I thought I remembered reading that they used the 65 Impala backing plates to do that Dave, but I can't prove it.
The Chevelle parts book is kind of interesting. It says in the front "For RPO Z16 parts, contact the zone office" so we won't find it in a book I guess.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Yes, i found out that the front spindle is different and they are worth about 6000 dollars if you can find them, so thats out, but the rears are a direct bolt on, just not sure if it is 64 or 65 to get
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Beaumontguru
MY BEAUMONT HAS 4 STUDDED TIRES AND 2 BLOCKHEATERS......AND LOTS OF OIL UNDERNEATH. The other one has a longer roof.
Re: Someone edumacate me, what's a Z16 Chevelle for $150k?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich-L79
-Full size Chevy drum brakes were modified and installed on the Chevelle chassis, the Z16 used unique front spindles -A narrowed full size Chevy 12-bolt rear axle fitted with Chevelle suspension brackets, all were installed WITHOUT positraction and included a rear sway bar and 3.31 gears -Full size Chevy power steering gear box adapted to fit the Chevelle chassis. -An AM/FM stereo multiplex sound system with additional speakers (an AM/FM radio was available on all other Chevelles, but not a STEREO, the stereo was unique to the Z16 this year) -14x6 riveted Kelsey-Hayes wheels with a relief groove machined in to clear the larger brake drums -A large flat dual snorkle air cleaner with a diecast 396/flags emblem (no cheap sticker here!)
There are also many other small unique items required to fit the 396 in the Chevelle chassis and these along with the many unique items metioned above make a Z16 almost impossible to correctly clone without spending Z16-like money to get there!
The "option" cost over $1600 in 1965 dollars and practically doubled the cost of the car compared to a basic Malibu SS V8 car.
Here are a few clarifications / additions on the items above:
-The front brake backing plates are unique to the Z16 (along with the front spindles as Rich noted).
-The rear axel is actually a standard 1965 Chevelle 12-bolt center section, with Impala axel tubes that are shortened to Chevelle length (cut on the inboard end). So the cut end is inserted into the center section, so that you end up with the larger Impala bearing seats on the outer end and the tubes do not taper off at the end like a regular Chevelle housing does. Then the regular Chevelle lower control arm mounts are attached to the modified tubes, so that the housing bolts in like any Chevelle housing
-Z16 also got boxed rear lower control arms, but original Z16 boxed arms are in fact different than the ones offerred in 1966 and up, so are Z16 specific (unless they were also used on 65 Buicks, Olds or Pontiacs too).
-The power steering gear box is a standard Chevelle box, but with quicker ratio guts than offerred in any other 65-67 Chevelle.
-Along with the AM/FM radio, a 3-knob multiplex that made STEREO in a single dash speaker and a single rear speaker was also available as an option on regular Chevelles. The Z16 got the Impala-style 4-knob, 4-speaker multiplex instead, requiring unique kick-panel sheet metal that is different from any 65 Chevelle that did not come with kick panel speaker (which is a dead give-away on fake cars and re-bodied Z16's). However, the 4-speaker stereo was also made available on regular Chevelles for the remainder of the production year after the Z16 production started in Kansas, although production was reportedly very low. Of note is the fact that the mulitplex in my unrestored Z16 has a Delco sticker on top with no part no., and the part number was written onit by hand. So they were scrambling to build these cars.
-The wheels are indeed 14x6 riveted Kelsey-Hayes rims. But the relief groove referred to is actually machined into the front brake drums (not into the wheels) so that the rivet heads of the wheels will clear the drums.
-The dual snorkle air cleaner base is the same as the 65-66 Impala 396/425 unit, but the complete A/C unit had a different part no. due to the chrome lid and diecast 396 flag emblem used on the Z16. So the service instructions decal on a real Z16 A/C has a different part no.
-The trans in all Z16's is the M20 wide ratio as Rich notes, not a close ratio M21 as stated in one of the other posts.
-Other options embedded into the Z16 package (in addition to the remote mirror and 2-spd wipers mentioned by Rich) were padded dash, power steering, power brakes, deluxe seat belts, and no glare inside mirror.
Rich is also correct on the cost of trying to correctly clone a Z16. To buy 100% of the unique Z16 parts, if bought one piece at a time (if they could be found at all), would cost well over $40K alone. Forget about the cost of the rest of the car and then restoring it!
On the cost of the car when new, the original window sticker to my unrestored Z16 is entertaining: $2,647 for a base V8 Malibu SS, $19.95 for a tinted windshield, $9.70 for front bumper guards, $32.30 for a wood grain steering wheel, $9.70 for rear bumper guards, $75.35 for a vinyl top, and $1,501 for the Z16 option!!!! Add a $47.75 destination charge for a total of $4,342.80. I'd like to have 20 at that price right now!! Jeff
Re: Someone edumacate me, what's a Z16 Chevelle for $150k?