new Z
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new Z
Same guy who asked about the tranny swap yesterday, just spreading the joy on the fact that I got my new Z today at about 11:30 a.m.
1987 GLL, Turbo, Digital Dash, Black, grey leather, it's incredible, stock except for stereo upgrades(amp, subs and wiring) stock head unit and equalizer
1987 GLL, Turbo, Digital Dash, Black, grey leather, it's incredible, stock except for stereo upgrades(amp, subs and wiring) stock head unit and equalizer
professional Z car owner
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 112
From: Uniontown, Pennsylvania, usa
Re: new Z
congrats, i just picked up the same thing but with a analog dash. its been a long while since ive driven a ZX. it was actually really weird cuz i didnt know how to gauge the quality of the vehicle that i bought lol. spot is right you do need a large set of tools lol
watch out here comes my Z V8 powered and ready to roar
watch out here comes my Z V8 powered and ready to roar
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 342
From: Houston, Tx
Re: tools?
most critical are these sizes of sockets:
10, 12, 14, 17, 19
Other sizes you may need (for more intense work) are:
19 (steering wheel and front strut ***'y to control arm, also rear control arms and other things)
21 (lug nut size and a few other things),
there are a few 22mm things (including front control arms and crank bolt),
and 24mm is the size for the banjo bolts on the power steering pump.
if you have auto, then 27mm is what holds the oil cooler filter adapter connectors on.
30mm is for the rear wheel stub axles which you should hopefully never need (they're torqued to about 280 ft-lbs).
for anything 19mm and above, I use a 1/2" drive ratchet, although, you can use a cheater bar on a 3/8" for things not torqued too tightly.
for 10mm and 12mm i almost ALWAYS use a 1/4" ratchet. even for 14mm sometimes.
get extensions for both 3/8 and 1/4 drive sizes - I finally broke down and got some "wobble" extensions and they are most awesome.
I have a 9" and a 3" extension for my 1/2" ratchet, the 3" one is the one I use most i think i've only used the long one to get the exhaust pipe off the exh manifold.
I did fine for years with a 3/8" drive torque wrench, only borrowing my neighbors larger one once for something that needed torqueing to over 150 lbs... I finally got a larger one (1/2" drive) that will torque to 250 or so. a 3/8" one should do you fine for a good while.
many of the factory clamps use 9mm or smaller sizes - which i use with a 1/4" drive ratchet. if you have screwdriver bits, then also get a 1/4" socket. you can put the 1/4" socket on the ratchet, and then slip a driver bit right in it. works great for areas too small to get a screwdriver into, also great if you need a good deal of torque to break a screw loose (perfect for removing the intake plenum cover plate (use a phillips #3 size bit))
Get a large, long phillips screwdriver - I would die without mine!
a set of gearwrenches has proven to be invaluable - i picked up a 4-pc set about 4 months ago, and i wouldnt leave home without them! make sure you get 10, 12 and 14 (the 4-pc set comes with those plus a 13, which works on most aftermarket battery post connectors 13mm =- 1/2").
deep sockets are great, i use them at least as much as my short ones.
one VERY important thing though. ALWAYS and i do mean ALWAYS, use a socket where possible. if you try and do everythign with a phillips screwdriver, then you will most likely end up making the head of the bolt look like crap. MUCH more torque is generated with a socket/ratchet than a screwdriver, and an engine compartment filled with goobered up bolts is not a pretty thing. I would say that 90% of the 10mm bolts in your z, also have a phillips head on them. Pretend they dont. use a socket. If you look at your air filter housing, you will probably see what I mean - they are probably goobered up. (jiffy lube guys prolly used a freakin screwdriver on them). if you cant get a socket on it, thats what the LARGE long phillips screwdriver is for, a small #2 phillips will turn in the bolts head and mutilate it to where you cant get it out at all without a socket - make sure it's a #3 or whatever size fits snugly with no play in it.
one of the best places to get sockets is a pawn shop. you can get tons of just the sizes you need at a cheap price. dig thru their bins, and pick out the sizes you need. I often find craftsman ones too! get craftsman or snap-on if you can, this way if it ever cracks, you can just go get a new one. If you go buy a whole toolset, it may have all or most of these things, but it will also have tons of sizes you will NEVER need in a Z (11mm, 18mm, etc). oh, btw - forgot that 16mm is the size that holds the seat belts in.
garage sales and car swap meets are also places where chevy and ford guys get rid of their unwanted metric stuff - i picked up a full 3/8 set (9mm to 19mm deeps, and 9-21mm shorts, plus a dozen or so 1/4" drive ones and some allen sockets) and rails to hold them for just 30$ - craftsman ones too! some chevy dood wanted to get rid of "that damn metric stuff" that came in his new toolset!
oh, speaking of allen sockets - 6mm ones hold the throttle body on, and 10mm ones hold the head on (hope u never need to pull that!). the 6mm allen socket that's about 1.5" long doesnt fit nicely without jamming it into the throttle body bolts. What I did, is picked up a regular "L" shaped allen, cut the short part off with a dremel tool, leaving me with a straight length of about 2.5-3" long, and I put it together in this order: 3/8 drive ratchet, 3/8 to 1/4" adapter, 6mm socket, new length of 6mm allen. this seems to work well and I dont have to strain my 1/4" drive ratchet.
driver bitss place in 1/4" drive sockets will just fall out, nothing holds them in. to remedy that I clean the inside of the 1/4" socket, take some liquid electrical tape, and put a thin coat inside the socket. let it dry and check to see if the bit fits well enought to not just fall out. may have to do this again to get it snug enough. i need to redo them every so often which is a pain, but it's better than losing some of those tiny bits down in your engine compartment where you never see them again! (or worse if they fall into your intake or something!)
10, 12, 14, 17, 19
Other sizes you may need (for more intense work) are:
19 (steering wheel and front strut ***'y to control arm, also rear control arms and other things)
21 (lug nut size and a few other things),
there are a few 22mm things (including front control arms and crank bolt),
and 24mm is the size for the banjo bolts on the power steering pump.
if you have auto, then 27mm is what holds the oil cooler filter adapter connectors on.
30mm is for the rear wheel stub axles which you should hopefully never need (they're torqued to about 280 ft-lbs).
for anything 19mm and above, I use a 1/2" drive ratchet, although, you can use a cheater bar on a 3/8" for things not torqued too tightly.
for 10mm and 12mm i almost ALWAYS use a 1/4" ratchet. even for 14mm sometimes.
get extensions for both 3/8 and 1/4 drive sizes - I finally broke down and got some "wobble" extensions and they are most awesome.
I have a 9" and a 3" extension for my 1/2" ratchet, the 3" one is the one I use most i think i've only used the long one to get the exhaust pipe off the exh manifold.
I did fine for years with a 3/8" drive torque wrench, only borrowing my neighbors larger one once for something that needed torqueing to over 150 lbs... I finally got a larger one (1/2" drive) that will torque to 250 or so. a 3/8" one should do you fine for a good while.
many of the factory clamps use 9mm or smaller sizes - which i use with a 1/4" drive ratchet. if you have screwdriver bits, then also get a 1/4" socket. you can put the 1/4" socket on the ratchet, and then slip a driver bit right in it. works great for areas too small to get a screwdriver into, also great if you need a good deal of torque to break a screw loose (perfect for removing the intake plenum cover plate (use a phillips #3 size bit))
Get a large, long phillips screwdriver - I would die without mine!
a set of gearwrenches has proven to be invaluable - i picked up a 4-pc set about 4 months ago, and i wouldnt leave home without them! make sure you get 10, 12 and 14 (the 4-pc set comes with those plus a 13, which works on most aftermarket battery post connectors 13mm =- 1/2").
deep sockets are great, i use them at least as much as my short ones.
one VERY important thing though. ALWAYS and i do mean ALWAYS, use a socket where possible. if you try and do everythign with a phillips screwdriver, then you will most likely end up making the head of the bolt look like crap. MUCH more torque is generated with a socket/ratchet than a screwdriver, and an engine compartment filled with goobered up bolts is not a pretty thing. I would say that 90% of the 10mm bolts in your z, also have a phillips head on them. Pretend they dont. use a socket. If you look at your air filter housing, you will probably see what I mean - they are probably goobered up. (jiffy lube guys prolly used a freakin screwdriver on them). if you cant get a socket on it, thats what the LARGE long phillips screwdriver is for, a small #2 phillips will turn in the bolts head and mutilate it to where you cant get it out at all without a socket - make sure it's a #3 or whatever size fits snugly with no play in it.
one of the best places to get sockets is a pawn shop. you can get tons of just the sizes you need at a cheap price. dig thru their bins, and pick out the sizes you need. I often find craftsman ones too! get craftsman or snap-on if you can, this way if it ever cracks, you can just go get a new one. If you go buy a whole toolset, it may have all or most of these things, but it will also have tons of sizes you will NEVER need in a Z (11mm, 18mm, etc). oh, btw - forgot that 16mm is the size that holds the seat belts in.
garage sales and car swap meets are also places where chevy and ford guys get rid of their unwanted metric stuff - i picked up a full 3/8 set (9mm to 19mm deeps, and 9-21mm shorts, plus a dozen or so 1/4" drive ones and some allen sockets) and rails to hold them for just 30$ - craftsman ones too! some chevy dood wanted to get rid of "that damn metric stuff" that came in his new toolset!
oh, speaking of allen sockets - 6mm ones hold the throttle body on, and 10mm ones hold the head on (hope u never need to pull that!). the 6mm allen socket that's about 1.5" long doesnt fit nicely without jamming it into the throttle body bolts. What I did, is picked up a regular "L" shaped allen, cut the short part off with a dremel tool, leaving me with a straight length of about 2.5-3" long, and I put it together in this order: 3/8 drive ratchet, 3/8 to 1/4" adapter, 6mm socket, new length of 6mm allen. this seems to work well and I dont have to strain my 1/4" drive ratchet.
driver bitss place in 1/4" drive sockets will just fall out, nothing holds them in. to remedy that I clean the inside of the 1/4" socket, take some liquid electrical tape, and put a thin coat inside the socket. let it dry and check to see if the bit fits well enought to not just fall out. may have to do this again to get it snug enough. i need to redo them every so often which is a pain, but it's better than losing some of those tiny bits down in your engine compartment where you never see them again! (or worse if they fall into your intake or something!)
