Very pleased after removing front arch liners and front wings to find very little in the way of corrosion so far, next is rear arch liners and sills, then prep and lots of "Bilt Hamber UC"
Rustproofing day one
- Thread starter Brian Hill 1958
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2016
- Points
- 253
- Location
- Maybole , South Ayrshire
- Model of Z
- Z3 Individual Dakar / Orinoco Individual
That all looks really good thats a really good sign that inner sill is going to nice as well .
Wings are in first class condition.
Stephen.
Wings are in first class condition.
Stephen.
Must admit I am extremely pleased, it’s proving to be worth every penny, well rather a lot of pounds I paid for it, and it’s so nice having a car that resembles a meccano kit, seems like an 8mm and 10mm socket is pretty much all you need to take it apart
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2016
- Points
- 253
- Location
- Maybole , South Ayrshire
- Model of Z
- Z3 Individual Dakar / Orinoco Individual
Having pulled a number of things apart on a z3 just going on the assumption that everything came apart as supposed and no special tools needed then you'd be surprised how little you tools you actually need.
Stephen.
Stephen.
The z3 has been a bit of a revelation for me as an ex mx5 owner when you were quite often lucky if anything came undone without major aggravation and now to be able to remove panels as you see fit, wish I’d taken the plunge years ago
Day 2 done and again very pleased, inner sills and jacking points are extremely good, minor work to do on the inner ends of the outer sills, tomorrow the messy part of the job begins
very very tidy that
Think I really struck lucky, definitely one of my better buys !!
Well thats a gallon of Dynax UC, a Gallon of Dynax S50, a fair bit of which ended up on me, leave to cure for a few days then put it back together. hard work but hopefully woth the effort
It's going to last another 25 years now..at least
Better flipping had, mind you the way my back feels now i won’t be able to get in the bloody thing 
That satisfaction of a good job well done
RustyZ3Fan
Regular Member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2025
- Points
- 13
- Model of Z
- Z3 2.8 Facelift
If you want to do full rust removal and then prevention treatment, what is involved?
Below is what Redish Motorsport do for an inner sill restoration.
"Then treating all bare metal with POR-15 Metal Prep, then applying a Graphene Etch Primer, then a High Build Primer.
Then it's on to a brushable seam sealer to bulk up and replace any factory removed seam sealer.
Then we apply our OEM style sprayable seam sealer which recreates that factory textured appearance.
This is followed up by E-coat and also body-coloured base paints to further enhance the finished appearance and make it appear as original as possible.
An extensive Cavity Waxing process is carried out in all the internal sills and cavities and box sections to ensure the best chance of a corrosion free future."
Below is what Redish Motorsport do for an inner sill restoration.
"Then treating all bare metal with POR-15 Metal Prep, then applying a Graphene Etch Primer, then a High Build Primer.
Then it's on to a brushable seam sealer to bulk up and replace any factory removed seam sealer.
Then we apply our OEM style sprayable seam sealer which recreates that factory textured appearance.
This is followed up by E-coat and also body-coloured base paints to further enhance the finished appearance and make it appear as original as possible.
An extensive Cavity Waxing process is carried out in all the internal sills and cavities and box sections to ensure the best chance of a corrosion free future."
I was very lucky mainly due to spending 21 yrs in a garage and only doing a few hundred miles a year. And as such had minimal very light corrosion on the ends of the outer sills with nothing at all on the inners or any where else of note. Any that needed treating was taken back to bare metal then treated with bilt hamber hydrate 80, followed by several coats of bilt hamber Electrox (zinc rich) followed by either dynax UC or dynax S50 depending on whether internal or external. All told a total cost of just under £200. But a lot of time as removing liners, sills, and front wings plus cleaning and prepping the rest of the underside is very time consuming, ultimately though I feel that I’ve done a more thorough job than paying someone else to do it. As they certainly wouldn’t have been cleaning and repainting fasteners, spare wheel etc. hard work but satisfying
It’s a labour of love.
Thank you, as it’s going to be used most of the year it seemed like the right thing to do as the last thing I wanted was for it to start deteriorating, hopefully it will outlast me now
awesome job... i do like Bilt Hamber UC
mine has had full underside done in bilt hamber, but im in the mood before winter to do another coat of something like a black stone chip, just need to find the right stuff.
mine has had full underside done in bilt hamber, but im in the mood before winter to do another coat of something like a black stone chip, just need to find the right stuff.
Would any thing like stone chip stick to the UC?