Z3 3.0 2000 “Project White Elephant”

[Dakar Z3]

Hi Martin,

Yes I can get them done for you, or you can contact directly, the labels are not quite as glossy as the original they have more of a Satin finish but as discussed I'm well pleased with mine. I'll send my email in a PM and you can send me the pictures if you want or I'll give you the details of where to get them done, at the moment with Covid I'm not sure they are open, I'll check for you.

I'll contact tomorrow....................

John

 

[Martin Sullivan]

Hi all

I’m just finishing off respraying the engine bay. Would people recommend putting a matt lacquer over the top for the extra bit of protection? I’m slightly worried that paint alone is a bit soft

thanks

 

[Martin Sullivan]

Having painted the engine Bay Area I started to clean off the crusted on dirt oil and dirt from the engine itself.
I was using a combination of general purpose degreaser, brake cleaner and oven cleaner.
The combination of products has done a good job and it’s all looking a lot tidier (not that anyone will ever see it).
I was very careful to keep any spray from the cleaning products off of the new paint work, any that did over spray was washed off immediately. Despite this the new paint work had been stained. I opted to clean, mask and respray the affected areas. I’ve also applied a satin lacquer (because I had it, I’d of preferred matt lacquer) over the whole area. It’s taken a while but it’s come out a treat and will be far more robust with the lacquer.
I hope the finish holds.

The coolant thermostat, water pump, pulley tensions and belts have also been replaced.
With the front end off this is a very easy job and well worth doing now.
I’ve spray and brush painted a few of the bits around the front of the engine just to freshen them up.

I’m replacing a number of the rubber grommets and fixings as they’ve gone brittle and cracking.
Lower radiator pipe, power steering cooling loop rubbers, aircon radiator clips and fixings etc.
All relatively cheap and available from BMW.

I didn’t replace the viscous fan in the end. The original seems fine and I got the wrong one from GSF so that can go back for a refund.
I got a second hand viscous fan shroud from a breaker so that’s good, mine was cracked quite badly.

All in all reasonable progress.

 

[Martin Sullivan]

So chatting with @mrscalex, which has been super helpful, the next up and coming tasks will be:

replacing the crankcase vacuum/breather valve and hoses.
I’ve done a bit of reading. It looks simple enough especially as all the air box and wiring loom is currently out.
This guy talks fast and doesn’t waffle which suits me.

View: https://youtu.be/tMwVe0NAcZs

(Sourced online £80 with all pipes and next day delivery)

I’m also going to upgrade the DISA valve to an aluminium one (no this doesn’t stand for the Defence Information Systems Agency, its some German gobble-de-gook).
Again. Looks super simple and the DISA valve is taken out when doing the crankcase vacuum.
(X8R £65)

Finally the Vanos. This is covered in various places on the forum and there’s plenty of info online.
(X8R seems highly regarded. A full kit is £140)

 

[Dakar Z3]

Hello Martin,

I have just purchased the exact same kit from X8R and changed all of the seals today, I have literally just finished the job.

It's a fairly simple task, the only problem I encountered was once you have removed the allen head nuts from the end of the cams inside there is a small plastic cup with an o ring seal on it, oh dear what a pain to get them out especially the lower one, I made a little tool to remove them, I got a pair of small normal tweesers and bent the ends in a vice to act as a claw, after several attempts I eventually got them out. If you use the same idea make sure the end is bent small enough to get inside the plastic cap, to grip onto the central bar, as in pic.

The caps are recessed inside the vanos unit, an inspection lamp with a mirror to see inside the ends is also useful.

There maybe other options but this is all I could think of at the time.

Hope this helps

See pics

John

 

[Martin Sullivan]

Blimey. 17th February. It's been a while since I've done an update.
I haven't got many photos but in brief I have done....

Replaced all CCV parts.

Replaced DISA valve parts from X8R. I think this was a waste of time and money for me as the old one looked excellent. Nevermind. I now have piece of mind.

Removed and cleaned throttle bodies. The idler was alright but has freed up nicely since being cleaned with brake cleaner.

Sheered a bolt into the engine block. Stupid cheap rubbish torque wrench and my stupidity! Got lucky getting it out. Bought a new torque wrench.

Replaced all air intake stuff. Split boots etc.

Designed and developed the replacement power steering low pressure hose. Part 32411094452. As I've said elsewhere I'll produce a few of these and make them available to you all.

Played with the high pressure supply side of the power steering rack to try and find a replacement item. More to come on that.

Cooling system flush etc.

Oh and rebuilt most of the front end with the radiators etc.

Brake lines up the front. They're largely done so can go back on this weekend.

There is probably more but updating my progress thread has dropped down in my list of priorities at the moment.