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!

When success is standing still
 

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.

Scimitar Eyeball Vents and the Dashboard
 

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:
http://i63.tinypic.com/smawk7.jpg

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.

http://i68.tinypic.com/30jpnar.jpg

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.

http://i67.tinypic.com/vpydyd.jpg

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.

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!

Good thinking, I will drop the top vents, as the Z3 windscreen needs all the air it can get.

Dashboard Surgery
 

I have taken the Chris's dash apart. It is built up on an old scrap Z3 dash. Whist most of the dash is hidden by the new moulded piece, the internal part of the binnacle is visible. It is a beige one, whereas the replacement I bought on ebay is black. Plenty of surgery required to provide a new base. I am going slowly and carefully with the cutter. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have finished the cutting and test the assembly, so will post pics of the canibalised bits together with the mould.

Dashboard Surgery Part 2
 

Here is the template base dashboard from Chris that the moulded dash attaches to.
http://i65.tinypic.com/of8036.jpg


First of all, let me say that in the picture below, at the top is Rudolf, a reindeer skin on an Ikea bench. DO NOT infer any peculiar bestial purposes.

http://i68.tinypic.com/2mcyhbn.jpg

Don't be fooled by the phone pic perspective, it all fits together.

Underneath Rudolf, we have the moulded dashboard overlay from Chris. It tapers down snugly to the windscreen end of the base just before the vents, so the original vent cover can be retained.

Underneath that is the re-worked dashboard base from my ebay purchase. Last is the Z3 binnacle inner, that simple screws back onto the base dash.

The re-modelling took about 6 hours, most of which is thinking and checking before cutting. Even with the template, it is easy to make mistakes still, so I found myself triple checking, and split the operation over two days.

I just need some fine days so that I can paint the dash (black matt with a sage green infill along the instrument band). Then start stripping the Z3 dash so that I can fit this one.

Happy days

Nice!

It was too cold and windy today so I could not start painting my M3 wing mirrors. Instead, I started to tart up the black door cards that Chris threw in with the dashboard (along with the glovebox).

The driver side door handle has been glued on, and the 2 part glue had dribbled down the ostrich leather panel. I have cleaned both cards with various concoctions, then spent a considerable amount of time picking off the glue trail with the point of a Stanley knife blade. I think it will work out OK when I use the leather re-conditioning treatment - but I could do with some recommendations for this. It could do with re-colouring the leather rather than dying it.


http://i68.tinypic.com/riclg8.jpg

Barber – I hope the improvement in the weather is helping your build.

I am sure the dash will look great when it is all put back together again. :cool:

Good luck, Paul. :)

Have you seen this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOZxbp59irk

A bit too much talking and not enough car, but it really is a beauty. :cool:

AM Zagatos
 

Paul, no I had not seen it before. Always nice to see the cars in action though. Pity that they focussed so much on a dull presentation instead of getting a true sense of what it was like to see the cars racing past.(Not as good as the ones that Gary posts in other threads). The VEV cars are icons but were presented like they were Ford Kas. Oh well....

That's a very pretty car ...

Battery drain
 

I think I may have discovered part of the problem.

The standard Z3 for a 3.0 is 80ah with 800a cold crank. The previous owner put in what he described as a "beefy" (well, it says "Premium" on the label), 72ah with 650a cold crank.

I have no idea what all that lot means, except it looks like the battery is not powerful enough. Am I on to something?

I've got some warning lights come up again and suspect something amiss with the brake system, so have it booked into an indy for the end of the month. I'll get them to check the alternator and investigate any error codes at the same time. Electrickery does my head in.

Hi Barber, yup you have a slightly light rated battery, but that wouldn’t immediately give you major issues unless under high load/drain scenarios and frequently. Key will be how many of the 650cca’s are available. My battery as I mentioned previously was shot and could only push out around between 140 to 240cca under a load test. If you haven’t yet I suggest you get the battery load checked to find out what it is trying to do under load. Hope this helps. Cheers.

Can't see that being the cause of your problem unless the engine is cranking over very slowly.

+1 from me. A lot of comments on BMW forums point to kn@ckered batteries after they've gone flat a few times due to high parasitic drain. Seems they won't hold a decent charge after that.

I've bought batteries from Halfords (twice) and upon insisting that they load check them before I took them away- found that they were duff.

Even on my regularly used car, I keep a solar charger on the dashtop. It slows the sulphation/sedimentation which shorts out the plates eventually and kills the cells.

:shocked:

Crikey, will be sure to get the new one checked. It is clear that the old (new) one is kaput.

Colorbond LVP interior trim paint
 

Has anyone tried this? Has anyone figured how to get it in the UK? The reviews are very good. I could do with some for door panel refresh and also the new dashboard.