1981 Camaro Z28

[MP81]

I'll get around to it.

[ktl711]

I saved you the trouble of getting a round tuit, so that you could start the project sooner!

[MP81]

Maybe this weekend. I'm planning to POR-15 the rust zones under the passenger t-top weatherstripping today.

[Atrus]

Yeah, what the hell man? Get it done!

This, coming from the guy who's car is still on the battery tender. At least I know it'll get driven a minimum of once this year, from the current pad to the new place!

Edit: I also owe my 2 ankle-biters an "ice cream date" in it. We do it every year - Dad takes the girls out for an ice cream date, and gives Mom an hour of peace and quiet.

[DynoDave]

I saved you the trouble of getting a round tuit, so that you could start the project sooner!

Dude, I was TOTALLY thinking of posting that, but didn't think anyone would get the joke.

[MP81]

I have like four drawers full of those things, and whatever projects they're related to are still not done.

[MP81]

Put down the POR-15 on the right side T-top channel in the spots that needed it yesterday.

It's supposed to rain today, so I don't know if I'll spray the primer or not. I should be able to spray it where I need it with the door closed, so I don't need to pull the Cobalt out, so I probably can. Then it is ready to go for the weatherstrip install if it's dry on Sunday.

[MP81]

Pictures of the POR-15 applied on the rust spots on the passenger side of the car, prior to taping everything off and spraying primer. There were more smaller spots on this side, and only one really "bad" spot.

[MP81]

Got the passenger side t-top weatherstripping installed - a lot easier this time around, given I just did the driver side. Everything seems to fit better because of it, too, so there is some minor "touch up" I did to the other side, as well. After I dealt with that, I took to looking at the steering box - I ended up tightening the allen bolt basically to it was tight, (1/4 turn by 1/4 turn) and it still had a lot of slop, so, unless I can go tighter, that might be a new box...

Started looking at the trunk weatherstrip - it needs to be replaced, but it's at least not too bad. The lip of the trunk, though, is another story. I'm going to have to remove that and POR-15 the shit out of it.

Primered the POR-15 spots, with my goofy-ass tape lines, haha.




New versus old weatherstripping - pretty obvious it was in need of replacement, but it was in better shape than the other side.


Weatherstripping installed





Trunk weatherstripping - flat, but not dry-rotted. The top portion isn't entirely in the channel at the lip anymore, though.



And...the trunk lip. Ugh.

[DynoDave]

Weatherstrips look good. That decklid though...

[MP81]

Yeah...that one is really bad, oddly enough. I was trying to figure out why, and I really can't tell. Maybe because the trunk seal is flat enough that it allows the deck lid to effectively seal to the body and trap the water? Or, is water getting into the decklid, some way...I need to look more and see what I can determine.

Either way, the POR-15 won't cure the rust issue, but I'm hoping it'll keep it from spreading or at least slow it. Maintaining this patina looks to be an increasingly difficult job...

[JoeliusZ28]

That trunk lid is fine IMO unless rot has gotten through the outer skin. Just get your death wheel out and cut away the major rot from the structure metal and wire wheel the hell out of the rest. POR15 the whole area and youll never have a problem on a fair weather car.

Great work so far, but its almost July. Fix your steering linkage now and tackle these cosmetics over winter. That rust could be there for 10 years and never change as long as the car stays dry.

[MP81]

As far as I can tell, it's only on the inner panel - but I will know more once I scrape all the loose shit away. I'll be removing the deck lid to do that, as it's a whole lot easier to undo 4 bolts then try and paint upside down, haha. And yeah - I'm thinking the same thing. The car will rarely see rain, and even so, it's not like it'll see snow or salt, so it should not advance any further once it has been POR-15'd. I don't even need to prime it, since it's hard for the sun to shine up from the ground.

But it should be fairly quick as it can be done in parallel to the weatherstrip - and I'm hoping this weatherstrip should go a bit quicker, as it's nowhere near as complex as the t-top.

As far as the steering goes - the linkage is all good, it's brand new. I cranked the allen bolt all the way down until it was tight and it had no effect on the amount of play in the steering while parked. I'm pretty sure it's time for a new box.

Based on my limited research this morning, and this very comprehensive article, http://www.hotrod.com/articles/ccrp-...g-box-upgrade/, the Monte SS box looks to be a winner for replacement - quicker ratio, heavier steering effort (the stock steering is extremely overboosted), and a farther travel meaning I should see and improved steering radius - something this car could use, given that it has a worse turning radius than the Titanic heading towards an iceberg. And they described changes (splines, power steering line fittings), but they all seemed to occur before '81 - meaning everything should, in theory, transfer over.

[JoeliusZ28]

If it stays dry it wont advance further even left as it is. humidity in the garage would be the only thing that MIGHT affect it over a very, very long period of time.

Forgot it was the steering box not the linkage. That's a common failure mode so just replace it and get it over with it. should be fairly straight forward. Monte box sounds like a good upgrade. SEND IT!

[MP81]

And actually, it looks like the "WZ" full size box might even be better. Based on the text in the article, I think the 67-degree travel of the Camaro box in the table should actually be 87-degree, meaning the Monte box would have less. However, the WZ fullsize box has the same 87-degree travel, but with the quicker 12.7:1 ratio the Monte has, but still with slightly higher effort than the stock box.

It might even be more attainable and cheaper. Shouldn't be too hard to swap the box, no?