DTMAce's Z26 project - DD usage for the time being - 6-8-12

[DTMAce]

Speaking of pics, here are a couple from this morning after the rust stuff had all night to work on it... Man.





Looks like it did something to the rust.... The new panel is completely rust free even!

[woody90gtz]

Better you than me! haha

[3X00-Modified]

Hurry up... Running out of time... LOL

I just did my brake swap last night... now to finish up tuning and swap seats... AND possibly get some floor mats.

[Money pit Beretta]

What was that stuff? Looks like it did a better job than the deruster I used. Still need those rails?

[DTMAce]

It is called Rust Converter. Contains phosphoric acid, isopropyl alcohol, & tannic acid. Bottle simply says that it converts rusty metal to a paintable primer. Surface rust simply rubs away. Bad rust like what this thing has it simply eats up, turns black and inert (I'm supposing). Very watery, and looks pale orange. Stinks bad too. And you don't want to get it on you, it will burn.

Basically its an acid wash, that eats the rust. Bought it in Canada at Canadian Tire for like 10 bucks a bottle.

Going to rain the next couple days (supposedly) so will see how much I get done before the weekend. I hope to bust on this a lot Thurs or Friday.

As for time, yeah. I know. I have seat rails ordered from a guy, but no word on shipment yet, already sent a money order. Going to PM him tonight.

[Money pit Beretta]

I'm always open to other derusters. Only about half of what I did with the Eastwood stuff has stopped rusting. I'll have to redo it all again this year. It is possible that I didn't clean the areas with the right kind of cleaner.
Keep me up to date on the rails.

[DTMAce]

OK. Seat rails are being provided now by 3400 Modified. Thanks Jon!

Today has been all about finishing up computers I had to work on this week, so that the next two days are cleared off enough for me to bust ass on the interior.

Just got done placing my order at Rock Auto. I did shop around, to see if I can get a better deal on parts for the car elsewhere. Best difference I could come up with was 2 dollars less for the front bearings. Even with the shipping difference it wasn't worth it. Napa wanted 251 bucks. Advance Auto wanted 310. I got everything for 194, plus 45 to ship. STILL was under Napa!

Ordered:
New Rotors
New Drums
New Pads
New Shoes
New rear brake hardware kit
New Front bearings - Timkens brand.

Everything else was Raybestos brand. Meh. I don't need to worry for a while at least, and since I am not using this on a race track, normal brake parts will be fine. Hell they are professional grade as it is!

So... Those should start arriving Friday or Monday. Hope to get a little time to clean and start caulking the floorpan tonight. And treat any areas I missed. Maybe a bit more welding here and there. Will see. Pics to follow if I do.

Will keep you all updated!

[DTMAce]

Hello once again, more updates on the work....

Today started in on trying to get the prep done for painting. Been a bit nuts! lol

Anyway pics!



Shot out the door of the pole barn. It was raining today which means the mosquitoes were out like crazy!



Floor pan after final go over and prep for sealant.



Ok, now for this rat's nest.

Little story. This alarm system was installed the same day I drove the car off the lot. I had taken it to this place in Dayton OH right off the 70/75 interchange. Apparently the car was so new, they did not have the correct wiring layout of the harness, so they screwed up the dome light somehow. Basically since that day, the dome lights will not come on when you open the doors. But they will if you flip the switch on the dash.

Here is the kicker: They couldn't figure it out, and was blaming the GM module as defective. Well, took it to a dealership in downtown Dayton and once they looked at it, they told me that the alarm system had to be removed before they could do anything for me. So back to the sound place, only for them to tell me that to remove the alarm was going to cost me an additional 200 in labor!!

Basically I told them gently caress you. Granted had I been more like the pushy bastard I am these days, I would have had it fixed, and no one would have been charging me anything, but oh well.

However all the wiring mess you see there is a direct result of THEIR work. I have never seen so many butt connectors!!

Anyways, I think I am going to have to pull all this crap out before it goes back together. Just hope I can figure it out. Thing sucks anyway and I don't need it.





Sealant installed. Yay.



Deck speakers after removing the panel.



The current panel with an idea of using a different fabric to cover it. Not sure yet, but may do this.



The wood support panel for it. I pulled the fabric and threw it in the washer! lol It was just nasty, couldn't hurt it much worse.



I had cleaned up and repainted two of the seat rails. These were in decent shape.



This was after it was washed, laid it out on the cardboard to dry.

Other things accomplished:

Installed and rattle proofed the door jamb vents.
Installed the metal door handle/jamb covers that I have had sitting in a box for over a year.
Cleaned a bunch of the car out today, had to remove the driver's side rear panels, so bit of work there.

Tomorrow, mask off areas that I don't want to paint and get the floorpan painted. Hopefully start getting stuff installed back in after that. Also going to do some cleaning of the seats.

[3X00-Modified]

I sent those rails yesterday but I didn't paint them... My bad... lol

Do you need a wiring diagram for the car? I can provide you with a complete one if necessary. Its of a 95, but should be very similar other than the cruise control circuits.

[DTMAce]

Well, I can see where they tapped the wiring..... Cut circuits and fed them to the system. Not sure if I will have time to dick with it or not. But will see. This thing would kill the engine if it was set off, and flash the lights, crap like that.

[3X00-Modified]

Well, I can see where they tapped the wiring..... Cut circuits and fed them to the system. Not sure if I will have time to dick with it or not. But will see. This thing would kill the engine if it was set off, and flash the lights, crap like that.

Yeah the one that's in my car I think will kill the engine, I'm not positive on that, but I do know when enabled it should render the key useless since it has a ignition interceptor, or appears to have one wired in.

I had the same deal, pulled my dash apart and found the aftermarket on wired in already... Actually not done that bad, but I had to clean up some of it before putting the dash back on. It also has steel ball switches on the hood and trunk to go off if either is opened. AND also immediately goes off if the battery is disconnected and then reconnected...That is actually the most annoying part when I work on the car since I need a set of keys nearby all the time to shut it off.

Only thing its missing is the damn remote starter... LOL

[DTMAce]

Remote starters.. BAH. Who needs it! That's just being lazy!

Finished painting the undercoat on the floor today. Pics!







Once that dries, its carpet time! God I can't wait to see what it will look like with this newer carpet installed. Its a dark charcoal gray color, rather than the bright near silver gray they normally have. Never EVER did like the carpet I had. Was the one thing about the car I didn't like the most. lol

More to come later today. Will be doing a lot of cleaning of the interior parts prior to assembly!

[woody90gtz]

My 95Z had an aftermarket alarm system when I bought it. I had no idea, it was apparently disabled and I got no remote for it. One day under the dash I must have turned it on because it kept auto-locking me out after 5 mins of the ignition being off and sounding the alarm when you tried to open the door. Killed the ignition too so I had to unhook and rehook the battery every time until I found the switch to turn it off.

[DTMAce]

OK. Man, I'm beat!

Been working on the car all day. Anyways! New pics for you all tonight, etc.



This was a shot later on after the rubber undercoat was starting to dry up.

These next few are the re-assembly of the deck panel.









Next, I was working on the rear bench seat. This is after I thoroughly cleaned them. Would you believe I actually had to change the water/detergent mix I was using after doing just the back!





Then it was the driver's seat. This was after I cleaned it. I will be going over it yet again later, not clean enough to suit me yet. But it looks a lot better than it did. I also had to lubricate the sliders, fix a bent wheel on it, one of the seat springs had come undone, etc...



I have a lot of cleaning yet to do on the rear portion, all that you see that looks nasty is just dirt. That will all be really pretty clean when I go to put the seat back in. I took the pic, showing the new amp wiring ran through the wiring conduit this time, along with line feed and remote power on. So that's done.



Also cleaned all the rear side panels, now they are ready to go back in.



Ah... The new carpet. I finally have pulled it out of the box it has been in for a year and a half! Man. I actually laid it out on the roof of the caravan to warm up and flatten out some. But it came well made. Already pre-molded. Just have to cut a few places, do some trim. There is actually going to be enough trimmed off to also redo the console and the kick panels, whether I will have time to do them though.





Ready for carpet. Put in bolts so that I could find where things go, tape indicators too, and my heat ducts for the rear.



And I have started putting in the carpet! lol No I am not done yet. Letting it form into the floor a bit more. Going to have to do some gluing to get it all to fit well and form completely. Plenty of excess to trim off and use for other stuff.



Man I love the color. It matches the darker gray plastics pretty good, so I'm happy!

Anyway, a lot was done. I think I spent 3 hours just cleaning seats and parts! My fingers hurt. LOL

More to come later this weekend! Not sure if I will get the carpet completed before I leave here tomorrow morning but will see.

[3X00-Modified]

looking good... Times running out... LOL