My Z3 to Kobra build

[Sharkiesdad]

Hello all. New to this community but been on it many times as a visitor during my Z3 conversion .
I visited the kit car show at Stoneleigh in the spring of 2018. It was there I met Richard Bird of Nubodi and saw his demo AC Cobra "Trubute" which was based on a Z3.
In May 2018 I purchased a 1998 2.8 Z3 and my own project commenced.
I am hoping to post some photos and details of the build.

 

[DaveP]

Nice chrome gills.

And welcome to the posting as well as reading part of the forum. The friendliest I belong too...

Dave

 

[t-tony]

Hi and welcome from near Lincoln. Looking forwards to the pictures.

Tony.

 

[Sharkiesdad]

Firstly I wanted to make sure the Base car I had purchased was a good one and worth converting! So I just drove it for a few weeks.
The coolant temperature went high on a couple of occasions.
I identified this to be a combination of things.
1. Air con electric fan siezed blocking airflow to radiator.
2. The air con radiator blocks airflow to engine coolant radiator.
3. 20 years worth of leafs, sweet wrappers and a dead bird between the 2 radiators.
4. A viscous fan!
Remedy-
Bin the electric air con fan
Remove air con radiator and bin this
Remove all other air con bits
Fit new water pump and Thermostat
New radiator
Bin viscous fan and fit electric fan with adjustable temp sensing switch.
Now the air can get to the radiators easily and the coolant temperature can be controlled properly.
While I was at it, the power steering cooling pipe which runs around the rads was really rusty and looked rubbish so cut this out in preparation for the Cobra style oil cooler which I was going to run the power steering fluid through.

 

[Sharkiesdad]

Having read about all the common problems with the Z3, I removed and replaced both front wishbones, all bushes, ball joints and links with Mele parts.
I also replaced all 4 shock absorbers and springs with adjustable height coil overs on front and adjustable spring height on rear. Also new Mele top mounts all round.

 

[Sean d]

Welcome

 

[Sharkiesdad]

Next step, start stripping the old bodywork etc off the car. This is fairly straight forward and took two short days taking my time. Photos show original mirrors removed and holes filled. New mirrors temp fitted.

 

[Sharkiesdad]

Thank you for the welcomes. I hope you will enjoy this build.

 

[Mint]

Hi @Sharkiesdad, to the forum from me too in Staffordshire. Looking forward to seeing your progress photos

 

[Sharkiesdad]

Next step, order Kobra body kit from Nubodi Automotive. A trip down to Reading with the help of my dad and his trailer and kit on Driveway!

 

[Sharkiesdad]

The kit is of good quality but does not just

bolt on! There is lots of on and offing, cutting and sanding to get it to fit and get the gaps looking about right!
I also wanted the Aston Martin/ Mo9nza style flip top fuel filler so had to move the filler from its original place.

 

[Sharkiesdad]

The side vents took me 3 days to make out of a flat sheet of alluminium. I was not happy with my first attempt so decided on a new design as photo.

 

[t-tony]

Like these vents, a very personal touch

Tony.

 

[Sharkiesdad]

A trip to Europa Spares, Staffs and my wallet went on a crash diet! Like a kid in a sweet shop in their showroom.
Came out with lots of period looking lights and other shines bits!
Also fitted a new steering wheel.

 

[Sharkiesdad]

Like these vents, a very personal touch

Tony.

Thanks Tony. You can buy them but that is easy!

 

[Sharkiesdad]

The steering wheel replacement involves removing the airbag.
To fool the cars system, I fitted a 3.3 ohm resistor to where the airbag connected.
I also bought an airbag reset tool to reset the lights on dash. Really simple to do but you must be very careful with airbags and do not mess with them if you are not confident!

 

[Sharkiesdad]

I wanted to make inside the large front grille look similar to a vintage Cobra with the two small fans and braided hoses from oil cooler.
My wife was not happy when she came home and found 2 x Yankee Candles emptied out of tins. I needed these to mount my 2 x refrigerator fans to and then add some bolts and wire to. Here are the fans on the bench and what they look like in the car.

 

[Althulas]

Are you making a custom instrument cluster and dash as well? I like the use of using the candle tins well thinking outside of the box.

 

[Sharkiesdad]

Wheels Galore! Lots of choices when doing a kit car! A lot of time was spent looking at wheels. I wanted something that looked a bit Retro! Also wanted them to look like knock on spline type. Bought these wheels and modified a dummy spinner from a Mini and this is how they turned out!

 

[Sharkiesdad]

Are you making a custom instrument cluster and dash as well? I like the use of using the candle tins well thinking outside of the box.

Hi. The interior is going to be stage 2. It will never be an exact Cobra replica due to wheel Base of Z3 and retaining original Z3 doors etc. I will see what it looks like when painted but have a budget too!