Petrol pipe fitted and glued in place and it looks fine, just dropping down slightly at the top of the wheel arch but the inner splash liner fits under it so it has enough clearance.
Had a play with the bonnet, made up a couple of plates with a M8 stud. Fitted them to the two plates ate the rear of the bonnet. When I offered up the bonnet it was a little low in the centre at the rear so I cut a slice, bent the bonnet slightly with the ratchet strap and used builders band again to check the curvature before bonding.
Just put some isopod on top of the plates and then fitted the bonnet on top giving a firm push. When it had dried I went over the top with some matting.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y.../z3gto/ex2.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y.../z3gto/ex1.jpg
While I was playing with the bonnet I glassed some matting under the bonnet vent, this gives the vent a bit of depth and doesn't look quite so GRPish. I intend to cut a thin slot in it about 30mm back from the aperture and slide some mesh into it. Hopefully it should look quite neat.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y.../z3gto/ex3.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...z3gto/ex12.jpg

To finish the day off I had a play with the exhaust. I only want a single rear pipe so that I can still keep the spare wheel. I simply cut the rear pipe as close to the rear of the rear box. Just need to fit a rear hanger.
I hunted around on Ebay and found a suitable rear box, £76 inc delivery but they were local so I thought I would pick it up and try and save a little with some crispy pound notes. They didn't have it in stock but he gave me their trade website, came down to £42!
So the total bill for the exhaust including a bit of pipe, claps and delivery was less than £80.
If you look closely you will see that the existing pipe enters at the top of the new box and exits at the bottom. This give just enough drop to clear the rear bodywork. It's a bit quieter than I had hoped so I may drill a hole at the end and see If I can remove some packing. I can then fit a rivnut and fit a bolt to re seal it again, or leave the bolt out and just replace it at MOT's.
The website for anyone who is interested is
www.profusionexhasts.com
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...z3gto/ex10.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...z3gto/ex11.jpg

Need to scurf off all the lose rust underneath, use a rust converter and a coat of hammerite

Please don't use hammerite! Absolute rubbish - I wouldn't paint anything (unless it never goes outside) with it.:nono:

Its the only paint that i have found that stops the rust coming back (so long as it's treated first). It is also pretty good at resisting chipping. I normally put some red oxide on before the hammerite.
I also use it on the boat and again it does a good ob protecting metal in a salt water environment.

Such a shame that they changed the formulation a few years ago. It was brittle in chip-prone situations but at least it lasted elsewhere.

Chassis Black after some Bilthamber Hydrate is probably best now.
POR-15 anyone?

I've got a big 5 litre tin that is at least 15 years old, maybe why I find it so good. Rust treated and painted.
Fitted the O/S rear splash panel into the wheel arch and it covers the new petrol pipe completely and it doesn't hang down so I'm pretty pleased with it. I'll leave it another week before I fill it with petrol to let the adhesive go completely off.

Bubble, shock ,horror, I have found my first bubble! On the front wing about 5mm round. If it carries on like this I think there is a good chance of me coming across another one by the time the build is complete!

Hair dryers at dawn!

I think it's appalling, I was thinking of asking for one of the 275's as compensation!

Prepare for some boot envy!http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/boot3.jpg
225/75x15 tyre in the boot with room to spare, it would not have fitted in the standard boot. So now if I get a puncture at least I can carry the full size wheel home.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/boot1.jpg

I also fitted an emergency release cable for the drivers door, sorry but didn't take the first couple of pictures. Basically I have fitted a long 6 foot bicycle inner and outer brake cable. On the inner wire I crimped a round electrical connector. This was threaded through the door and down oner the door locking button. As you go down the door locking button there is a bend and this is where I positioned it so when the wire is pulled it pulls the locking pin upwards. To stop the wire ring from simply moving I fitted a star clip on the wire behind it (the type of clip used to hold badges to the inside of metal panels).http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/boot7.jpg

The outer cable has been zip tied to the inner door and through a new hole and run just under the old ridge that used to hold the old lower wing.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/boot4.jpg

This is then run to a top secret location, I would tell you where it ends, but then I would have to kill you!
It all sits well hidden and a strong pull of the loop at the end and you can release the door lock. Even if someone were to find it, as soon as you pull the cable and open the door the alarm goes off.

Final job today was to fit the front cooling fan. It has three wire going to it, earth and I suspect one for cooling if the engine gets too hot and one for the aircon. I have fitted it but it won't turn on. The zircon compressor clutch doesn't kick in, I have checked the fuses and relay so I suspect it has no gas. I ran the car up to temperature with the viscous fan jammed to see if I could get the other fan to cut in. Even after 30 minutes the temperature gauge wouldn't rise above half way of the second fan didn't cut in.

To mount the fan I had to cut away the cowling and use the arms to bolt to a couple of metal bars, these were then zip tied to the front panel.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/boot6.jpg
I still had to cut a small section of the bonnet away to get it to fit but the cut will be covered by the front number plate.
Finally cut a metal plate to fit the boot lock. I took other peoples advice and fitted it lower so the catch wouldn't foul the boot when opening. Because of this the catch has to be longer. I drilled a hole and then used a very small file to make it square so that it would fit the spindle of the boot catch. I drilled into the boot spindle so that I could screw in s hex head self tapper, this along with a couple of washers holds the catch in place.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/boot2.jpg

Mmm nice boot, and great idea for the boot lock. By the way, what rubber edge seal have you used for the boot?

It's the original boot seal, shame its just not long enough.

I've just realised that I'm just about finished, the rest of the work is really prep for painting.
Got the kit middle of May and finished middle of September, I have however been away on holiday for 8 weeks in total so the total build time is 2 months. I haven't been rushing and it has all gone together very well.
If anyone is lurking and considering buying one I would suggest you go ahead and buy one. Chris has gone very quiet on the forum, I suspect because he is very busy. If you wait too long you could find that he has gone over the VAT threshold and future kits could attract 20% vat.
You don't need many tools to fit it, the only tool I would advise is a Rivnut tool, good wiring crimps and an angle grinder for fitting and a couple of cheap sanders and a hand held long bed sander. Nuts and bolts can be bought from Ebay very cheaply and normally next day delivery. Being a hoarder I have nuts and bolts everywhere and can quite easily loose most of a day looking for that elusive size. On this build I ordered what I thought I would need beforehand and anything else as I needed it. Everything is stainless, the right size and length, make the build much more enjoyable.
The only part on the whole build that I didn't enjoy was the doors, there does need to be a modification to the moulds to get them to fit better. Everything else is very straight forward and simple. I must say that I was very surprised how well it all fitted together. I kept waiting for something to bite me in the bum but it hasn't happened.
I have been sanding back some of the bodywork over the last couple of weeks when I have been waiting for parts to arrive and again have been surprised how straight the body panels seem to be. I will be driving it over to my painter on the 1st to get him to run his eye over it and to point out areas that I need to address. I am going to try and leave it in his oven for a couple of hours in case there are any air bubbles. I was on the DNA owners club (DNAOC.com) forum and was looking at a post on painting and even the 2fifty had small pinprick air bubbles come to the surface in the oven prior to painting and that is with GRP bodywork that looks perfect and paint ready.
I do know that I have a quite a bit of work on the front and rear door gaps to get them level. When I fitted the bonnet I found the gap a bit too large all the way around so I have cheated and fitted it as well as possible to the left and front, this leaves me the rear and right hand side to work on. I thought it easier to just work on two sides rather than four. It has only meant that the bonnet is off centre by about 3mm so it doesn't show. I have cheated by looking at other builds, when you look carefully you can see where the gaps need a little work. Unfortunately just a couple on mm show but not until after the paint has been put on.
Winter is coming, Z3 prices will be dropping so get your cheque books out, there will never be a better time to buy one, if SWMBO objects just point out the prices that Nubodi and DNA got for their recently finished cars.

If you notice Chris has passed quite a lot of his production to other parties, probably how he keeps below the £83k threshold for vat.

below the £83k threshold for vat

I think he manages that by selling the kits so cheap

You have to register for Vat once vatable revenues reach the threshold. Doesn't make any difference if he builds or buys in. I have always anticipated that by the time I get my sh*t in a sock, I would have to pay the higher price anyway.

He is probably buying in simply to cope with the volume, and still be able to develop new models and custom builds.

JaguarTVR - Nice review of your experience of building a 250 SWB. :cool:

You have made consistently steady progress and I look forward to seeing it painted.

Good luck, Paul. :)

Thanks Paul, I just wanted to tell prospective builders to have a go. It's a very easy straight forward build and I feel that I have got to the point where a lot of people would now hand it over to a paint shop for final finishing.
Being a skinflint I will be preparing mine myself but will have the final paint put on by a pro. I will be posting details on the body prep, being sorting out the rear door gap today and am pleased with the result. Pics to follow.

There was a post the other day on my thread by "Minehart" about my petrol filler and it has now disappeared and so has the user.
Any idea what has happened?

Im still here
Unfortunately I know very little about building a car. I got Nubodi to build mine so cant contribute a great deal of info sorry.

Just surprised that the post disappeared, didn't think it could happen. You had mentioned that I had cut the chassis to relieve the route for the fuel filler.
I came across this post
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...anging+details

post 6

It seems to say that you cannot modify the chassis between the axles but anything fore or aft can be cut. I don't know if this is right or does it only apply to cars with a proper chassis?

Even if not I haven't removed anything, I have just folded it out of the way slightly and made good so nothing has been removed.

Does anyone know the exact rules?

The rules are always as the authority decides at the time!:suspicious:

Jag - as far as I know when I enquired when modifying my mx5 based "Roadster"
A Monocoque (combined body/chassis) can not be modified in any way without requiring SVA/IVA.

Anything that is bolted or screwed can be removed but nothing else.

Of course it is whether the examiner spots the modification, for example your cut rear panel for your boot. The Blackwidow SPR modifies the metalwork but passed an IVA.

I would think that the real time anyone would look so close is in the event of an accident and the insurance investigators will be much more thorough

Gapping the bonnet and rear door shuts.

The gap around the bonnet is excessive and the rear door shuts are rounded rather than nice and sharp.
I positioned the bonnet making the front and off side nice and tight meaning I would only have to fix 2 sides rather than 4.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...z3gto/bon2.jpg
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...z3gto/bon1.jpgI decided to go with 2mm gaps, not because I'm being clever, it's simply the thickness of the alloy sheet offcuts that I have. Simply fit them in the gap and hold them in place with some packing. Then push some GRP paste in the gap pushing it down firmly. On the corners I found the best thing was builders band again, just cover it in electrical tape to stop it fro sticking. Very easy to bend for the corners but too flexible for the straights.
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...z3gto/bon3.jpg
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...z3gto/bon4.jpg
When it has gone off lift the bonnet and you should see this.
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...z3gto/bon7.jpgThe pink being the GRP paste. Remove the bonnet and apply a fillet of GRP paste with your finger underneath the bonnet to give it some more strength. I sanded everything with 80 grit first to give it a key.
I then went around the underneath edge with a mini belt sander to level it all up.
Trial fitted and the gap is great, just ran a long bed sander around the edge to level it all up.
Finally a coat of colour matched flow coat to tidy the underneath up, looks much better.
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...z3gto/bon8.jpgI will be using it on all of the underside of the bonnet and boot lid. Not as nice as proper paint but takes no time at all to do.
I now just need to get the front of the bonnet level before final filling on the top. The back is fine but the front sits too low, the two front pins are hard up against the GRP so it cannot be lifted any higher. Need to get my thinking cap on to come up with a work around.
Final gaps, just need to fill and contour the top surface.
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/bon12.jpg
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/bon13.jpg
The rear door gap was done in the same way.
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...to/bon%209.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...o/bon%2010.jpg

Nice work - but if it's hard up against 2 edges with a 2mm strip in the other edges, does that mean the gap all round is 1mm? or have you also spaced the 2 other sides with the 2mm ali?

It looks the same all the way round but I'm not that fussy that I'm going to measure it!

Just been for my first test drive, nothing fell of but the grill is touching the fan under hard acceleration so will have to find a way to work around that.
Did get flashed and waved at from a Ferrari! Had too laugh, they are however 10 a penny around here as we have Marenello's at the end of the road.

Nice work. I've bonded in my 'inner' bonnet, but will leave a groove around the outside, so it will look OK. This has saved me all the hassle with catches/hinges and a rain channel. It also avoids the risk of scratching the paint if it's not hinged (when removing or replacing it)I'm also going for wider panel gaps, maybe 3mm.

I think bonding the bonnet is is probably the way to go. I did see a 250 at a show, it had great paint except in the bonnet shuts, small point but my eyes went straight to it. I might paint the bonnet shut area first and then bond the bonnet in. Shame as the rear fittings work well but there is less room at the front to do the same.

The bonnet is bonded in on mine and I'm pleased we did as the lines all look nice now.

Looks like bondage is the way to go, I'll give the wife the good news!

Bugger. Filled it up with petrol today and it took ageeeeees. No leaks but the pipe fills up with petrol so you have to fill it very slowly, it's as it the anti glug pipe isn't working.
On the positive side, it doesn't appear to be leaking and there is no petrol smell.
Been over to my painter and he has pointed out loads of extra bits that will need my attention, quite depressing. Hoping to get it into the oven for 40 minutes this afternoon, probably be even more depressed after that.

A safe system is a great place to start any fixes from though. I guess a comparison of your panels with Jeff's (ignoring the other changes) gives an indication of how much effort has to go into this. Be sure to take pics of the car from all angles when sorted but before painting so we know what to aim for.

As has been said elsewhere, hats off to the professional preppers.

Slow filling is something I've had to get used to. The main problem is if I forget to put a cloth around the cap and it then blows back petrol over the paintwork.

Oh how we suffer for our art!

Bob.

Is this just another male ageing symptom along with slow run-off?

:laugh::laugh:

Bonnet Gapping.

Have been finishing off the bonnet gapping and levelling. With the pates I made for the back of the bonnet it is possible to get it flush with the main bonnet. At the front one of the bonnet pins is to low so I cannot raise it up. Halfway along each side it sits about 5mm too low. I cut the font bonnet pin off, re drilled another hole and repositioned it. For the side adjustment I cut a 3mm plate for each side, drilled and tapped a 8mm hole so that I could use a bolt to adjust the height.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/bon14.jpg
I drilled two holes in the other end so the GRP paste would grip it and I will go over it with some GRP woven tape.
Seen from the tophttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/bon16.jpg

Having got the bonnet as flat as possible I filled the edges and flatted it all down.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/bon17.jpg

Pretty pleased with the result. At the moment the way the bonnet is attached there is no adjustment, I just need to open out the two rear bolt holes fractionally and it will give me some wiggle room for final adjustment. I think 2mm all round is about what I will end up with.

Looking forward to seeing this tomorrow

Forgot the best bit, my inset bonnet grill, gives some real depth.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...grill%2010.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...grill%2010.jpg
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...3gto/grill.jpg

Set about 1cm back from the opening, it's commercial stainless draining mesh. £6.99 for a 30cm square inc post, I should get the bonnet and all 4 brake vents out of it.

See you tomorrow

Reflectors, fog light and reversing lights
 

Have been pondering what to use, I like the rectangular Lucas reflectors that most people use but didn't want extra lights for reversing and fog light. I always think the ones that bolt on underneath look like a cheap 1970's accessory.

So cunning plan needed.

I bought 2 super bright LED bulbs for the reversing lights and an LED tail and brake light for the fog light.

Drilled a 5mm hole central to one side of the reflector, then opened it up with a 10mm and finally 24mm. This allows the LED domes to suck though the reflector but the metal surround won't go through so it acts as a stop. In-between the domes I painted the white surface by just dropping some red paint in with a cocktail stick. I then coloured the white domes with a red felt tip pen, this makes the bulb look red but when illuminated it shows white. One on either reflector for the reversing lights. I had bought a red LED bulb for the fog light but a tail/brake light bulb wired so that both come on proved to be brighter. I sanded the domes flat and then polished them back up on a buff.
I then glued this bulb to the back of the reflector after peeling away the reflector tape. I used a hot glue gun for the bulbs, LED's don't get hot so they should stay put.
From a distance you can't tell they have been modified. Not perfect but I'm happy with the resultshttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...o/reflect3.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...o/reflect2.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...o/reflect1.jpg

The reflectors won't be very good now so I'm thinking of fitting some small mudflats with small reflectors on them. Now of course I'm fitting tacky 1970's accessories!

Good idea with the adjusting bolt . It might be wise to put a spreader plate under the bonnet where the bolt touches the GRP otherwise you might get star cracking in the future. GRP doesn't like being stressed with point loadings.

My painter said the same thing. I'm going to put a couple of slices in and put some GRP tape over the joins

Door window weather strips.
 

I wanted to try and avoid the alloy strips on the door tops, it alway reminds me of "kit car" and I also want to use the alloy strip under the doors mounted on the sill so it will hide the front and rear wing join. Having both strips fitted would just look too much.
There is quite a gap between the door top and the glass, especially at the front. This turned out to be a bit a pig of a job and I had to build the area up 3 times to get both the right curvature on the top and the right angle at the rear to mount the weather strip too.
Not quite finished but nearly there. Just taped some plastic 90 degree angle to the top of the door and then backfilled with GRP paste.http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...gto/strip1.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...gto/strip2.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...gto/strip4.jpghttp://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...gto/strip6.jpg

Does look much more "factory" I think the reason for there being such a large gap at the top of the doors is that they were designed for the coupe with the sliding window arrangement. May a point for the MK2!