Looking for a Z (Now found & Built!)

[Aaron MacQ]

I really appreciate all the time and effort you have put in to keep us all informed of the progress you have made. For people like me, who don't have the skill to tackle these jobs, these threads give us an insight into a world we wouldn't normally see.
Thank you Aaron. Phil

Cheers Phil.
It works both ways. I learnt most of my skills from Haynes manuals and enthusiast forums so it's my way of giving back.

Anyway, quick update for today.
Got the sills back, freshly painted.

Paint looks great and colour fine beside the old sills so confident they'll look great on the car.

Anyway since the old ones look like something from the bottom of the sea, I decided to treat the back to some por15 just like the inner sills on the car.


First coat going on..


I took the time to get right into the corners where dirt will likely gather and the rust would set in.


It was dark by the time i did the second coat, so no pics, but at least now i'm confident they'll never look like this in the future...


That's all for now. Still haven't got the rear brakes on yet. I've been trying to find a 14mm washer to ensure the HEL brake lines don't pass through the hose mounting brackets, but seemingly a hard thing to get hold of.
Homebase, Screwfix, Halfords.... nope...

Up front, I had reused two big washers that came off the old suspension components, but there's really no need for such large washers and had only 2, so need another 6 i think....

Might have to resort to ebay and another few days of waiting.

 

[PHILIP BAXTER]

Great work Aaron. what a change in those sills. Your dad is going to have a stonking Zed.

 

[t-tony]

Cheers Phil.
It works both ways. I learnt most of my skills from Haynes manuals and enthusiast forums so it's my way of giving back.

Anyway, quick update for today.
Got the sills back, freshly painted.
View attachment 51171
Paint looks great and colour fine beside the old sills so confident they'll look great on the car.

Anyway since the old ones look like something from the bottom of the sea, I decided to treat the back to some por15 just like the inner sills on the car.
View attachment 51172

First coat going on..
View attachment 51173 View attachment 51174 View attachment 51175

I took the time to get right into the corners where dirt will liely gather and the rust would set in.
View attachment 51176 View attachment 51177

It was dark by the time i did the second coat, so no pics, but at least now i'm confident they'll never look like this in the future...
View attachment 51178

That's all for now. Still haven't got the rear brakes on yet. I've been trying to find a 14mm washer to ensure the HEL brake lines don't pass through the hose mounting brackets, but seemingly a hard thing to get hold of.
Homebase, Screwfix, Halfords.... nope...

Might have to resort to ebay and another few days of waiting.

Aaron, I had to make my own washers. Luckily, for some reason, I had brought a packet home from Florida which I bought at the local LOWES store. These were 1/2" dia. (US still use Imperial measurements) and I had to open them up to size.

Tony.

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Aaron, I had to make my own washers. Luckily, for some reason, I had brought a packet home from Florida which I bought at the local LOWES store. These were 1/2" dia. (US still use Imperial measurements) and I had to open them up to size.

Tony.

You went on holiday, and all you brought home was a random pack of imperial sized washers....?!?

Sounds like something i'd do also, but on this occasion I just ordered some M14 washers.


I also got a few large penny washers from the same crowd to use on the outside of the rear shocks, but what turned up in the post are only 1.5mm thick so i don't think i'll use them. At least an M12 washer is handy enough to get hold of locally.

Anyway, hopefully get a bit of time during the week to get the brake hoses fitted properly and move on to refitting the sills, arch liners and getting it on it's feet.

 

[t-tony]

You went on holiday, and all you brought home was a random pack of imperial sized washers....?!?

Sounds like something i'd do also, but on this occasion I just ordered some M14 washers.
View attachment 51325

I also got a few large penny washers from the same crowd to use on the outside of the rear shocks, but what turned up in the post are only 1.5mm thick so i don't think i'll use them. At least an M12 washer is handy enough to get hold of locally.

Anyway, hopefully get a bit of time during the week to get the brake hoses fitted properly and move on to refitting the sills, arch liners and getting it on it's feet.

I bought them to do a job at our villa but ended up not using them and thought there's more chance of using them at home, so here they were.

Tony.

 

[g8jka]

Do you have a link to the washers? I'm going to need some as I'm doing my brake hoses soon

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Do you have a link to the washers? I'm going to need some as I'm doing my brake hoses soon

Actually, I'm not happy with the washers that arrived today. They are an M14 washer, but strangely they have a 15.05mm inner diameter which is too slack for my liking as the hose isn't held firmly in position. They had come from Bolt-World on ebay, so avoid those.

Anyway, rang a few other suppliers this afternoon that id found on ebay (haven't a clue where else to look) and asked directly what the internal diameter was, so have bought some more from another crowd, but directly off their site as it worked out a few quid cheaper.
Rice International (mr-metal on ebay)
Link - http://www.riceinternational.co.uk/...a4-grade-x-m14-diameter.-form-a-washers..html

I was promised they are much closer to my desired 14mm diameter and I should have them tomorrow so will report back if they are spot on.

For now, I've also removed the spring clips and left them in a rust remover solution to clean them up before painting and refitting.

Actually, i've just realised that I have a set of hoses sitting here for the M3 that i never got round to fitting and will probably have the same issue, and have clutch hoses for both cars too.... should have ordered more...doh!

 

[t-tony]

The washers I used were not quite the correct internal diameter so I opened them up using a "step" drill bit, like these.

Tony.

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Yeah, handy tool that. If these next ones don't work out i'll just drill out a 12mm which seems alot easier a solution.

Flip, just realised the time. Went out to the garage to see how the rust remover dip was doing, and 2 hours later, I'd fitted the rear shocks, painted up some parts, clips etc..., fitted the Alpine Head unit and run an aux cable down to the storage tray. Also found myself cleaning bits around the engine bay that will never be seen.

Until next time...

 

[5harp3y]

Yeah, handy tool that. If these next ones don't work out i'll just drill out a 12mm which seems alot easier a solution.

Flip, just realised the time. Went out to the garage to see how the rust remover dip was doing, and 2 hours later, I'd fitted the rear shocks, painted up some parts, clips etc..., fitted the Alpine Head unit and run an aux cable down to the storage tray. Also found myself cleaning bits around the engine bay that will never be seen.

Until next time...

i spent about an hour cleaning the underside of my bonnet ... i have a problem i think haha

 

[g8jka]

Any idea on what the outer diameter of the washer should be and also the inner diameter?

 

[Aaron MacQ]

What is wrong with people?


Ok, they've quite obviously sent M16, rather than M14, but again there's over 1mm of 'tolerance' that I can't tolerate!
So, I'm resorting to Tony's method and will drill out some M12's....

Any idea on what the outer diameter of the washer should be and also the inner diameter?

The hose fittings are just under 14mm (about 13.8mm) so a clear 14mm inner diameter is ideal for what we need.

Edit: just realised you were asking about outer... 20mm or larger should be fine and spread the sprung load nicely.

Anyway, in the mean time I've striped the bits off the front bumper and cleaned it up...




Also took a good look at the winglets. After a clean and polish, they're perfect from the outside, but down in the corners and along the bottom edge there's room for improvement.



If I get the chance over the weekend I'll knock off anything nasty and treat the edges to a bath in some fallout remover before finishing in por15...

Before then, i'll paint up the 20 year old black bits in Satin Black.



Boom, and aren't they looking great...


And here's a few bolts I was cleaning up....

On the left bath1 (Hammerite Rust Remover) for a few hours, on the right bath 2 (Carpro Trix) few another few hours, although I got the idea off a friend at Orchard Auto Care and would recommend his Iron Cleanse for next time...

After this I dropped them into fresh water for a few minutes and will paint them up in satin black as per everything else..

 

[g8jka]

The hose fittings are just under 14mm (about 13.8mm) so a clear 14mm inner diameter is ideal for what we need.

Edit: just realised you were asking about outer... 20mm or larger should be fine and spread the sprung load nicely.

Thanks mate, I've got loads of washers that fit over the hoses (could be more of a snug fit but should do), it was just the outer diameter I wanted to know to see if they are big enough to use before I start taking the old hoses off.

Keep up the good work, loving the progress so far.

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Quick update:

Finally.... something arrived that wasn't out of spec...

These are the M12 clearance 10mm sleeves I ordered for the rear shocks.


I did actually measure them and was pleasantly surprised to find a precise 12mm inner, 20mm, outer and 10mm length.

Link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281910119761




Shocks back in place....

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Got a few hours on the Z today. My dads away on holiday so I didn't want to do anything too major, so first up was to release the track rods as I know we'll be doing some alignment work shortly.



As expected the pinch is locked solid.


Tried a long breaker bar wedged between the two spanners but still no joy...



Time for the secret weapon.... a soldering iron...


Or more specifically, the flamer attachment.



2 Minutes later and it's free....
Greased the threads with copper grease and pinched it back up, then marked the current alignment with some masking tape at 12 oclock on both the track rod end and steering arm. Later we'll take a toe measurement and I'll use the tape flaps to measure how many quarter turns i need to get it back to 0 degrees (my desired toe-in setting).



Now, down to the rear and time to bolt on the carriers...


And calipers...


And now, after cutting some M10 (20mm outer diameter) washers with a 14mm drill, the outer hoses go on.
You can see the custom washer sitting just behind the HEL 14mm fixing. Good job.


And finally, the inner hoses, with 2 more washers each side. Bit fiddly to do without dropping the exhaust or removing the spare wheel carrier, both of which sort of get in the way, but with a bit of effort the jobs done...


Didn't have time to bleed them, so will have to do that next time, before refitting the wheels and dropping it on it's feet.

Then we can set a suitable ride height and correct the front toe alignment.

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Had an hour to spare, so.....

Bleed the brakes and mounted the wheels. Check out those disks and calipers... !!!


Next, dropped it to the ground and rolled it out of the garage to settle...

First impressions, front : LOW, rear : is that about standard height? Can't remember, but plenty of clearance... infact too much. A little disappointed. Expected to have to lift it a bit, but looks like that's it's final height. I could replace the rubber spring platform for a few extra mm, or even remove it for a few more, or modify the spring perch for another 5mm, but can't really be bothered. It's fairly sensible and might settle a bit in the future.


Anyway, the front is low. Will the wheel get to full lock without hitting?


Yup... just with about 1mm to spare.

Not sure this is a suitable ride height for my dad (66 year old)


Anyway, with the back about as low as it goes (without further modification), I'll raise the front 4 cm or so.

Back in the garage, and spring wound up 4 cm...
Now with the lower platform sitting right next to the wheel, I noticed that there's only about 1mm (or less) between the two.
Will probably order a 3mm spacer for piece of mind.



Still quite low, needs another 15mm lift i reckon, but will have to wait, as my daughters just home and it's nearly dinner time...

Looking like a car again though...

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Btw, wheel weights still don't fit, so temporarily moved to the outside edge. I have a plan though....

 

[t-tony]

Aaron, don't think you've finished with your suspension ride height yet, until you have given it a good shake down run it will not settle fully. When we fitted @Grumpy suspension at my place it looked as though it hadn't lowered it one bit, but after a good run round some country lanes when he came back into the garage the difference was immense.

Tony.

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Aaron, don't think you've finished with your suspension ride height yet, until you have given it a good shake down run it will not settle fully. When we fitted @Grumpy suspension at my place it looked as though it hadn't lowered it one bit, but after a good run round some country lanes when he came back into the garage the difference was immense.

Tony.

To be fair, at the rear, it's currently sitting at the sort of height i wanted for my dad anyway. If it drops further, great, as I'd like the ability to drop it all the way for a bit of summer fun when he's away on holiday but wont matter if it doesn't.

 

[PHILIP BAXTER]

I'm loving this thread. I just wish I had the skills to do the jobs you are tackling Aaron. Keep up the good work mate.