Seemed like a good idea at the time!

[IainP]

So, this starts Jan 2019, had been holding onto a spare Clio Dci as a stopgap whilst my son sold one of his E36 Touring. Then he decided to keep it. Sold the Clio and started casting about for something as a weekend runner/occasional track days. MX5's were all rotten, Mercedes SLK's were all auto and nothing else was terribly interesting. Couple of Z' came up and sold instantly. Hmnn.
Masterplan.
1.9 twincam, MOT or mechanical failure, not too far, head gasket or clutch gone would be ideal.
Quite surprised how many that brought up. Some sold immediately. A couple were bought by traders and readvertised at twice the price.
Eventually I spotted one at the top of what I wanted to pay. Possible overheating problem. All solid, needed at least one caliper, mirror taped on, black leather interior. £600 . That'll do. Left a deposit. And you know what's coming next don't you! "Dad can I borrow your spare car? Decided to sell the Touring in acouple of months". Damn, there goes my track nights.
Younger children dropped me at the Z next night, idea was to pull the stat and drive it home. Spare water already loaded. The bolts were rounded. So rounded my surface drive sockets wouldn't grip in the slightest. Feck. 1C, we'll limp it to Stirling services and tow it up to Perth from there.
Got to Stirling, gauge in the red, parked up and Boomf! Loadsa steam. Big split in the rad. Wouldn't restart. In fact it spun over really fast. Head gasket. I was under strict instructions from SWIMBO not to bring home a dead car (again). Towed it into Stirling, down a side street and abandoned it outside some poor sods house.
Some grovelling to my father in law for the use of part of his garage. Fair distance from home (50) but at least not far off my commute so i can work at nights. Returned on the Sunday with a solid bar and my father in law with his X type. Quick attach and we were away. Some slight problems. Tow point on the Jaaag is on the left, right on the bimmer, so I was driving in the gutter. The seat was fully down, the switch didn't work and I had a tiny gap between the Jaaag headrests and pillar to see through. The towed car has to do all the breaking, so I have to see! And have brakes. No servo, one sticking caliper and the other 3 discs had a hard job, especially as the Jaaag is auto, so no engine braking. Oh well, at least a full brake replacement was already in the budget. Stinking pads and one brake disc that was bright blue when we parked it.

Tucked in the corner of the garage the strip down began. Rad had a big split. Bin. Stat housing was cracked getting the bolts out. Bin. Two bolt heads twisted off. 2 Pump bolts sheared. Got the whole lot out and binned everything.
Stripped everything from the head, socket on the headbolt, great big breaker bar, heave, and fell over. Oh foxes mints I've snapped the bolt. Except I haven't. Second bolt, brace, twist. Bloody hell, that was easy. Took all the rest out with a 3/8 ratchet. I could probably have used a 1/4 drive if id brought one. Eh? Seriously sweating at that point, I've never had head bolts loosen so easily. The block was flat, as was the head, the gasket was clearly blown on all four cylinders, something else I've never seen. Dropped the head to West of Scotland Enginerring for pressure testing and skimming. Fully expected a "Sorry Iain, it's F*****" call , but nope, passed and skimmed. Didn't really need the skim, but I'm all for a little extra compression.

And my phone refuses to add pics, so I'll post this just now and edit it later

 

[Sean d]

Now theres a start to owning a z3, I have a 1.9 m44 with a new radiator that I am breaking if it's any good to you

 

[Jjim]

That’s the good point of the M44, lots of room to work around it.

 

[IainP]

@Sean d I may take you up on that, the coolant was low today and I suspect a leak at the tank. Can say for definite in a couple of days.

 

[Sean d]

@Sean d I may take you up on that, the coolant was low today and I suspect a leak at the tank. Can say for definite in a couple of days.

Cool, im trying keep the car mobile as once I pull it apart it will be outside and the weather is bloody awful

 

[IainP]

Right then, head back the valves were cleaned, heads polished, head stripped of seals, cleaned, valves lapped, all holes retapped, head cleaned again, all seals refitted and everything built up. Myriad hoses were perished, so they were replaced.

New rad, water pump, thermostat and the little plastic pipe at the rear of the head that degrades with time all went on.
I had wanted to fit an electric fan but time constraints to get the car down to my son in Berkhamstead put an end to that.
Refitting the exhaust was a complete pain, I'd left the downpipes connected to the manifold. Trying to line the manifold back up whilst keeping the gaskets in place proved impossible. Of course I'd forgotten to bring a new tube of exhaust paste to hold it in place, the stuff in my box was rock hard no amount of soaking would rescue and it it was 11 at night. I just knew attempting to remove the downpipe would snap the bolts, but weent ahead anyway . . . And snapped the bolts. Which turned out to be studs. Available, but quoted some astronomical price I can't remember. Knocked them out, cleaned the manifold, visited Screwfix and bought a pack of stainless coach bolts. Filed the head to press fit, zapped them with the mig and stainless wire. Sorted.

More later.

 

[IainP]

Gave the downpipe a quick wire brush then a can and a half of high temperature silver paint

All built up, starting and running by that point it was time to start on the brakes.
Started with the sticking caliper. Clear to see why, piston was toast, pad was down to the metal. Passed it's MOT 4 weeks before I got it, clearly hooky, so I went over pretty much everything.



All four discs were replaced, all pads and shoes, all calipers stripped, cleaned, given multiple coats of high temperature paint. One of my petty hates, the sliders had not only been sanded, but smeared in copper grease. Copper grease is an anti seize compound, not a lubricant, especially since it absorbs water and hardens. Sliders should be polished and the correct lubricant is silicone grease, the reason it's also known as brake grease. Top Tip. Silicone lubes do NOT 'Burn Off', Ever. Ditch your gloves after using it. If you don't believe me, just know that I use it at work to stop metals sticking together - at 1500C. If you think you can generate more than that best of luck.

Before and After.

There's a reason they're stainless! They polish up nicely, though I have a polishing lathe with a big wheel and various compounds.

 

[Sean d]

Gave the downpipe a quick wire brush then a can and a half of high temperature silver paint
View attachment 132741
All built up, starting and running by that point it was time to start on the brakes.
Started with the sticking caliper. Clear to see why, piston was toast, pad was down to the metal. Passed it's MOT 4 weeks before I got it, clearly hooky, so I went over pretty much everything.
View attachment 132743
All four discs were replaced, all pads and shoes, all calipers stripped, cleaned, given multiple coats of high temperature paint. One of my petty hates, the sliders had not only been sanded, but smeared in copper grease. Copper grease is an anti seize compound, not a lubricant, especially since it absorbs water and hardens. Sliders should be polished and the correct lubricant is silicone grease, the reason it's also known as brake grease. Top Tip. Silicone lubes do NOT 'Burn Off', Ever. Ditch your gloves after using it. If you don't believe me, just know that I use it at work to stop metals sticking together - at 1500C. If you think you can generate more than that best of luck.
View attachment 132747
Before and After.
View attachment 132749
There's a reason they're stainless! They polish up nicely, though I have a polishing lathe with a big wheel and various compounds.

I love restoring stuff but unfortunately there is nothing left on my z to restore, that makes me feel sad

 

[IainP]

I bled all four corners until I had new fluid everywhere. I have a vacuum bleeder, couldn't find the reservoir for it though, so improvised with an empty M&S plastic tub. Actually worked better than the reservoir.



After it would start and stop I turned to the interior. A dash strip had the heater working, the cables were off the selector.
The seat motors were stripped and cleaned.
At that point it was a question of arranging a date to get it down to Berkhamstead. Turned out I had a couple of spare weeks so decided to tart up the engine bay.
THe rocker cover was stripped and painted in black wrinkle paint. Worked so well I did the top part of the inlet manifold, that didn't work quite so well, didn't have enough paint left to get a thick enough coat to properly wrinkle.

When I'd done the pump, stat etc I'd used stainless bolts, so I fitted as much stainless as I could find.


The dash and console was a bit messed and marked. Every time a previous owner wanted a switch out they just levered them out. It was all chips, dents and scratches. I stripped the whole console, filled all the dents and marks then wrapped it in a brushed aluminium finish. Wasn't a great success. I think the wrap was too thick, even heating the living daylights out if it didn't really help.

Now I have it back I'm going to have another go. Very tempted to skin it in carbon or diolen this time instead.
As you can also see above I started modifying it for two cup holders at the rear. Aging, now I have it back I'll finish that off.
Incidentally, though everyone thinks the interior is abs, it's not, not all of it anyway. The center console appears to be skinned in abs, internally I think it's some sort of nylon. I tried bonding it with MEK, worked on the surface only. Came apart when stressed. I ended up slapping it together with epoxy as by that time it had to go. Finished it off with a tonneau cover I got off here. A good boot polish and it came up like new.

 

[IainP]

@Sean d I can lend you one if you like!
That is pretty much that, it was faultless on the 400 miles overnight down to Englandshire. About 250 with the hood down!
My son quickly said " Oi! This thing leaks! " There were leaks at both windows, I hadn't noticed, as wierdly for Scotland, it hadn't rained once when I had it. And he hated the ride on the 18's, so they were traded for a set of standard 16's. Think he said they were plasti dipped.

It worked as a stopgap car though which was fine. Once he tracked down another e36 Touring the Z only got occasional use in emergencies.

I was warned the interior was soaking and smelly so I grabbed a leather flying jacket cheap off eBay, just in case. Couldn't get time off to go and get it, had to wait until my son was up for Christmas then go down with him.
I don't like black wheels so I found a set of Z4 wheels and took them down.
Damp inside? I think the windows had more water inside than out, we had to wipe every surface free of damp mould and I had to sit on two towels and a plastic seat cover. Oh and the exhaust leaked. A bandage with an Irn Bru can clamped over fixed that.
Driving with the hood up was not an option, the condensation on the windows was epic. Oh, and did I mention it was now 11:30pm? It was only 400 miles and I had a flying jacket, a hat and gloves. No problem. Stopped at Newport Pagnell services to put the hood up, but no point, couldn't see out in about 30 sec. Discovered if i pushed my body warmer over my thighs it was actually quite toasty, I could turn the heater down to 3. Next stop Birmingham.
Very thankfully it was not only dry, 30th December, but being overcast and foggy in places, reasonably warm, 6-7C.
Had a little video, but it's not a compatible file it seems.
Anyway.
From Preston up the sky cleared and the temp dropped to 1C, -2C just before the border (according to my phone).
I have to say, travelling in serious dark, 5am, with superb clear skies is really seriously distracting, very hard to keep watching where your going with so many stars out.

 

[t-tony]

Had a little video, but it's not a compatible file it seems

To upload video on here you have to first put it on YouTube Ian, then add a link on here. Sounds like an "experience" to say the least mate.

Tony.

 

[IainP]

Ah, there we go. It was actually not as bad as expected, the jacket is fantastically warm. Heated seats are on the to do list now. Possibly make a proper roll bar, undecided on that.
A stainless decat pipe came up cheap. I'll weld in a cat, even though there's one in the box - sorry, couldn't resist!
The leak is in the rear pipe, a split in the seam, I'm planning on welding it in the short term, remaking it in stainless when I get the time. And I'd like to make a front splitter and rear spoiler too.
Currently out of MOT, I need to have a look at the wiring under the drivers seat, the asc and airbag lights are on, I suspect the water is likely the cause of that. I have about 8 weeks before I'd like to use it.

 

[IainP]

Thanks @t-tony if this works it should be:

View: https://youtu.be/59EbQ98oIBw


It wasn't as bad as expected, did get some strange looks from passing cars!

 

[Althulas]

Quite enjoyed reading this, look forward to more of the same. By the way you must be bonkers most people would have walked away fro m it but good on you for saving one from the scrappy.

 

[IainP]

@Althulas I caused a lot of hilarity at work after the New Year. Along the lines of:
" Anybody do anything interesting for Hogmanay? "
"Oh yeah! That effing idiot drove a BMW convertible 400 miles with the hood down!"
"Wus it stuck or sumthin!"
"Nah, Iain's just a feckin Loon"
"Least it wisnae snawin"
" ur ye kiddin! Huh you seen the feckin snow tyres he fits tae ees caurs? Make Landrover tyres look like they're bald"
"You wouldnae a run a BMW in the snaw though neer mind wie the hood doon?"
" That loon would"
Me: "Tyres are everything, proper tread pattern, experience and practice. Bm's are fine if you know what your doin"
" your aff yer heid ya loon, wait, look at that face! your about tae say if ye go a certain speed ye'll no get snaw in the car!"
Me: " Above 40-45 and it's fine"
"Told ye! Effing Rocket so he is!"
There was quite a bit more, all in good humour but with a lot more swear words.
It's not a bad wee car, everything I did last year was in the budget, the only thing that should be a big expense this year is a new hood. I'll leave that until the end of Autumn, just use sealer and gaffa tape above the rear window.
Have some toys to go on it


The brakes will be fine for the track, Forrestburn hillclimb track, 1km, only hard on the brakes 3 times and one dab. Plenty of time to cool between runs.

 

[Pls]

Snow? Nae bother!



Drumochter, on the way home from Dunkeld. As you say, it's fine over 40mph.

Watching with interest.

Cheers

Paul

 

[t-tony]

Snow? Nae bother!

View attachment 132833

Drumochter, on the way home from Dunkeld. As you say, it's fine over 40mph.

Watching with interest.

Cheers

Paul

Ha,ha , yes we know about that Paul, from our resident "feckin Loon" (sorry @IainP I borrowed that) who lives in the Lakes and likes riding in the snow. He knows who he is

Tony.

 

[IainP]

Not had much time to work on the Z, my father in law's been ill, so mostly visits to the hospital instead of the car (in his garage). Might manage an hour tomorrow though. I'm under orders to get it mot'd.

Picked up a spare wheel, mint except for the balance weights. Tyre is hard as nails, so that needs changed. One on the car is down to ~4mm so I'll ditch that one as well and get a pair, keep the lowest on the car, about 6mm, as a spare. The A9 can be brutal on tyres/wheels, I always like to keep at least one spare.
Bought some pro carbon and xcr resin from Easy Composites, other companies are available, originally to do the console and some stuff for a friend. Never used the pro carbon before, has extra binders on the rear, so makes it ideal for skinning. I really like it, beats spraying hair lacquer on the rear surface. Usual though, like it too much. Soooo, as i have just over 1m square available I've decide to do extra stuff too. . . . as in, Everything Possible. Will still do the console in carbon/twaron i think, it 'pops' more, so better suited to the interior where its on constant display.
Brought a couple of bits home to start , undecided if I want to remove the BMW from the coil cover and add it as a decal.


A decal would certainly be easier, but if I can apply the carbon to the raised letters I can at least see how would look without paint. I do have the equipment to vacuum bag it as well. Hmnn, . . decisions.
I'm a dental technician to trade, so the little fasteners for the coil cover I can cast in cobalt chrome, probably a brush finish with the coin recess polished. As you do.
See, Tony, "feckin Loon"!

 

[jayroll]

Good stuff and a nice read! Keep 'em coming. Gave me some more inspiration to start my own thread at some point. As soon as I can leave the corona quarantine and get back to the garage.

 

[IainP]

Well I'm nhs, so I'm just waiting on it kicking off, then I'll likely get redeployed to pretty much anything.
No pressure to get it mot'd, now that no track days until at least May. I may take more bits off to modify at home, and I'd really like to start making a front splitter.