Time for an overhaul of my 1.9 '98 BMW Z3 Individual

[Matt Barnes]

I would @Lee has probably done about a million of those so can tell you what’s best.

cheers mate......I've seen enough videos of people snapping the casing.... probably because they didn't use grease !!

 

[Althulas]

Or cheat out like me and use a poly bush

 

[Lee]

To be honest I don't use any grease, I go in dry like a savage.

But I do clean both surfaces.

I use a really big Record vice and the bush does sometimes move/twist so I just release the pressure and adjust to press on the high spot.

 

[Matt Barnes]

To be honest I don't use any grease, I go in dry like a savage.

But I do clean both surfaces.

I use a really big Record vice and the bush does sometimes move/twist so I just release the pressure and adjust to press on the high spot.

cheers Lee..it's really weird it seems to stick at the same point each time. I can see the bush casing is not fouling, and when I release the vice it just falls out...I might have to go hard or go home...and have a Diff rear plate in my Ebay basket just in case

 

[Matt Barnes]

Or cheat out like me and use a poly bush

I've gone OEM because I want to make an honest woman out of her

 

[Matt Barnes]

ok. so today is Diff Bush Day No.2

Not sketchy at all to prop a big vice on the bench with blocks of wood.

I noticed there were a couple of nicks on the front face which may have prevented the bush from seating properly, so I flipped it round and put it in from the rear of the case, which was actually better because it's a flatter surface.

I didn't have a long lever as all my jack stands are under the car !.... so resorted to bashing the vice handle with a wood mallet !

I kept going until I felt it bottom out....it looks like it could do with a couple of more millimetres though...

However, look how much is left out from the back... hopefully the bush is supposed to be deeper than the Diff case

but.... we're in !

 

[Lee]

Yay, as they say easy with the right tool, or was it something to do with the tool using the tool

 

[Matt Barnes]

Yay, as they say easy with the right tool, or was it something to do with the tool using the tool

I've ordered some extra long M12 bolts so that I can mount my Woden vice properly so I don't have to stop it rolling off the bench !

 

[Matt Barnes]

well.... with the Bush now in... something has actually been finished and ready to go back in !.... only taken 1.5 years.... good job I don't charge myself labour !! ... .. everything original and refreshed apart from the Bush and the gasket of course !

August 23...

February 25...

That speed sensor will get swapped out as it's letting the side down.....

guess the next stage is to start building up the rear end ready to get everything back on the car....

 

[Matt Barnes]

Slight change of tack today..... bodywork !... I'd been putting off attacking the rear quarter panels until there was decent weather... which was today

unbolted the hinges for the boot lid in order to release the last four panel screws. hinge screws are 10mm, panel screws are 8mm

et voila !... really impressed with the e-coat.... this is it just dusty and dried mud

and look how well it cleans up

now onto the order of business..... panel rust... in the favourite spots

I don't know what the black stuff is that was sprayed over the e-coat. It was the same on the inner sills, but about as useful as an ash try on a motorbike.

so it was out with the angle grinder and flap wheel to reveal a nice hole

it looks very tricky to weld.. especially with my skills.... so I'm thinking.... gulp... don't hate me here... JB weld ?.. it's not a huge hole.. maybe an inch in diameter... dunno at the moment...

in the meantime I've ground back and treated with Kurust

I can't get the nearside panel off because of the aerial and I need to remove the boot lid loom, to remove the boot lid.. I can't see at the mo if it just plugs in inside the boot lid?

 

[t-tony]

All separate plugs to each individual items. Just tie a string to each and label where it came from. Pull the loom (and strings out) then use the strings to pull them back in. Dead easy.

Tony.

 

[Matt Barnes]

All separate plugs to each individual items. Just tie a string to each and label where it came from. Pull the loom (and strings out) then use the strings to pull them back in. Dead easy.

Tony.

thanks mate....like an idiot I took the boot hinges off hoping to make getting stuff off easier...it's not and it doesn't, so I need to put them back to deal with the loom and antenna...well..loom definitely !

 

[Matt Barnes]

well today was bodywork day.... I invested in a fibrelass repair kit, some Isopon P40 (which I didn't use in the end), Isopon P38 and Dolphin Glaze.

So this is my area of focus.... and it's the same on the nearside, so I get to do it twice !!... the black is rust treatment by the way

incidentally, I also tracked down some body panel clips that were direct replacements for the ones of the car

anyway back to the panel repair !

once dried it was on with the P38...plus little reminders of the prepping process !! ....

used 80 grit to get level, then 180 grit to feather the edges so you can't feel the ridges

Then it was on with the dolphin glaze, which is self levelling and fills any imperfections

So all that needs now (as the panel reminds me !) is a light going over of 80 grit... then 180 grit... and then 320 grit... prime and paint... which wont be today !

 

[Matt Barnes]

well today was the turn of the nearside rear quarter to come off..... hardest part was pulling the antenna amplifier out the grommet !... but got there in the end.....so it was off the panel......again although a little muddy and dusty, the e-coat had certainly done it's job !!

bit of brake cleaner and all was good

must say she's looking a bit sorry for herself at the moment...boot lid unhinged but not unplugged yet

usual suspects on the bottom corner of the wheel, arch, but surprisingly not as bad as the offside

As I now have new panel clips, I'll be ditching these as there's no way you can completely clean these up

so a lot of grinding with the flap wheel on the angle grinder, revealed it's past... like an episode on Time Team !

someone had gone to the trouble of making a perfectly fitting patch.... then..... glued it in with body filler ! I mean, the fabrication is quite impressive, it even settles on a little ledge on a screw tab.

But... picking away with a pick and it managed to fall off..

now that the area is all cleaned up... I have considered re using the patch, but trying to tack it in...

but for now it's just rust treatment all round

 

[Matt Barnes]

well at the moment it's eyes down on the bodywork..... firstly I always told myself that one day I'd be able to get the car in the garage... and now I have !!

so let's get cracking on those wings !!

bit a bit more Time Team and dug away at what was causing all the rust on the inside.... turns out the stiffening U channel is "sealed" with some body seam sealer. So the any water just sits on this and rots through....I picked some of it out with a screwdriver and it was all surface rust underneath which bled through to the outside paintwork

I used a finger sander, dremel wheels and even a milling bit to get into all the nook and crannies

You can see the holes made my standing water as it can't drain out

More seam sealer picking out... rinse and repeat on the other wing.... and the same symptoms... rusted along this stiffener... I've arrowed what left of the sealer which didn't have rust behind it

Tell tale signs on the front

so I set to with the flap wheel and the Dremel with various grit of Dremel sanding wheels.... then I dug out my old friend POR15 and got a thin wide brush and liberally dosed both wings..... and this is POR 15 dry !... dries rock hard and shiny. I'm actually NOT going to replace that sealer, so there's now a gap between this stiffener and the wing and that's got to help drainage.

Now... onto the rear quarters..... I've always admitted any of my shortcomings , and given this bit would have been too hard for me to weld..... I cheated.... yes... I cheated.... that little patch I managed to dig out? that was put in with body filler?.. I re used it....

but.. this time I fibre glassed it in... made sure the sheets were criss crossed with plenty of resin.... and I have to say, it's now absolutely rock hard. The black is the Kurust I used after grinding off all the rust inside the panel

Then it's on with the Isopon 38 and I'll let that cure before I start the sanding process....

back to the wings.... and I hit those with 80 grit in a criss cross pattern (apparently, you never sand in circles) to remove most of the POR15 residue....then I used knifing putty to fill the small craters caused by the rust

so now I wait for that to all fully cure, before I start the sanding process again...

Isopon set and rubbed down ready for the dolphin glaze stage

 

[Matt Barnes]

I wanted to complete this session by at least getting the panels primed.... and we nearly got there..

right let's start with the offside rear quarter..... the idea being, get the filler nice and flat and also key the surrounding area (here up to a natural curve) as although I'll be painting that bottom corner, i also need to blend in the 2K clear coat. This will then be polished and in theory won't be a line in the clear coat... I did the same process for the nearside rear quarter, roughing the clear coat to a natural curve.

Same theory with both front wings, however, as they are small I keyed the whole panel making sure there's no reflection

once all the panels are prepped, a quick wipe over with meths (I don't have panel wipe) and it was on with the filler primer

I heated each panel in order to help the primer flow a bit better....

Results turned out ok...

wasn't entirely happy with the offside rear quarter, you see a little raised edge and a little bulge which I didn't pick up running my fingers over the repair

.

so I rubbed it down again when it was dry, tried again

looks better, but we'll see how it dries overnight...... needs 24 hours to fully harden so I'll update then ! worst comes to the worst, you just sand it down and try again......

 

[Matt Barnes]

well today was laying down some paint day......... all went surprisingly well..... and then.... I had to have a visit to the confessional....

let me explain..... so

started with wiping down the panel... ready for paint...... that little dark area arrowed in yellow becomes important later........

anyway... let's get some colour down


started off with two coats of fiji green and I must say I am really impressed with Tristar colour paint.... went down SO evenly

and this is how it dried......very impressed

I then did the other wing but it was very clear that what I thought was flat... was very clearly not.... so although the paint finish was fantastic... that's going to have to come off and be resanded

next up was the offside rear quarter and I have to say the colour match is excellent !!!

I actually finished just below the filler cap, even in person once the paint had flashed off you can't see the join

now..... about that yellow arrow....... time for confession........

once it had dried I noticed the dark area was actually a little clump, it didn't show when the paint was wet, but when it dried it looked like a relief map of Peru.........

so like an idiot.......I tried sanding it back......and of course because the paint hadn't fully cured, it just all balled up in lumps

in the end I had to go to extreme and get the angle grinder out and going back to bare metal.......

I've now refilled that hole with stopper.... and I'm now going to LEAVE IT !!!.... until next weekend when the paint would have fully hardened and I can try it again....

taking the positives.. if you ignore where I've been a complete cretin......look how even that paint is..... I'm also going to order Tristar 2k clear coat to finish it off with....

so next steps.... redo that front wing... then take the scotchbrite lightly to all the panels so I can then do the clear coat

 

[AntStark]

Looks great Matt..fancy doing my bonnet ?

 

[Matt Barnes]

Looks great Matt..fancy doing my bonnet ?

don't think my arms are long enough mate