90 ZR-1 #2273 - To be rescued

[S.hafsmo]

Thanks, Station.

I'm not sure how he got a hold of it. The kid had 15 cars now, but didn't exactly look as he was made of money. Nor does the "repairs" suggest that there's been a decent cash flow involved.

[JThomas]

Good luck with the resurrection. I'm starting a project myself with another ZR-1, and I hope to have good news to share soon.

[S.hafsmo]

Much appreciated!
Have you got a forum thread on your's?

[S.hafsmo]

Not much to do at work today, so I figured I'd update my little project.
My main plan for my previous 6 weeks at home was mainly to get the car approved, so I could get my licence plate, or at least know what needed to be done to get the approval. No such luck, though.

All I had intended to do before the vehicle inspection was to color match the rear calipers with the fronts, in an attempt to make it less obvious that the fronts aren't stock.

Got these re-manufactured ones from Muskegon Brakes, and must say they looked rather decent upon arrival.


While waiting for the caliper bracket paint to dry I figured I'd have a look at the passenger seat. The new seat covers are from Corvette America and seems to be of rather decent quality. I replaced only the leather on the passenger side, and both leather, lumbar support and foam on the drivers side. The foam had a good shape compared to the old one, but the internal metal rods weren't always where one hoped they would be, and if they're only off by 1/2", that can call for some improv underway to compensate. The driver side bolster support hinge was also rather loose, so I drilled out the old hinge rivets, and pressed in new 5mm stainless rivets. Side bolster foam is also the only part that's glued to the frame.
Slightly disappointed that the stitching was not white like the original seats, but I'll live with it.

A word of advice, the "Seat installation kit" does not include enough hog rings for two seats. Need 75-100 more to complete both. Not all metal rods are included either, so don't discard the old ones.


And of course with the seat out, the center console became readily available. So I dismantled it. Not really to impressed with the parts I got from CorvetteCentral though. The new arm rest was rather decent, but I had to take the cover underneath from the old unit, to preserve the OEM stickers. I also took the light/switch assembly from the old unit, as the new one was of a different, rather noisy type.

The belly of the arm rests.

New type light w. switch.

[S.hafsmo]

New center console cover mounting holes didn't match very well with the shifter leather.


Leaving a rather annoying gap if one leave that last bolt out. The paint doesn't really match either.


With the console out, Climate control unit must also be inspected.
Found a ball of solder on it, otherwise it looked quite good, so I just cleaned it thoroughly, replaced the condensators and re-installed.


Also a good time to have a look at the gear knob, but I must say that I'm rather displeased with the ebay knob I had ordered. Anyone know where I can get a good one? NOS is obviously preferred, but can't seem to find one.

The old one seems to have a thicker kind of leather, or some additional fabric glued to the inside of it.

[S.hafsmo]

Back to the brakes, I unpacked the Carbotech brake pads they push so hard on CF. Not too impressed with the looks of them, compared to the EBC greenstuff that was installed. One of the "wear indicators" also fell off when I opened the box with the pads. Haven't been able to test the performance though.


The new carbotech pad actually has less meat than the old EBC pads (slight taper on the EBCs).


Moving on to clean/check the last corner of the car,

Found a nasty surprice when splitting the hub from the disk.


The poor disks have been left out of the maintenance schedule and are worn way below minimum. The wear edge on the inside is 2-3mm high on each side, giving 4-6mm total disk wear (I believe 2mm tot. is maximum). The crack is seemingly caused by corrosion originated in the periphery closer to the rim.

Following this, I reupholstered the drivers seat, rented a carpet cleaner to remove 27 year of use from the carpets, and started fault finding on the AC programmer, currently without too many useful results.
With the car re-assembled two days before going back to sea, I went to the workshop where I usually get the vehicle inspection. After seeing the tech drive around with the handbrake on for a while, trying to get the car onto the lift, he comes back to the waiting room telling me the car is too low. They can't lift it, and they can't check it. "And by the way, your rear brakes are hanging a bit".. Very useful people. The next shop I went to couldn't get the car on to the roller for brake testing. "Too low", they say.
The final shop were a bit more positive, saying "Sure, we'll make it work, but our tech is at the dentist, come back next week".

So, all in all, I failed the one thing I set out to do.

[S.hafsmo]

Anyone know where to find a bolt for the battery panel hinge?
Bolt "C" on this illustration.

[Z51JEFF]

These can be found at the dealer,if you were closer I've got some extras. I'm sure WVZR-1 will stop by with a part number for the bolt. I forgot your in Norway. I tell you what,if you need something and pay the shipping fees I can help you will the small parts.

[S.hafsmo]

Truly appreciate that, Jeff.
I was kinda hoping to find it at Jerry's or something, so I could just pop it in with a bigger order, but so far no such luck.

[S.hafsmo]

A bit of Filipino motorman art. Not really Z-related, but too nice a piece not to share.