🔧 BUILD Gav's 1998 Purple Z28

General Information

[MENTION=3307]IceCreamAssassin[/MENTION] mentioned in my GoPro thread that he didn't know much about my car.
[MENTION=5]Mook[/MENTION] also mentioned it's one of the longest owned cars on the site.

Why not make a thread.

I bought the car on September 13th 2002 ( it was a Friday :s00ls: )
37,642 miles when it was driven away from Grossinger Chevy in Palatine.

I had originally called on a red 99 SS but the dealer sold it before I could get there. The salesman mentioned they took a Z28 in on trade. I asked what color and he said " It's weird, never seen this color before, It's Purple."

I requested they park the car in the back and not to let anyone see it until I got there :rofl:

I drove it a couple days later, and bought it the following week.

I have alot of pictures saved on a flash drive from my old laptop, but here's what it looked like in all of it's STOCK Z28 glory:

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Menzerna1012.jpg


Sub frame connectors and a strut tower brace were the first couple mods.
Followed by a lid, SSRA and smooth bellow.

Long Tube headers and a cut out went in the summer of 2004

To make a long story short, a few friends had SS's and kind of swapped wheels around, so I detailed a friends car and was paid with a set of painted SS 10 spokes ( again more pics on the flash drive ):

HPIM0766.jpg


HPIM0762.jpg


HPIM0761.jpg


Yank SS3200 stall + B&M cooler followed shortly after in 2005.

another friend had a WS-6, I told him if he ever sold the wheels, I wanted 1st dibs... and those are the ones the car currently rides on:

HPIM0910.jpg


with new brakes:
HPIM1093-1.jpg


Cam + pushrods + valve springs etc went in summer of 2008.

Changed the turn signal lenses:

HPIM1091.jpg


Z28-208.jpg


Z28-308.jpg


The rear end was rebuilt in 2011, new axles 3.73 gears and diff cover.
I installed a new TA girdle this past spring.

I just ordered a bunch of suspension parts to freshen up the 20 year old "bones and joints"

:bigthumb:

with a fresh coat of WG Uber Ceramic Coating:

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Gav'sPurpleZ

If you fail to plan, you're planning to fail
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Still happy with the manual swap?

For sure. I was hoping it would make me opt for driving the car more but it hasn't happened.
To clarify, I want to drive the car but the OCD kicks in + the worry about parking it anywhere etc prevents some additional enjoyment.

Everything is in great operating order. The Tremec specific trans fluid seems to work just fine ( ATF was put in originally. The fluid was changed based on break in miles etc this past April ).
 

The Beast

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May 24, 2004
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For sure. I was hoping it would make me opt for driving the car more but it hasn't happened.
To clarify, I want to drive the car but the OCD kicks in + the worry about parking it anywhere etc prevents some additional enjoyment.

Everything is in great operating order. The Tremec specific trans fluid seems to work just fine ( ATF was put in originally. The fluid was changed based on break in miles etc this past April ).

I’ll tell you why you don’t drive it much because old ass fbody and u have a newer truck which is so nice to drive and smooth. #fbody4life
 

The Beast

TCG Elite Member
May 24, 2004
28,458
32,977
South beach
Real Name
Go Go
For sure. I was hoping it would make me opt for driving the car more but it hasn't happened.
To clarify, I want to drive the car but the OCD kicks in + the worry about parking it anywhere etc prevents some additional enjoyment.

Everything is in great operating order. The Tremec specific trans fluid seems to work just fine ( ATF was put in originally. The fluid was changed based on break in miles etc this past April ).

Winter is almost here start driving her more
 

Jimy Bilmo

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Aug 16, 2005
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For sure. I was hoping it would make me opt for driving the car more but it hasn't happened.
To clarify, I want to drive the car but the OCD kicks in + the worry about parking it anywhere etc prevents some additional enjoyment.

Everything is in great operating order. The Tremec specific trans fluid seems to work just fine ( ATF was put in originally. The fluid was changed based on break in miles etc this past April ).
That's the only problem with a nice toy car, there's always reasons to NOT drive it. Until you let it all go and just know you do the best you can parking away from people, rock chips are going to happen, etc. otherwise you won't drive it.
 
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Gav'sPurpleZ

If you fail to plan, you're planning to fail
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Mar 3, 2008
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Pingree Grove IL
Due to the iron content of last year's analysis.
I drained the zero mile Pennzoil Platinum and went back to Royal Purple ( RP was the oil in the first analysis a few years ago ).
I also changed the zero mile oil filter because OCD
Happy to report that this year's analysis is back to 'normal'
Screenshot_20231207-102714.png
 

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