Z16 Red, Black top Restoration Progress, December, 2005

 

www.Z16Chevelle.com

Due to family matters, this Z16 received only about 2 months worth of work between August and the end of 2005. But a great deal was accomplished in part of August, October and some in December.

 

Right and Below: The complete chassis and body less seats (but with vinyl top, headliner, package tray and speakers, dash, front and back glass, trunk spatter, brake booster, wiper motor, heater box, etc.) were married on October 23rd.

Right: Seats were not just reupholstered. Tracks and frame were dismantled, derusted and preserved in the natural bare metal state. Note that the rear portion of the mounts received black paint while the front is bare steel just as was done originally.

Left: Reproduction PUI door panel at left, original in mint condition at right. The PUI repros aren’t even close. I was very fortunate to find a complete set of original door panels in mint—same as new– condition. Distinctive Industries  makes a closer reproduction, but not in black/white.

 

Lower left: Note the zinc plated door latch and screws plated by the author. This car never had the jambs repainted prior to restoration. Unlike some Camaros, Kansas City-built 1965 Chevelles had the latches and screws installed after Fisher Body painted the body, hence the clean appearance.

Right: Dash and steering column installed. Great care was taken to overspray the floor pan and reproduce the proper mask lines and overspray on the doors like original even though they won’t be visible. Likewise, the underside of the dash was primed and oversprayed as original. The purple look on some of the floor is a result of slight red overspray on the gray primer. This duplicates the original look exactly. Floor sound-deadener is the proper paper-backed asphalt type. The headliner, dash and rear package tray were all installed prior to any glass as original.

 

 

Below: As many NOS parts as possible were used including this pair of roofrail weatherstrips and the upper console boot.

Above: Lower and upper radiator hoses had the correct lettering applied by the author. An NOS original and 1965 photos were studied, a stencil made and white ink applied. There is no accurate reproduction.

 

 

Left: The rear end receiving assembly. The center Z16 trunk molding has yet to be applied. Note the license plate. It is a real 1965 Iowa plate from my county (56) in excellent condition. I was fortunate to find this pair at a local flea market. Look at that number!

 

 

 

Below:  Three of the author’s Z16s were displayed at Chevy Vettefest in November of 2005. Left to right is the red/red unrestored former drag car, the #1 Prototype and the white interior car which is the subject of this page.

 

The display presented the cars as “Before, During and After Restoration” and was very well received.

 

The #1 Prototype received the Top Gun Award for Best Chevelle.