn't that bad, so if you need to do that part too it might take longer if you have the deluxe fold-down set, which I think you do with a Z.

When checking on your brakes, don't forget the wheel-cylinders inside the rear drums. They can leak quite a lot of fluid before it becomes apparent, and by then the brake-shoes are toast. These also need to be bled-out if you just have air in the lines, so again, don't forget about them.

I have a very nice complete grey dash out of a '96 that I had pulled for my '95 Z-26, but never got around to installing. Now the Z is gone, and I'm not sure I'm going to bring her back again. For the right price, I would be willing to sell and ship this part, but it is big and heavy. I do have boxes big enough to do the job, but you would probably pay $100 just in freight fees, and I would want another $150 for the dash itself. I don't have access to it right now, but if you are seriously interested and can wait a while for it, I can try to snap some high-res pics of it for you by next month.

Personally, I applaud you for trying to bring this car back. If more people had this kind of loyalty to their cars, we would have a lot less 'accidents' and a lot more classics running around. Good luck, keep us posted!