The interior looks really good so I am not going to mess with it for now, although I did install an ABC fire extinguisher in case an electrical gremlin decides to try and toast my Z.

I also installed a kill switch. It helps to prevent battery drain, electrical fires, and theft. Safety first!

Next, I installed Tokico gas struts and lowering springs on all four corners. This is a shot of getting my Z jacked up and ready to start the installation.

This is a shot of removing the stock suspension. It was frustrating at times as every bolt, nut, pin, and screw was frozen tight with 27 years of rust. I ended up taking all of the suspension out without having to disconnect the brake-lines. In the back, I disconnected the driveshaft bolts, the hangar for the emergency break line, and the sway bar. In the front I disconnected the moustache bar and the tension rods. Both the front and the back arms could be pushed down with the old springs compressed and leaned outside the fender. Watch that paint though!

Here is my stock air filter assembly, say goodby to a 28 year ride. Removing this was relatively painless, although some of the bolts are hidden underneath the airfilter assembly.

This is the new K&N cold cone filter assembly installed that I bought off of ebay. I didn't really notice a difference in horsepower or tone when I took my Mighty Z-car for a test drive (although it was on city streets), but I do like the way it looks - its the only shiney thing in my engine compartment!!!

While I was at it, I bled my clutch (thanks Blue!) and the fluid may have been original. Unfortunately the clutch bleed did not solve my transmission woes so transmission tear down here I come!

As long as the transmission and propeller drive shaft were out of the way during my gearbox rebuild, I took the opportunity to adjust my emergency barke so it works again. The long bolt was just tightened using a 10mm small socket.

As long as I had to take the exhaust system out to work on the transmission and the frame rails, I thought I may as well buy a new turbo tip twin chrome-plated glasspack muffler from MSA. I found mandrel bent 2-inch pipe at the local midas and did the cutting with my angle grinder. Old muffler - say goodbye to a 28-year ride! This picture of the new glasspacks doesnt do it justice of how cool it looks.

Here are more random projects and upgrades I have made. Remember this is a project car and I am not using my Mighty Z as a daily driver but as a race car for drag racing and autocrossing and some road trips and other fun events.

I bought myself some new wheels and tires for my birthday. I got them from MSA (zcarparts.com) and they were a wife-approved expense. They came balanced and mounted with z-centercaps (not pictured), lug nuts, and valve stems. I think I got a good deal and they bring the car together.

The wheels are 15x7 inch Konig Rewinds. They have a classic race car look. The tires are 205/60/15 Kumohs. I cant wait to try them out at an autocross or a drag race, I just need to find the free time.

I also recieved an MSA front strut tie bar (thanks Z-Mom) for my birthday. It ties the front struts together by brackets installed at the insulators. It bolted right on and I only had to move one piece in the engine compartment (I dont know what it was called and moving it did not affect the way the Z runs).

Yeah, big score on b-day presents for me and the Z, but, hey, we are worth it!

While I was installing my bushings, I also removed the AC. Living in South Florida, it was probably crazy but the AC didnt work and hadnt worked in at least 10 years. I removed the compressor, belt, idler pully, condenser, vacuum chamber, and lots of brass piping. It cleaned up my engine bay and weighed 50 pounds (I wieghed the parts on a scale).

After being shamed into it by the original owner of the Mighty Z, I put the Z on stands and painted the front hubs chrome.

The Z in its natural state. On jackstands in my garage. We will have to rectify that.

A close up of the tape-off and paint job. "We arent building the space shuttle", thanks again for that Dave!

Another little project I wanted to work on was a custom rear strut tie bar that attaches at the strut mount insulators. I am not sure how well this actually tightens up the suspension on a uni-body car, but i want to build a camera mount and attach some racing harnesses to it too.

Go to Home Depot and buy an aluminum fencepost, cut to fit, smash flat in a vice and bend the ends outward slighty. Use a measuring tape for accuracy... Measure like a woman, hammer like a man!

To get the "L" cut in the strut bar, I used a cardboard mock-up for a template. It was still a little off so I just reamed out the holes a little with a drill. The cutting was done with my 8-inch angle grinder.

Here is the final install after painting glossy black. I liked this project because i did not have to modify the interior to get this to fit. i really like the look , smell, and feel of this original stock interior and the black bar doesnt have the "boy-racer" look.

My tail lights would not work when my lights were on and my blinkers wouldnt work AT ALL. So I had an electrical gremlin my Little Bro helped me chase down.

Here is the center console off and the associated dongle. We removed the hazard switch and JUST hooked that up to the dongle. Turned on the Z and majically the tail lights and turn signals worked again! So we ended up disconnecting the extra wires and taped them with electrical tape in case I ever wanted to use the de-fogger, the ashtray light, or the radio!

While installing my custom PALLNET fuel rail and deleting various heater hoses to and from the AAR, I snapped a bolt on top of the thermostat top housing. When I test fired the Z, anti-freeze came bubbling up from the hole. I tried to drill it out but was unsuccessfull. One bolt kept me from an autocross the next day.

The culprit! See the green antifreeze bubblin up?

Here is the thermostat housing top off and the 180-degree thermostat removed. It will be replaced with a 160-degree thermostat from MSA that will keep the engine running cooler.

And a picture with the entire assembly removed. The wire on the passenger side, above the "other thing" is the temperature sending unit. The "other thing" is the thermotime sensor. There is one more connector that is hidden in this picture but is on the drivers side and I think it is also the temperature sending unit since the temperature sending unit operates by measuring the resistivity in the coolant.

Be verrrrrry careful when removing these bolts from the thermostat housing to the engine head. I kept mine soaked in PB-Blaster for three days, then when I took them out I did slow verrrry slowly as to not create too much friction or heat that would snap them. I did research at zcar.com and read many many posts where these bolts broke off in the head and the unfortunate sole had to get the broken bolts drilled out of the head. As you can see my bolts were in really really bad shape.

Here is a shot of the new thermostat housing with the temp sending units and the thermotime sensor installed. The hole where the heater hose ran coolant to the AAR is now plugged with a big bolt using JB Weld as threadlock.

Once you have the thermostat housing ready to install with sensors, clean the engine and the thermostat housing with brake cleaner. Then apply Grey Permenex Gasket Maker to both side of the gasket, paint the bolts with anti-sieze (for next time this leaks in another 28-years) and torque the bolts down.

After installing the thermostat install the upper thermostat gasket housing the same way. I installed a 160 degree thermostat that replaced my stock 180 degree thermostat. Now its just re-connecting the wires (with dielectric grease) and the upper radiator hose. Note: the Grey Permenex Gasket Maker takes 24-hours to cure (the bigger the glob, the better the job!).

When I bought my Z, the interior looked great, the one flaw was the shift boot (probably the original). So when buying parts for the rail and thermostat from MSA, I splurged on a new outer shift boot.

Here is the ripped version. Say goodbye to a 28-year long ride!

After removing the center console, here is the underside of the new boot. The silver clips were there, so I took the mini-binder clips, put them on and took off the shiney metal arms. I knew there was a reason to go into the office!

And a picture of the finished project.

After researching available suspension upgrades VS "bang for the buck", I decided on a set of the Suspension Technics sway bars. They are 1 1/8-inch in front and 7/8-inch in the rear. For great tips on installations visit Blues Tecch Tips.

A familiar site, the Z on stands in the garage. To start installation I disconnected the muffler from my header so I could get easy access to the rear sway bar. I also removed all of the wheels.

Here is a shot of the ST front sway bar VS the stock sway bar.

Here is the front ST bar mounted. Big plates secure the bar to the frame. I have read about people drilling holes all the way through the frame rail to use even bigger bolts to mount these up. I will keep checking the security of these big plates to see if I need to do this (I hope not).

The rear ST sway bar mounted up. If I have any tips for ease of installation, it would be using your floor jack to lift up control arms to work on the end links. Also, use your floor jack for leverage as a "press" to close the rear clamps holding the bushings.

My slave cylinder and clutch hose (both original from what I can tell between condition and documented history), and were both leaking badly. The hose was leaking from the fitting and a bubble had appeared in the side. The slave cylinder was so pitted beneath the rubber boot that it was leaking. I had very little pedal pressure and I had to push the clutch all the way to the floor to engage the transmission. Soooo...

With the Z on stands in the garage, Indy standing gaurd, a new slave cylinder ordered from balckdragonauto and a new stainless steel clutch line from MSA, I was ready to get to work.

Old VS New.

New slave cylinder and stainless steel hose installed. The work area is tight, but after a healthy dose of PB Blaster use your 10-mm flare on the thread from the steel tube to the clutch hose. If it starts to strip try your 10-mm box wrench. If that strips use your channel locks. I use the Permenex teflon thread sealant (its in a white container)on all hydraulic threads and...to date...have not had a leaking line yet. After the installation my pedal pressure is great and I barely have to depress the pedal for engaging the transmission, it will be much quicker shifting at the drag strip or autocross course!