Time to get stuck in....

[Steve Medlock]

Real nice looking car, why have I never seen it at any meets

I only got it in May last year Lee and quite a lot of last Summer was spent on suspension, steering and brakes. I did manage one meet last year - hoping to get to a few more this year though once I've got through the jobs list.

 

[Steve Medlock]

Busy today until about 3pm so not so much time to work. Did manage to remove the exhaust and the prop shaft though, so I'm a bit further on. I was being a granny about the exhaust as it came off reasonably easy. Its a heavy bit of kit in one piece though. Still couldn't shift the other hand brake cable so I've squirted more penetrating oil and left it for another day. Hopefully the sub frame will be out in the next session!

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Had trouble with one of my handbrake cables, wound up cutting the wire and drilling the outer out of the backplate/holder from the front (through one of the wheel bolt holes). Needs quite a long drill-bit.

 

[Steve Medlock]

Back to work this afternoon. The sub-frame is now out.

I broke two drifts trying to remove the handbrake cable and then just chopped it as the Nefyn cat says above.

The diff bush inner parted from its casing with almost no effort which may explain things. The sub-frame bushes didn't look as bad as I was expecting to see but when wiggled with a rod you could see the inner metal core was separating from the rubber part of the bush.

The bolts holding these sub-frame plates to the chassis were a pain to remove due to the rust in the hex. I would like to replace these but they are £8 each on Ebay!!! I'll see what they look like after a night in rust remover....

 

[t-tony]

Back to work this afternoon. The sub-frame is now out.

I broke two drifts trying to remove the handbrake cable and then just chopped it as the Nefyn cat says above.

The diff bush inner parted from its casing with almost no effort which may explain things. The sub-frame bushes didn't look as bad as I was expecting to see but when wiggled with a rod you could see the inner metal core was separating from the rubber part of the bush.

The bolts holding these sub-frame plates to the chassis were a pain to remove due to the rust in the hex. I would like to replace these but they are £8 each on Ebay!!! I'll see what they look like after a night in rust remover....

Why not replace those Allen bolts with some ordinary hex head ones Steve. I could never understand why manufacturers use those stupid fasteners where there's ample room for a "normal" bolt.

Tony.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Wound up replacing the four small allen-headed bolts on mine, they weren't much from BMW, got the feeling they may be high-tensile types, don't know for sure but they could be under a fair bit of load at times (loony cornering mode). The big subframe bushes will come out with a bit of hacksawing either side of the dimples in the subframe, then collapse them a bit with a long thin chisel and they tapped out on mine. Used to do something similar on lorry spring-eye bushes back when I had a proper job.

 

[Stevo7682]

Well done Steve your certainly getting through it .
You've got some of the hardest bits out the way (getting all the seized bits out ) be worth all the effort when you're finished

 

[Steve Medlock]

Why not replace those Allen bolts with some ordinary hex head ones Steve. I could never understand why manufacturers use those stupid fasteners where there's ample room for a "normal" bolt.

Tony.

Actually that's what I thought too and ordered some last night!

 

[Steve Medlock]

A bit further on this afternoon. Managed to remove the old bushes. I was a bit worried about smoking out the neighbours with burning rubber fumes (especially as one has respiratory problems already), but by heating the eyes with the MAP gas torch until the rubber bubbled all around the circumference, they came out with a good wack from a club hammer. If the rubber doesn't actually catch fire, them the smell and smoke is hardly noticeable.

Just out of interest, I did try to see if they would shift using my ball joint tool above but there was no chance! The eyes were left fairly clean.

I'm hoping to get the arms and beam wire brushed and get some Hammerite on them if I have time.

Nasty old bushes. Even without burning them out, that sticky rubber still makes a mess when you walk it back into the kitchen..........

 

[Jonno Bee]

Good write up Steve. I've just started the same job on mine today. Back on shift tomorrow so nothing will happen for five days.
Are you fitting standard BMW sub frame bushes?

 

[Steve Medlock]

Actually that's what I thought too and ordered some last night!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171832084593

 

[Steve Medlock]

Good write up Steve. I've just started the same job on mine today. Back on shift tomorrow so nothing will happen for five days.
Are you fitting standard BMW sub frame bushes?

Yes. I've used polybushes everywhere else, combination of Super Pro and Powerflex, but I have standard rubber bushes for the sub-frame. I'll have to find someone local to press them in for me.

 

[Jonno Bee]

Thank's Steve. I did the front suspension last year using a combination of Meyle replacement control arms and drop links etc with Powerflex anti roll bar bushes. Fairly chuffed with the result.
All the best for your clean repaint and rebuild.

 

[Steve Medlock]

Not been much to add to this thread over the past couple of days as I've been hacksawing through seized brake unions and heating stubborn bolts mostly. The job has finally turned a corner though as I'm now starting to fit bits back on to the car which interests me far more than removing rusty bits. So, the rear anti roll bar has been refitted:

I thought the drop links would be hard to fit as the hole looked small compared to the end of the roll bar, but I put the bushes in hot water and used some rubber lubricant and they went on with ease.

The rear axle assembly is now rebuilt with new bushes and is ready to re-fit:

The SuperPro trailing arm bushes were harder to fit than I expected. Because they have a flange at each end, you have to squash them to get the end in the eye and I could only do this with pressure from both thumbs. Maybe me getting weaker! I took the beam to the tyre place near my house and they pressed the sub-frame bushes in while I waited - about 10 mins in total! As I'm replacing the brake lines from the ABS unit to the calipers, I'll get the main lines in place before I re-fit the rear axle - much easier when you can get at everything.
Tomorrow, mostly, I shall be copying brake lines. I have a set of HEL stuff for the flexible bits.

 

[Steve Medlock]

One tip for dealing with the nasty sticky black residue from hot rubber bushes - white spirit dissolves it almost immediately.

 

[Redsheep]

Brilliant Steve...watching with interest.
Only wish I could attempt this.

 

[Nodzed]

Thats a stunning Zed Good luck with the repairs

 

[Steve Medlock]

Brilliant Steve...watching with interest.
Only wish I could attempt this.

Ah, well that's really why I'm blogging this - to show that an OAP with average spanner ability can get through it. The main things are to research what you are about to do (and this forum is excellent for that) and take everything one step at a time so that you don't become overwhelmed by the size of the job.

 

[Jimmy Weston]

Steve well done mate your doing a great job there, I done the exact same job last year ,and the back end off your z will feel kind off new when finished,iff uve not refitted the new diff bush which isn't truly round,can be tricky without a hydraulic bench press , but can be done done with a large vice and a few swear words along the way.but no pain no gain , Stella job ure doing there!

 

[t-tony]

Not been much to add to this thread over the past couple of days as I've been hacksawing through seized brake unions and heating stubborn bolts mostly. The job has finally turned a corner though as I'm now starting to fit bits back on to the car which interests me far more than removing rusty bits. So, the rear anti roll bar has been refitted:

I thought the drop links would be hard to fit as the hole looked small compared to the end of the roll bar, but I put the bushes in hot water and used some rubber lubricant and they went on with ease.

The rear axle assembly is now rebuilt with new bushes and is ready to re-fit:

The SuperPro trailing arm bushes were harder to fit than I expected. Because they have a flange at each end, you have to squash them to get the end in the eye and I could only do this with pressure from both thumbs. Maybe me getting weaker! I took the beam to the tyre place near my house and they pressed the sub-frame bushes in while I waited - about 10 mins in total! As I'm replacing the brake lines from the ABS unit to the calipers, I'll get the main lines in place before I re-fit the rear axle - much easier when you can get at everything.
Tomorrow, mostly, I shall be copying brake lines. I have a set of HEL stuff for the flexible bits.

Some great work Steve, are you painting the Diff. itself? Also what are you doing with the brake back plates, cleaning and painting when the axle is back on the car? IF the back plates need changing due to corrosion (of the holes where the shoe hold down pins fit) now would be the time to do it.

Tony.