Ace's 250 SWB Build
Hey there gents. I am a long time lurker/reader of this forum and finally pulled the trigger on a 250 SWB kit. First I would like to thank Chris at Tribute for working with me and helping to ship this kit over to the United States! I have been wanting to build a kit car for a while to have a fun weekend car to run around in and when I came across this kit I knew this was what I wanted to build.
For starters, let me say that the kit is great. I could put this together on my donor car and it would turn out very nice however, I am difficult and like to be unique so I will be making a lot of changes to the kit in order to make it as close as possible to the original 250 SWB. The picture below is exactly what I will be going for. Inside and out. https://i.imgur.com/GUjULRc.jpg?1 My donor Z3 is a 1998 2.8L that I picked up at an auction on a salvage title from hail damage. It only has 52K miles on it and other than the body damage from hail, runs and drives excellent. The best part is I was able to get it for a little over $2K. I initially wanted to try to get my hands on the 3.0L however these seem hard to come across in the US and if you can find one they are going for $6-$8k which was not worth it for me. From the research I have done the 2.8L has similar performance specs to the original Ferrari 250 SWB (similar 0-60 time, etc.) so that is a plus for me. Anyways, on to some pictures of the work I have done so far! Picking up the kit from the broker location in the Port of Houston. https://i.imgur.com/s24nx0z.jpg?1 Unpacked at my casa https://i.imgur.com/OMqvXyg.jpg?1 Starting to rip down the front of the Z3 https://i.imgur.com/SJHaB0c.jpg?1 Ripping down the back https://i.imgur.com/uPjtoI0.jpg?1 Sanded and rubber coated the front shell to protect from water/rock chips https://i.imgur.com/6LWKrQ3.jpg?1 |
Also got the front shell installed. I am retaining the ac (one of the negotiating points with the wife and in Texas, summers are downright miserable) Stay tuned for my plan to retain a cooling fan but not have to trim the bottom of the front shell.
https://i.imgur.com/PfdN5J9.jpg?1 |
Appears that you got through the customs hurdle okay. Great!
I made about a 2 inch deep cut in the center bottom of the front clam arching to zero across the front. can't notice the cut and work perfectly with the oem air condenser and fan unit. All I had to move was the oil cooler bracket slightly. Keep up the posts please, the second 250 SWB in the USA I believe. Mine is also a 1998 48K 2.8 manual car. Clean title. |
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I retained the aircon on mine, just needed to mount the fan back a little and cut a small area out at the lower front edge of the bonnet. This cannot be seen as the numberplate hides it completely.
Nice to have another build thread as there don't seem to be many at the moment. Although the main points of a build have been covered already, small tweaks can make all the difference. |
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Hooray, another build thread. Post everything.
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Ace - A belated welcome to the forum. :cool:
Looks like you are making solid progress already. Good luck, Paul. :) |
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Rather than keeping the factory 16" fan, I wired up 2 - 8" fans. This allows the front bumper to clear when closing without having to trim. The messy wiring is just to make sure the fans work when the AC is turned on, I will shrink wrap this week, and get the power steering line mounted back up! https://i.imgur.com/0vQfoai.jpg?1 |
Gents, random question about extending the fuel filler hose. Per the image below, what has everyone done with the factory fuel cap and assembly shown in the photo below when extending their fuel filler hose? Are you relocating to the top of the new hose and using the factory gas cap? Are you deleting all together? I am trying to get a plan together for how much clearance I am going to need under the body panel because I want to flush mount the filler cap.
Thanks in advance for the help! https://i.imgur.com/slK7Lwx.jpg |
I purchased a "J" bend from Summit and sectioned it to create a gentle ess bend, TIG welded the sections (2" OD pipe) and used some BUNA-N fuel-proof rubber and Seals-All to create the proper OD to fit inside the BMW filler pipe. Very little clearance between the 'glass body and the BMW sheet metal. I used a Sawsall to make a couple of vertical cuts in the sheet metal and bent the BMW flange inward about an inch. The supplied recess piece was widened (large Cobra style cap) and fiberglassed to the fender.
I used Rivnuts in the recessed part for the cap. Two 2" ID fuel hose pieces were cut and SS hose clamps are used for the connections. Very tight fit. The Seals-All is fuel-proof and will adhere to both the Buna-N rubber (1/32 thick) and the plastic BMW fill tube. One wrap on the fabricated 2" tubing was needed. I'll try to get some photos up this afternoon. |
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Welcome to the site, keep the pics coming |
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Some pics for you Ace.
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What helped me a little was the fact that earlier, I had to cutout a large section of the fender because of some "help" from friends while I was absent.
It all may be reached from inside the wheel well and in the car. |
A word of caution. From the first picture it looks as if the pipe drops down lower than the original filler, this will mean that there is always petrol in the pipe and it will also restrict the flow of petrol into the tank. Hopefully, it is just the angle that it is taken from otherwise you need to redo it.
Mine flows downwards all the way but it is still slow to fill. I did have the flexible type of pipe fitted and although it was 2" pipe, where it had the concertina section to make it flexible it also narrowed it down to 1.5". I swapped it for straight 2" pipe and it made it much easier to fill up. Sorry, ignore me, just noticed the picture is on it's side! |
Should have rotated the pic before posting. In a hurry.
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Hey gents. So I have a lot of pictures to upload on the progress over the past couple of weeks. I do have a question to field. I have noticed that there have been some SWB builds where the gas filler cap has been located on the drivers side of the vehicle. I am considering doing this, however I am not 100% certain where they are routing the 2" fuel filler line to the other side of the car. Could anyone share their experience with doing this?
Some progress pics are on the way.. Cheers |
Lancelotlnk is your man. Pm him of he does not see this.
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Here is a link to the thread and page where he did it. You will no doubt need further details.http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...ighlight=build
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