The Z26 you all wanted to see

[Cam2363]

I finally got around to taking pictures of my z26. (Also because it just got a polish and wax so it looks amazinggggg!)

Its a 1996 Beretta Z26 in black with the red interior

Not entirely sure about how many options it has, but it doesnt have a CD player or sunroof. But I think other than that, it's fully loaded.

It has power windows, power locks, trunk release button, and the upgraded cluster package.

It has a 4 speed auto with OD and the 3.1L 3100 V6


Got if for 5,000 including the TTF
When I for it, it had 64,XXX miles
It now has 65,470
As of 4/25/19: 68,568
I got it in May 2018 and I've put about 4500 miles on since.

When I got it, the car was bone stock. No mods, original interior(which is in perfect shape) and everything else was in great shape!
There was a hole in the muffler, so the guy we bought it from bought a new one, and was nice enough to weld the original dual tips to it as the new one had a single tip.

The oil level sensor was also faulty, so that was replaced me him too.

Other than that, the only things that were wrong with it were a broken console latch (which was my mother's fault), and the cracked third brake light, which was repaired with gorilla glue, so it doesnt look the best.

The only mods I have done are installing a Viper 5301 Keyless entry/Remote start system. Other than that, the car is stock.
I also plan to mod a radio with Bluetooth, but that project is on hold as I lost some buttons from the radio I tried to use, and I messed up the front panel of it. So if anyone has those parts, Please PM me.

Other than those, there really isn't any other mods I plan to do. I want to try to keep the car as stock as possible and keep it looking stock to, so any mods I want to be unnoticeable, but due to the accident, this might change, but nothing stupid or corny.

If there's anything else any of you want to see or any things I should do, Let me know!

Other work I've done:
Remote start/keyless entry install
Radio Bluetooth mod
Basic tuneup
LIMG
Front Suspension rebuilt and front brakes

It has been crashed on April 5, 2019
Up and driving again April 11, 2019

Things I want to do:
Get euro headlights
Do the Neon disk conversion in the back
Get that stupid 3rd brake light repaired
Possibly a cowl hood?
Get the rust fixed(will probably just get a new beretta and transfer everything over)
Paint it white, Or get a white one and transfer everything.


So now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The pictures.

[Rettax3]

Wow! That is beautiful, everything you said the car is. Nice garage space too -I like that vertical lighting! Red Z interior is hard to find, I think I might have seen one in person, once... Glad you are taking care of that beauty the way it deserves.

I think the LIMG (Lower Intake Manifold Gasket) upgrade already came up in an earlier thread with you, and I'm sure you know about the dread Beretta firewall leak issue, although it almost looks like that car doesn't see rain anyway. Consider a tranny service, just to keep the fluid additives from breaking down from age -the tranny has few enough miles that the service isn't overdue yet. Not much else should need to be addressed beyond the obvious routine maintenance, just continue to enjoy that ride.

[Cam2363]

Wow! That is beautiful, everything you said the car is. Nice garage space too -I like that vertical lighting! Red Z interior is hard to find, I think I might have seen one in person, once... Glad you are taking care of that beauty the way it deserves.

I think the LIMG (Lower Intake Manifold Gasket) upgrade already came up in an earlier thread with you, and I'm sure you know about the dread Beretta firewall leak issue, although it almost looks like that car doesn't see rain anyway. Consider a tranny service, just to keep the fluid additives from breaking down from age -the tranny has few enough miles that the service isn't overdue yet. Not much else should need to be addressed beyond the obvious routine maintenance, just continue to enjoy that ride.

Thanks! Unfortunately the garage space isn't mine. Its the detail shops. But I loved those pics so I thought I would use them.

Also are the LIMG and the fluid change something I could tackle or would it be best to leave it to the pros?

[heavywoody]

If you are mechanically inclined, it’s not a bad job. You do need to remove the PS pump and support the motor from the bottom to disconnect the motor mount during the repair, but again it’s not a bad job if you are mechanically inclined.

Since the car is a 96, it should have auto headlights, or “Twilight Sentinal” as it was advertised back in the day. The sensor is under the defroster grill in the dash.

Welcome! Get a dash cover for that mint dash to keep it that way!

[ifixalot]

Beautiful car!!!!
I wish you the best of luck with it.

[Cam2363]

Beautiful car!!!!
I wish you the best of luck with it.

Thanks!

[Cam2363]

If you are mechanically inclined, it’s not a bad job. You do need to remove the PS pump and support the motor from the bottom to disconnect the motor mount during the repair, but again it’s not a bad job if you are mechanically inclined.

Since the car is a 96, it should have auto headlights, or “Twilight Sentinal” as it was advertised back in the day. The sensor is under the defroster grill in the dash.

Welcome! Get a dash cover for that mint dash to keep it that way!

Im not that inclined. So I probably wont take on that task. And I do not believe my car came with the the Twilight Sentinal. My old car had it but not this one.

[Rettax3]

If you are mechanically inclined, it’s not a bad job. You do need to remove the PS pump and support the motor from the bottom to disconnect the motor mount during the repair, but again it’s not a bad job if you are mechanically inclined.

Im not that inclined. So I probably wont take on that task. And I do not believe my car came with the the Twilight Sentinal. My old car had it but not this one.

In that case, be prepared to spend $400-$600 for the LIMG upgrade. The point of it is to ditch GM's brain-trust idea of using plastic gaskets on the top-end of the aluminum cylinder heads, and upgrade to steel-and-rubber gaskets before they crack and let coolant into your oil-pan, thus destroying your engine's bottom-end and possibly more if the coolant-loss also results in over-heating. Fel-Pro, Victor-Reinz, and Dorman all manufactured these upgraded gaskets, but beware because they also make OE-grade $#!t plastic parts as a cheaper alternative. The so-called 'update' from GM utilizes brass bolsters inset into the plastic gaskets at the bolt-holes that prevent them from cracking as easily if over-torqued or tightened in the wrong sequence, but those are still plastic and still turn brittle over time. So, if you are taking it in to a shop (NOT a dealer!) be certain they understand what you want installed, or you could end up with basically a fresher set of the same junk GM provided in the first place.

Good luck!

[Cam2363]

If you are mechanically inclined, it’s not a bad job. You do need to remove the PS pump and support the motor from the bottom to disconnect the motor mount during the repair, but again it’s not a bad job if you are mechanically inclined.

Im not that inclined. So I probably wont take on that task. And I do not believe my car came with the the Twilight Sentinal. My old car had it but not this one.

In that case, be prepared to spend $400-$600 for the LIMG upgrade. The point of it is to ditch GM's brain-trust idea of using plastic gaskets on the top-end of the aluminum cylinder heads, and upgrade to steel-and-rubber gaskets before they crack and let coolant into your oil-pan, thus destroying your engine's bottom-end and possibly more if the coolant-loss also results in over-heating. Fel-Pro, Victor-Reinz, and Dorman all manufactured these upgraded gaskets, but beware because they also make OE-grade $#!t plastic parts as a cheaper alternative. The so-called 'update' from GM utilizes brass bolsters inset into the plastic gaskets at the bolt-holes that prevent them from cracking as easily if over-torqued or tightened in the wrong sequence, but those are still plastic and still turn brittle over time. So, if you are taking it in to a shop (NOT a dealer!) be certain they understand what you want installed, or you could end up with basically a fresher set of the same junk GM provided in the first place.

Good luck!

Ouch. That would be a chunk of money. I was planning on doing a ceramic coating to protect the paint. So I think that would be first than maybe I can tackle the LIMG. Would it be wise to buy the part I want and have the mechanic install it? My guy has done a similar thing with my moms van as i couldn't do the job.

But I'll definetly do that as I would hate to blow my engine.

[skoot88]

Looks really really nice! I have 95 z26 Also

[Cam2363]

Looks really really nice! I have 95 z26 Also

Awesome!

[weba]

That red interior really works with the black car, very nice

[Cam2363]

That red interior really works with the black car, very nice

Thank you!

[Cam2363]

Well, I had a whole update with a story typed out, but then the page decided to just die, so I lost all my progress. So it will just be a summary now.

So I had to replace my front right strut because of a noise and it was leaking, but I decided to just rebuild the entire suspension while I was there. Basically, it took about 24 of my and my dads hours in 3 days, cost about $750 and took 5 days until I could drive it again.

I also did a Bluetooth mod to the stereo as I was tired of using the blue tooth cassette adapter, which I needed to keep charged and stuff, and I wanted to keep a factory look, so this was the best option.

I also plan to do the LIMG gaskets, if anyone can get me a link to the upgraded ones, that would be much appreciated! I want to make sure I'm getting the right parts as I want to keep the Beretta running as long as I can. Although I think the rot on my frame is going to be a stop to that in a few years.

I also plan to do the tranny fluid change while too as recommended by rettax3, but all that stuff will come when it's warmer out and I have time

Also, in the original post I mentioned that my console latch was broken, but I found a Beretta in a junkyard, which only read 43k, so not sure exactly why it was there, but the latch was not broken yet, so I grabbed it and swapped it out. Works great! But still looking for the spoiler brake light lens.

[ifixalot]

Frame rot??? Say it isn't so! That is such a nice looking car.
BTW, I have a spoiler stoplight lens. Not in mint condition but pretty good.
What is it worth to you?