My Tatty TUB20

[Aaron MacQ]

Hey Z'sters,

After a year of posting all my '98 Palmetto 2.8 updates in my welcome thread (link in my sig if you've missed out on all that fun), I've just picked up a Black '99 2.0 in need of some TLC.



It's not a car I intend to keep beyond it's refresh, but it's that time of year I want a garage based hobby and it seemed ideal.

I haven't really got a clear vision of where I want to get the car to, but I want ot fix anything that's wrong with it, and if I can add any nice touches to make it more desirable along the way, then that seems like a plan. However, as with my other projects, I intend to log the progress as we go.

So far I've only driven it about 3 miles. Verdict, fairly horrible.
The suspension is 19 years old and it feels it. It's very very soft, rolls around every corner and wonders around all over the place in a straight line.
The engine was mostly smooth but with a few hesitations here and there, but the brakes worked!

To be fair, I felt exactly the same last year when I first drove our scrapyard rescue 2.8 so I know there's nothing to worry about.

The interior has had a crude fix for a rattle on the drivers door card. Well, either that, or someones pulled it so hard they ripped the handle off.... Either way, it now needs attention (replaced!).



The outer bolsters on each seat has typical wear for an 80k car, but no real damage and the rest of the seating is in very decent condition so should be an easy rescue.



Engine bay and boot space are both as you'd expect with no issues or modifications but the exterior of the car is quite tatty.



We've got marks on nearly all panels except the bonnet with some deeper scratches in the front bumper, boot lid (where there's a fairly poor repair attempt to what looks like a keying incident) and an area of lacquer peel from bird strike on the driver side rear quarter.

However, no visible rust issues, the sill covers feel solid, mirror bases are perfect....


Headlights need sanded and buffed...


Anyway, here's a quick walkaround vid from day 1...

Moving forward, I'll not be going all out like with the other Z, as this time it's about putting it right rather than making it my own. But, I've already made some orders:

• Door Handle Seals - £20
• New Ariel & Grommet - £20
• FCAB's (early e36 M3 type) - £30
• New BMW roundels (bonnet, boot, wheel centers) - £80
• All Plugs, Pads, Fluids and Filters for a full Inspection 3 service (Ok, maybe Inspection 3 only exists in my head, but I do tend to get carried away)
• Some Paint correction and detailing stuff - £50
• Seat bushes - £12
• Rubber Flexible Splitter - £15

I know i also need to source the following so any of the resident breakers (@spurs fan in a coupe, @mrscalex) can help me out, please get in touch:

• Drivers Black Door Card
• Fuel Cap Buffer
• Entry Sill Plates
• I'm sure i'll come across more...

I may also be interested in upgrading/changing some bits, so wheels, brakes, hoops, airbox, exhaust, perhaps the interior, and some other bits might be up for grabs in due course...

I'll not start work on the car until the weather warms up a little, but hopefully that should be in the next week or so.

Stay tuned...

 

[PHILIP BAXTER]

I'm looking forward to this one Aaron.

 

[Slam]

Should be an interesting project

 

[Shelly]

Wow what a interesting project
Good luck

 

[Ianmc]

Car seems to need TLC, rather than major financial investment. It would be interesting to take a "wheeler dealer" type approach to this if not a keeper, ie purchase price, cost of bits v sale price (excluding labour hours which will likely be significant). Only if you wish to share of course.

Most importantly, good luck and have fun.

 

[BMBabe]

Watching this thread sounds like a good project
But I spot something YELLOW is that a 106 GTi??

 

[DavidM]

You have taken on an interesting project - there's quite a lot of work involved in getting the car to a position where it will be an attractive buy to someone whilst keeping your expenditure to a level for a small profit to be made. It may be a keeper depending on how much you spend bringing it to a standard that satisfies you - best of luck with it!

 

[Lee]

Look forward to seeing the result, we did this same thing last year. We bought an individual 2.0 velvet and restored her.

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Thanks guys.

Car seems to need TLC, rather than major financial investment. It would be interesting to take a "wheeler dealer" type approach to this if not a keeper, ie purchase price, cost of bits v sale price (excluding labour hours which will likely be significant). Only if you wish to share of course.

Most importantly, good luck and have fun.

I will keep a log of everything bought, fitted, removed and the hours spent, as I have done with all my cars.
I'll happily share all the info on this once it's been moved on, but I'm not sure that would be a great idea beforehand as I'll probably end up showing any prospective buyer the build log as assurance that the car's been well inspected.

What I could do during the project is, along with the list the parts, I'll include time to fit/work etc.. and the RRP before I went hunting for deals... The only mystery is then the purchase price, any discounts I managed to find and how much I value my time...

I'll edit my first post with the RRP's shortly...

Watching this thread sounds like a good project
But I spot something YELLOW is that a 106 GTi??

Yeah, it's actually 1 of 4 UK supplied 106 S16's (it's euro name), although technically exactly the same as a late revision GTI.

Had it since new, and you wouldn't want to see the build sheet on that!. There's no obvious additions, but it has a Group N rear axle, 306 GTI-6 brakes, Peugeot Sport suspension, fully polybushed, some basic engine mods, door locks removed, and an obscene amount of sound deadening and stereo gear from the late 90's... Only 30k miles to date.
It's fantastic!


I'll do a wee walkaround vid next time it's out of the garage.

Anyway, back to the 2.0 Z, parts have begun to arrive...


So today, we received wheel centers, Meyle E36 M3 fcab's, seat bushes and an intake hose to fit one of my K&N Apollo kits...

 

[BMBabe]

Thanks guys.



I will keep a log of everything bought, fitted, removed and the hours spent, as I have done with all my cars.
I'll happily share all the info on this once it's been moved on, but I'm not sure that would be a great idea beforehand as I'll probably end up showing any prospective buyer the build log as assurance that the car's been well inspected.

What I could do during the project is, along with the list the parts, I'll include time to fit/work etc.. and the RRP before I went hunting for deals... The only mystery is then the purchase price, any discounts I managed to find and how much I value my time...

I'll edit my first post with the RRP's shortly...



Yeah, it's actually 1 of 4 UK supplied 106 S16's (it's euro name), although technically exactly the same as a late revision GTI.

Had it since new, and you wouldn't want to see the build sheet on that!. There's no obvious additions, but it has a Group N rear axle, 306 GTI-6 brakes, Peugeot Sport suspension, fully polybushed, some basic engine mods, door locks removed, and an obscene amount of sound deadening and stereo gear from the late 90's... Only 30k miles to date.
It's fantastic!
View attachment 72252 View attachment 72254 View attachment 72255

I'll do a wee walkaround vid next time it's out of the garage.

Anyway, back to the 2.0 Z, parts have begun to arrive...

View attachment 72251
So today, we received wheel centers, Meyle E36 M3 fcab's, seat bushes and an intake hose to fit one of my K&N Apollo kits...

OMG I LOVE IT!!!!! I sold my 106 Gti for my Panther Z3 2.2 it was Moonstone in colour but always wanted the yellow
Yes please post a vid of this looks awesome

 

[BMBabe]

@Aaron MacQ I actually miss my 106 GTI

 

[Aaron MacQ]

@Aaron MacQ I actually miss my 106 GTI

I could never sell it, although it's hardly seen much use for past 12 years. Been waiting for all the other 106's to disappear.
Have been planning to use it this summer tho, but currently has an airbag issue that I need to sort before it could get MOT.

 

[Lee]

I used to have an XSI ralle, loved it to bits. I would so do another GTI in sundance yellow! they rev forever and look amazing.

 

[t-tony]

I used to have an XSI ralle, loved it to bits. I would so do another GTI in sundance yellow! they rev forever and look amazing.

Now we know where the "Boy Racer" comes from When I worked at a Peugeot garage in Gainsborough years ago I drove the 1st 205 GTI In town, it was my bosses new toy, in black with red trim and interior, and, it was EPIC.

Tony.

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Now we know where the "Boy Racer" comes from When I worked at a Peugeot garage in Gainsborough years ago I drove the 1st 205 GTI In town, it was my bosses new toy, in black with red trim and interior, and, it was EPIC.

Tony.

You'd like this then...


My friend more or less got given a really scrappy 1.9 GTi (without an engine) and started looking for any Pug XU block to fit. I made a brief remark that he should find a Xsara VTS as it's the best OEM engine for the chassis, comes with the brakes, rear beam, steering rack that you'd want to retro fit anyway and the 5 speed box would be a straight fit. Basically it's a 5 speed 306 gti-6 in a different body. Anyway, a few hours later he'd found one with light damage on gumtree, bought it for next to nothing and this 205 GTI-5 was born...


He still has it, but it deserves a reshell some day...

 

[t-tony]

Nice that Aaron, being the first Gen of the 205 GTI my bosses car was "only" the 1.6 but even so it was a great car and in my opinion a nicer car than the Golf GTI which it shamelessly copied.

Tony.

ps. When the 205 came out the GTI model was a year or so behind and the gaffer had to put up with the GT model which had the 1360cc twin carb engine, and to be fair it was no slouch either.

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Well, the weather today was miserable, but it stopped raining long enough for me to give the car it's first wash and get up close with it for a while.

I didn't find anything new other than the roof was letting in a little water where the fishing wire type tension string (i don't know what you call this) had split out of the roof lining. Otherwise, the roofs ok, with a few stitches starting to go here and there, but watertight from above anyway...



Fortunately, my other Z has a great roof with no issues at all, so I haven't done much research beyond full replacements, but it looks like a few stitches around the 'fishing wire' would bring it back down tight and avoid any water getting in when washing the car etc...

Anyone had a similar issue, or got any suggestions other than replacing the entire roof, or should i just leave it?
If replacing, it would be nice to add a splash of colour to this otherwise black on black on black pile of black. To me, a red or orange roof would look superb against the black paint but not sure if that would help resale or not...

Anyway, until I figure out a the path forward, I've chucked an outdoor cover on it just in case.

Aside from that, I didn't find anything new, although must have spent about 40 mins cleaning off the sticky tyre gunk the previous owner had been using...

To be fair, when I first saw the car, I had noted the wheels looked poor and may need a fresh refurb even though they were done (by the same guy I always use) just 12 months ago, but I'm pleased to report after a good clean, they are in fact perfect, and it was just a collection of various dirt, tyre paint, brake dust and old polish that made them look that way.

As for the long term goal, I've been weighing up the options but decided as this is my first buy-to-sell project, and that'll always be the more 'affordable' 2.0 model, just to keep it simple and rather than try and push towards a full restoration, I'll simply fix what needs fixed, improve where cost effective along the way, get a fresh MOT and then concentrate on presentation.

It's got plenty going for it, low-ish mileage at 78k, rust free, runs well and i'll get the bodywork and interior looking great.

I guess when it comes time to sell, I can always offer to fit any upgrades, or improvements the buyer may be interested in as part of the deal...

Infact, maybe that's the roof solution right there...

 

[Aaron MacQ]

Well, it was dry for an hour or so this afternoon and quiet in work, so I couldn't help myself...



Couldn't think of anything properly productive to do in the short window before the next rain shower, so I grabbed one of my K&N Apollo kits and went about fitting....

First up was to remove the standard airbox...


Start by removing the unclipping it from the maf...


Unclip the coolant overflow pipe and manoeuvre the airbox out of the car...


Now, locate the new hose on the MAF and measure how much to trim off...


You'll need to fit the K&N airbox, and snorkel on the other end too to get it right...


I also have a K&N orion (which is overkill for 2.0-2.8) but as you can see it's a fair bit longer so if you wanted to fit on of these, you need to trim the hose to the shortest length possible each side of the 45 degree bend.


Anyway, now time to cut...


And wash away all the crumbs and dirt.
Don't want that getting into the engine (remember, this is the 'clean' side of the filter we're working with...)


And with a few jubilee clips and a metal mounting strip, it's on!


I didn't like the coolant pipe sitting so close to the locator bolt...
I imagine if left liek this, the vibration from the car would eventually lead to failure.



So, for now, I've added a cable tie, just to hold it out of the way.


And that's it... Started the car, it didn't blow up. Good job!



Right, back to the roof issue and I took a pic of the offending seam...


When the roofs down, this feels so tight I can't imagine any regular stitches holding too long...

 

[Aaron MacQ]

For anyone following this project, sorry it all went a bit quiet.

First of all I took the flu in January and that stuffed me for a good 4-6 weeks, and then I got really busy in work so have been working 50 hour weeks for the past few months so the car took a back seat.

Anyway, since my last update I had sourced a fresh drivers door card and handle and the missing fuel filler flap buffer from @spurs fan in a coupe and got those few issues sorted.



Next was to clean the thing properly and assess the bodywork.



I also swapped the old tatty BMW roundels and buffed the haze out of the headlights.



The paint mostly came up really well, although on close inspection there were alot of minor parking dings, and various blemishes on most of the body panels. Nothing bad, other than the bird attack on the rear quarter and a scratch on the bootlid, but to get to the standard I'd expect of my own cars, I'd probably end up wanting to paint the whole car, and in the back of my mind, I knew there was still the issue with the roof to sort, and at the end of the day, it was always going to be a facelift 2.0. If it had been a proper widebody 2.8 or facelift 3.0 I'd look at it differently, but given the cost/profit balance, I knew I'd have to make do.

So that was back at the start of March, and again with work, I didn't get to look at the car for another 3 weeks.

That's when it went a bit off-plan. The weather so far this year had been miserable but the sun had popped out and it was warm and I took the 2.8 out for a rip. Realising the new rear coilovers needed a few adjustments I took the black 2.0 out of the garage so I could work on it in there. However, I took a few pics, as I often do, but wondered if I was going to miss the boat on catching the spring market for roadsters, so a few more quick snaps later and it was up for sale on gumtree with factual account of the car.

I knew what the car went for 12 months earlier and what the local market would achieve if presented well, but considering the roof, and the fact I'd like to see if get new suspension and some bushes, and I still hadn't taken it for MOT, I priced accordingly and thought I'd cut it loose.

I got a few calls within the first few days, but due to work I couldn't take any quick viewings. However, the first guy that got to see it, made me an offer and I handed it over.



The new owner seemed to be a Z guy as well. He already owned a 1.9 but with big mileage and some other issues and he was looking for something fresher to work with. Given I hadn't MOT'd the car yet, he left it with me for a few days before renting a car trailer and taking it away.



I'm not sure how to feel that the project is officially over before it really began, but with under 10 hours put into it, I enjoyed what I did and would certainly do it again, although hopefully find a bit more time to play.

As promised earlier in the thread, I'm happy to disclose some figures and some further details of my experience but please PM me as I'd prefer to keep it off the public forum.

The gumtree ad is here: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bmw/bmw-z...150bhp-manual-low-mileage-76k-sold/1291963258 although I've adjusted the price after the sale.

 

[5harp3y]

Strong money!