Wiring loom replacement project

[mrscalex]

Pretty much all back now. Apart from the arb and exhaust. I forgot to order the arb bushes and there is currently a nationwide backlog for 16mm Sport part. BMW Sep, Powerlex have manufacturing delays, Superpro 2 wk lead time. Trying to get a secondhand set for now as originals binned.

Also 1 tiny leak on new engine bay back hard brake lines. Refusing to stop despite nipping up.

 

[mrscalex]

@Scooblitz has already had the arb bush problem this year but with the 15mm part. Be warned.

2.8i 15mm Rear Anti Roll Bar Bushings

These seems to be hard to come by. Not listed on Autodoc and only place i can find them is in Denmark with Schmiedmann with a weeks lead time. I would prefer to avoid poly bushing and keep all my bushings oem spec. Hoped to get everything in one order with Autodoc but they don't seem to be able...

zroadster.org

 

[Synclare]

.

 

[t-tony]

Don't forget to fit the calliper slide pin caps when you're done.

Tony.

ps. Looking very nice there Rob.

 

[mrscalex]

Have you not got those shocks mounted back to front Rob?

Crikey better check if you think that. I left the assistant in charge of lining things up and he said that was correct - the worrying thing is he's usually the right one of us!

 

[mrscalex]

Don't forget to fit the calliper slide pin caps when you're done.

Tony.

ps. Looking very nice there Rob.

Good spot. Did that immediately afterwards actually.

Thought you might spot the caliper steady clips were missing. I need to get a new pair and have some old ones in the deox currently waiting to spray up.

 

[mrscalex]

Have you not got those shocks mounted back to front Rob?

Nice long debate here.

Location of rear shock lower mount spacer

New shocks have an offset spacer tube permanently inserted in their lower mount hole. The tube sticks out one side more than the other, so depending which way the tube is turned, the spacer can be put on the outboard or inboard side of the shock. In this video at 4:50, the spacer is shown...

zroadster.org

On reflection they do indeed look like they are mounted the wrong way round. I usually use Monroe but there seems to be a shortage of them too currently. Don't remember this problem with them.

 

[mrscalex]

Shock mounting corrected. Thanks Adrian.

Secondhand 16mm arb bushes tracked down and cleaned up in my ultrasonic cleaner. Will still be replaced later when I can get new.

ARB back on.

Wheels back on and dropped to the ground for the first time in 2 years. Started up first time too.

Hood currently being resealed. Then it will go outside for the interior to be refitted. That’s not been put back since the new loom. Just one important error code to deal with for a lateral acceleration sensor.

Will also need a good machine polish. And hopefully MOT’d and back on the road in the next 2-3 weeks.

 

[mrscalex]

Roof back on. If that leaks I give up. Used 2 full rows of butyl so not just double in corners.

And then... today was the big day. Pushed out of the garage for first time in 2 years. Driver seat fitted outside and then given a brief (very) test drive turning it around on the drive. Not quite time for the road just yet.

Ooh daylight. Covered in dust complete with gentleman’s sausages. James what do you know about that?

Quick wash and spun round under own power.

Engine a bit hesitant at idle. But fine when warmed up. We’ll take a look at that in due course.

Next up we’ll get the carpets and roll bars back in.

 

[mrscalex]

Best bring things up to date as we’ve been very busy.

Carpet back in.

Hoovered.

Vaxed.

Centre console.

Air duct/vent and air bag.

Glove box.

Passenger footwell plastics.

Driver footwell plastics & accelerator pedal.

Passenger storage net.

Looking more like a Z3 again.

 

[mrscalex]

And the roll bars. Speaker grills removed for a cleanup/respray.

Next job is taking the sill covers off to do some preventative work under there. Then bumpers & arch liners back on and seats in and we’ll have a complete car. A few mechanical bits & bobs including a full service to do. MOT. Then some detailing to make it all shiney.

 

[mrscalex]

Well it's been a good few weeks since the last update. Not quite as intensive as we had been but there was still many hours work put in to clean up the sills and covers. They were actually at the better end of things when we started but we wanted them perfect.

Very pleased with how it all turned out. You don't see these areas looking this clean very often!

We'll get the bumpers on next and we'll actually have a whole car again

 

[Mario]

Cracking job as usual what a Zed ! and the best color ! Waiting to see how the roof sealing went, did you just use two rows of butyl tape between the frame and the body or one between the frame spacer and the body and one between the frame body and the frame spacer. I was under the impression that the roof seal was a 3 piece sandwich affair.

 

[mrscalex]

Cracking job as usual what a Zed ! and the best color ! Waiting to see how the roof sealing went, did you just use two rows of butyl tape between the frame and the body or one between the frame spacer and the body and one between the frame body and the frame spacer. I was under the impression that the roof seal was a 3 piece sandwich affair.

Yes the roof seal is a sandwich. Rear bulkhead-sealing strip-roof frame. The vulnerable areas are on the curved sections where you don't quite get the same degree of pull-in on the screws. So you can either double up just on the corners. The first time I did this and it was successful. Or this time I used double all the way along. I did this on either side of the sandwich. The double all the way is a large amount of butyl to try and get accommodated. The biggest problem was getting the first (central) screw to bite as the assembly was sat so proud of the hole with all the butyl. Again, this seems to have been successful.

There is also a foam strip in there too that I replace. The biggest time consumer is getting the old butyl off. And also put masking tape then gaffer tape on top of that to protect the wing tops where you lift the frame off its mounts.

 

[Althulas]

Work has been top notch on this and has been a informative build. Going to a keeper this one?

 

[Lee]

Looks really good that, I like the attention to detail you've given everything.

Did you refit those rear brake rattle clips

 

[mrscalex]

Work has been top notch on this and has been a informative build. Going to a keeper this one?

Thank you. Well that's a good question. The whole notion of ownership is a fairly fluid one for me. With 7, yes 7 Z3s, I can't keep them all and need to scale back to 3. But it's unlikely this one will make the long term cut.

The long term fleet is anchored by Trudy. Trudy was rebuilt from a write-off and has a special place for us being the first car we did. I don't think I'd ever let her go even though she spends little time on the road. My car in Swindon is Peanut, a black 3.0 we are also very fond of. And in Swansea my missus has Foxy Geophys's old red 2.2 Sport with Lotus White seats. Immaculate and I would face likely death from her if I ever sold that.

All my cars have been distressed and or vulnerable to breaking in some way when I have bought them (apart from Foxy which is so rare and lovely I couldn't say no). I used to have a mission of stopping entirely viable cars from the eager hands of the breakers just because they are worth more in bits. So if I saw a vulnerable car and I had the money and space I bought it. But frankly there are so many people breaking Z3s now I am ****ing in the ocean. I'm also reaching saturation point on what I can learn technically from working repeatedly on the cars.

I am genuinely over the moon when I establish a long term future for them. But they've also taken from me too much time and too much money. So I need to scale back.

Anyway, a long-winded way of me saying I will enjoy this car (Willy) for a while and then sell it. But by then I think it will have been in my ownership for 4 years. Clearly a career in restoration and/or car dealing would be a very bad idea. Financially at least!

 

[mrscalex]

Looks really good that, I like the attention to detail you've given everything.

Did you refit those rear brake rattle clips

Thanks Lee. Yes, I think they were just in the Deox at the time so back on now and all painted up.

 

[Lee]

Clearly a career in restoration and/or car dealing would be a very bad idea. Financially at least!

I've lived this very thought the last 16 months, although the restoration part is great fun managing peoples expectations not so.

 

[mrscalex]

I've lived this very thought the last 16 months, although the restoration part is great fun managing peoples expectations not so.

I'm 55 in 2 years and always planned to step down from the big job at some point 55-60 to do something else. Potentially that's just making a bit here and there from my interests which also include dealing in the Scalextric and rebuilding lawn mowers. But on the Z3 side if I do anything at all I'm very clear the sensible money would come from dealing in spares/breaking not fixing/selling whole cars. If I do I'll stick to my breaking ethics and source cars from salvage. Another lesson learned with the first rebuild I did that it's not worth ploughing a load of money into something with a Cat if you ever plan to resell it. The moment a Z3 gets a marker it's stuffed for resale even if someone's just broken wind on the bonnet. So any Z3 that's gone through salvage is likely to be best off dismantled.

Those sort of activities I can pick-up and put down and go at my own speed. Expectant customers would not be for me either.