So a few months ago @Sean d spotted a very cheap zed going for sale up in the northern lands of the uk. The zed shed team were very keen to get on-board a rescue her if Sean didn't want it. Luckily for us we got second refusal and the deal was done.
The following weekend the team piled into the bus and headed north of Manchester. They all seem to talk funny up that way
As with anything you buy cheap keep your expectations low so your not disappointed. The car on arrival was rough round the edges.
At first glance it was obvious it's had knock on the front because there was a slight fold in the bonnet. It was also clear the roof was leaking, the smell was a big clue. It also had a rough idle, the duct tape round the hoses was a clear sign. This was all within a few minutes of arriving, but under all that we could see a lovely zed in need of some love.
So with the deal done we headed south to get her in the shed for a full makeover.
Like with all shed projects the first thing we do is get the car in the air and get the wheels off. This highlighted 4 bald tyres, I'm personally amazed this passed an MOT the week before (new set of 4 tyres fitted). The old beam bushes were very tired along with the typical delaminated diff bush.
While everything was off it would be rude not to rub every thing down and give it a coat of hammerite.
Seeing as we had gone this far with the strip down we decided to replace all the suspension and brakes, again no expense spared we upgraded the front brakes, more on that later.
We soon started realising there was a ton of work to do on this car so we split into two teams "sort of" two guys doing the mechanical element and the other two trying to make the car dry and water tight. Now about the water tight bit. I've never seen so much water come out of one car. It took weeks to dry out.
While the guys had the interior apart they started de greaseing and treating the leather.
Drivers seat
Passenger seat
While the interior was being attended too myself and Gaz started up the front. We started with the running gear, this 2.0 came with solid front discs so we upgraded to the 300mm E46 vented disc for some more stopping power same as the 3.0 Z3. While were there we fitted new wishbones, lollypop bushes and drop links new shocks and top mounts.
A few weeks passed by while we sourced some more parts and as luck would have it by pure chance we came across another z3 in Velvet blue being broken so we took all the body panels for ourselves this left the garage tight for space aswell
Because the body is rough in places we decided to get the front bumper and bonnet totally re-sprayed and choose the best panels out of the new ones. This also gave us a good chance to tidy up the bits you don't see removed and replaced rusty items. The horns were well past it so we replaced them for good measure. New boot hose and other items in the engine bay were tidied/cleaned.
We gave the headlights a good polish to bring them back to life. later that week the bumper came back from the paint shop and looked stunning.
It was at this point things started getting tight in the garage so we decided to cut the old bonnet up and do a tip run. Gaz jump at the opportunity to chop it up.
This brings up pretty much up to date, the bonnet is being sprayed this week and next. We have a throttle cable to replace because this one is really stiff. Also a new BMW window to go in the soft top. The mop will be out buffing the rest of the body work and finishing off the final touches.
This has been mammoth task over a 3 month period and truly testing. Some serious man hours have gone into this zed over the last few months so a shout out to @GazHyde @pgunter @Mnbrennan @Rally @Nodzed @Oldguysrule
One thing I haven't covered is who owns this zed. @Oldguysrule actually made the initial purchase he also funded all the work and has also said this car will be available to buy when she' s finished so keep an eye out.
#Zedshed team out
The following weekend the team piled into the bus and headed north of Manchester. They all seem to talk funny up that way
As with anything you buy cheap keep your expectations low so your not disappointed. The car on arrival was rough round the edges.
At first glance it was obvious it's had knock on the front because there was a slight fold in the bonnet. It was also clear the roof was leaking, the smell was a big clue. It also had a rough idle, the duct tape round the hoses was a clear sign. This was all within a few minutes of arriving, but under all that we could see a lovely zed in need of some love.
So with the deal done we headed south to get her in the shed for a full makeover.
Like with all shed projects the first thing we do is get the car in the air and get the wheels off. This highlighted 4 bald tyres, I'm personally amazed this passed an MOT the week before (new set of 4 tyres fitted). The old beam bushes were very tired along with the typical delaminated diff bush.
While everything was off it would be rude not to rub every thing down and give it a coat of hammerite.
Seeing as we had gone this far with the strip down we decided to replace all the suspension and brakes, again no expense spared we upgraded the front brakes, more on that later.
We soon started realising there was a ton of work to do on this car so we split into two teams "sort of" two guys doing the mechanical element and the other two trying to make the car dry and water tight. Now about the water tight bit. I've never seen so much water come out of one car. It took weeks to dry out.
While the guys had the interior apart they started de greaseing and treating the leather.
Drivers seat
Passenger seat
While the interior was being attended too myself and Gaz started up the front. We started with the running gear, this 2.0 came with solid front discs so we upgraded to the 300mm E46 vented disc for some more stopping power same as the 3.0 Z3. While were there we fitted new wishbones, lollypop bushes and drop links new shocks and top mounts.
A few weeks passed by while we sourced some more parts and as luck would have it by pure chance we came across another z3 in Velvet blue being broken so we took all the body panels for ourselves this left the garage tight for space aswell
Because the body is rough in places we decided to get the front bumper and bonnet totally re-sprayed and choose the best panels out of the new ones. This also gave us a good chance to tidy up the bits you don't see removed and replaced rusty items. The horns were well past it so we replaced them for good measure. New boot hose and other items in the engine bay were tidied/cleaned.
We gave the headlights a good polish to bring them back to life. later that week the bumper came back from the paint shop and looked stunning.
It was at this point things started getting tight in the garage so we decided to cut the old bonnet up and do a tip run. Gaz jump at the opportunity to chop it up.
This brings up pretty much up to date, the bonnet is being sprayed this week and next. We have a throttle cable to replace because this one is really stiff. Also a new BMW window to go in the soft top. The mop will be out buffing the rest of the body work and finishing off the final touches.
This has been mammoth task over a 3 month period and truly testing. Some serious man hours have gone into this zed over the last few months so a shout out to @GazHyde @pgunter @Mnbrennan @Rally @Nodzed @Oldguysrule
One thing I haven't covered is who owns this zed. @Oldguysrule actually made the initial purchase he also funded all the work and has also said this car will be available to buy when she' s finished so keep an eye out.
#Zedshed team out
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