Time for an overhaul of my 1.9 '98 BMW Z3 Individual

[Matt Barnes]

I believe the first e36 M3s had eccentric lollipops, which then changed to concentric ones sometime in 1995. I'd personally get the concentric ones, but I'm sure the eccentric ones IainP suggests will be fine cos it's all designed for the e36 front end (which is essentially what Z3's have). I think the Z3m has the M3 lollipops as standard.

To stance or not to stance, that is the question.

cheers mate

 

[IainP]

Don’t mention Stance.
Please.
My lads E36 has only 24mm ground clearance.

The eccentric ones give more caster when turning, that transfers to a small -ve camber change when turning which gives a small increase in front grip and steering feel. Keeps wider tyres flatter, various other things, all beneficial really, I can’t think of any downsides.
I would never fit the standard ones with spaces, they just don’t last. They work ok with 16” wheels, anything larger diameter has stiffer, and often reinforced, sidewalls, any bump transfers the load, or deflection, into the bush which causes a toe change. It’s NOT Bump Steer, though that’s what it’s commonly referred to, actual bump steer is something far more dangerous. It’s really the bush deflecting from the leverage on the outer edge of the tyre, the original 15/16” tyres the suspension was designed for had/have considerable compliance which modern ultra low profiles don’t have.
A Z3 on standard bushes and run flats with their super stiff sidewalls is a hellish thing, darts about all over the place, quite scary in wet Scottish weather.

 

[Matt Barnes]

Don’t mention Stance.
Please.
My lads E36 has only 24mm ground clearance.

The eccentric ones give more caster when turning, that transfers to a small -ve camber change when turning which gives a small increase in front grip and steering feel. Keeps wider tyres flatter, various other things, all beneficial really, I can’t think of any downsides.
I would never fit the standard ones with spaces, they just don’t last. They work ok with 16” wheels, anything larger diameter has stiffer, and often reinforced, sidewalls, any bump transfers the load, or deflection, into the bush which causes a toe change. It’s NOT Bump Steer, though that’s what it’s commonly referred to, actual bump steer is something far more dangerous. It’s really the bush deflecting from the leverage on the outer edge of the tyre, the original 15/16” tyres the suspension was designed for had/have considerable compliance which modern ultra low profiles don’t have.
A Z3 on standard bushes and run flats with their super stiff sidewalls is a hellish thing, darts about all over the place, quite scary in wet Scottish weather.

this explains why mine used to float...genuinely felt that sometimes the nose would lift as if you were going to take off...of course back then I was too green to realise the whole suspension was shot...

 

[IainP]

I kept meaning to mention, you said you had difficulty seeing where you’re welding, you can cut the shroud back a bit for better visibility. It doesn’t do anything on a gasless set up other than protect the tip and torch head from spatter. Cut it to expose about 3-5 mm of tip if it helps, or, you can cut one side away if you use the shroud to gauge distance from the workpiece. Only remembered as I’ve just had to do exactly that when welding roll cage plates into my lads Mini, no room so couldn’t see.

 

[Matt Barnes]

I kept meaning to mention, you said you had difficulty seeing where you’re welding, you can cut the shroud back a bit for better visibility. It doesn’t do anything on a gasless set up other than protect the tip and torch head from spatter. Cut it to expose about 3-5 mm of tip if it helps, or, you can cut one side away if you use the shroud to gauge distance from the workpiece. Only remembered as I’ve just had to do exactly that when welding roll cage plates into my lads Mini, no room so couldn’t see.

thanks Iain...yeah I've watched a few videos where some people have either taken the shroud off, or used conical flux core welding shrouds...it's something I'm going to have a go with when I practice next along with adjusting the sensitivity of the helmet glass..

 

[Matt Barnes]

well today WAS going to be weld day !.... psyched myself up...was going to quickly mow the lawn as a warm up..... until I realised that while the washing machine was on, the draining water was going all over the patio.... blocked drain ! the bit by the kitchen door and shed was under an inch of water and sludge which had built up (we don't use the kitchen door). So after emptying and moving the plastic shed, table, plant pots etc... I had the "joy" of unblocking it. That seriously ate into welding time..so mowed the lawn and decided to practice welding again instead...

right... first things first... I ditched the shroud which made a hell of a lot of difference, and turned my helmet down to 10... again, massive difference... I could actually see !! (you don't need a protective shroud for flux core as there's no gas )

First up was butt joints again.....

and ...not too shabby !.....there was one blow through, and that was because of that gap above the top magnet. Just shows you can't have any gaps with flux core. The bottom bit was me upping the voltage a bit

So that's about 19v and about 5m/min for 1.6mm steel

Then I tried some lap joints which are FAR more forgiving !!!

Here's a side view of the joint welded

Then tried welding a patch over a "damaged" area, again lap welded..

and another one... getting a bit over confident by holding it while tacking it in place

I then used a pin hammer to hammer the patch to the contour of the "damaged" part

and there you go. Upped the voltage a bit to get the "sizzling bacon" sound

Think I'm running out of excuses now for not cracking on with the Sills !!!

 

[DrWong]

Great progress mate. No harm to keep practising on bits of scrap before the pride and joy. I'd want to be certain I could do it consistently on practice pieces first before going anywhere near my car lol

 

[Matt Barnes]

Great progress mate. No harm to keep practising on bits of scrap before the pride and joy. I'd want to be certain I could do it consistently on practice pieces first before going anywhere near my car lol

exactly mate...I might be going for it tomorrow...watch out for posts for "anyone got any inner sills?"

 

[Matt Barnes]

well... you know you have good days and bad days in this game ?... well today was a good day and a bad day... firstly I was disappointed that POR15 had some surface rust on it... it should last much longer without a primer

Then I tried to make a template that I could fold and markup...

That's when I realised I had no fabrication skills

so folded over the inner lip and trimmed to the dotted like (which was supposed to be a fold, and I realised I wasn't good enough to fold a curve)

Then I realised that if I put this on the inner lip would still be a corroded edge on the inside.... so I made another template

It was about now, I realised I'd gone well beyond my skill level and the daunting feeling set in... the dotted sections are what I'd have to hammer to match the fluted area

I tried welding in the new inner lip then blew a massive hole.... which I was desperately trying to plug with a copper pipe behind..... think the gods knew my day was up as my welding helmet strap rachet jammed meaning I couldn't loosen it... I took that as a sign to give up for the day.

but... I was quite pleased with the plate.... it was the only thing that went well today.... once I fettle it a bit more I'll chop out the corresponding bit and try and weld it in

 

[AntStark]

10 out of 10 for effort though mate ..I would say it was a good day

 

[Matt Barnes]

10 out of 10 for effort though mate ..I would say it was a good day

thanks for that mate... appreciate that.... it was a long afternoon where not much was going right... I've ordered one of those finger sander grinder attachments so I can grind that mess flat on both sides. Give me hope of plugging it. At least it's a straight edge now rather than looking like someone had taken a bite out of it !

 

[Althulas]

Not a bad effort, if you look on my jack point repair the few flutes were omitted but a couple of gaps were left for the drainage. Looking at your Por15 fail you have to be bloody brutal and cut the rot out and ground to clean metal any trace and it just comes back. I had to address a couple of bits on mine but no sign of any come back after 18 months.
Keep at it buddy you can only improve with experience might be the odd step back but keep at it

 

[Matt Barnes]

Not a bad effort, if you look on my jack point repair the few flutes were omitted but a couple of gaps were left for the drainage. Looking at your Por15 fail you have to be bloody brutal and cut the rot out and ground to clean metal any trace and it just comes back. I had to address a couple of bits on mine but no sign of any come back after 18 months.
Keep at it buddy you can only improve with experience might be the odd step back but keep at it

thanks mate..it dawned on me after two hours laying on the floor, constant visits to the vice, grinding, cutting, grinding, cutting..then when I finally got welding blew a hole. helmet kept falling off as I was laying down, then the ratchet on my helmet broke and that was me done. With the POR15 I'd previously ground right back, treated it with POR15 Metal Prep which leaves a zinc layer, and then put POR15 top coat on..I'll chalk this weekend up to experience and not enjoyment !

 

[DrWong]

Ah keep up the good fight mate - u got dis! haha

Bit crap of the POR15 non? I thought the whole point was it's meant to be tolerant of rusty/less than perfect surface prep.

 

[Matt Barnes]

Ah keep up the good fight mate - u got dis! haha

Bit crap of the POR15 non? I thought the whole point was it's meant to be tolerant of rusty/less than perfect surface prep.

exactly mate....POR stands for Paint On Rust !!...I did think the grey was very watery compared to the black POR15

 

[DrWong]

Ha, should be POS lol

Are you going to persist with the POR or switch to the epoxy? When I was researching this stuff there were so many stories similar to yours about how it had failed.

 

[Matt Barnes]

,b

Ha, should be POS lol

Are you going to persist with the POR or switch to the epoxy? When I was researching this stuff there were so many stories similar to yours about how it had failed.

the idea was to POR15 the bare metal, then epoxy over the top, then seam seal and top coat....but...you SHOULD be able to use POR15 on it's own

 

[GZed]

,b

the idea was to POR15 the bare metal, then epoxy over the top, then seam seal and top coat....but...you SHOULD be able to use POR15 on it's own

I had seen quite a lot of bad reviews of POR15, and good ones about Bilt Hamber products, so went with those when sorting rust issues on my campervan two years ago. Been mightily impressed so far.
Also impressed with performance of Lanogard which I used to spray the entire underside, inside of chassis rails etc

 

[DrWong]

Yep, reviews I read could be summarised as POR bad, Bilt Hamber and epoxy good. Happy to report that internet was right about the good. Can’t objectively comment on the bad, as stayed well away from it haha

 

[Matt Barnes]

I had seen quite a lot of bad reviews of POR15, and good ones about Bilt Hamber products, so went with those when sorting rust issues on my campervan two years ago. Been mightily impressed so far.
Also impressed with performance of Lanogard which I used to spray the entire underside, inside of chassis rails etc

cheeers @GZed ...I get bombarded with Lanoguard Ads on Facebook, the reason I shied away was it claimed it kills rust whereas my standpoint was it'll stop it returning once you've ground it out or cut it out first..might give it a crack though....my plan was POR15, the epoxy primer, then top coat...watching sone Redish Motorsport vids on Youtube, their POR15 was much thicker, almost like Hammerite, whereas the grey I'm using is like water.