My '90 ZR-1 project update thread

[rudolph schenker]

Wow! Awesome progress!

[ZZZZZR1]

Unbelievable work!


That interior looks "new"!


I need to redo my rear speaker covers as well. Gives anyone inspiration!!!!!

[bdw18_123]

Finally some progress on the engine side of this project!

Back a little over a month ago, I brought both the heads from my LT5 to a friend of Evan's that owns/runs a machine shop. I just got them back today and man they look good! I got a very good deal on the work too, nearly 50% off the normal price they charge since Evan knows the guy well.

Here's what they used to look like:

[bdw18_123]

Here's what was done at the machine shop:

-Thoroughly cleaned both heads
-Removed 2 stuck cut-off cam cover bolts in the passenger side head that I couldn't get out.
-Complete multi-angle valve job.
-Machined the exhaust valve guides to accept valve seals.
-Checked spring tension of all valve springs.
-Installed the full set of new valve seals I bought from Jerry.
-Installed the 6 used valves that I bought from Polo-1 to replace the bent ones in the driver's head.
-Resurfaced the head-gasket side of both heads.
-Replaced one of the small freeze plugs in one of the heads that was found to be leaking.

So now they look like this :












Once I finish with the interior, I'm going to start on getting the engine back together. I now have most of the replacement parts I need, though there are still a few miscellaneous things I need to get.

I'm hoping to get my Z drivable in time for Pete's (PLRX over at CF) March Bomber Run. We'll see how things go.

[-=Jeff=-]

Cool!!! glad to see progress.. What did you do about the hole in the Cam cover?

[bdw18_123]

Originally Posted by -=Jeff=-

Cool!!! glad to see progress.. What did you do about the hole in the Cam cover?

That hasn't been fixed yet. It will be soon though, Evan's got another friend that can probably do it. It's nice to have hookups!

[tomtom72]

Those pictures are worth a thousand words! Sweeeet work & sweeet results!

I admire your work and it's results. Man that car is gonna look brand spanking new when you're all dunn! Simply an amazing transformation!



Tom

[bdw18_123]

Got my console lid done.

It had the usual vinyl delamination/warping on the back & front edges. I disassembled the lid to get better access.




I repaired it using small 4-40, countersunk machine screws to reattach the vinyl to the plastic underneath. Worked out well, screws are hidden when the lid is back together.




Cleaned, detailed and reinstalled the lid.






Also did a little repair work to my engine mount covers. They were still in ok shape, so I decided to try patching them up with some of that aluminum tape.




Cleaned them up, applied the aluminum tape where necessary and installed the covers on the replacement engine mounts I bought. Turned out pretty nice.




I'm now working on getting the replacement stock leather seat covers installed that came with the car. They are actually the '91-'93 style which has required some modifications to put them on '90 seat foams which I will go into in my next update once I'm finished with the seats.

[VetteMed]

Lookin' good!

[bdw18_123]

Before I get on with this update, I just wanted to say thanks for all the compliments everyone has been posting, I really appreciate it!


Now for the update, it's a long one this time...

As I mentioned in the previous update, I've been working on the seats lately. When I bought the car, it came with another set of red stock sport seat covers that the previous owner had apparently acquired but never got around to installing. Which is a good thing, because judging by the work he did do on this car, his DIY skills leave a LOT to be desired.

He did attempt to put the replacement driver's side seat bottom cover on, but did a really half-a** job of it. He had also gotten it pretty dirty. I was able to get it cleaned up nicely though. Here's a pic from earlier in this thread that show the seats before I worked on them, the driver's seat is the right hand one in the picture.




The "new" seat covers after closer inspection, are from a '91 Corvette I believe. They are in very good condition with only a couple minor flaws here and there. After a good cleaning with some leather cleaner/conditioner, they look even better. Here is another previously posted pic.




During the course of installing these replacement covers, I discovered that the front, side bolsters in the seat bottoms on the '90 cars are significantly taller & shaped a bit differently than the '91-'93 cars. I had to cut a lot of the foam off the bolsters on my '90 seat foams to get the '91 style seat bottom covers to fit right. I also had to add a bit of extra foam here and there to areas which were a bit loose.

The other thing I did was to use zip-ties to hold the seat covers to the foam rather than those horrible hog ring things (which are a major PITA to work with). The zip-ties work just as well and are way, way easier to work with. The only tough part is getting the zip-tie through the foam, but using a small straight, pointy, awl-type tool to guide it through makes it doable.