zroadster.net

by **gookah** » Sat 17 Mar, 2012 23:13

Well we picked up a Z3 sport for my fiancee last weekend, as the last one was getting a bit tired.

We cleaned up the insides, last week, but this weekend the DA polisher was out, (between the rain).

Lots to do with it so far,
Drivers seat base doesn't heat up.
Bulb needs changing on the heater controls.
Rocker cover needs a refurb.
Some scratches to make better.
Angel eyes bought and ready to fit.
Brakes to be cleaned up and callipers painted.
Wheels to come off for a proper clean.
Stone chips to be touched up.
The silver paint has gone dark ....

So far:
Stereo changed and iPod fitted.
Subwoofer fitted behind the passenger seat.

Parrot fitted:

Chrome hoops and clear wind deflector fitted:

Drivers window wasn't going all the way down so door card removed and all lubed up.
Gliptone used to clean the seats.
Swirls and bird poo marks removed.
Orange side repeaters changed for chrome ones.
Stubby fitted.

Here's hoping for some dry weather

by **Jamezee** » Sat 17 Mar, 2012 23:30

Very nice

Same wheels as mine they look great but are a pain to clean.
I couldn't see any bird so I assume the parrot is that device fixed on the dash, what does it do?

by **gookah** » Sat 17 Mar, 2012 23:34

It squarks...
It is bluetooth handsfree that cuts the radio and plays calls through the speakers. Has a display so you can see the caller's number or name. and can accept voice commands to dial out just by talking to it...

by **Jamezee** » Sat 17 Mar, 2012 23:46

I didn't realize such things existed, brilliant.

by **('_')Z3** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 07:18

That's a lovely looking Z you've got there.

by **Brian H** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 08:19

Lovely looking car and my favourite colour for the Z 8-)

by **Badman gee** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 08:48

very nice

by **si-forks** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 08:52

Great looking Z lovely colour same as my 525

Si-forks on tapatalk

by **Gazza** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 09:47

Nice looking car

I have a Parrot Rhythm N Blue headunit, pleased with it but feel the audio sound quality could be better so I'll probably look around for another

by **g8jka** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 13:25

gookah wrote:Orange side repeaters changed for chrome ones.

Thanks to me

gookah wrote:

And can you please blank out my numberplate if your taking pictures of my car :lol:

by **houdini2005** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 15:11

looks really nice pete. 8-)

by **TitanTim** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 15:43

Reminds me of w4tkins (Rob's) zed who bought my Style 78 alloys, where is he these days?

Nice looking Zed Mr Gookah but it's missing a lip spoiler

Tim.

by **Toony** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 16:29

Looks a treat, the red leather seats go well with the Silver, great colour.

Another car heading for the Silverstone event then :?:

by **Ragtop** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 17:15

Very nice looking Zed.

by **Robert T** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 18:04

Pretty good swap. Nice zed and less earache. :wink:

Cheers R.

by **gookah** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 21:04

Well we also tried the Arctic silver hardtop on it too, I liked it, but the fiancee wasn't keen.
It will be up for sale with fitting kit, plastics, switch and wiring and a hanging bag.
Might leave it until autumn as the prices pick up then....
some piccies:

Notice my son G8JKA admiring my Peugeot, maybe he wants to swap?

Angel eyes fitted today. What a mither with these ones, too large for in front of the lens so had to go behind after dremelling some away from the headlight housing :head:

Still, all done now, and wired to the ignition circuit so always on when the key is turned.
Photo's to follow.

by **gookah** » Sun 18 Mar, 2012 21:10

Robert T wrote:Pretty good swap. Nice zed and less earache.

Cheers R.

I just realised what you meant

by **g8jka** » Wed 21 Mar, 2012 16:05

gookah wrote:Notice my son G8JKA admiring my Peugeot, maybe he wants to swap?

No, I wouldn't be able to handle the power of it :shock:

by **gookah** » Sat 24 Mar, 2012 23:12

Angel eyes fitted, too big for in front of lens and had to dremel away part of the back. :head:

Wired in to the ignition circuit so always on as DRL's when the engine is running.

and on a visit to the 'seaside' today:

by **gookah** » Sun 25 Mar, 2012 22:53

Today I carried out the following investigation to the heated seat base problem.

After removing the leather this then exposes the problem:

A burnt and broken wire.
I assume that as the car does not have an electric roof, it was caused by someone kneeling on the seat, probably breaking some of the wire strands causing it to overheat and burn out.

So to effect a repair, I decided to splice another wire in between, to get rid of damaged bits and to allow a better routing of the wire.
So solder two joints and heatshink:

Cut into the foam so it can be sunk and protected:

and the finished repair:

Rebuilt and refitted, switched on, no airbag light, and a fully working seat heater.
Didn't cost a penny, in fact I made 72p...

One thing I noticed whist the cover was off, is the reason for the seat bolster being flat:

the foam had parted and no longer held its shape, so a bit of duck tape:

It's not pretty but it does the job perfectly.

by **rovers01** » Mon 26 Mar, 2012 07:11

Very nice looking car... made for the beach shots... I have just purchased similar chrome roll hoops. They are Z3 specific type purchased on ebay
I am looking for advice re fitting as my local garage were clueless. I just assumed that it woulld be an easy retrofit replacement of black (rubber type) hoops to the new chrome ones. Any advice form any one on the forum that has experiece of this much appreciated.
BTW looking forward to meeting Zed enthusiasts the Silverstone event !

by **shantybeater** » Mon 26 Mar, 2012 18:47

Lovely looking Z and great effort on the seats, I really need to do mine at some point (seatbelt guide).

by **gookah** » Wed 11 Jul, 2012 23:26

After spotting that the Z3 was due for a new set of discs, I was surprised to see that it was fitted with solid discs on the front.

So I sourced a set of secondhand calipers and carrier brackets from a 2.2litre 6 cylinder model which are wider than the 4 cylinder variants to allow the extra width of the ventilated discs as pictured:

I purchased new seals and using an a tyre compressor, was able to 'blow' out the piston fully from the caliper and replace the seals.

I then cleaned up the calipers and carriers with a wire brush and painted with caliper paint.

The springs also got a similar treatment.

Armed with new ventilated discs and pads:

The disc back plate was also repainted before the rebuild began.

First the new discs were fitted:

Then carrier bolted on:

Then new pads and caliper:

(Ooops... I had to remove the paint from the pad slider surfaces on the carrier before applying high melting point grease)

Finally after also fitting new discs and pads to the rear (rear solid discs are the same on both 4 & 6 cylinder) I bled the brakes with a Gunson EasiBleed and flushed through the complete system.

So before and after:

by **swamper** » Thu 12 Jul, 2012 00:04

looks well :thumb:

by **gookah** » Mon 06 Aug, 2012 20:35

Well I have just completed the electric roof conversion to the car, from the manual operation.
Managed to get a pump/motor, hoses, relays and cylinder for £100......

, and a facelift switch for £25 :head:

G8JKA gave me a Maplin's microswitch which I had to attach to the frame. Drilled tapped and bolted it on after finding the best hidden position to ensure the front of the roof is raised fully to enable the circuit, Yes I could have bought the BMW one with bracket for £65 :roll:

..... not required.
Also one other obstacle is that they manual roof cars do not have the pump mounting brackets that are welded to the wheel arch.
and the carpet trim is a different shape to account for it.
Still I managed to get a carrier bracket made to mount the pump unit under the parcel shelf so it is covered by the CD changer hump in the carpet..
Works a treat and is so much better (although slower).
I also swapped the location of the ASC and Roof switch so that the one that is used, is not the most awkward to reach....
Photo's to follow.

by **Brian H** » Mon 06 Aug, 2012 21:05

Well done, I bet that was a good project to complete, I was surprised to read that the roof motor mounts were not in place, did the wiring loom have all the correct connectors in place?

by **whiteminks** » Mon 06 Aug, 2012 21:22

Wow Gookah!
You really do love your zeds 8-)

.
Fabulous job! Is it sterling grey or steel grey?

by **gookah** » Mon 06 Aug, 2012 21:34

Brian H wrote:Well done, I bet that was a good project to complete, I was surprised to read that the roof motor mounts were not in place, did the wiring loom have all the correct connectors in place?

It took quite a while to remove all the trim to pass the cylinder and hoses through from the boot. It was just as easy to do that as taking the hoses off, and I was able to route them better and secure them.
Wiring loom was all intact. Basically, it is find the tucked away connectors, and plug them in. Even the microswitch has a loom connector.
The hydraulic cylinder even fits on the same mounting pegs as the gas strut. It was a very enjoyable and satisfying project to be honest.

I didn't expect the mounts to be missing, but if they were, I thought at least they would be a bolt on option, as the roof kit is supposed to be a retrofit item. Even that doesn't show the brackets.. I have two spare brackets that were made as well.... if anyone else fancies a project....

by **gookah** » Mon 06 Aug, 2012 21:40

whiteminks wrote:Wow Gookah!
You really do love your zeds .
Fabulous job! Is it sterling grey or steel grey?

Well I've just sold the Z4M, so I might be after yet another additional Z3 project (His and Hers)
This one is my third Z3, plus two Z4's so far. and possibly after another Z3.... Am I mad?
Plus my son has a Z3.
I am getting a bit familiar with them by now

It is Sterling Grey by the way..

by **whiteminks** » Mon 06 Aug, 2012 22:00

We know you are maaddddddddddd but where zeds are concerned you are a man after my own heart!

by **gookah** » Mon 06 Aug, 2012 22:13

I have O ZEE D...

by **whiteminks** » Mon 06 Aug, 2012 22:25

gookah wrote:I have O ZEE D...

You are a serial zed addict! I don't think rehab would turn you around for one second though! Live life......... love zeds

.

by **gookah** » Fri 19 Oct, 2012 20:29

Doh

and it wasn't that cold this morning when I opened it....... :head:

by **TitanTim** » Fri 19 Oct, 2012 20:42

gookah wrote:Doh

and it wasn't that cold this morning when I opened it.......

EEK

Time to get the hard top on :lol:

or trade in for an E89 :wink:

Tim.

by **gookah** » Thu 29 Nov, 2012 21:12

So after fitting the new window, and then moving house (to one without a garage),
in the single figure temperatures, and on my way to look at a Z3 for me.....
this happens, in a cloud of steam......

The culprit?

,
next to the cam sprocket in the photo, is the sheared head bolt which was lying flat under the rocker cover and the retrieved thread from the block....

New gaskets and stretch bolts fitted all round, head skimmed, pressure tested and refitted.
Oil/ filter changed once, (to do again) newly flushed cooling system and antifreeze, and thermostat checked OK.

Cost? £130 in gasket set/bolts/oil/etc etc and £300 to a mobile mech (which included head work).
With no garage yet, and a 'new' house full of jobs to do, I thought 's*d it' let someone else get cold....
Finished today and so far it seems to have worked, fingers crossed.

£430 just before xmas?..... super!

by **TitanTim** » Thu 29 Nov, 2012 21:38

EEK M43 engine, do you know what caused the problem?

Glad its sorted

Tim.

by **gookah** » Thu 29 Nov, 2012 22:01

TitanTim wrote::shock: EEK M43 engine, do you know what caused the problem?

Tim.

I have read where a few M43's have had this problem with a head bolt snapping at the rear exhaust side of the engine, and causing the gasket to blow.
101,000 miles though, where as yours is still to be run in.
Water pump seems fine and thermostat is OK, no previous problems showing.
I just drove about 5 miles that day, and noticed the heater was blowing cold air, first thought was heater dial as temp gauge was normal,....

then I started to have the dreaded M43 head gasket premonition, sure enough, and not long after, the temp guage started rising.... :bad

pulled over, steam at the back of the engine, took oil filler cap off, mayo everywhere, pulled the dipstick, watery mayo and the level had risen.... case proven, :head:

So towed it home and parked it up....

by **TitanTim** » Fri 30 Nov, 2012 20:19

I've heard of head gasket problems with the M43 in the past so guessing the problem you had is one of the causes, sounds like you stopped before any overheating occured, mines coming upto 24,500 lol but you never know when these things happen and at what mileage

Tim.

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