Looking very good. I bet there were a few like that guy in the last picture scratching their chins wondering what it is!

Thanks LLM, certainly was some “tonic for the soul” seeing others reactions etc. Gave me a shot in the arm that I am heading in the right direction, no matter how long it takes!
Also got a contact with someone who has a set of Borrani wheels in his garage so he is sending me some info etc. Good show and good talking about it.....cheers.

Thanks fella, yeh a few foxed people as per the underpinnings....funnily enough it was the younger crowd who spotted BMW gauges the quickest!

The good thing was a lot commented that the proportions just looked right, which is testament to Chris and Dan back in the shop....Cheers.

Looking very classy and really fits in with the big-buck Astons. The 'Italia 275 GTB Prototypo' plates are a nice touch.

Is there a rear screen rubber with a chrome trim available? If so, to my eye it might be more in keeping with the rest of the car.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks a lot Mr T, really appreciated. The screen if you zoom in on the photos is actually sitting on top of the opening. The fibreglass needs thinning to get the seal to fit properly, so i’ll do that fit once the interior is finished and tidy.

I have the chrome trim sat in the garage ready to go so hopefully will be the end visuals that work....Yeh I liked that plate and I think it helped me with the fezza enthusiasts as well. Might keep some of that for the final badging. Cheers.

Good to see your continued progress.

The photos look better out in the open.

We are envious of your parched grass !

Ahh yes, just zoomed in and can now see the channel for the chrome trim.

I fitted new seals and (plastic) chrome trim to a 'Bermuda' hardtop (rear window and two huge skylights) for my Midget last Autumn. It was a real pain in the fingers, even using the special tool and silicone spray to lube it so good luck when you come to fit yours.

Great looking car - I think its styling hides the more modern windscreen slope better than most Z3 based cars.

Thanks Kidge, yes the grass is a bit frazzled round here at the moment, if you can imagine that grass is quite green compared to most places!

The exhaust sounded just about right out in the open spaces, gave a good crackle/reverb once backed off the throttle. Might be a touch loud for cert, but i’ll see what I can work with that.

Apologies forgot about the sizing of the rear lights for you so just done it. They are total trim dia of 145mm and light lense dia of 125mm.
Hope that helps. Cheers.

Quick wheel update, I have been offered (after getting my details in the show) a set of Borrani Record RW3591 5.5x15 wheels with knockoffs.
Originally probably from a Ferrari 400 Super America.
Have made initial back and fore but I think they are possibly going to be too pricey. But I do have an option to take 1 on loan to see if they fit/suit the car....They are bloody gorgeous but might be dreaming only! Keep ya in the loop! ��

I'm positive the Boranni's will be very expensive.
Have a look here:
https://www.truespoke.com/72-spoke-c...ce-wire-wheels
15x7 72 spoke cross laced

You need to be careful before jumping in and buying wires for this car. I bought a set of centre laced 6"-15"'s. They only just go under the arches and I've had to fit narrow 185 tyres along with the Z4 rear hub conversion. Most of the Borrani wires that suit the car will be the deep dish style.

Exactly. I needed to arch the rears on the 250 SWB. Looks good too.
Using 205/65/15's. Fronts were okay so far. Still need to install the coilovers.

Noted with thanks LLM. Being very careful with these....looks likely it won’t happen, but you never know. I think the guy has had them a while so if they fit there may be a small chance to do a deal. But I ain’t remortgaging the house to get um! Already have the new rear discs diameter reduced in case I do the hub reduction....cheers.

Love the way the angle of this photo shows off the shape of the car. :cool:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...febe4913_c.jpg

It is going to look spectacular when finished and painted.

Good luck, Paul. :)

Thanks Paul, be a wee while yet but pretty happy how it is coming together,,,,,just wish I had more dedicated time to spend on it. The older you get the more the clock is important and stretched! Cheers.

Lockdown Latest
 

Hi guys, hope you are all well in lock-down - Ironically it has given me a window of opportunity to proceed with the car over the last 4 weeks.....

Update:
- Under bonnet blanket fitted
- Grille and surround fitted (at least until body paint process and change)
- Headlight covers fitted and captive nuts/brackets manufactures and fitted
- Front number plate bracket manufactured and fitted
- Rear lights removed, bodywork scalloped out for an original look and primed/refitted
- Front guards manufactured and fitted.

General to do:
- Wiring tidy up
- Interior finish panelling and fit rear window
- Fit roll tube protection and headlining
- Doors and handles/locking mechanism.

Some pictures:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...afd9da10_c.jpgRear light clusters scalloped

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...64d87ba6_c.jpgLatest Rear

Here is the front end......

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fd740ecf_c.jpgLatest Front

Very nice :)

Looking good. The scalloped rear light recessing makes a big difference .

Thanks LLM, I may go a bit more aggressive with this before final painting but that may require a bit more strengthening behind the light pods, so thought this worked for now at least, but it does look much better visually....cheers.

Quick update - Door Mechanism
 

Hey guys,

making progress, Rear face of car is primed majority now so looks quite smart. Started work on the door mechanisms for the locks, came up with a "push rod" lathed and made up of aluminium. This will be bonded and jubilee clamped on the door handle push rod and will have a bush going through the car door skin and brackets etc for stability. "long key approach for protection of getting locked out.....

Some mock up pics.....

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e8cbdff3_c.jpgDoor lock pusher

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ebaccc7d_c.jpgDoor lock pusher 2

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...acdff1d2_c.jpgMock Up Door push

When I did my rear lights I used the recess's supplied but I did build them up on the back with P40 filler then glass mat. That allowed me to open out the recess's at 45 degrees to the full depth.

You will need to cut a rectangular hole in the door skin so you can fit the extended tab above the pivot point . If you don't do this there won't be enough leverage to push the button to open the door ! If you have already cut the outer skin to take the handle you'll have a bit more work to sort it out ! That's what I did on my car !

One of the best tools I bought in the past was this Drum Sanding Kit from Screwfix. Think it was about £12. Great for scalloping out GRP !

Hi LLM, thanks for all the above info, very helpful.
- rear lights good to know you bolstered the pods structure behind, I suspected that if I was a bit more aggressive I would run out of real estate!. I will have to think about this a bit more when I have the car on the road and progressing to paint. I do use the p60 grit flap wheels in my die grinder on the compressor which I have found to be very effective for the removal of fibreglass.

- door handle mechanisms you may have answered a partial question in my head about the force needed to open the door. I do have it popping with a direct button push, but until I had secured the handle on a trial bracket on the door I wasn’t sure if it was too great a force to overcome. Does anyone out there have pictures of their mechanisms using a mini door handle? I have some ideas but certainly don’t believe in re-inventing the wheel if it doesn’t need it. I may have mentioned before on my thread, plagiarism is the finest form of flattery!
Cheers Mark.

Here is the opening I made in the Z3 door skin and my Mk1 extended plate screwed in place. The Mk2 was 8mm or so taller and with two mounting screws. The Mk2 was 316 polished stainless which when greased gives a very smooth operation when you press the Mini handle button. Sorry I haven't got a photo of the Mk2 mods.
The spindle running from left to right is the pivoting point. You can't be too close to that with the Mini plunger, it simply won't rotate the spindle enough to open the door !
The rough edges were cleaned up and painted before the outer skin was fitted. I also trimmed the Z3 plastic outer lever back a little as it was touching the inner side of the outer skin when the Mini handle was operated.

Photo......

Door handle Mechanism
 

Hi guys,

Firstly thanks to LLM - Been a legend throwing me good ideas to minimise my thinking brain and grey hairs getting more prevalent.....Cheers.

I have managed to fit both sides striker plates to the doors, need of course some tidying and weatherproofing, but work really well. 3mm Aluminium striker plate riveted on to the door bar. Aluminium push rod that will be bonded and secured onto the end of the mini door handle plastic push rod.

I have fitted the drivers door temporarily, fitted the handle and it works well. Some pics:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...485deb74_c.jpgDoor striker

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ae23f810_c.jpgDoor striker fit

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b95ae7ce_c.jpgDoor handle push rod

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...702de76d_c.jpgDoor handle fit

Door-skins and handles initial fit
 

Door skins and handles have been fitted for the time being,
just tek screws holding on at the moment as I want to work an angle with the cert guy as to what he is happy with for temp fixings for skins before paint etc.
I may need to captive nut the door skins and bolt through the door for fixing. At least then I can remove the skin later on for paint and if needed for final gapping etc. Going to put a weather seal in the top of each door to minimise the water/moisture heading down into the door skin.
Gaps are not great but are workable, not too bothered at the moment with that. The L/H side of the car looks like it needs the body to be about 5 mm higher in places, nothing I can do now about that so good old profiling will have to occur to match the body to the door skin. I may be able to pinch half off of each which will help. Filler and sanding the outcome.....
Took the car for a "drive" into the cul-de-sac so I could warm up everything and get the trans working again. All door locks/mechanisms work well and are solid so happy with those.
Some pics out of the garage......

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e5f41798_c.jpgIMG_20200424_150631

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fbabebb7_c.jpgIMG_20200424_150438

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a0e1e377_c.jpgIMG_20200424_150359

Looking very nice indeed.

You are so getting there. Congrats

Dave

Looking good !

With regard to water getting down behind the door skin, don't forget to put a few drain holes in the bottom of the outer skin.

Roger that fella will do! Gonna flowcoat the inner of both door skins once finalised and create a nice easy path for any water to escape hopefully.....

Thanks Dave, been a long time coming together, too long but things will get there. My industry (aviation) is as you probably know getting slashed and burned at the moment so things are not hot for me right now in COVID. Looks like I am safe at present in my role but heading for some kind of “hibernation period”. Unsure what that means fully yet but likely reduced hrs for the next 6-12 months. Looks like plenty of time to work on the car, just the money won’t be there to do it!

WelshKiwi – First of all, your car looks great. :cool:

Sorry to hear your ‘real job’ might be at risk, as who knows what the ‘new normal’ will be for flying.

Good luck and take care, Paul. :)

Thanks Paul, it is what it is, 30 years in the industry has been fraught with times of crisis...just got to play with the cards dealt when they present. Positive spin, the car is getting the TLC that has been required way before this point!
Thanks for the kind thoughts and comments, it is great to see others responding well to how the car is coming together, with a long project you are always doubting how it is gonna turn out! Cheers.

Early beer o clock - rear window woes
 

Well not exactly to plan today, finished the interior rear trimming to the point I can fit the rear glass.
Tried the old classic cord fit method and failed miserably....as the slope of the glass is quite large, visibility a little limited. Not sure if my “ridge” for the pinch seal to sit on is too thick, but struggled to get it round the bottom corners and then cut the rubber seal with the cord quite badly pulling to get it in...

Net result I think it might have to be a new rubber and possibly some professional help.

If you guys can give me an idea of the thickness of your window ridges before you got your glass in appreciated. I have even’d out the dims around but don’t want to take too much away as you can’t put it back on easily!
Beer in hand so all will fix itself......Cheers.

Rear Window in
 

Hi guys,

finally the rear window is in. Took some professional hands (plus my scabby ones), one scoping attempt (i.e. thinks it will go in), one failed attempt (i.e. not a hope in hell getting the top in) and then removal of about 5mm all around the screen edge and re-priming.

Net result - third attempt, She's a tight one, but a bit of lube in the right places and she's in.....:icon_wink:

Going to leave the ali trim out until I decide what next steps are with it and paint etc as it may come back out again and the trim is the expensive bit and will damage easily.

Left to do:
- Finish doors - fixings and lock
- Finish wheel arches - 90% done need some self manufactured fixings.
- Finish grille - Need to Ali weld the slats together
Finish rear bootlid locking/securing mechanism.
- Last look over things and drive on D plates to the testing station for either the good news, or the "more to do" news......Getting close.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...87e9bbeb_c.jpgRear Window 3

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cdd22cdf_c.jpgRear Window 2

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...21c292f2_c.jpgRear Window 1

Very nice work, it's looking stunning.

One observation, though: I could be wrong, but I don't think the screen seal trim is just decorative, I believe it locks the seal and screen in place. That was certainly the case with my MG's 'Bermuda' Hard Top (in the background below) - when I restored it, before the trim strip was fitted the slightest pressure would flip the seals and let the perspex pop out.

https://i.ibb.co/2tMR4Wt/IMG-20200510-143538895.jpg

If it's the same on yours, your rear screen could pop out if you drive it to the testing station without the trim fitted.

Keep up the good work!

Hi Mr T, the locking strip is in the seal so the screen is locked. It is just the decorative chrome/Ali trim that I haven’t fitted.

She’s in and solid! Cheers.

Ahh, that's good. :)