Fixing My Daily...Daily

Bringit96

Zorg Guru (III)
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Points
125
Location
London
Model of Z
Z3
Hey everyone!

At the beginning this will look like a 'what broke then got fixed' thread rather than a progress thread, however, this car is allowing me to learn and develop my skills, driving wise and mechanically, whilst at the same time slowly building the car up wherever I can

So I've had my 1.9L 1997 Z3 for around a year and 9 months and it's gone through a fair bit already. I do have plans for it so hopefully I'll get around to those!

Day 1:
IMG-20170103-WA0010.jpg

Here I am test driving the car. I was beyond scared to say the least. Whilst the 1.9 may not be huge, it's a world apart from my Peugeot 206 1.1L. The car drove and worked and I was happy with it. Then followed the 3 hour journey home, plenty of time to fall utterly in love with her! Although being honest, I was exhausted from making sure I didn't crash the car, making sure no one else hit my car... and looking out for yellow boxes and flashing lights ;)


First Mod:
From this
IMG_20170304_142922.jpg

To this

22426139_1575909079115174_461607348_o.jpg

17" alloys with bigger tires. I love the look but you can tell the increase in road noise.
Oh and a slight parking spot change :p


First heart break:
Failing her MOT with some small issues and a killer. Both rear control arms were rotten. BMW quoted £1029 a side.
The response from the forum was great. I don't think I've ever seen a thread turn from 'They don't know what they're talking about' to ' You're fmcuk'd mate' =))

20171017_165427.jpg20171017_165419.jpg

The garage who I took the car to for a second opinion said they can weld it with thicker steel and it passed its MOT afterwards! Everything seems to be holding since.

Heart break 2: The snapped spring that killed Silverstone

The week building up to the Zroadster taster day at Silverstone I serviced the car and got the pads changed ready to go on track. Unfortunately when changing the pads, the snapped spring showed itself.
After a few weeks of using all available luck both front springs were swapped out for Monroe springs.
For normal road use these springs are well balanced and well...not broken! Huge thanks to @t-tony at the Midlands Zedshed HQ!

Also, don't go for Pagid pads, they're hardly worn and now squealing like a pig:banghead:



Break fluid change:
The fluid that came out wasn't terrible but it had certainly aged. A new can of TYP200 fluid in and the breaks feel great!

8/6/18 Revision- A lot of vibration under breaking. Either I didn't bleed the brakes properly or maybe wheel balancing issue?

The current problem:
Leaking oil, the suspect is the oil filter housing gasket. More learning and more fun!

8/6/18 Revision- I've sourced the parts to fix this, gasket, bearing and bearing seal. Now I need to find time to do it. In the meantime the car is being fed oil like a rotary.
 
Last edited:

Jack Ratt

Zorg Expert (I)
Supporter
British Zeds
The West Country
Joined
Dec 3, 2013
Points
200
Location
TRURO, CORNWALL
Model of Z
2.8i AUTO and 2.8i MANUAL
Great post, it's all part of owning a 20 year old car and a big part of the enjoyment too.
 

t-tony

Zorg Expert (II)
Supporter
British Zeds
#ZedShed
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Points
226
Location
Torksey Lock,Lincoln, England
Model of Z
E89 Z4 23i Auto
"Every day can be a school day" is often said on here and it can.Both for younger owners and us more mature types too. No body knows it all. A lot of satisfaction in doing your own repairs too.

Tony.
 

Bringit96

Zorg Guru (III)
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Points
125
Location
London
Model of Z
Z3

Bringit96

Zorg Guru (III)
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Points
125
Location
London
Model of Z
Z3
Can’t believe those rear control arms I would go for secondhand replacements of one of our local resident breakers or eBay if no joy here and replace all the rear beam bushings at the same time. Great that Tony was able to help you out with the springs.
Getting them welded was the best option at the time but I do plan on replacing it at some point!
 

Bringit96

Zorg Guru (III)
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Points
125
Location
London
Model of Z
Z3
So some quick updates:

Post break fluid change:
I'm feeling a lot of vibration under breaking. Either I didn't bleed the brakes properly or maybe wheel balancing issue as the wheels have been on and off a lot?

Oil filter housing gasket:
I've sourced the parts to fix this, gasket, bearing and bearing seal. Now I need to find time to do it. In the meantime the car is being fed oil like a rotary. Still runs fine but I don't want to try my luck with it for much longer.
 

Bringit96

Zorg Guru (III)
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Points
125
Location
London
Model of Z
Z3
Some more quick updates:

Still need to fix the oil filter housing, hopefully can get that done before Silverstone in October.

Got my MOT coming up soon as well so I'll need to do a check on everything beforehand.

Had a talk with a very good friend of mine and his parents run a tarpaulin company making the covers for trailers etc. He said they could fix my rear window inc. the zipper which would be great as one side is stitched on and now the other has come apart.. Not only this but he reckons they can do the whole soft top! I don't know how expensive this would be but I'm going to inquire and get it worked out before winter really kicks in. I've known them forever so I know that if there are any problems with it they'll sort it out.
Has anyone gone this route before for a roof fix? How did it turn out?
 

Bringit96

Zorg Guru (III)
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Points
125
Location
London
Model of Z
Z3
13/10/2018

A few important jobs done with the help (pretty much did everything) of @t-tony

Oil filter housing gasket and bush finally changed, there may be another oil leak somewhere but its not going to be from there any more!
Replaced both brake pad wear sensors, tightened the hand brake and did a quick oil change!
WhatsApp Image 2018-10-17 at 20.07.06.jpeg
WhatsApp Image 2018-10-17 at 20.07.07 (1).jpeg WhatsApp Image 2018-10-17 at 20.07.07.jpeg

Video coming at some point!

16/10/18
MOT time! It PASSED :D
With a long list of advisories.... mainly playing steering rack joints, brake pipe corroded, brake hose slight corrosion to ferrule and slightly deteriorated aaaaand anti-roll bar ball joint has slight play OSF.


Sooooo Black Diamond brake hoses it is and maybe a brake upgrade in general?


Also got some tracking done for Silverstone on the 28th:D:D!

WhatsApp Image 2018-10-17 at 20.07.21.jpeg
 

t-tony

Zorg Expert (II)
Supporter
British Zeds
#ZedShed
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Points
226
Location
Torksey Lock,Lincoln, England
Model of Z
E89 Z4 23i Auto

Bringit96

Zorg Guru (III)
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Points
125
Location
London
Model of Z
Z3
Managed to give the z some much needed love at Zedshed Midlands. Changed the front pads and the discs so both have brand new Brembos. Thank god the horrible vibrations have gone.

Me.jpeg
Also it's the first time I wasn't holding a camera so I actually did a lot of the work :whistle:

IMG_20190330_1438002.jpg
There was still a lot of pad left but I wanted a fresh set on everything. When the pads were last changed the discs weren't so the uneven wear caused a lot of vibrations, plus the pagid pads would squeal a lot which was annoying.

IMG_20190330_1624103.jpg
Both discs had a nice lip forming, one needed a hammer to get the caliper off.
Will have the rears done soon!
 

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abh29

Zorg Guru (II)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
Jul 18, 2015
Points
105
Location
North Wales
Model of Z
Z3 2.2 Sports
Never had any trouble with Pagid.
Just changed front discs and pads after 4,000 miles --- unfortunalty the f/o/s calliper was sticking ,resulted in one front disc getting distorted. Don't believe in only doing one side so whole lot changed. When we checked the disc temperature with mates thermometer fronts were 160 and 120. Rears were both on about 30
From the difference in the car that calliper had been giving trouble for a while.
 

Jjim

Zorg Guru (IV)
British Zeds
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Points
168
Location
Mansfield
Model of Z
1.9 Roadster
Great thread and updates Al :thumbsup:
 

Bringit96

Zorg Guru (III)
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Points
125
Location
London
Model of Z
Z3
Decided it was time to add 20hp to the car, easiest mod that anyone can do.

Prepped a set of 2.2 calipers and carries to be fitted:
Before
IMG-20190419-WA0017.jpg

Cleaned and de-layered IMG-20190419-WA0020.jpg

First coat of go fast paint!
IMG_20190419_1926556.jpg

I'll finish up tomorrow, hoping the last layer looks a bit brighter.

This is actually something I've wanted to do since I got my first car, proper happy that I'm actually doing it!
 

t-tony

Zorg Expert (II)
Supporter
British Zeds
#ZedShed
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Points
226
Location
Torksey Lock,Lincoln, England
Model of Z
E89 Z4 23i Auto
Decided it was time to add 20hp to the car, easiest mod that anyone can do.

Prepped a set of 2.2 calipers and carries to be fitted:
Before
View attachment 100091

Cleaned and de-layered View attachment 100092

First coat of go fast paint!
View attachment 100093

I'll finish up tomorrow, hoping the last layer looks a bit brighter.

This is actually something I've wanted to do since I got my first car, proper happy that I'm actually doing it!
Good man. Are you doing the hoses or leaving them.for now mate?

Tony.
 
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