MY little Z3 Project

DirtyDog

Zorg Legend
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 3, 2015
Points
84
Location
Aylesbury
Model of Z
Z3
How lazy have I been not updating my post since Feb.
Well I have done a few things, learnt a few more skills through trial and error.
Purchased a few bits and met a few new people along the way.
Im not going to do a major long post, a few things i have already covered in other post , so this is just an update of task completed.

First bit of good new, my coolant system is fine now, god what a pig to bleed, several attempts tried, various methods tried via Youtube videos and to be honest one of the major issues I had was after replacing the Radiator I used a after market filler cap.
BIG NO NO - Spoke to Sopers and ordered a OEM cap, problem sorted. Spoke to my local garage I have used for years, they said " they have had loads of issues with aftermarket coolant parts over the years, stay with OEM" and to be honest the after market expansion tank I got along with the cap were pants... Lesson 1 learnt.

So next job -
My aerial was snapped off , the radio code locked and the multi stack cd player cassette was missing. I like my mod cons , bluetooth, hands free phone and Dab... I didnt want anything to bright so went for a Pure stereo and Dab aerial

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Next job was to replace the damaged bonnet - Found a cheap bonnet which just needed respraying, fitted for the time being, wrong colour but its ok



Now for some Bling I didnt really need but just had to have them -

@Low Rider spare set of 78's - just love the wheel on the zed, they do need a full refurb but that next winters project, for now they are great.

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Again, another upgrade I didnt really need but much prefer the look , a wide mouth bumper, again @Low Rider sold me his old bumper he removed from his zed after buying a newly sprayed one from @spurs fan in a coupe.

It needed quite alot of work to get it back to a semi decent condition, but thats half the challenge right!!!!!!.
Its not perfect by a long way, I have never rubbed down a car bumper, filled and then sprayed it using aerosol cans before so it was a learning process, the cold weather really didnt help , it does need to be machine cut and polished to get it that much better but its fitted now and I love it

Before -
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During -
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After -

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Now to get rid of the air box -

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So whats next - Well Bella and Panther are both going to have a mini girly make over tomorrow @BMBabe , Bella is going to get her bonnet professionally painted, and maybe I will also get the dent in the door pulled out and painted if I can do a deal...

I hope i have not bored you too much, I'm still loving working on the car , its not be all fun, in fact I have swore quite often, mainly down to my mistakes and inexperience but thats half the game....
 

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bertiejaffa

Zorg Guru (III)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
Mar 15, 2014
Points
135
Location
Manchester
Model of Z
Z3M
Looking good...

How are you finding the Headunit? I have it on my short list of 3... hows the controls when you are driving? I hate stereos that use the big button for everything and so have 1000 different ways of pressing them which is impossible when you are moving.
 

DirtyDog

Zorg Legend
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 3, 2015
Points
84
Location
Aylesbury
Model of Z
Z3
@bertiejaffa

Im happy with the unit, does exactly what I want it to do..
The unit is easy to set up and use, the hands free works well, a separate mic has to be installed, but its easy enough along with the Dab aerial which I have had zero drop out with.

The big nob on a day to day use mainly does the volume control, but can be used to scroll through your phone list or Iphone music play lists if required.
The big nob is used when setting up things like the equalizer,back light colours, colour dimmer, clock etc.
Selection of radio/cd/bluetooth etc is done via the selector switch at the side.

Next will be to upgrade the speakers a little, nothing too expensive but a little more thud to em, the standard sound a bit tinny.
 
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DirtyDog

Zorg Legend
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 3, 2015
Points
84
Location
Aylesbury
Model of Z
Z3
Whilst Bella is away having her bonnet and passenger door repaired and painted I have not had much time to do anything and have no car to work on

What I have been playing with are the front kidney grills I took off the bonnet prior to going for a respray.
I was in 2 minds about changing the chrome surrounds, I have seen a few cars with matt blk surrounds and like that, but didn't want to splash out on new aftermarket grills so I have dug out my good old can of Matt black Plastidip... God I love this stuff. So easy to use and last up to 3 years.
. The best bit ,if you get bored with the colour or want to go back to original you just peel it off...

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My side bonnet vents are scuffed and I am not sure if the marks will come out so I'm looking at different Plastidip colour/texture options to hide the marks.
I know chrome side vent was the thing to do a while back but I'm thinking of something a bit different.
Will keep you updated...
 

DirtyDog

Zorg Legend
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 3, 2015
Points
84
Location
Aylesbury
Model of Z
Z3
Bella is with Frantic Performance

As I'm sure you are aware, Bella and Panther are at present with Frantic Performance having a make over.
Thankfully for me @BMBabe wants photo's of everything and she has been constantly getting updates from them on both cars and sending them to me.

So, this time round I am getting the bonnet resprayed and the large dent/scrape on the passenger door fixed.

So the bonnet - my original bonnet was warped and quite badly dented on the front so I managed to source a replacement bonnet at a cheap price, only issue I had was it was blue and the paint was poor in the middle section..

Looks ok right !!!

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God how wrong was I --

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As for the door i thought would easily pull out, and light filler, nothing to involved =))

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Again, to a professionals eye

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These boys have been working some real long hours on both mine and Staceys cars along with some other really cool stupidly high performance cars they are working on at the moment. Im so excited to see the finished results.

More pics to follow;)





 
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BMBabe

Zorg Expert (I)
Staff member
Supporter
British Zeds
Community Admin
Joined
Sep 4, 2014
Points
206
Location
Aylesbury
Model of Z
Z3
Owwww he hasn't posted the best pics yet of Bella ;)
 

DirtyDog

Zorg Legend
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 3, 2015
Points
84
Location
Aylesbury
Model of Z
Z3
Next up, Paint bonnet both sides and door, color sanding and then Lacquer,

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:thankyou:A massive thank you needs to go out to @BMBabe Stacey for sorting this out for me.:thankyou:

I Owe you big time:drinks:
Frantic performance have done a wonderful job on Bella and Im so happy
 

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DirtyDog

Zorg Legend
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 3, 2015
Points
84
Location
Aylesbury
Model of Z
Z3
I have now fitted the front grills, the surrounds are now matt black, but the fins are still blk with the chrome edging.
Also fitted a new set of pressed steal number plates...

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And of course one must not forget our markings ----

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And god I nearly forgot, a new shiny bonnet badge curtsy of Stacey :thumbsup:

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BMBabe

Zorg Expert (I)
Staff member
Supporter
British Zeds
Community Admin
Joined
Sep 4, 2014
Points
206
Location
Aylesbury
Model of Z
Z3
@DirtyDog more than happy to help you mate :thumbsup: Bella looks stunning now and not a lot spent

Love the pink writting you did :D

The new badge looks good :happy: glad it went to use

Really pleased Iv been able to help you and your FAT GRIN was enough to see how much you have fallen in love with your Zed

Happy Zedding mate :thumbsup:
 

DirtyDog

Zorg Legend
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 3, 2015
Points
84
Location
Aylesbury
Model of Z
Z3
@BMBabe Had to do the pink....
I'll post some pictures of the bonnet side grills tomorrow..
They have come out pretty well in my opinion. Look great in the sun.

At least I haven't been drifting today driving Bella
 

5harp3y

Zorg Guru (IV)
British Zeds
Joined
Jul 10, 2015
Points
168
Location
Basingstoke
Model of Z
2.8
great work on the paint, not sure on the black grills myself

surprising to see them paint everything in situ rather than taking the panels off?
 
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