Bloody hell, your garage is spotless, you could eat your dinner in there
Write off....no way !!!
- Thread starter Mazza
- Start date
You can get industrial adhesives for bonding metal,quite a few cars have panels bonded (glued) as opposed to welded - cost grounds might prohibit it though.
Did someone say MansfieldNo we went @hardtop..........sorry I mean dutch !!!!
(And he still has another Mansfield trip to do)
Quick trip up A3 to collect new garage toy.
Compared to the larger of my Halfords jacks, ......... are no real comparison !!
Came with the 4 stands for £100
And collected these bits on the way home. . Thank you Andy
I feel a bit guilty as I can get the bonnet all reassembled, in my warm garage, unlike Andy who has to work outside in the cold.
Compared to the larger of my Halfords jacks, ......... are no real comparison !!
Came with the 4 stands for £100
And collected these bits on the way home. .
Thank you AndyI feel a bit guilty as I can get the bonnet all reassembled, in my warm garage, unlike Andy who has to work outside in the cold.
Had a go at installing the rear bumper this afternoon.
Its on....but needs some adjusting.
A few observations.
Fitting it on your own is possible but not the easiest job.
I removed the rear lights to give better access. EASY. ( undo the large plastic nut, remove the bulb holder unit, undo two 9mm nuts and the rear lens comes off ....although it was stuck on with dirt)
I’ll clean all these before putting back.
I had the wheel arch shields removed already, which meant I could easily get to the plastic side bracket nuts, which I loosened off.
I got a carboard box with a soft cushion and balanced the bumper on it at approximately the right height, then sprayed both the side brackets on the bumper and car with silicon. The nearside of the bumper was eased into position so it located , then lifted the bumper to align the offside bracket and got that located, then eased the bumper forward it located on the shock mounts. At this stage its fairly stable and not much chance of it falling off.
Trying to push the two large bolts through was a pain. One is above the exhaust which meant limited vision, the other side meant dropping down the spare wheel to get access. I ended up using the wheel alignment tool from the tool kit to make sure the holes were all aligned after which the bolts went in ok and screwed them in hand tight.
At this stage my thoughts turned to beer and dinner......so gave up and will do all the adjustments and final fixing tomorrow.
One thing I did find was one of the bolts was bent. Hadn’t spotted this till now, so used one of the front ones and will order one tomorrow.
I’m hopeful that the alignment should be ok as everything more or less lines up and the shock adjusters are greased up and work ok.
Might have to get a normal14mm allen key if my 14mm allen socket doesn’t fit, as I don't want to buy ‘ the BMW special tool’
I have a beer
in front of me and dinner 
is on 
Its on....but needs some adjusting.
A few observations.
Fitting it on your own is possible but not the easiest job.
I removed the rear lights to give better access. EASY. ( undo the large plastic nut, remove the bulb holder unit, undo two 9mm nuts and the rear lens comes off ....although it was stuck on with dirt)
I’ll clean all these before putting back.
I had the wheel arch shields removed already, which meant I could easily get to the plastic side bracket nuts, which I loosened off.
I got a carboard box with a soft cushion and balanced the bumper on it at approximately the right height, then sprayed both the side brackets on the bumper and car with silicon. The nearside of the bumper was eased into position so it located , then lifted the bumper to align the offside bracket and got that located, then eased the bumper forward it located on the shock mounts. At this stage its fairly stable and not much chance of it falling off.
Trying to push the two large bolts through was a pain. One is above the exhaust which meant limited vision, the other side meant dropping down the spare wheel to get access. I ended up using the wheel alignment tool from the tool kit to make sure the holes were all aligned after which the bolts went in ok and screwed them in hand tight.
At this stage my thoughts turned to beer and dinner......so gave up and will do all the adjustments and final fixing tomorrow.
One thing I did find was one of the bolts was bent. Hadn’t spotted this till now, so used one of the front ones and will order one tomorrow.
I’m hopeful that the alignment should be ok as everything more or less lines up and the shock adjusters are greased up and work ok.
Might have to get a normal14mm allen key if my 14mm allen socket doesn’t fit, as I don't want to buy ‘ the BMW special tool’
I have a beer
in front of me and dinner is on 
Got the rear end finished today.
Only problem was a bit of height adjustment and my 14mm diff plug socket was no good
So did I go out to buy a BMW special tool......no way......I made one......or at least a Mazza special that worked just as well.
The head of this wood screw is 14mm, so ground down the thread and then recut an 8mm thread on the end. Two nuts tightened together and hey presto ... a tool that would fit.
All good and worked well to take up a bit of slack, then bolts inserted torqued to 42nm, screws, clips and side brackets all tightened. Rear lights back in, and wheel arch liners re assembled. All done so moved the car outside and tidied up the bench and garage.
REAR END DONE.........NO !
As you can see I forgot to reconnect the two numberplate lights
, but easy enough to feed the wire through and clip the two lens pieces in that were still on the bench.
You will also notice the bumper bolt which as of yesterday was bent..... But I did a Yuri Geller on it
I only did this as I was told by BMW that I can only buy them in pairs !!!!
Then onto the front, replaced the front undershield as easier to do it before the bumper was put back on.
And then the bumper which is a lot easier than the rear one to line up, but I did spray the side brackets with silicon.
Fog lights easy but I now have a problem, in setting up the headlights. Not sure how to do it!!!
I screwed the four plastic headlight mounts into the chassis but the light unitsl dont appear to line up with the panels.
HELP !
EDIT.......what a t**t I am, I just found details in Bentleys ‘ BMW Z3 for dummies’ I really must start using the bloody index at the back !!!!!
Only problem was a bit of height adjustment and my 14mm diff plug socket was no good
So did I go out to buy a BMW special tool......no way......I made one......or at least a Mazza special that worked just as well.
The head of this wood screw is 14mm, so ground down the thread and then recut an 8mm thread on the end. Two nuts tightened together and hey presto ... a tool that would fit.
All good and worked well to take up a bit of slack, then bolts inserted torqued to 42nm, screws, clips and side brackets all tightened. Rear lights back in, and wheel arch liners re assembled. All done so moved the car outside and tidied up the bench and garage.
REAR END DONE.........NO !
As you can see I forgot to reconnect the two numberplate lights
, but easy enough to feed the wire through and clip the two lens pieces in that were still on the bench.You will also notice the bumper bolt which as of yesterday was bent..... But I did a Yuri Geller on it
I only did this as I was told by BMW that I can only buy them in pairs !!!!
Then onto the front, replaced the front undershield as easier to do it before the bumper was put back on.
And then the bumper which is a lot easier than the rear one to line up, but I did spray the side brackets with silicon.
Fog lights easy but I now have a problem, in setting up the headlights. Not sure how to do it!!!
I screwed the four plastic headlight mounts into the chassis but the light unitsl dont appear to line up with the panels.
HELP !
EDIT.......what a t**t I am, I just found details in Bentleys ‘ BMW Z3 for dummies’ I really must start using the bloody index at the back !!!!!
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A very nice looking example, love the red hood. Guess you are getting a great deal of satisfaction from doing the work.
Cracking job Malc. you should be very pleased with what you've achieved with a write off mate.
Tony.
ps. And looking at your garage floor I think that's on the "list" for things to do. Paint the floor, will make oil spills much easier to clean up
Tony.
ps. And looking at your garage floor I think that's on the "list" for things to do. Paint the floor, will make oil spills much easier to clean up
Floor painting is much easier though. Poor and roll.
Tony.
Tony.
Empty the paint tin and rub it in with a soft broom. You will do a normal garage floor in 15 minutes tops. Tip of the week …….. don't start at the door
Yeah, a bit like sawing off a tree branch eh mate?Empty the paint tin and rub it in with a soft broom. You will do a normal garage floor in 15 minutes tops. Tip of the week …….. don't start at the door
Tony.
If the glue isn't strong enough you may want to consider solder, great work by the wayOne hiccup, fingers crossed, is now sorted.
Looking at where the stud broke off, its been missing for some time.
View attachment 93735
So small wire brush in the drill and cleaned up the area to get bare metal exposed.
View attachment 93736
Using this, as was recommended for use on metal, but only time will tell if it is any good for this application.
View attachment 93737
And a bit of pressure to hold it tight for 24 hours!!!!
View attachment 93738
And I remembered to put a big thick wad of kitchen roll under the clamp on the other side
I also made a test piece to test strength of glue. I leave it for 24 hours then try to break it apart
View attachment 93739
Thats it for today.....dont like to work too hard
Light units set up today, and all connections reinstated. Actually found a sidelight bulb not working but it was on the drivers side which wasnt part of the accident damage. Luckily I had kept all the bulbs from the damaged unit so just swapped it over and all good again.
Took quite a time to get the shut lines right but eventually got them set up pretty much as the book stated.
Not a front view as it was raining and I couldn’t open the garage door anyway as the Kia was right outside. ( l’ve lost count of the times I have tried to open the garage and hit the car outside forgetting it was on the drive!!! The garage door hits the number plate then stops and closes again!!! )
Refitted the air box and new MAF hose, and other than the bonnet itself only have these bits left to fit....
As I had a bonnet and bootlid very generously given to me, that both had some parts fitted, and where I had to buy packs of hardware etc I have amassed quite a few spares.
So, I will check all the bits on RealOem, and make a list of everything with their part numbers and quantities and post it on the FOR SALE section at zero cost.
If anyone needs any of them just let me know via PM and you are welcome to them.
@Alan Slade and Maxine coming round on saturday morning to give me a hand with refitting the bonnet, then all done. ( other than taking it to a local garage to get the headlight beams checked and adjusted)
happy days
Took quite a time to get the shut lines right but eventually got them set up pretty much as the book stated.
Not a front view as it was raining and I couldn’t open the garage door anyway as the Kia was right outside. ( l’ve lost count of the times I have tried to open the garage and hit the car outside forgetting it was on the drive!!! The garage door hits the number plate then stops and closes again!!! )
Refitted the air box and new MAF hose, and other than the bonnet itself only have these bits left to fit....
As I had a bonnet and bootlid very generously given to me, that both had some parts fitted, and where I had to buy packs of hardware etc I have amassed quite a few spares.
So, I will check all the bits on RealOem, and make a list of everything with their part numbers and quantities and post it on the FOR SALE section at zero cost.
If anyone needs any of them just let me know via PM and you are welcome to them.
@Alan Slade and Maxine coming round on saturday morning to give me a hand with refitting the bonnet, then all done. ( other than taking it to a local garage to get the headlight beams checked and adjusted)
happy days
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Nice one mate, very well done
Tony.
Tony.
Nice work Malc you must be very pleasedWell done Malc, it's been a great read. Bet you're quite chuffed to be nearly at the end
As it is sunny, thought I get a picture of the front before the bonnet goes back on.
