Shantybeater's S54 M Roadster

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sat 14 May, 2011 15:08

Suspension has arrived in the UK with the added gift of £150.02 import tax/duty

hornel Z3M · Post by **hornel Z3M** » Sat 14 May, 2011 15:26

Dont worry it`s gotta be worth it.

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Tue 17 May, 2011 18:05

Well my coilovers turned up today. It was either these (H&R) or KW3V3's but I couldnt justify the adjustable dampening since my car is used for road driving. I've heard only good things about this setup so when I saw them up for sale at a bit of a steal (due to the exchange rate) I had to have them!! they are worth £1200+ new

The front springs/shocks are brand new unused and the rears have less than 1000 miles of travel on them, clearly apparent by their condition.

Will be fitting them asap

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Tue 17 May, 2011 23:03

Will be intersting to see what you think, stance should be a lot better from what I've seen but handling as well (I've read only good things). Pity we are so far apart as would have been good to compare to my schnitzer setup.

I've never been in an S54 with standard (uprated from the S50) suspension so will be interesting what you think compared to that re handling.

Are you going to get the ARB's as well ? I can thoroughly recommend them, made a massive difference in front end handling on fast bends with the firmer suspension setup

tcrichton · Post by **tcrichton** » Wed 18 May, 2011 16:53

Beautiful!

Looking forward to fitting (and seeing the difference)!

Tris.

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Wed 18 May, 2011 17:18

Jon - I'm looking forward to the handling improvement even more than the stance. A comparison with the AC kit would be interesting, maybe we will bump into each other at a show at some point.

As for the ARB's they are definately on my wish list but an impending flat purchase will hold off pretty much all mods for a while to come! On the upside the Z will have a garage to sleep in at night

Tris - Thanks for giving us a hand (or doing most of it while I make cups of tea!), you'll end up saving me a fortune and its far more fun DIYing!

Daz3 · Post by **Daz3** » Wed 18 May, 2011 21:19

Can't wait to see these fitted either its gona look sweet!

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sun 22 May, 2011 20:25

Well its been a busy weekend!! Yesterday I took the car down to sussex so we could get a few things done!:

Got her up on axle stands

First off we changed the diff oil with the recommended Castrol 75w 140

We also changed the Gearbox oil with AMSoil MTF. I have seen definate improvements, smoother gearchanges etc..

Then came the coilover installation, fronts first, we did buy new front top mounts but they looked in good condition so we just regreased and reused, also replaced gaskets:

Then the rears, we wire brushed the spring seats and coated in a fresh layer of paint to remove/protect from surface rust

Rear spring difference:

New rear top mounts, the old ones actually looked in very good condition but it was a good excuse to upgrade to E46 M3 Vert/CSL mounts (known as the strongest OEM mounts)

Slowly coming back together:

Finito, a total guess at ride height but i'm very happy with it, if anything I may raise the rear a tiny bit to give slight front rake. I am getting a small amount of scrubbing on the front at full lock on hard/fast cornering, any suggestions to minimize this? I dont want to remove the arch lining because it may increase chances of rust and let dirt into my nice clean engine bay

If all else fails I will raise the car a few mm front and back

Ian_C · Post by **Ian_C** » Mon 23 May, 2011 11:33

That looks better Shanty

Hope you didn't drive off with that phone still on the roof

shantybeater wrote:

Daz3 · Post by **Daz3** » Mon 23 May, 2011 11:49

That's made it so much better I think it's sat perfect wouldn't bother lifting the back anymore. See after it's bedded in a bit. Nice work!

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Mon 23 May, 2011 12:59

Cheers guys, myredzed i did wonder that when I got home but i'm pretty sure my brother grabbed it before I drove off!

Daz - thanks mate, i am hoping to leave it as it is

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Mon 23 May, 2011 13:05

Quick before and after shot:

Before:

After:

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Mon 23 May, 2011 15:58

You can feel were mine has rubbed the liner slightly at the front (ie the plastic is "ruffed" up) but you can't tell when driving and its not damaging the tyres so I've just left it alone.

Looks spot on to me. As said above I'd leave it to settle for a while before adjusting unless the rubbing is causing problems.

J1SUA · Post by **J1SUA** » Mon 23 May, 2011 19:45

Awesome. Will get ours done next year. Spent enough this year

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Tue 24 May, 2011 16:28

Thanks for the replies

Jon - Ok i'll leave it for a week or so and see how I get on, its not scrubbing at all on daily or motorway driving.

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Tue 24 May, 2011 19:10

Your not driving it hard enough then

siwilson · Post by **siwilson** » Tue 24 May, 2011 19:31

Eventually it will eat clean through the liner like mine did on a track day.

2 options. 1. raise or stiffen it 2. Modify the liner like Hamman suggest you do.

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Tue 24 May, 2011 20:30

Haha nice one Jon

Stiffening is my next move, I assume h&r arbs? What else?

Si how does hamann suggest modifying the liner? The main areas of scrubbing appear to be where the liner sticks out in a block shape, I was thinking perhaps removing the liner and using a heat gun flattening the bump but I imagine its there for a reason!

hornel Z3M · Post by **hornel Z3M** » Tue 24 May, 2011 20:37

Really looks great now shantybeater, love to see it in the flesh to see if its as nice as mine

Ian Kelly · Post by **Ian Kelly** » Tue 24 May, 2011 21:05

Looks a much better stance than before, I agree with letting things settle down before tweaking, but the rear does look almost too low, especially since there's no humans in there! Low is good, but too slammed at the rear and it loses its purposeful look (to me anyway).

In the past I've been advised to run 20-25mm rake \ wedge (when loaded) in my cars as it helps with stability, handling and weight transfer.

Cheers, Ian

siwilson · Post by **siwilson** » Wed 25 May, 2011 06:06

shantybeater wrote:Haha nice one Jon Stiffening is my next move, I assume h&r arbs? What else?

Si how does hamann suggest modifying the liner? The main areas of scrubbing appear to be where the liner sticks out in a block shape, I was thinking perhaps removing the liner and using a heat gun flattening the bump but I imagine its there for a reason!

Big MrP had this done (maybe PM him for a picture). I am not sure the exact dimensions, but they cut away the liner and then stuck some protective covering on the underside of the bonnet.

Most of my damage damage was caused when I had the ACS sports suspension on around Brands Hatch. Since I moved to the KWs and lifted the front a tad it hasn't happened again. I currently have some duct tape over the hole and to my surprise it doesn't look that bad. I keep my eye out for a replacement should I ever want to sell.

SpaceMonkey · Post by **SpaceMonkey** » Wed 25 May, 2011 09:24

Looks fantastic!!!

Defo get it set-up properly though. Centre of Gravity have a great rep from what I've read.

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Wed 25 May, 2011 13:48

I would agree it looks good, but wait for it to settle and re-assess the rear rideheight, maybe get two people to sit in the car and look at it as generalyl the rear compresses more than the front in these cars and they look rubbish on the road riding nose-high.

I wouldn't worry too much about the arch-liner, with those wheels/offset it will rub through as you are seeing, just the outer edge of the lip though. I would definintely not raise the front to stop it as it will ruin the look of the car.

Also, the rear wheel looks way undertyred - what size is on it? It looks too narrow and low profile compared to the front?

Rocketman · Post by **Rocketman** » Wed 25 May, 2011 15:19

Shantybeater,

Is that the standard Diff cover you have on your car, or aftermarket?

Rocketman

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Wed 25 May, 2011 21:23

After measuring up all four corners (from hub to arch) it appears the rears are around 10mm out from each other! the fronts are around 5mm max, I'll be readjusting this weekend

hornel - cheers mate

maybe you'll see it at a show soon

Si - I'll be keeping an eye on the scrubbing but I havent heard any noises recently. I really don't want to start cutting away at the liner though

Ian - i agree regarding front rake, purposeful is the look i'm going for. Will be making fine adjustments when im happy etc..

Spacemonkey - thanks, i assume center of gravity do laser alignment? where are they?

cw - I'll try getting someone to sit in the driver seat, I'd rather have it setup for just a driver, i'd rather it was balanced correctly on my own rather than with excess weight

the tyres are as they came off chippy's coupe, 235/40 & 255/35. I don't think they look wrong in person but there is clearly more room at the back, if i match the tyre height I imagine I will loose correct speedo readings? and maybe affect the handling?

rocketman - pretty sure its OEM

SpaceMonkey · Post by **SpaceMonkey** » Thu 26 May, 2011 09:03

shantybeater wrote:Spacemonkey - thanks, i assume center of gravity do laser alignment? where are they?

Yes mate, they do alot of Caterhams, Elises etc.
Alternatively you could use my friend's place TGM Motorsport in Fleet.
Tom there is a personal friend & knows more than he's fair share about setting cars up. Tbh he completely slipped my mind until I bumped into him yesterday at Brands where he was setting up a customers Mugen FD2 Type R Civic. www.tgmsport.co.uk
If you do use him say Lee sent you & he'll look after you

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sat 11 Jun, 2011 17:05

I started on the calipers today..

I decided on metallic black because they aren't the prettiest calipers to look at, a nice subtle color just to smarten things up:

Before

After

I went for high temp paint to get a much more professional finish. Either tomorrow or over the coming weeks I will be color coding the M indents on the calipers with high temp paint.

hornel Z3M · Post by **hornel Z3M** » Sat 11 Jun, 2011 17:49

Funny i should see the calipers being painted ,as only this morning i was looking at mine, but thinking of doing them in silver hammerite, and the logo in the m colours, but you say they might not look good picked out like that

anybody got any painted in silver to see what they look like

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sat 11 Jun, 2011 17:56

I think silver will look fine its just the usual bright reds/blues which might be a bit much. Will also be coloring in the M logos hopefully tomorrow

hornel Z3M · Post by **hornel Z3M** » Sat 11 Jun, 2011 18:14

cheers mate. Looking forward to seeing them finished, it gives me more confidence to do the job. e.g I just had some seat bushes and undone the 4 nuts and when i looked under the seat i gulped and did the nuts back up

D-reame · Post by **D-reame** » Sun 12 Jun, 2011 06:18

I went for high temp paint to get a much more professional finish. Either tomorrow or over the coming weeks I will be color coding the M indents on the calipers with high temp paint.

What paint is it if you don't mind me asking? I normally strip my calipers and get them powder coated but I like the look of that finish better.

Nice car by the Away. Very tastefully done.

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sun 12 Jun, 2011 15:22

Looks like I wont be finishing the calipers today thanks to the weather!!

D-reame - Thanks

I went for this stuff:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0451365544

Its actually oven paint so its capable of withstanding temps of over 650 degrees!!. Plenty of color choices and a good price compared to rip off 'special' caliper paint

D-reame · Post by **D-reame** » Sun 12 Jun, 2011 17:28

Thanks for the heads up Shantybeater. I went for Anthracite. I will post pics once I get round round to a strip/paint and rebuild.

These were the results from my last Z3 (about half way down on the album). I stripped the callipers down and had them shot blasted (carefully so as not to damage the insides). Then had them powder coated. It cost me £60 from Romax UK in Stockton.

http://gallery.mac.com/the_reamer#10001 ... ack&sel=72

Mouldy · Post by **Mouldy** » Sun 12 Jun, 2011 19:39

I painted my calipers last year and used a kit from eBay that was about £17, including a can of brake cleaner.

Here's a link to the thread;

http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... ht=#255965

I didn't want to use a spray as it involved too much faffing about masking.

They still look good now and the paint seems to be holding up well.

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sat 18 Jun, 2011 15:09

With the BMW show looming i've started to clean the car up and finish bits off.

I persuaded the girlfriend to paint the ///M emblems for me whilst I cleaned up the LM's

All the paint used is high temp (up to 800 degrees). Weather permitting we will be doing a second coat tomorrow to get a nice base of each color

A little OCD maybe??:

hornel Z3M · Post by **hornel Z3M** » Sat 18 Jun, 2011 15:24

Well done shantybeater, she looks really nice and the cars not bad either.

Ian_C · Post by **Ian_C** » Sat 18 Jun, 2011 21:13

Looks like someone's taking time out to do their nails

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sun 19 Jun, 2011 11:39

Haha I only realised what she was doing in the photo when I posted it

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sun 26 Jun, 2011 19:04

Shameless pic whoring with no real reason, continuing to prep the car for the BMW show, a fresh clean followed by a layer of megs wax. I've also tried some Nano technology wheel sealant in an attempt to repell brake dust, they sure do bead nicely now

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Sun 26 Jun, 2011 19:14

Looking good

I'm not sure about the PH badge though, I bought a few to try like that in various colours / sizes and ended up sticking them on my toolbox

. I did stick a window sticker on the rear screen though (the non graphic type)

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sun 26 Jun, 2011 19:35

^^ I agree, i'm not convinced I like it either. I'm considering adding a few JDM cues so might get something different

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Thu 30 Jun, 2011 21:13

Not to everyone's taste i'm sure (especially the purists) but i like my stickers

Got a few storm bits on order as a birthday treat as well

fingers crossed they will turn up before the BMW show

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Thu 30 Jun, 2011 21:17

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Thu 30 Jun, 2011 21:18

Haha I was expecting something like that ! Maybe I've been spending too much time on jap/euro forums!! You'll be happy to hear the PH badge will be going though !

Badman gee · Post by **Badman gee** » Thu 30 Jun, 2011 21:35

recently fitted a storm v1 gear knob and handbrake handle plus 2 new leather gaiters!! (wasn't my birthday!!!! shanty)

looking forward to seeing your silver m shanty at santa pod!

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Fri 01 Jul, 2011 07:26

Cheers mate, looking forward to it too, looks like there will be quite a collection of silver and blue M's!

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sun 03 Jul, 2011 19:01

Been keeping an eye out for a set of eisenmanns to come up for quite a while so when a forum member put some up for sale only 45 mins away I couldnt miss the opportunity even with the impending flat purchase!! Thankfully I didnt pay the usual £1400 premium!!

Autosol is our friend

Half way there:

done

Will be giving them a second going over before they go on the car.

hornel Z3M · Post by **hornel Z3M** » Sun 03 Jul, 2011 19:15

They look superb, you jammy sod. Let us know what they sound like as soon as possible

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Sun 03 Jul, 2011 19:46

They look like 76mm tips the same as mine so should fit straight on without any "shaving" needed

Daz3 · Post by **Daz3** » Sun 03 Jul, 2011 19:48

Mmmm they look nice bet they sound good too!

Can't wait to see them fitted!