hi guys and girls! this is mine zed history

[barone]

back in 1997 this is how it looks my z, oh well at this time 'my father zed'

me on top.
after that photo i took the situation in hand and changed
wheels and disks (same measure but drilled).

wheels are mak matrix 5 (already marked :-/).
after that i put on it chromed roll bar (fake one), a chromed front grille, an used hard top bought for 400euros (exellent conditions), brackets for HT a supersprint exhaust for 500euros, rear and side light with white indicator and M view mirrors (only because i broke one trying to closing one)

i left the HT silver because i like the combo colour on the car .
the car now still have the headlight with orange indicator.....
instead to buy an used set i decided to open the headlight and made by my self the indicator (also to help people with my same problem).

after these modifications i'm satisfied on how it looks externally. (for now)
lets to some interior )))))

this is how look my car originally

after that i decided to retrim in black and blue style the wheel, center console, dashboard, door panels, door handles, handbrake handle, gear and handbrake cap.
i bought 2 black-blue M seats
changed the black plastic console with a silver newer one (real aluminium one)
changed all switches with restyle version
added the defrost rear window switch
added seat heater switches and the propre fuse (the wiring of the car was already full optional)
and gived some chrome touch here and there.....

with all these modification took the opportunity to made an 'how to' on how to disassemble all interiour panels properly...

the blue match perfectly the original colour of the seats.. when I went to the italian leather craftsman, to match the blu he didn't show me a sample of the colour that he want use, he show me directly the entire cow hahahaha

now with the new roll bar my old wind deflector is useless... so i took a plexiglass plate, draw the new profile and cutt it

it's now turn of the hi-fi system
i bought 2 twitter and 2 mid from ground zero others 2 twitter and 2 mid from hertz an ampli to manage them..
a little woofer behind the passenger seat from alpine, another big one from punch and other ampli to manage them

now accidentally waiting in car my girlfriend doing shopping i left my i-pad on the dashboard and i thought ''my god! it's perfect for my dash!!!!''
so i custom built with the dremel, some wood, 4 screw and a bit of black leather a bracket for it wthout touching anything on the dash and fully removable when i'm not in the car

ahhhhh finally finished i thought, the car now have something like 11 or 12 years and it's perfect.

is it really the end?
keep watching

 

[Cooper]

Awsome write up dude and I loved the story. Great job on all the self made modifications.

 

[TaffZee]

Exellent Job, (all accept the ipad holder) but if thats what you want fine by me, does look like a tea vending machine or a cash machine though.

 

[barone]

after 3 years from this sentence i restarted doing things......
really slowly online i started buying items to arrive at this

the rear end panels of 2.8 pre-restyle and an M front bumper

a set of refurbished M wheels
now i need a total paint work but for now i opted for a total body wrapping so i bought 20mt of film and i closed my self in the garage for 5 days to do the work again by my self

a detail of the car: the tight pre restyle bumper, the wide body quarter panel of the 2.8 or M and the M rear wheel 9J

work in progress

after job done!

now i focused my attention on the light of the car

i disengaged the standard position light to add 2 led stripes inside the air duct of the bumper, they are invisible when turned off
then i fit an HID kit to have a more brighter light. but the way they dazzle the views of the incoming traffic don't like it so again and again instead to buy an aftermarket headlight with projector bulbs (THAT I HATE) i reopened my headlight and done a personal version

light beam before:

light beam after:

 

[hard top]

Good stuff. I take it the i-pad holder hangs off the air vents but what does it clip into at the bottom?
I suppose it could be handy on a long drive but I would not want it there all the time.

 

[barone]

if you want the 'how to' to build the projector inside your headligh click here:
http://www.z3mendi.it/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=18396
it's in italian but if you use google translator is easy ;-)
after that only one last thing.
i fitted a BBK
porsche 996 caliper by brembo used
brackets from rally road new
disks ate 325x28 for bmw M3 E46 new

old front disk VS new one

new look for the calipers!
hell yeah!!!!

the old brake sistem

bracket of caliper fitted:

disk and caliper fitted

also wrapped the bolts of the wheels oohhhhhh!!!!!!!!

now in winter mode but its only temporary only till 15 april when the obligation of snow tires will cease

and thats the end

for now.......

 

[t-tony]

Excellent works Barone, you should be very proud.

Tony.

 

[Zeti]

We usually believe that just mature people (don't want to use "old"!) know how to work on their cars.
This is the best prove that people inspired, courageous and handy get borned with that.
And Barone it's one of them!
I wonder if an unadvised person (but a Zed addicted) can make the list of the changes, just turning arround the car?

 

[zedwheels]

Lots of work done to your zed barone, some nice changes you have done! Do you have any time left to take it for a drive?

 

[barone]

Lots of work done to your zed barone, some nice changes you have done! Do you have any time left to take it for a drive?

hehehe you are right but these modifications was done in a period of 18 years.... i use it every time i can i'm just waiting for the 220.000km service
The rest of the time when I don't drive or work on it, i watch it on my desktop hahahaha

 

[oldcarman]

Truly a well planned out execution!! The results are perfect! What diameter wheels fit over the Brembos? JIM

 

[Brian H]

Really enjoyed reading this thread, how is your brake bias after fitting the brembo calipers?

 

[David]

@barone

Personally I love the look of the iPad holder, would you consider making me one?

 

[barone]

Truly a well planned out execution!! The results are perfect! What diameter wheels fit over the Brembos? JIM

Thanks Jim, it depends by the position of the spoke of the wheels...
all oem wheels needs a 12 mm spacer.
my styling 40 7.5J et41 needs 12mm spacer and there is a clearance between the caliper and spoke of 3mm.
instead my winter wheels mak matrix 5 are 17inch 8J et 40. They dont need spacer and the clearance is something about 13mm

 

[barone]

Really enjoyed reading this thread, how is your brake bias after fitting the brembo calipers?

The new brake feed is lovable.... braking and braking they are always ready to do the job even in a hot sunny summer day. (Tryed to beliving )
Also if you need to stop fast you push on the pedal and Bam! Your face is on the windshield hahaha

 

[t-tony]

The brakes look very nice too Barone. 3mm clearance is just enough!

Tony.

 

[barone]

@barone

Personally I love the look of the iPad holder, would you consider making me one?

Hi David! Thanks!
Yes i can consider it, but isn't so easy....
I made mine directly on my i-pad 1st generation, every i-pad or tablet in general have different sizes lenght, width, depth....
and to cover it in leather i took it by the craftsman who made my interior

 

[David]

@barone

I'd be happy make to make the cutout for the iPad, and fixings myself, as well as covering it!

 

[barone]

if it can help you i can post this

its a hard profile to copy.
for an easy lock these two little bars slip in the air vent. thats enough to keep the pad stable and lock in position (i hope i'll never roll over :-D ).
also i connected it to the car radio with the cable Jack-RC (red-white connectors).
tesla model S copied my project and perfected it hahaha

 

[David Cullen]

amazing work man, very well done to you ;-) and nothing better than having the pleasure of doing it all yourself, congrats on having a beautiful Z ;-)