Rebody 507 Tribute Build thread

[jaguartvr]

That is pretty much hat is done.

The central locking failsafe is a wire from the box under the glovebox to the boot, just touch the wire to the +ve terminal of the battery and it will unlock. This is why it is important not to have the boot opener attached to the central locking system.

Copied from my madabout build, solved by Gooka

Door deadlocking solved!
The doors deadlocking on the Z3 has been a problem as with the new doorskin on you simply cannot open the car.
The remote can simply stop working, I have a spare and neither would work. The only way in is to remove the soft top rear window. If you have a sewn-in rear window or a coupe you are simply b*******.
This has happened to me on 4 occasions on 3 different cars, only once with the roof up, I routinely work with the roof down in case this happens.
Even with the roof down it is a pig of a job to get the doors open, hence the tiny modifications to the inside of the door.

THE CURE

Attach a wire to the blue/yellow/red wire from the ZKE A104 module behind the glovebox. The ZKE module has 3 plus, you want the centre purple one.

Run this new wire to the boot, lock the car using the fob, touch the new wire to the positive battery terminal and the doors will unlock
Now I would love to claim this stroke of genius as my own work but someone is bound to grass me up so all credit to gookah on the Z3 forum.
Last edited by Jaguartvr; 18th September 2021 at 13:06..

 

[Pingu]

This is why it is important not to have the boot opener attached to the central locking system.

I don't think the boot has a deadlock and you can open it with the key. I'm happy to be proved wrong, as I have central locking, but my fobs don't work. The key works the central locking when used in either the driver's door, or the boot.

 

[Dxbolton]

I don't think the boot has a deadlock and you can open it with the key. I'm happy to be proved wrong, as I have central locking, but my fobs don't work. The key works the central locking when used in either the driver's door, or the boot.

On the 507 kit I have a touch switch to open the boot. There is a manual override to open from the outside in an emergency, and it’s not easy to access.

 

[Dxbolton]

When the door skin is attached what's in the gap. Air? Padding?

I'm wondering if I could leave the original handle in place and rig up a period looking handle on the outer skin that, when pulled, just pulled the original handle underneath. A rod bolted on to the original handle. So the original flap handle is still being pulled and no messing about with the inner workings of the mechanism.

I would need to figure out some way to unlock if ever the central locking packed up (again) though.

The new skin overlaps the original and is secured by screws and brackets on the lower edge. I will close the gap tighter between the two skins in the next few months so it’s a tight fit.

 

[Duncodin]

The new skin overlaps the original and is secured by screws and brackets on the lower edge. I will close the gap tighter between the two skins in the next few months so it’s a tight fit. View attachment 275867

Thank you for the photo.

I recently read somebody saying that their body panels wobbled about when they go over a bump in the road. Can't find that post now. But, can I ask, how rigid is it all. Does the bonnet or boot wobble about at all?

 

[Pingu]

Lots will depend on the torsional stiffness of the donor. The Z3 is not a stiff car. The coupe kit cars are stiffened by an internal roll cage, but obviously cabriolet kit cars don't have any extra stiffening. I'm not keen on them, but I would definitely use a strut brace on a kit car. I would also try to stiffen the monocoque in other places if possible. Make sure the sills and the boot floor are solid.

The fibreglass will be stressed by the monocoque twisting, but it won't bend and flex like steel does. It's not something that I've heard of, but it might be worth investigating mounting the body on rubber washers.

 

[Dxbolton]

The body is good with little movement. The doors are firm, the rear tub I have glued and screwed so is solid.
the front clam used original bonnet hinges and is secure. It will move a bit if you hit a big pothole but otherwise it’s fine, and at high speed it’s very secure. My smaller bonnet insert is bolted down internally so doesn’t shake or move.
the donor Zed had sport suspension and desperately needs new shock absorbers, but it very comfortable and secure

 

[Duncodin]

@Dxbolton Thank you. I must confess I was a bit worried when you said there was a 30mm gap between the door and skin. But your pictures explain it. Thanks.

No hurry. But next time you're by the car would you take a picture looking down on the door. I'm curious about how it attaches at the top. Sounds like it hooks over the top in place of the rubber trim? Does the kit require a different trim?

In some of tribute's pictures there's a door handle quite low down inline with that horizontal ridge. What handle is that? is that the one you tried first?

 

[Dxbolton]

@Dxbolton Thank you. I must confess I was a bit worried when you said there was a 30mm gap between the door and skin. But your pictures explain it. Thanks.

No hurry. But next time you're by the car would you take a picture looking down on the door. I'm curious about how it attaches at the top. Sounds like it hooks over the top in place of the rubber trim? Does the kit require a different trim?

In some of tribute's pictures there's a door handle quite low down inline with that horizontal ridge. What handle is that? is that the one you tried first?

The lower handle was the Alfa Romeo one that doesn’t work. I lost a month of my life trying to get it to work

 

[Dxbolton]

@Dxbolton Thank you. I must confess I was a bit worried when you said there was a 30mm gap between the door and skin. But your pictures explain it. Thanks.

No hurry. But next time you're by the car would you take a picture looking down on the door. I'm curious about how it attaches at the top. Sounds like it hooks over the top in place of the rubber trim? Does the kit require a different trim?

In some of tribute's pictures there's a door handle quite low down inline with that horizontal ridge. What handle is that? is that the one you tried first?

You remove the original rubber window seal, and the skin drops into the groove that it leaves.
I have reused the original seal on the new skin and it fits well. I had to modify the end slightly but it’s only Minor.
I’ll get photos soon

 

[Duncodin]

The lower handle was the Alfa Romeo one that doesn’t work. I lost a month of my life trying to get it to work

Did you try to attach the Alpha one to the interior mechanism or was it just attached to the old flap-pull-up handle. I'm wondering about attaching something like that to the original flap handle. Maybe mounting it an inch or so higher up would give it enough 'up' leverage. The original 507 has the handles just above that swage line (what is that horizontal ridge called?) rather than directly inline with it so a bit higher wouldn't go amiss.

 

[Dxbolton]

We removed the original handles and we’re trying to connect directly to the lock.
I could open and close door, but there was not enough movement to allow the locking mechanism to work.

 

[Duncodin]

We removed the original handles and we’re trying to connect directly to the lock.
I could open and close door, but there was not enough movement to allow the locking mechanism to work.

So my idea of a rod pull attached to pull up on the original z3 handle might work. Maybe at least worth a try. No access to the lock though so would need a backup.

Sorry. Another question. Maybe I should ask tribute but maybe you already know - Will the OEM hardtop still fit? I need to do a photoshop to see what it would look like but would be nice to know if the HT still fits.

 

[Dxbolton]

original hardtop will not fit as the gear clam is 20mm higher and rear wings are higher. You could cut down an original, but I sold mine instead

 

[Dxbolton]

Here’s the door fixing photo at the top edge

 

[Dxbolton]

And window rubber raised up on new skin

 

[Dxbolton]

So my idea of a rod pull attached to pull up on the original z3 handle might work. Maybe at least worth a try. No access to the lock though so would need a backup.

Sorry. Another question. Maybe I should ask tribute but maybe you already know - Will the OEM hardtop still fit? I need to do a photoshop to see what it would look like but would be nice to know if the HT still fits.

Finding a handle that PULLS up would be the hard part.
the push button down onto the original handle is tried, tested, and works well,
American Lincoln door push buttons would look good, with poppers, to push open the door.

 

[t-tony]

Some “kit” car builders fit a small push button switch in the bottom of the mirror casing to release the door lock. I used a similar thing as a boot popper on my old Mazda Euros using a solenoid from an aftermarket central locking kit. You could do the same?

Tony.

 

[jaguartvr]

TVR"s are not kit cars, bloody cheek!

 

[t-tony]

Cobblers, they are the epitome of a kit car.

Tony.