Tribute Z3gato (?!!) - Page 8

Barber · #1 6th March 2018, 20:38

It may seem heretical, but I will probably put the quarter light de-mister vents in the top of the dash as per the Z3 also.

molleur · #2 6th March 2018, 21:51

Sounds like a reasonable plan to me. Just do it!

Jaguartvr · #3 14th March 2018, 12:10

I have 3 of everything and still can never find the thing I need.
My big worry is that when I snuff it the wife will sell everything for what I told her I paid for it.

Barber · #4 15th March 2018, 06:31

IanA, there is no restriction on screwdrivers and pliers. You need to have them handy, so having them in a drawer in every room, (even bedside cabinet) is quite acceptable. Torches, Stanley knives and gaffer tape the same. I would like to rule out the imaginative use of gaffer tape in the bedroom right now.

IanA · #5 15th March 2018, 08:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barber

... so having them in a drawer in every room, (even bedside cabinet) is quite acceptable. ..

We visited William Morris / Lord Nuffield's house (NT property near Henley-on-Thames)on Sunday. There's a double fronted cupboard in what was his bedroom which contains a very comprehensive set of tools and equipment.

Barber · #6 16th March 2018, 09:34

The dashboard is out of the mould, but I cannot get down to collect it until the end of next week. I'll put some pics up then.

Barber · #7 12th April 2018, 14:08

Today I collected the dashboard from Tribute, and after I have done a little tarting up, will post a picture. It works well for me.

Chris had done some quick and dirty work putting together the front end and we were able to discuss some options regarding angle of the nose (to get the right amount of droop), treatment of the front side wing panels, vents etc, and how close to the front edge the grill should be. The bonnet may yet be hinged at the front. It already looks good with the Mondeo grill in place, not "Ford" at all. Sorry, no pics yet, it wouldn't be fair, so I didn't take any.

The revised roof on Welsh Kiwi's 275 looks really good "in the flesh" and is going to work really well with Zagato type styling. Where the 275 has a recessed blank to the rear of stock z3 windows, I will not have the recess, so the door/window will fit with the roof/side flowing into the rear quarter lights.
Chris is thinking of adapting shortened Scimitar rear quarter lights for this but we will see.

We had been thinking of an Alfa GT rear window, but the new 275 roof, being wider means a re-think - possibly an inverted Scimitar windscreen.

Apart from me twiddling with the dash, nothing much will happen until Welsh Kiwi's 275 is shipped at the end of the month. Can't wait.

Barber · #8 16th April 2018, 08:44

Saturday was the first day for weeks where it looked OK to work outside without rain cover. After a leisurely late breakfast that stretched into early afternoon, I gathered all the bits required from around the house and garage, then found I had parked the IQ a little too close to the Z3 driver door, so thought I would get in the passenger side of the Z3 and scoot across so I could move it as I couldn't be bothered to walk the 10 metres to get the IQ key. Wrong choice.

For those that have not tried it, DON'T. Strained my thigh, pulled a muscle in my back and very nearly kicked off the indicator stalk, twice (once for the thigh strain, then for the back tweak). Apart from bashing my head on the side window when I spasmed with the back. Then discovered that the car would not start because the battery was nearly flat again. Yesterday was lost to re-charging the battery, again. We are off to visit friends near Rugby for a few days, so should be back home again in time for the next wave of rainy weather. Hopefully the solar trickle charger will work well enough to keep the battery charged.

SWMBO has suggested that I take the car to someone who knows what they are doing. She may be right.

froggyman · #9 16th April 2018, 10:14

SWMBO has suggested that I take the car to someone who knows what they are doing. She may be right.

Sometimes it is better to do that than spend days trying to find something that they can find in minutes. Frustration and pain can also lead to a 'Swan Vesta' moment of madness.

Barber · #10 16th April 2018, 10:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by froggyman

SWMBO has suggested that I take the car to someone who knows what they are doing. She may be right.

Sometimes it is better to do that than spend days trying to find something that they can find in minutes. Frustration and pain can also lead to a 'Swan Vesta' moment of madness.

You are probably right. Now that I have got the actuator, I will probably fit it. As it is a relatively simple process (if you have the space and decent weather). But now the ABS and brake fluid warning lights have come on again. No problem with fluid level, and the front brakes were done a couple of months ago. The back ones should be good for several thousand miles yet.

There is a good BMW indy nearby, so I may get him to plug it in to do the diagnostic testing and any rectification if the parked and locked draw remains high.

Barber · #11 18th April 2018, 12:11

I know which fuse, and lost actuator is most likely offender of the several items connected.

Barber · #12 18th April 2018, 16:53

On the first truly sunny day of the year, I goofed off prepping the Z3 and went to Stratford on Avon with friends.

We found this....

On the way to the Dirty Duck for lunch. It is a DB6 series 2. Lunch was G&T for starters followed by G&T for mains.

IanA · #13 19th April 2018, 06:58

Yes , the warm weather certainly brings them out. We were in Stratford-U-A at the weekend but saw this at the Burford Garden Centre:

It's a Proteus C-Type replica.

Barber · #14 20th April 2018, 16:49

So after all the bad weather delays, today was the day. Followed the instructions for removal from a blog and it went like a dream, up to a point. getting the actuator fitted actually.

Getting the lock back in was a nightmare, and after 2 hours frying (my hands almost literally off the hot door) I decided to have a rest, and came back for round two after a cup of tea. Eventually got the lock in, re-connected the battery and tested, and found it was useless as some functions did not activate. So much for ebay bargains. So took it all out and re-fitted the old one, that was nearly as difficult as the first time, tested, checked the draw at the fuse (back to .26A - it was up to .6A last time), but now I couldn't get the window guide back in. 2 more hours of failure. Most of the blogs just say "reverse the removal procedure to re-assemble".

I went back to the notes I had printed off the blog, and found that I had missed the last paragraph, about removing the window rubber seals to make an impossible job only very difficult. Job for tomorrow.

However, I got filthy greasy as well as hot and sweaty, and avoided any household tasks, so all in all a proper boys day.

Welshkiwi · #15 21st April 2018, 18:14

A bit unlucky there Barber, but all in all we know days like this happen. Difficult to not get a bit testy about them tho! Sounds like a slightly stronger cups required at the end of the day? ��
I am currently researching my own “nightmare in waiting”. I need to speak to the guy who will doing the testing for my low volume cert, as I don’t think the fuel filler attachment options to the original tank neck I have seen on the forum will pass over here. I am thinking the tank may have to come out of the car to completely seal off the cut and the breather pipe areas. I could have a few of your yesterdays to come! Best of luck.....

Jaguartvr · #16 21st April 2018, 18:41

The fixing of the tank filler isn't ideal but when the rear clam is fitted you can't see it. I would keep quiet about it. Maybe put a jubilee clip around the pipe. It won't do anything but you can put your hand on your heart and say it has been fitted with a jubilee clip and bonded in as well.
Devious......... moi?........ never

That side exhaust on the c type looks so wrong, needs to be matt black with some rust showing through!

Welshkiwi · #17 21st April 2018, 18:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaguartvr

The fixing of the tank filler isn't ideal but when the rear clam is fitted you can't see it. I would keep quiet about it. Maybe put a jubilee clip around the pipe. It won't do anything but you can put your hand on your heart and say it has been fitted with a jubilee clip and bonded in as well.
Devious......... moi?........ never

That side exhaust on the c type looks so wrong, needs to be matt black with some rust showing through!

Thanks Jag, will have a think. It is the sealing issue I am more worried about than the pass for the cert as if issues in the future a nightmare to sort. A bit more pain during the build might be the way to go. Anyway without trying to hijack Barbers thread if anyone has any fuel tank removal experience or fantastic ideas for extending/attaching the Z3 fuel tank neck then happy for them to placed on my 275GTB thread in the old No 7 section. Cheers!

Barber · #18 23rd April 2018, 10:27

I got back to the window guide this morning. Dropping the window down and removing the rubbers at the door trailing edge certainly improves visibility. You have to shove the window forwards, and as you manouver the guide back in, raise the door handle so as to make the lock mechanism clear the void where the guide needs to pass.

It took a while to realise that it just takes brute force to get the door card to seat correctly .... very satisfying after all the frustrations. So now I just have to see if the fiddling has improved the old actuator from draining the battery. I am 7 hours out of pocket, along with the £26 for the ebay actuator that didn't work and £5 for the interior trim pry tool set. But I am getting back into amateur car repairer mode (ie Bodger 3rd class). Ready to start playing with the Scimitar eyeball dash vents that Chris supplied with the new dashboard. I'll do another post for that, with pics.

Barber · #19 23rd April 2018, 15:10

The Scimitar vents, kindly included with the dashboard by Chris were very stiff to move about, and had the original mounting collar still attached, which meant that the collar had to be removed.
The vent with collar attached:

Once removed, the vent would be suitable for mounting in the Z3gato dashboard.

However, before that, the vents had to be split apart and the eyeball movement freed up. My son's Dremel came in very useful for removing the collar and encouraging the separation of the top ring and bottom cup.

Both the top ring and bottom cup have conical profiles inside, lined with strips of black felt to mount the eyeball part. In both cases, the felt at the bottom had become partially detached and misshapen causing the jamming.

My solution was to remove the bottom felt, and cut it half depth along the length and re-stick one half back into the cup. Both vents operate fine with no looseness (we don't want rattly vents when in use).

The dashboard with vents and storage recess loosely in place. I will be using the Z3 glovebox, it works with the dash.

The dash is currently fitted to a rough cut Z3 dash supplied by Chris. I need to use it as a template to cut my own dashboard bought from ebay. I intend to cut the small quarterlight vents in the top when I start putting the thing together ready for fitting into the car.

Jaguartvr · #20 23rd April 2018, 15:17

I wouldn't bother with the quarterlight vents. If you block them under the dash you will force more air up on the windscreen which is what you want for efficient demisting. Will also keep the dash more retro looking.
Also saves you some work which is soon going to be adding up!