Good decision I think Mike. More to life than just Z3s!
Bleed'in Brakes!
- Thread starter Mike68
- Start date
Sounds like a good idea if only for domestic harmony! Once upon a time I found myself (and wife) in Drumnadrochit with a seriously blown exhaust on my three year old Hillman Hunter (exhausts didn't last long in those days). In 1971 Tom Farmer had yet to start his Kwik Fit business and the best I could do was get an exhaust bandage from Halfords in Inverness with the intention of getting a new system fitted in Edinburgh. Ha ha! No exhaust centres even in the Scottish capital back then, so I had to hope that the bandage would hold out for my 400 mile homeward journey to the Thames Valley. It did, amazingly, and a new system was fitted five miles from home. Good Luck with the fix.
Bless 'em the old Hillman Hunters. My Mum and Dad's 2nd car bought the year I was born in 1968. Same as your's @motco! Regarded as reliable tanks but looking back that thing was in and out of workshops. Especially for exhausts! Here it is in the background on the left with me sat between me Nan and Mum 
It did make it to 12 years old though which was quite remarkable for a car in those days.
It did make it to 12 years old though which was quite remarkable for a car in those days.
Yep, I had the pleasure of fitting exhausts on them too. Sometimes the rubber hangers still had tread on them when they were new. They were old tyres cut into strips.
Tony.
Tony.
TGY551F was mine if I recall. It needed a new rubber shoe on the timing chain tensioner from time to time, and like all cars of the day, exhausts. But it was streets ahead of my 1960 Triumph Herald that preceded it. Now that was an old nail!
TYO853F. Replaced by an Allegro which was surprisingly good in all fairness. It soldiered on for another couple of years after my Dad sold it. Before going to the big car park in the sky.
Did your brakes get sorted out eventually?
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- Apr 29, 2015
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To cut a long story short I eventually hired a trailer (there is a story there too) & took it to a good mechanic (MOT had by now expired). He simply gravity bled the system. However, it took him ages and he said he'd almost given up before a few tiny air bubbles came out. I finally got the car back the day before I was going away in it for a couple of nights with my wife for our wedding anniversary. Whilst the pedal is much better & the brakes bite fine, there is still more pedal travel than before all of this. I'm away from home for work again, but intend to put a good few litres more DO4 4 through the system whilst running the ABS pump with the BMW software to see if I can't get some more air out.
I'll make dam sure I don't ever let air into top of the system again.
I think the answer is perseverance. I also think the half hour ride along poor roads on a trailer might have shifted something in mine before the mechanic bled the system. If it is safe to do so, I'd suggest driving the car to help disturb any bubbles that are trapped in a dead end.
Good luck Sean, I hope you get it sorted.
. Whilst the pedal is much better & the brakes bite fine, there is still more pedal travel than before all of this. I'm away from home for work again, but intend to put a good few litres more DO4 4 through the system whilst running the ABS pump with the BMW software to see if I can't get some more air out.I'll make dam sure I don't ever let air into top of the system again.
I think the answer is perseverance. I also think the half hour ride along poor roads on a trailer might have shifted something in mine before the mechanic bled the system. If it is safe to do so, I'd suggest driving the car to help disturb any bubbles that are trapped in a dead end.
Good luck Sean, I hope you get it sorted.
Mike, I'm pleased to hear you have it working again. Those Highland roads need a car like a Z. In 1973 I toured Ross and Cromarty (Ross-shire now I suppose) staying in a B&B in Gairloch for some of the time, and Fort William for a clamber up the Benn later on. Anyway, the car we had was a 1970 MG Midget and the exhaust was apt to ground over high spots and in steep dips in the road. I soon learned to look out for dark patches on the road surface on Highland roads (especially across Rannock Moor) where oil droplets had been forcibly dropped from other cars by the G forces created when they drove down and up steep dips in the road. Where others dropped oil, I stood to lose my exhaust system! This was during the period when the road alongside Loch Maree was being upgraded from a single track with passing places to a two lane single carriageway, and when BBC1 was the only TV channel available in Gairloch.
Must go back some time soon...
Must go back some time soon...
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I had an MGB roadster once, which was great fun on the West Coast roads. The 3.0 Z3 is a bit like a modern version of the MGC or V8. Even better fun though!
You must be of an earlier vintage than me. I remember when there were only three channels ( & BBC 2 was mostly Open Uni or a test screen).
Pm me if you're ever heading up this way.
You must be of an earlier vintage than me. I remember when there were only three channels ( & BBC 2 was mostly Open Uni or a test screen).
Pm me if you're ever heading up this way.
Will do Mike, thanks! Apropos my vintage, suffice it to say that I am post WW2.... just!
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You haven't changed a bit Rob...Bless 'em the old Hillman Hunters. My Mum and Dad's 2nd car bought the year I was born in 1968. Same as your's @motco! Regarded as reliable tanks but looking back that thing was in and out of workshops. Especially for exhausts! Here it is in the background on the left with me sat between me Nan and Mum
It did make it to 12 years old though which was quite remarkable for a car in those days.
View attachment 85750
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Three channels? Luxury. You try telling the young people that............
I remeber when channel 4 was launched and it was on all night