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I thought this might make it easier for people to find my house when they come over for help.

From idea to test Fit in a week. Cnc cut next week. Only tweak is matching the step and radius of the step to the throttle bodies. This will be a decorative mount for a single piece fuel rail.

Not the optimum picture of a Riv, IMO, but point taken and agreed with. GM Design (styling) was on a major roll in the years from 1963-1965. Everybody has their favourite, but it has to be said that The General rarely put a foot wrong during those 3 model years. Examples: 1963 Corvette Sting Ray (arguably improved in 1965, although the split rear window was a styling tour de force and should have been retained) 1963 Pontiac Bonneville 1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 1965 Chevrolet Corvair 1963 Buick Riviera Things started to go a bit sideways starting in 1966, but there remained a couple of additional exceptional designs , the original Oldsmobile Toronado being the leading example (a great riff on 'big car' styling). I personally loved the 2nd-generation Riviera. Styling is a great topic because there is no 'wrong answer'. Even the AMC Pacer had some exceptional elements. And who can argue with the brilliance of the original Ford Mustang fastback coupe? And the 1963 Studebaker Avanti? I can't think of any Chrysler examples, though (maybe the original Dodge Charger).

Just realized that I was pretty busy in the late 80's/early 90's and pretty much completely out of the car scene. My only car was a 1985 Ford Escort that would occasionally get something stuck in the engine and billow large clouds of oil smoke then miraculously clear up. Eventually it blew a head gasket or cracked something and dumped all of the coolant in to the oil pan. It was a neat little car though, it had a 5 speed stick and was front wheel drive. One of the CV joints was bad, so bad that it was past the clicking stage and was full in to the feel-the-wobbling-shaft stage, but I just drove it anyway, to its death. So I missed most of the cool cars that showed up in that time-frame. Never heard of Conquest or Starion. Why am I sharing all of these old memories...

A fellow racer had the sister car to this, the Mitsubishi Starion. Turbo 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual. Very fast. We shared it in a 6 hour endurance race, with another guy. The other guy did the first two hours, I did the second stint, then my buddy took over. We were leading in our class, with 20 minutes to go when the head gasket blew. We had enough of a lead that we still finished 3rd.

Few additional pictures of updates made on the Z. We blacked out the core support and grill mounting tabs (thanks to @jfa.series1 for his excellent build for references) and installed the condenser mounting brackets built just for this car. Really like how that turned out. Should all disappear behind the grill and keep the AC system eye sore down to a minimum. The Z Therapy carbs also showed up this week. Another excellent job by Bruce on these. And finally the hand brake and differential strap were installed. Thanks to @grannyknot I can straighten them out even more.

Great idea, I appreciate the tip. That’s one reason why I like having this restoration thread. People can provide ways to improve the build process along the way, and it also keeps me accountable for posting updates. I’ve got a set of vise grips like that I can use. The shot looking down the trans tunnel only had the lines fastened down up to the shifter cutout. The rest of the length was free hanging and in twist. Since then they’re all installed, but have a few irregularities in the lines I can fix. Will be working on that next.

But then there is the 63-65 Riviera,

Just like the rest of us, cars are like girls. We remember the ones that were best. Rough and ratty but were there day in and day out.

I had measured the finger height when I had the parts out this morning and there was only 1/16” difference if the new one being shorter. Sounds like that may or may not be indicative of its compatibility with the other components that I have. I’m not in position to install the clutch etc as I’m finishing up engine assembly and it’s on a stand, maybe in a few days. I did check my current slave cylinder and fork. It appears that I already have the adjustable version, albeit crusty, on the car. My plan as of now is to install the new clutch with the slave cylinder setup that i have, sounds like it will need some adjustment but should work. Thanks Tom

Like father ........like son. This car is going to blow the Z community away! Can’t wait to take the twin Safari Gold cars to an East Coast Z event.

I have to note while we are here. There is also another way to get whatever clutch cover and throw out collar you have to work. There is an adjustable length push rod clutch slave cylinder option and a matching clutch fork with a hole. I’ve found cars with very long collars and very thick clutch covers who’s clutches were working just fine with a very short push rod on the slave courtesy of the adjustable length rod arrangement. The Rule of 92 isn’t as hard and fast a rule as I’ve gone to great lengths to champion. BTW these slaves are spec’ed on the 70 Z’s if you’re looking for one on Rock-Auto. Nothing stopping you from just hack sawing off your fixed length rod as well. Just more of a trial and error thing.

The quality of work you are doing is fantastic, it's a pleasure watch but the brake lines really stand out as not up to the same level as the rest of your work. Sheet metal ViseGrips wrapped in a few layers of masking or electrical tape will make a big difference in their appearance. I don't mean to criticize but just thought I would mention an easy fix.

View Advert Looking for NOS Z car sheet metal and especially 280z rear taillight/beaver panel Hello, Im looking for NOS sheet metal parts from 1970-1978 Z's. I'm looking for these parts because I would like to use them as templates to build reproduction parts for the Z community.I have a couple of panels already in the works that I can share with interested parties to show my intentions are true. I am also looking specifically for a NOS taillight repair panel for 1974-1978 Zs, I don't have the part number for this piece but i have seen it before. I will post a picture of the 240z version for reference. I know these panels arent easy to find and i would appreciate any help i can get or any potential leads, thanks! Advertiser maximus35 Date 01/29/2021 Price Category Parts Wanted Year 0 Model 240z 280z

I knew that 64 was first but I like what they did in 65 to sharpen the lines. It was all straight lines and angles. Found a 64 on BAT, below. I actually bought a 66 GTO body, in high school, and put a Chevy engine in it. The motor mount pedestals unbolted and the swap to Chevrolet from Pontiac was easy. It was basically a Malibu frame with GTO sheet metal. I bought the car half-stripped down, no windshield, interior, engine, transmission. It was a project. Every day was winging it, no clue what I was trying to do. My English teacher thought I was deep in thought about class material but I was really just making a list of all of the parts I needed to get. I picked up a 63 Bonneville 4 door also, for free from a friend's family, after I wrecked the GTO. 389 and four speed automatic. That was a fine machine. I miss those old heavy metal cars. Even the 72 Ford LTD with the 351 Windsor. Smooth motor. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1964-pontiac-gto-23/

I've measured tires tread with a penny but not a trunk with a dollar. I have seen strippers with large trunks covered inside and out with paper momey, not dollars though. I guess a dollar is similar to a hand when measuring horses?

They are good quality leds, and the problem was I still had one set of incandescent bulbs in when I tested before. The LED compatible flashers were faulty. I ordered new ones and this should solve the problem. I put the incandescent bulbs back in and everything works so obviously the flashers are not LED compatible, even though they advertised they were.. grrrrr. Live and learn.

Thanks granny, and others. It'll be nice to no longer hear about tweets from the President. Given the typical leanings of the major media outlets, it's very likely evening news will be filled with supportive (of Mr. Biden) reporting. In that regard, I'll be glad. In every other, I am nervous.

Although I mentioned politics that is not really what I'm talking about, I hope you would agree that the citizens of the US are much more important than any Government. Just hoping you guys can get a break and a chance to focus not on politics but on things that are important, your own families health and well being. I should not have used the word congratulations, that does imply a preference for one party over the other and I apologize for that. Best wishes for all is what I'm trying to say.

It's been like a 4 year bee sting. Nothing debilitating buy annoying as hell. It'll take about a month for the swelling to go away and then I can get back to working in my garage and back to normal day to day boredom. Seinfeld in the morning, not the news. That can wait until the evenings again. Biden will go to bed, not tweet all night.