MadaboutKitcars

Right. Time for an average joe’s build.

My name is Dave and I’ve been a regular here for a couple of years. Time, I think, to post a build thread as they are few and far between.

I am building what I want to drive so it will be a mix of contrasting styles. Bear with me as the purists among you may not approve, the 'do what you likes' won't care. But it’s a kit car right ! We do what we like. Wheels we like. Colour we like. Style and finish to match my skill (I have none)...

Off we go !

Original car

The kit is based on a Y reg 2.2 non sport model. On 98k miles in scruffy black.

BMW Z3 Front b no plate by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Hope I can remember how to post pics

Stripped of panels.

So with lots of stop start work on stripping body I have ended up with a sorry looking Zed.

Kobra strip front g by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Kobra strip front f by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Kobra strip front e by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Kobra strip rear d by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Poor old thing looks nekkid (oh and I forgot to take the cills off dammit)

Dave

Good for a start- the underbonnet and door shuts will tone with any dark body colour.

Mine? Green car going to be white!!!

Good luck Ian :0)

my colour will be dark - but not black

Dave

I am looking forward to this, like you say, there is a dearth of build threads, despite Chris being so busy churning out kits.

Good evening Dave be good to see another build thread , good engine choice much better than the 2.8 Geoff .

Your car looks cute with a moustache

Dave - Great to see your build thread starting.



First of all, you appear have enough skill to strip a Z3, so that is more skill than many.



Don't lose any sleep over what the purists might think, the general public seem to like cars that are different.

Good luck, Paul.

Oh no Geoff (it is Geoff isn’t it? ) don’t start an engine size fight 😀

I went for the 2.2 because it was right car at what I thought was right price. It sounds cool even with stock exhaust at the moment.

Dave

Thanks Paul. I have to be pragmatic about what I want and what level of skill and expense.

My car is going to be a bit confused. Sort of cobra custom jobbie in weird colour choice. But born in the sign of Aquarius means I like to be a bit different.

Also if I eff it up I can say I meant that

Dave

It does ! Shame it’s had a shave already.

Dave

progress before easter

So tried to make progress before Easter. Great weather this week - not !

So first of all I needed to do some side wing changes. I didn't want the usual grills in the side wings so decided to cut them out and place the back of the aperture level with the wing. I might regret this but we will see.

Here is the wing with the glassed aperture in place.

Side wing before 1 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Then I cut out the pieces and placed good old duck-tape across the front to hold the piece in position and allow the resin into the groove.

Side wing during 1 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Here is where the pic of the glassed in back is going to go .....

inner wing glassed by Muddy_B, on Flickr




Then trial fitted wings to the Zed and sanded down at the front after using glass-fibre filler to get the wing level and relatively straight and smooth. Will do a bit more before giving the whole car to the paint-shop.

side view with wing 1 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Next post talks about the rear.

Rear lights first fix.

Cut holes after measuring too many times and fitted rear lights temporarily. Needed to see something good.

rear with lights 1 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

I need to fill the join lines across the rear wings before over sanding them with amateur flat spots.

Will be fitting the rear clam on my next build session - I hope !

Next post talks about the boot.

Boot suits you sir

So as it was peeing down and the area I was working in had cover I decided to fit the boot furniture. As I purchased TR4 boot hinges, as suggested by Tribute and Nubodi chaps, the holes marked on the boot lid were in the same place as the bolt holes !!!!

Also fitted a nice number plate lamp. It wanted to be bolted right at the top of the flat spot within the boot so needed persuading.

boot hinges by Muddy_B, on Flickr

boot lid 1 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

boot lid 2 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

I'll get into the boot lock detail next.

Boot lock detail

Now all of you that have built the Kobra will have had fun fitting the boot lock and bear-claw..... both bit of kit are attached to the outside of the boot and inner skin. There is a moulded area for this but you have to get a spanner in there to fix them. Form both sides - easy !

There are a few different ways. Mine was to cut a small access hole on the underside of the moulded area. This let me get spanners in and nip them up to the torque setting QT.

They have to come off again for paint etc so that will do. Details are as shown in the pics.

boot lock detail 3 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

boot lock detail 2 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

boot lock detail 1 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

I considered glassing back over the top but we need access holes for mtce purposes after all. Therefore I am going to fit a piece of either black plastic or stainless over with low profile screws.

Just had to trial fit

So spent a lot of time on the cold damp ground as had to adjust the coilovers as slammed too low (it might go back down a bit though).

I had run out of steam and felt a little despondent - wanted to get further along this week. But as everyone knows - it takes ages to do anything !

I am building the Kobra at the very helpful and supportive Richard Bird's place. He could see my mood so persuaded me to trial fit the rear clam and bonnet. This gave us clues as to what needed to be gapped next time I am there. I placed the boot in place too just to cheer myself up even more.

Oh and I got Chris to lay mine up in black gel-coat. The donor was black so I am already getting a ratty look. Not what I am going to finish up with of course !

Next installment in a while. I've got to go do some 'real' work next week.

Dave

bonnet trial fit 1 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

rear view trial fit 1 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

side view trial fit by Muddy_B, on Flickr

So wheel details so far: I wanted to go steels as I originally wanted to go with a set of Dunlop type copies. But now that has changed to something a bit more roddy.
I spent a bit of time working out what sizes of steels were available for BMW’s and had two things I wanted to keep the back space matching the Z3 std wheels and go for 16 inch wheels.
I knew I was going to band wheels so chose 6.5 width to I could band them by 1 inch front and 2 inch rear. That gives me the staggered sizes that match the Z3 sports option (although std staggered are 17&#8221.
So long story over. I bought bmw F20/21 6.5J 16 wheels with std offset 33. They were £120 incl postage from Poland. I had them delivered straight Banded Steels Essex and had a 1” and 2” band put in place then sent to me.
I went searching for tyres to fit. Finding the right widths and profiles to match the rolling circumference of standard wheels.
The only two manufacturers I could find that did 245/45 16 were continental and Toyo. So looking at reviews and Prices I went Toyos.

Details of what I bought are :

BMW 1 series F20/21 6.5J x 16 ET33 £120

Banded 1inch fronts and 2inch rears £50 wheel

2 x Toyo Proxes T1-R 225/50 16 and
2 x Toyo Proxes T1-R 245/45 16 £390

Hope this helps (sorry about the wordy post)

So trial fitted the banded steels and pleased with the results.

banded wheels trial fit overview by Muddy_B, on Flickr

banded wheels trial fit 2 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

banded wheels trial fit 3 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

I needed to drop the coilovers quite a bit which i have done - but may have gone too far so will get it on concrete have a few minutes drive and check.

Dave - It might be a problem at my end, but I just see three "X"s in your last post.

It does sound like the very rough mock up helped lift your spirits.

Good luck, Paul.

rear bonded on

what a faff :0)

Rear bonding 3 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

rear bonding 1 by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Rear on now need to re-wire up rear lights.

rear lights

wired up rear lights and need to re-test them. I used the same fog repeaters that Paul L used - seem to be just right.

Also dropped the rear which you can see in this pic. I need to double check heights - the gravel is on a small slope so its misleading. It will need lifting and balancing up for sure.

Rear view fog lights by Muddy_B, on Flickr

Next up is my saga on how I can add Empi spinners in a cheap as chips way (its all about solving problems) ....

wheel centres

So anyone that knows me knows that I am fixated by using the Empi spinners I bought for the car - now they are by far the diameter at the screw fixing and I have had a few goes at finding a way to fix them.
Edit deleted as not relevant


Dave

Keep plugging away Dave, you will work out the wheels issues no doubt.

You can always leave wheels for a few weeks, focus on the other stuff and the answer will usually creep up and tap you on the shoulder! Watching with interest, good progress so far tho!

Thanks for the encouraging words. You’re right. I need to forget the wheel sizes as that is not finishing the bl@@dy car.

Dave