1981 Camaro Z28

[MP81]

Cut and labeled all my extension wires for the factory cluster harness to the HDX control box, then connected them all up in the dash. Everything seems to work (I can't test the speedo or the coolant temp sensor at the moment, nor can I check the high beam lights, since I have the headlight knob disconnected. But the oil pressure, fuel level and voltage gauges all work. However, the tach, does not. I'm not sure why, but the factory tach lead to the cluster doesn't seem to be the same as what comes out of the distributor. I've inquired over on NastyZ28 as to why this is, but that should not be difficult at all to tap into that line and run it into the car (I found a grommet RIGHT there, which apparently I missed when I decided to run the wires all in through the speedo cable hole. Oh well!) if there isn't one already.

Anyway, the limited time I spent using the cluster was pretty outstanding. The control buttons are metal and capacitive touch, which is really modern and up to date, and the screens look great, as does the lighting. Just can't wait until all the gauges work! I think I may tap into the headlight feed from the light knob (not the dimmer output at the cluster) to connect to the "dimmer" on the HDX box. That way I don't have 3.5 x 10^40 lumens blasting me right in the eyes at night.

Everything (well, mostly) hooked up to the HDX box:



Screens on (backlighting off):

[MP81]

Figured out the tach issue today. The feed inside is filtered - once I tapped into the line straight off the distributor, prior to it going into the filter, that brought the tach to life. I also tapped into the tail light wire on the light switch to act as the dimmer/backlighting trigger (I can run backlighting all the time, if I want. We have the technology). Put the cluster in, completely now, and reinstalled the cluster surround. So, that is basically all set, aside from the coolant sender. Woo!

Wires (somewhat) tidied up, prior to putting the cluster in. I left the HDX box loose, but the harness keeps it in place very nicely.


Cluster in, testing it with the car running.


Cluster surround reinstalled:




Backlighting on. This is where they really stand out.

[DynoDave]

That looks great!

[MP81]

Thanks Dave! I'm impressed how little they stand out when the car is off. They look fairly stock.

[GlennT]

That looks amazing! I love improvements that look updated and so much better, yet look so very stock!

[MP81]

Thanks! And I agree - I think it fits the vehicle theme really well.

Dakota Digital is awesome, and got me a replacement sensor and bushing, which arrived today. I started off by installing that, and that concludes the cluster install (aside from calibrating the speedo and setting the mileage)!

Backed the car out so I had more space to work on the driver side t-top weatherstripping, and got slightly distracted and installed the LED courtesy lights I bought last year (maybe even the year before) - figured I'd have the door open for a long time, so might as well lower the power draw of those lights.

Started the god-awful task of replacing the t-top weatherstripping, which took about forever. I got it mostly cleared out, or as clean as it's going to be. I did find a patch of rust on the rear outer section, including a small hole on the back wall. So I've already used the POR-15 cleaner and Metal Prep, which is currently drying, and I will put a few coats of POR-15 on it tomorrow when I start on the car (I can work on the door weatherstrip between coats). I figure, this is not something I plan to take apart again, so I might as well do that now.

Coolant temp sensor installed in the thermostat housing, peaking out simply because it's clean:


Cluster with all the readings functioning:




Original driver-side t-top weatherstrip condition...not pretty...






Door weatherstrip corners and non-existent window felts




LED Courtesy Lights


Working more on cleaning the adhesive and weatherstrip remnants - the worst part:


Rust area

[DynoDave]

Weatherstripping does seem a bit "past it", doesn't it.

While you'd rather find none, the rust isn't too bad.

[MP81]

Yep, it could certainly have been worse - waiting for the first coat of POR-15 to become tacky so I can put the second coat on. Then that should all be good to go - aside from waiting until it dries to put the new weatherstrip off. Took the driver-side door weatherstripping off while dinner was being cooked - it was even dried. The top corners turned to dust, basically, when I touched them, haha.

[MP81]

I really do dislike dealing with weatherstrip - especially this kind, with all the adhesive. Anyway, I got that rusty part POR-15'd, drying/curing overnight, before I put the new weatherstrip on. I also replaced the driver-side outer window sweep, t-top panel seal as well as the driver side door weatherstrip. I'll see how that last one turned out tomorrow, I had some issues with the last pin prior to the front corner piece. It didn't seem to line up - but matched the factory pin location, so I'm not quite sure. I taped it all down where it should be to help the adhesive dry, so hopefully it stays put.

Outer window sweeps - the original ones have almost nothing left:




T-top channel rust POR-15'd:


Factory Driver side T-Top panel weatherstrip:


T-top panel Weatherstrip replaced:

[MP81]

Ended up taking a half day today to try and finish this car up before the show tomorrow. I did not accomplish this goal, and after the test drive, I am not even taking the car to the show, so what was quite the amount of work on the car every day this week has left me pretty defeated. I'll get more into that later.

I did decide to prime the area I applied POR-15 to, as I'd rather not have it turn purple on me from UV exposure. I then installed the t-top weatherstripping - I'm not entirely thrilled with how it fits, but some of that may require adjusting the t-tops themselves, we'll see - but the front inner corner sits very, very high, and half the window doesn't even seal to the sash strip on the t-top panel itself.

Anyway, I decided not to tackle the passenger side t-top weatherstrip, lest I find more rust which I have to fix, putting me past the time limit to have the car ready by so I can get some sleep (something I'm still clearly not doing yet!), so I stuck to replacing the outer door sweep, inner guide felt pads (I did 2 of the 3 on the driver side door as well - third one looked brand new) and the door weatherstrip.

After that, I (think, at least) removed the toe-in, so this car won't wander all over the road.

Well, that was the intention, anyway - it's downright scary to drive. The huge amount of play in the steering probably combined with a less-than-desirable eyeball alignment really lead to a car that isn't fun to drive - it is a chore, and a dangerous one at that. Leaning towards the steering box itself as the culprit...Also, there is some major squeaking coming out of the front end, on bumps. Can be recreated in the garage just by pushing down (hard) on the fender.

Primed and ready for weatherstrip


Driver door weatherstrip installed


Driver side window guide felt pads - the one on the right was worn almost completely through


T-top weatherstripping installed. Like I mentioned before, I'm not entirely happy with how it's sitting right now - I know it needs to settle/compress and it should even out a bit more.





Factory passenger outer sweet - basically nonexistent
[IMG]https://scontent.fdet1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/34829410_10155666030058597_2131771781457903616_n.j pg?_nc_cat=0&oh=9abfcfa9c779a7d24ed30b32656b88a2&o e=5BBE2AA1[/IMG}

New vs old:



Factory weatherstripping



Door weatherstripping installed

[MP81]

Unrelated to all that...new shorter Hurst stick, and a pit pack to replace the bushings (probably nylon) with steel.

[MP81]

Got a fair amount done today, after a nice break from the marathon I did prior to the Meet & Greet that the car didn't even make it to.

Started off by replacing the shifter stick with one that is...much shorter. Playing with it in the garage, the shifting action is vastly improved, and my elbow doesn't go into the vehicle behind me when I shift to second or fourth.




My uncle had this Koala on the shifter when I got the car, so I figured it is kind of "part of the car" now, so it went back on.


The passenger side t-top weatherstripping came off all in one piece (aside from all the old adhesive residue leftover), and I spent the rest of my time outside scraping all that crap off. I did find a few smaller areas of rust that will need to be POR-15'd and primed prior to putting the new weatherstripping on.

[ktl711]

Have you had a chance to sort the steering out yet?

[JoeliusZ28]

All this work and none of it related to the steering components that kept it away from the M&G? I'm convinced you just don't want to drive this car

[ktl711]

All this work and none of it related to the steering components that kept it away from the M&G? I'm convinced you just don't want to drive this car

It does look suspicious, doesn't it?