Time for an overhaul of my 1.9 '98 BMW Z3 Individual

[Matt Barnes]

ok so it's Saturday.... couldn't devote the entire day to it, as there was the garden to sort and patios and paths to jet wash !.....

so..... where are we

Laid down top coat over my repaired repair.... and I've finally gotten rid of the lump that was bugging me....

as before, it looks orange peely but dries dead smooth

Uncovered the poor car to let it have some sun and Vitamin D ..... offered up the freshly painted wings and the colour match is superb !!..

the next stage is to tidy up the passenger rear quarter, paint that fully..... then 2k Clear Coat on the lot...

 

[AntStark]

You should open up your garage at the weekend for paying spectators who want to learn .. just stick a few deck chairs out on the drive

 

[Matt Barnes]

You should open up your garage at the weekend for paying spectators who want to learn .. just stick a few deck chairs out on the drive

mate..... when you eventually see my garage, it's the size of a shoebox. I need to re arrange everything in order to build up the subframe !

 

[Matt Barnes]

well there's be a couple of weeks delay on the Z3, and forgive me for posting pics of a non Zed, but while I had got my painting technique as good as I could get, I paused a bit so that I could paint the rear end of my Peugeot Estate...

it's sort of relevant in terms of prep and getting the preparation right is absolutely key.... getting the right grade of sandpaper, then flatten with wet and dry around 2000 grit. I then went over the whole area in Meths (as I didn't have panel cleanser). Then a nice even spraying technique from a rattle can. Leave 15 minutes between coats. I did three decent coats for the rear quarter and then blended in the door, finishing about halfway along the door. Let that dry overnight (luckily it was decent weather!).. then another light wipe over, then three even coats of rattle can clear coat... let that cure for a week before any cutting or polishing.

RIGHT.. back to the Z3 !!

I bought a 15 quid siphon off Amazon, in order to suck the old fuel out the tank..... this particular model connects to a car battery. Car Battery v Fuel Tank.... what could POSSIBLY go wrong !

Then today I decided to give the garage a MASSIVE overhaul, somehow I managed to gain about three times as much floor space and I can now FINALLY turn my hands to rebuilding that subframe !!

Now the garage looks like a Z3 Butchers... ..... "ooooh I'll have that lovely cut of spare wheel carrier please!"

so... we're onto the rebuild !!!

 

[AntStark]

Good job on the Pug..don’t see 206 SWs very often nowdays ..great little cars those

 

[Matt Barnes]

Good job on the Pug..don’t see 206 SWs very often nowdays ..great little cars those

cheers mate....bought it in 2008 ! ...and it still starts on the first turn of the key...need to replace the inner and.outer tie rods but apart from the usual "light corrosion" on suspension parts, it's still a great car....only a 1.4 8V but hey it's still a go er!

 

[Matt Barnes]

SPOILER ALERT !!... there is no painting in this episode !!!!

Time to focus on the petrol tank

Somehow and I don't know how... I FINALLY managed to pull apart the "quick" release connector !!

Had this great idea of siphoning with a battery operated siphon... but when a Chinese manufacturer specifically forbids use on or near gasoline devices then you do think twice!

So I pulled the fuel pump and dug out my trusty 100mL Syringe.....

First...the fuel pump, absolutely spotless on the inside and not a spec on the filter

Started draining with a small dish but was taking forever.. the fuel felt a little like jelly..... that must be all the absorbed water...

Then my trusty syringe came to the rescue with a tube on the end...

ended up drawing out 13 Litres of dirty Unleaded with a 100mL syringe.... delightful.. and that's a 25L drum

Inside was nice and clean and the fuel pump seal was perfect

Being 13Kg lighter, the tank is SO much easier to move around... noticing it was REALLY grubby though..... I sprayed it in WD40 and ragged it down but I'm not sure how long that will last...

This is why you have fuel compatible rubber.... look at what siphoning the fuel did to the syringe seal.....that was all smooth beforehand...

Thought I'd tart up the wheel arch liners with the WD40 trick.... came up quite well !!

I also repaired the Filler neck gaiter as I didn't realise how pricey they are !!

all the splits repaired with Gorilla Superglue which is really good...

remove the drain carefully by prying open the clip

stitching it back together was like a jigsaw... one bit was missing so I trimmed an old bit of EPDM rubber to fill in

clean up with brake cleaner and looking much better !

 

[AntStark]

I think ‘overhaul’ in your title is probably doing you an injustice…I love your determination to repair stuff rather than just bin it and replace. What’s the plan for the fuel ..up to Portsdown Hill and try sell it to the Vauxhall Corsa boyz. .

 

[Matt Barnes]

thanks mate...with regard the fuel, not a clue yet..not thought that far ahead !

 

[Matt Barnes]

today I thought I've have an easy session putting the new rear handbrake and new shoes and fittings.....

handbrake mechanism went on fine and one shoe.... fine.... bottom spring.... oookkkaaaay.... top spring !... aaaaarggh !!!... half an hour wrestling with it...

I tried levering with a screwdriver.... nope.... pulling with a bit of garden twine.... nearly !!

I could get it over the hole... but not enough leverage to clip in....so for now I've given up as my hands are hurting.....and I'm in danger of not being able to hold my glass of Gin....

STOP PRESS !..... right... I wasn't going to let it beat me.... so tried a different screwdriver levering technique and..... SUCCESS

Took an "after the fact" photo, to remind me in the future !!.... use the hub for leverage and just enough of the screwdriver tip to hold the hook

 

[Matt Barnes]

you would think doing the other side would be easier wouldn't you ?..... no...it wasn't ..it fought me all the way.....but.... both Rear Trailing Arms now complete.... I was at my whit's end yesterday after trying for hours trying to get it all assembled.

Slept on it..... that hurt my back so then slept in the bed

a new day and I tried the method of fixing the shoes first with the hand brake mechanism, and put the springs on last... it was still tough and still caused me to create new words for the Oxford Dictionary but.......... we're done

so I think I'm now at the stage where I can reassemble the subframe....... !!