Rebody After a lot of thinking

[Zephyr]

I think I finally want to start a rebody.
Retired, nothing to do all day, all my cars are in good order and finally cottage finished and furnished so selling the house in Athens and leaving for the island.
I now have two options to keep me busy.
Option one- build a boat. Free space in the garage, good with woodwork, learn something new.
Option two - do a rebody. Free space in the garage, know sh.t about kits, spend a ton of money to import the shell and basic stuff.

so, to all those who are building or have built a rebody.
Wich one is the easiest to do?
I see some cut door skins, fabricate metal tubes, etc
507 or California is the easiest one?
Also, where can I find these?
Checked some sites, prices and styles vary, I am sure there is a "good" one and some "so so" ones. Wich is the best?
My intention is to keep the interior stock-ish and have all the modern safety and comfort features (airbags, a/c etc).
What I will need is a body off course, lights, grilles, bumpers and wheels.
correct?
For the ones that have finished now, does the car feel solid? Does it rattle and shake to the point that it gets annoying?
When building did you come to a place that you wished you never had started?
Did you have to fill gaps?
Do you have any issues with heat?
I live in a warm place. How does air circulate under the new cover?

is a rebody a job that will wreck my nerves?

Thanks for the input

 

[Duncodin]

I think I finally want to start a rebody.
Retired, nothing to do all day, all my cars are in good order and finally cottage finished and furnished so selling the house in Athens and leaving for the island.
I now have two options to keep me busy.
Option one- build a boat. Free space in the garage, good with woodwork, learn something new.
Option two - do a rebody. Free space in the garage, know sh.t about kits, spend a ton of money to import the shell and basic stuff.

so, to all those who are building or have built a rebody.
Wich one is the easiest to do?
I see some cut door skins, fabricate metal tubes, etc
507 or California is the easiest one?
Also, where can I find these?
Checked some sites, prices and styles vary, I am sure there is a "good" one and some "so so" ones. Wich is the best?
My intention is to keep the interior stock-ish and have all the modern safety and comfort features (airbags, a/c etc).
What I will need is a body off course, lights, grilles, bumpers and wheels.
correct?
For the ones that have finished now, does the car feel solid? Does it rattle and shake to the point that it gets annoying?
When building did you come to a place that you wished you never had started?
Did you have to fill gaps?
Do you have any issues with heat?
I live in a warm place. How does air circulate under the new cover?

is a rebody a job that will wreck my nerves?

Thanks for the input

You're in the Rebody area of the forum. See can see what people have done. What problems are discuss and overcome - or not. Etc.

Also consider what your local rules are regarding changing things, non standard mods etc.

and then build a boat. .

no. seriously. Do a rebody.

 

[Duncodin]

I also want to add. You can spend stupid amounts of money and have the car off the road while you strive for perfection and look on it like a bottomless money pit.

Or do it on the cheap, like me, and keep your car on the road and drive it even though it looks like it was pulled out of a junk yard.

 

[Zephyr]

Nobody says anything about how the car feels on the road.
when over a bump, how does it feel?
Like falling appart? Doind noises like an empty shell? Ok-ish? Perfect?
I once had a fiberglass hood on a car and got rid of it because it was always making funny noises over bumps. Creeked, thudded, squeeked...

 

[Jam03]

You definitely need a project car. Boats are boring. I look forward to hearing all about it on here

 

[Duncodin]

Nobody says anything about how the car feels on the road.
when over a bump, how does it feel?
Like falling appart? Doind noises like an empty shell? Ok-ish? Perfect?
I once had a fiberglass hood on a car and got rid of it because it was always making funny noises over bumps. Creeked, thudded, squeeked...

Worst rattle thing on my 507 kit was the door skins. Mine came with two L brackets on the bottom edge which I used to bolt to the steel door. The grp panel hooks over the top of steel door where the outside rubber strip is/was. But the skins, on my car, rattled a lot LOT. But now I added more brackets and they'r really tight.

Rear body section is bonded and screwed to the frame so it's tight. Front section is pretty thick and heavy and uses the original hinges and front locking pins. So it's tight.

But, i've never seen it from the outside while it's moving so I can't say whether anything wobbles or looks shakey. But there's no rattles going over bumps.

I think it's up to you how you build it.

 

[Zephyr]

Have any suggestions on which company makes the better shell? Regardless of the type?

 

[Duncodin]

I can't say coz I've only ever bought one kit. From Tribute Automotive. I will say though that the kit needs a fair bit of work. Some of the curves have flat spots. Ripples in the flatter panels that need smoothing and even a spot where there's no glass at all just thick gel coat.

I'm making changes to the shape of mine in places so grp glitches don't worry me.

But you get what you pay for.

 

[Pond]

Build a boat, mate!
Or just renovate/ build another house. Believe me it's easier, and probably cheaper.

You will struggle to find a California kit anywhere now TBH. There is one on eBay for sale (has been for 15 months) but whatever you do don't buy that one (ask me how I know). The only other person I know of in the UK who is producing the mouldings probably won't sell you them as he wants to sell built cars.

The only other realistic UK manufacturer of 'kits' for the Z3 is Tribute Automotive IME.

I know I will upset a few on here (not intentionally) by saying this, but their kits look awful no matter how good the build. Due to the past litigation with certain manufacturers/ trading standards, they have intentionally made their kits to not really resemble anything. So they are a bit 'weird' and 'generic'. If weird and generic is what you want then happy days.

As said, build a boat!

I am building my car purely because the car I want to replicate is (to me) the most beautiful car ever made and I can't afford a real one. If I knew then what I know now, I would have shelved the idea and bought a 'proper' classic car and spent my days tinkering with it.
It's too late for me, but it's not too late for you!

 

[Zephyr]

uh oh! The answer I was afraid of.

 

[Duncodin]

uh oh! The answer I was afraid of.

Yeah. but it was from @Pond if everything was as bad as he says I'd have set fire to it long ago.

 

[Pond]

Yeah. but it was from @Pond if everything was as bad as he says I'd have set fire to it long ago.

My cup is half empty for good reason.
Unless you enjoy sanding horrible fibreglass all day, every day for weeks and trying to figure out how to make a square peg fit in a round hole multiple times (that is what converting a Z3 to something else feels like to me), then it is no fun.

I have been looking at other classic cars, and I have come to realise I could have bought an E-type (and a bloody good one) for the money I will have spent. Or a beauty of an Aston Martin (almost any) and kept it running for 10 years. And not have to clear up my garage of sh*** every five minutes.

 

[Dxbolton]

Yeah. but it was from @Pond if everything was as bad as he says I'd have set fire to it long ago.

Not bad at all! It’s not perfection by any means, but I think the quality is very good especially at its price point.
I have no rattles, it’s extremely fast, and relatively easy to build if you have a modicum of common sense.
loads of build threads and people to help you on this forum.
mine is a 507

 

[Zephyr]

Yeah. but it was from @Pond if everything was as bad as he says I'd have set fire to it long ago.

I am warching both your threads. You seem to be more laid back and @Pond is the perfectionist that will never achieve perfection.
Maybe you both reach what you are after but one will walk a longer distance imho.
I checked local rules, I can do whatever to the outer body of the car but have to keep airbags and seats so not so much to do in the cabin.
This will be a major issue as I will never be able to make a replica, it will always be a frankenZ.
This leads me to other options that I never wanted to face again, importing an MGB and start restoring, but I really do not want to get intimate with ignition points, carburators, jetting etc. not any more. I just want to build something that will be done and just drive it.
Everyrhing I have at this moment ticks like a clock and I am spoiled.

 

[Zephyr]

Not bad at all! It’s not perfection by any means, but I think the quality is very good especially at its price point.
I have no rattles, it’s extremely fast, and relatively easy to build if you have a modicum of common sense.
loads of build threads and people to help you on this forum.
mine is a 507

Which one? Maker? Any issues?

 

[Dxbolton]

Which one? Maker? Any issues?

Tribute 507

 

[Zephyr]

Tribute 507

This is the one that you remove the skin of the doors right?

 

[Duncodin]

. . .
. . .
Unless you enjoy sanding horrible fibreglass all day, every day for weeks and trying to figure out how to make a square peg fit in a round hole multiple times . . .
. . .

Yep. That's what anyone serious about doing a rebody is expecting. If it was simply a case of spending a weekend glueing on some GRP panels then where's the fun in that. Zephyr is looking for something to keep him busy.

Having said that. Do you have any more progress on your car paint job? You're a stickler for detail so I suspect your car, when finished, will be one of the best.

 

[Duncodin]

This is the one that you remove the skin of the doors right?

No. You remove the bumpers, wings, bonnet and boot lid. Just the bits that bolt on.

 

[Duncodin]

Mine looks like we escaped from the local scrap yard. But I'm driving it.