Bognor Lean-to Project
- Thread starter Mazza
- Start date
Rusty is a she and a really lovely lady……and she has had the car since new. (for 24 years I think it is. )
She Couldn’t watch it being taken away today so went for a walk.
I was fitting new rust free panels when I found all the massive holes underneath. Even the jacking point was creaking when I jacked it up
…. Just too far gone on both sides. It is a real shame as the rest of the car is really good. But it will keep others on the road
She got herself a Mini
She Couldn’t watch it being taken away today so went for a walk.
I was fitting new rust free panels when I found all the massive holes underneath. Even the jacking point was creaking when I jacked it up
…. Just too far gone on both sides. It is a real shame as the rest of the car is really good. But it will keep others on the roadShe got herself a Mini
The phrase "frying pan and fire" springs to mind!
I hope it is and 'F' series not an 'R' for her sake. Ask me how I know!
well Sunny today down on the coast and calm… so finally got a lacquer coat on … been waiting 3 months to do this !!
as even I won’t start spraying indoors
and while I was in spray mode
sprayed 3 blocks for Z3M sets…. 2 going to USA and 1 going to Canada.
Hot sunny day tomorrow so could do loads on the car….. except going fishing all day with a mate
as even I won’t start spraying indoors
and while I was in spray mode
sprayed 3 blocks for Z3M sets…. 2 going to USA and 1 going to Canada.
Hot sunny day tomorrow so could do loads on the car….. except going fishing all day with a mate
Got stuck in today and finally removed the roof …. but to do that had to remove the seats, roll bars, storage box etc 
I drove the car outside as it was sunny and also gave me more room to work.
I also let the car idle just revving it one or twice () until it was at normal temp. Engine sounded ok, no leaks, so just got on and started removing everything.
Didn’t realise how heavy the roof would be , and only trapped my hand in the roof once, bloody painful so didn’t do it again.
At least having removed this one , which will be scrapped, I know what to do now. So removing the good one from the donor car should go ok.
next job is to clean all the butyl rubber sealant off everything, ready to reassemble.
White spirit should do the job but it will take ages and it all has to be clean to get a good seal on the new roof.
I also finished off putting the replacement light switch in and reinstalling the footwell plastics.
sprayed it with switch cleaner before it went back together too.
I drove the car outside as it was sunny and also gave me more room to work.
I also let the car idle just revving it one or twice (
) until it was at normal temp. Engine sounded ok, no leaks, so just got on and started removing everything. Didn’t realise how heavy the roof would be , and only trapped my hand in the roof once
, bloody painful so didn’t do it again.At least having removed this one , which will be scrapped, I know what to do now. So removing the good one from the donor car should go ok.
next job is to clean all the butyl rubber sealant off everything, ready to reassemble.
White spirit should do the job but it will take ages and it all has to be clean to get a good seal on the new roof.
I also finished off putting the replacement light switch in and reinstalling the footwell plastics.
sprayed it with switch cleaner before it went back together too.
Now you tell me !!!!
But it makes better photos . .
I used this for cleaning the butyl on the doors and it worked brilliantly in conjunction with a plastic scraper
Cheers
John
Cheers
John
Last edited:
what I need is a cappuchin monkey … little bugger pulled the rubber out of a rear windscreen on my old sierra, at a safari park
Been taking some pics this morning of bits I dont need so I can advertise them, when I discovered an anomaly with the roof rear fixings.
on the donor car ( year 2000) there is an extra drain channel that runs round the back and has two rubber grommets that drain the water through the body and comes out under the rear wings
this is the channel underneath the line of roof anchor bolts
there is one of those grommet drains on either side
This is how it sits rounf the back
with grommet removed you can see the hole. ( one on each side) These are not there on my 1999 2.8 …..so some point between the 1999 and 2000 they added this extra drain in. And it pours the water all over the inside of the wing ( possible source of why they rust )
this is the drain grommet….
I suppose I should install it but it means drilling the two holes . ( possibly better to use a hole punch for a cleaner finish)
Also anyone ever taken out a windscreen? and are all the windscreens the same across the Z3 range?
The donor car one is perfect and I‘m thinking it would be a good idea to replace the one on my 1.9, which has lots of little dinks in it.
( I would get a company to install it but it would save the cost of buying one)
three steps forward…… get other ideas, and then four steps back
on the donor car ( year 2000) there is an extra drain channel that runs round the back and has two rubber grommets that drain the water through the body and comes out under the rear wings
this is the channel underneath the line of roof anchor bolts
there is one of those grommet drains on either side
This is how it sits rounf the back
with grommet removed you can see the hole. ( one on each side) These are not there on my 1999 2.8 …..so some point between the 1999 and 2000 they added this extra drain in. And it pours the water all over the inside of the wing ( possible source of why they rust
)this is the drain grommet….
I suppose I should install it but it means drilling the two holes . ( possibly better to use a hole punch for a cleaner finish)
Also anyone ever taken out a windscreen? and are all the windscreens the same across the Z3 range?
The donor car one is perfect and I‘m thinking it would be a good idea to replace the one on my 1.9, which has lots of little dinks in it.
( I would get a company to install it but it would save the cost of buying one)
three steps forward…… get other ideas, and then four steps back
If the donor windscreen was never replaced in the past, you can swap it.
if it was, there is no guarantee 1 - it will be easy to remove 2 - it will be a direct fit
If you arrange a you break it - you pay it deal, its ok to do it.
if it was, there is no guarantee 1 - it will be easy to remove 2 - it will be a direct fit
If you arrange a you break it - you pay it deal, its ok to do it.
I wouldn’t bother with the windscreen.. if yours is damaged to the extent you notice it when driving most insurance companies won’t quibble on a replacement. Depending on your excess it will probably be cheaper to get new than getting someone to swap it over. I assume the windscreen is a structural part in a Zed 3 as well
I now have all the bits for a Jigsaw…..
so laid it all out in the conservatory … before I can start the assembly … parts need cleaning
so clean today and assemble tomorrow.
should be fairly straight forward… a couple of issues to be careful of … which I will mention tomorrow in the build
by the way thats not a rectangular hole in the centre of the bumper…. its the reflection of a skylight in the ceiling
so laid it all out in the conservatory … before I can start the assembly … parts need cleaning
so clean today and assemble tomorrow.
should be fairly straight forward… a couple of issues to be careful of … which I will mention tomorrow in the build
by the way thats not a rectangular hole in the centre of the bumper…. its the reflection of a skylight in the ceiling
Last edited:
So Jigsaw puzzle time…..
first find somewhere where I can work on it ….Dining room Table is fine
grab some cushions and the cats bed to protect the new paintwork…..
First thing to be fitted is the aluminium casting… and I did Remember to remove the two large bolts to make it easier later when it goes on the car.
Went in fairly easily …it didn’t sit right down at first but the grommets hadn't located over the two little bosses properly
Then 14 ( I think ) plastic push in studs and two plastic rivets to fix it in. Really tight but put some washing up liquid on the and that seemed to work ….. but not before two had bent tapping them in
Had to tap them in ….. couldn’t just push them in. But luckiily I am awash with spares at the moment so liberated 2 from the bumper in the back garden ( from the breaker) and soon all 14 were locked in place. The two rivets are for the two holes right at the front
so onwards and upwards….
The fitting of the.new bottom grille :::: and after few issues it is in place and looks ok , but was not easy…..
first, just getting it to line up on the spigots took ages as all the ones that were there had over time been bent, flattened and damaged…had they been pristins then the grille would have probably fitted straight in.
Where four spigots had been broken off, a while back I did drill them all with 1.5mm holes. Ready for this day !!!!
I also had picked up some 2 mm self tappers and washers
its not quite sitting down here but the spigots only just came through the holes
the four holes that I had drilled worked ok and the self tappers didnt break out of the side of the plastic
I only managed to get 2 or 3 of the new grip washers to hold in a couple of places and after a bit of a think, because they are dished I tried one upside down and used a small socket to tap them on……surprisingly it worked so I did the same thing to all the others…..
not pretty, but functional…..
so on to the fog lights….
I had alreadty fitted four anchors as the originals has rusted and had also damaged the plastic… so in 3 case just put a bigger hole though and fitted rivnuts in the normal way….. the fourth one was a lot more damaged so I ended up putting a thread on the outside of the rivnut and using a standard nut to fix it in.
but both fog lights fitted straight back in and I clipped in the finishing piece.
Number plate straight forward , used the plate holder as a template fot the 4 holes , then with new self tappers and plastic screw covers put it back together
so now it can go back on the car…… but at some other time …….( got a gig later)
For now, it can stay on the table and the cat will have to find somewhere else to sleep. .
first find somewhere where I can work on it ….Dining room Table is fine
grab some cushions and the cats bed to protect the new paintwork…..
First thing to be fitted is the aluminium casting… and I did Remember to remove the two large bolts to make it easier later when it goes on the car.
Went in fairly easily …it didn’t sit right down at first but the grommets hadn't located over the two little bosses properly
Then 14 ( I think ) plastic push in studs and two plastic rivets to fix it in. Really tight but put some washing up liquid on the and that seemed to work …..
but not before two had bent tapping them inHad to tap them in ….. couldn’t just push them in. But luckiily I am awash with spares at the moment so liberated 2 from the bumper in the back garden ( from the breaker) and soon all 14 were locked in place. The two rivets are for the two holes right at the front
so onwards and upwards….
The fitting of the.new bottom grille :::: and after few issues it is in place and looks ok , but was not easy…..
first, just getting it to line up on the spigots took ages as all the ones that were there had over time been bent, flattened and damaged…had they been pristins then the grille would have probably fitted straight in.
Where four spigots had been broken off, a while back I did drill them all with 1.5mm holes. Ready for this day !!!!
I also had picked up some 2 mm self tappers and washers
its not quite sitting down here but the spigots only just came through the holes
the four holes that I had drilled worked ok and the self tappers didnt break out of the side of the plastic
I only managed to get 2 or 3 of the new grip washers to hold in a couple of places and after a bit of a think, because they are dished I tried one upside down and used a small socket to tap them on……surprisingly it worked so I did the same thing to all the others…..
not pretty, but functional…..
so on to the fog lights….
I had alreadty fitted four anchors as the originals has rusted and had also damaged the plastic… so in 3 case just put a bigger hole though and fitted rivnuts in the normal way….. the fourth one was a lot more damaged so I ended up putting a thread on the outside of the rivnut and using a standard nut to fix it in.
but both fog lights fitted straight back in and I clipped in the finishing piece.
Number plate straight forward , used the plate holder as a template fot the 4 holes , then with new self tappers and plastic screw covers put it back together
so now it can go back on the car…… but at some other time …….( got a gig later)
For now, it can stay on the table and the cat will have to find somewhere else to sleep. .
Last edited:
Not quite a brave as it sounds as I live on my own now… Tricia would have killed me if had brought car parts into the house…
but I do really tidy up after… as I was well trained…..
And the new person in my life used to have a Boston Green Z3 back in the day , when she was an Air Hostess … so I’m sure she’ll understand
but I do really tidy up after… as I was well trained…..
And the new person in my life used to have a Boston Green Z3 back in the day , when she was an Air Hostess … so I’m sure she’ll understand
you Sir are an inspiration. Playing the guitar, making music, fixing cars, working on the kitchen table…Not quite a brave as it sounds as I live on my own now… Tricia would have killed me if had brought car parts into the house…
but I do really tidy up after… as I was well trained…..
And the new person in my life used to have a Boston Green Z3 back in the day , when she was an Air Hostess … so I’m sure she’ll understand
I am thinking that it is never too late for me to identify as whatever rocks your boat and become the newest new person in your life.
have my own income, had a Z3, will wrench for free and share the Mazda….
I may have some minor structural deviations from your likings but willing to try hard to compensate whatever way I can…