Rebody Z3 2.8 Based Ferrari 250 Build

[MisterP007]

Hi all

The car is already finished as you can see from the pic in my profile, but I thought I would write up the build every day or two to show I got there (after bruised knuckles, blood, sweat, and tears). so day1.

Go and buy a perfectly sound 1998 M52TU28 in Montreal Blue, 108k miles been SORN for 7 years, £2250.
If the owners knew what I was going to do they would never have sold it to me!

Got it home and had a really good poke about, completely rust-free, the engine pulls well, interior like new.

 

[MisterP007]

As the kit is already ordered from Classic Coachworks on 6-8 week delivery:

https://www.classiccoachworks.org/cabrio-build

And I have researched all of the necessary parts needed (more on those as we go). I decided that during the waiting period I should strip the Z3 down, sell the surplus parts on evilBay and sort out the replica 1960's Ferrari Interior.

Let battle commence!

All of the Z3 panels are piece of cake to remove, a few 10mm (or are they 8mm) screw bolts, a wiggle and they are off. The panels all sold very quickly and at a good price on evilBay recouping a bit of the build cost (more on the costs later).

Point to Note: If you are building one of these DO NOT sell the bonnet catches and hinges with the bonnet you will need them.

As you can see from the photos underneath the panels the chassis is rust-free, amazingly clean in fact.

Car now looking like something from a Mad-Max movie!

The weather was great (August 2020) so I was working outside in my drive.

 

[MisterP007]

The next day it is the turn of the interior to get the strip-down treatment. this goes very easily. I decide that I will replace the carpet later as well (cannot stand beige!). I end up cutting the foam backing away from it and re-laying the new blue carpet over the top in a later installment.

Everything comes out easily, the dash was a bit fiddly as 3 of the screws holding it in are very tight to the windscreen under plastic trim pieces.

Top Tip: Mark absolutely every wire, screw, switch, and fitting with some tape and a pen because you will forget where they all go later (ask me how I know, even with them labelled?)

For the keen-eyed amongst you, I managed to cut through 13 cables EEK!!! All repaired OK though and everything working.

90% of the interior sold on evilBay very quickly, some parts I did not list as I thought I may use them in another project @spurs fan in a coupe is coming to grab some of them this weekend (hopefully).

The steering wheel boss in the last pic is to take a wood-rimmed wheel later.

 

[t-tony]

Great read so far, keep it coming

Tony.

 

[MisterP007]

Tried to dye the original carpets Dark Blue which was an epic fail due to them being polyester (the dye will work if you can boil it but I do not have a pan that big!).

So I decided to fit some nice lounge carpet over underlay and the original foam backing from the Z3 carpet which I cut off with a bread knife. I died this a much darker blue later. The carpet looks good ( at least with the original carpet mats which dyed well over it) but I have concerns over it's longevity and will replace it with something better over winter 2021.

Also hooked up a strong extension rod to the existing door operating rod as I am going to convert this to "Old-School" pull handles shortly. Basically, a very strong bent wire attached to the original to extend it. This has been wrapped in foam tape to stop door rattles.

 

[MisterP007]

Great read so far, keep it coming

Tony.

Thanks Tony, glad you like it. I will write up a couple of days more tonight.

 

[Paul H]

Interesting stuff, mines going through full refurb atm but nothing like this.

Cant wait to see it complete.

 

[MisterP007]

Long ago in a distant land.... scratch that.... a few years ago in Sussex, I used to be a Carpenter so when faced with the challenge of a 1960's style centre console and prop-tunnel I naturally turned to? GRP of course... kidding... plywood panels as a carrier for leather-clad aluminium trim panels.

Took a few measurements and knocked up some 6mm plywood items (think I'm building a Morgan!).

Then made some 2mm thick aluminium trim plates, covered the face with high-density foam (spray glued) and trimmed them in nice light-cream leather. I watched some great videos on youtube by a Mexican guy on how to do this:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Cechaflo

The guy is a genius!

My door cards are not the most exciting in the world but they do OK!

 

[MisterP007]

Interesting stuff, mines going through full refurb atm but nothing like this.

Cant wait to see it complete.

Hi Paul

No need to wait! It has been finished since March.

 

[MisterP007]

Carpets are sorted, trim panels are done (more pics below). Something is missing from the interior.... oh yeah... something to sit on, a round thing to help go round corners, some bling to tell you how fast you are going around said corners...

Enter the Dashboard, Seat and Steering Wheel Collection runs:

I take a trip up to Little London to collect a Type 2 replica Ferrari dash made in GRP from Classic Coachworks at £350, not cheap but very nice (at least it is now, in the raw GRP it looks bloody awful so I did not take a pic).

During this trip, I meet @Lee and his dad nicking bits off some old Z3 parked outside. Just as well they were there as the Classic Coachworks people were not! Lee has a key and lets me in so I can nick a dashboard (£350) and a wood-rimmed steering wheel including boss (£185). PHEW!!!

The next day a round trip to Norfolk (I must be mad) in my trusty ML to pick up some MGF seats and some not needed MG trim £200 in good nick and vaguely cream-ish in colour.

 

[MisterP007]

So many parts lying about now I hardly know what to do next!!

It is peeing down outside so indoors for seat restoration. Some glue, magic erasers, repair patch for the damaged piping and a leather filler and dye kit and a few hours (2-days) later, new seats.

One lucky thing: Because the MG seats are a bit wider they have to be switched (drivers on passengers side) which helps reduce the visibility of the piping repair.

The process of the leather dye is: 1. Nasty chemical clean which pulls some of the existing colour off. 2. Fill really bad cracks and the MG logos on the headrests. 3. Re-colour with 3 coats of dye. 4. Clear satin coat over the top x 2. Result: new seats.

 

[MisterP007]

Now I have something to sit on I need some bling to tell me if I have reached the rev-limiter or not and whether the kettle (rad) has boiled and of course whether it is Coffee time!

I had just received the order of my Replica Veglia Instruments which are the absolute dog's. Nearly broke my heart paying for them but as SWMBO pointed out "this is what you look at when you are driving, it has to be right". Bearing in mind the £1300 price tag she was being a good sport!

With that in mind, I spend 3 evenings and a weekend sanding down and painting all of the Oregon Beige interior trim (knee panels, kick panels, rear storage bin etc.) and the new and very rough dashboard. The Colour is Oxford Blue BS106 in Satin - bloody lovely with the cream. Also, Darren at DC Paint Solution is brilliant:

www.dcpaintsolutions.com

I then spend another evening fitting the instruments in the dash and pre-wiring them.

Top Tip1: Leave loads of spare wire and do not worry about being anal with the tidiness behind the dash. When you need to get the instruments out later for essential eh-hmmm... maintenance (I had pushed the instrument bulbs out of their holders and into the gauge cases on the 4 small dials and could not figure out why they did not light up grrrr.....) it is far easier with a long lead attached.

Top Tip2: Mark absolutely everything with tape and pen and leave it there once fitted, helps with connections to Z3 wiring later (ask me how I know!).

 

[MisterP007]

Oh.... the dash vents in the previous post are Mercedes E-Class rear passenger vents are were an absolute PITA to get looking like they do. Loads of 68mm ducting and Tiger Seal behind the dash.

The great thing about the GRP replica 60's dash is it bolts onto the rear section of the Z3 dash so all the demist vents are retained for the windscreen. I probably did not need to put side window vents in a convertible but it is nice having hot air in your face with the roof down in the cold.

Top Tip: If you are building one of these do not sell the dash. I had mine sold and found out on the day I was going to ship it that I needed the rear section!!! Cancelled the sale needless to say.

 

[MisterP007]

Next up..... get the dash, steering wheel, and leather in.

Dash was interesting to fit in and needed SWMBO to help out. After lots of pushing and pulling at funny angles with the Mrs.... don't go there... the dash is in. 3 screws on the top of the dash.... I said don't go there!..... 2 s screws on the side and job done.

The steering wheel went on easily and all good (until I started to drive it in March and the horn cables kept breaking and shorting out the horn). Driving around a sharp bend BEEEEEP, reversing BEEEEEP!!!!. Pulled the fuse the first day and worked a fix out later (more later).

The plywood formers for the prop shaft tunnel and the centre console went in next, these are directly fixed to the prop-shaft tunnel with Stainless self tappers so they can be removed later if needed.

The leather-trimmed aluminium trim panels were then fixed in place by push-fit in some areas (the join between front and rear prop-tunnel sections is an aluminium H channel) and velcro where there is no mechanical fixing.

These trim panels can be removed in 10 minutes which is great when you need to get in behind the radio for instance.

All of the original Z3 trim panels (painted Oxford Blue) were re-fitted easily.. got to love this German engineering... and the Roll Hoops put back (Airbags I can live without, being upside down in a rag-top without roll protection I cannot). These rear panels and the Roll Hoops are the only give-away there is a German Brute under the Italian Clothes!

Result: Welcome to 1961!

P.S. More on the toggle switches, Radio etc. later. Also the heater knobs have changed since then.

 

[MisterP007]

That's all for now folks, time for grub.

I will start the exterior write up tomorrow if I have time.

 

[Paul Rice]

Excellent work and a dam good read

 

[MisterP007]

Excellent work and a dam good read

Fanx M8!!!! Sorry, Thank you very much, my friend!

 

[MisterP007]

The toggle switches look cool but as the song goes "oh, what's that switch down there for, Hello John got a Cortina"? - Remember Alexie Sale?

Glad you asked!

I retained the ASC switch and mounted it on the side of the centre console slightly hidden.

The trip computer is stuffed in the void behind the radio in case it did something to the electrics removing it.

All other electrics have been wired to stainless steel toggle switches to get the 60's feel. From left to right they are:

Leccy Window Left - these are sprung on-off Double Pole Double Throw switches and turned out to be easy to wire.

Not wired to anything, sprung loaded on-off -. Thought I may wire it to an electric boot release later.

Z3 Cigar Lighter - only used for phone charging.

Leccy Roof - on-off-on switch.

Leccy Window Right.

Under the dash to the right of the steering wheel there are:

Illuminated pull switch for Hazards - really 60's this one!

Front Fog on standard on-off toggle with a nice Lucas Warning Light in Green.

Rear Fog on standard on-off toggle switch with Lucas Warning Light in Red.

Original Z3 Light switch can be seen to the right of the steering wheel and looks completely in keeping with period look. The original wiper and indicator stalks have been kept with great machined aluminium ends from a company in Germany. This meant destroying the trip computer wiring but as it is stuffed behind the radio who cares!

uwf-Interieur

www.uwf-interieur.com

These guys also supplied the Aluminium handbrake handle and some Heater Control bezels which I never used (must find and sell them).

The handbrake and gear lever surrounds are polished stainless from these guys:

https://www.europaspares.com/handbrake-surround-rectangle-stainless-steel-369-225mm-x.html and https://www.europaspares.com/gear-shift-surround-stainless-6-00-od-diameter-4-50-id.html

Black gearknob is an amazon cheapie.

The original Z3 mirror had to go as it was giving the game away so out it came and in went the 1953 Aston Martin dashtop mirror in the pics below ( a bit worn looking on the chrome but a real talking point). Z3 mirror sold on EvilBay for £25 so I'm happy.

Trouble is everything you change on these causes another problem. You take the rearview mirror out and the doors won't lock!!!

Quick bit of good old Google and I find out the bloody alarm/central locking sensor is inside the mirror. Rapidly cancel the sale (this happens 3 times in the build process) and apologise to the buyer, dismantle the mirror and re-wire the RF locking sensor back to the original mirror wiring (2-hours to extend this) and put it all in a little plastic box that everybody asks "oh, what's that box up there for?"

The heater control knobs look awful as they are Z3 ones painted silver. I have since found some BRM Rover 25 ones and modified them to fit. Pics below... sooooo much better!

Anyone thinking of building one of these or a Z3 based Cobra, drop me a line as I have an Excel Spreadsheet with all of the purchases made. This took a lifetime to research (well a few weeks anyway) and will save you a heap of time.

Wondering about the Stereo or ICE to our younger readers? Read on...

 

[MisterP007]

"ICE, ICE Baby - ICE, ICE Baby" or stereo system, audio, car radio depending on your bent (and age mostly). Let's be frank, most of us on here are old enough to remember when In Car Entertainment was something else entirely... involving parking up in the woods somewhere and steamy windows (car window demisters did not very well in those days, probably just as well, and dogging had not been invented as an art form yet!!!!!).

I digress. The Stereo in the Z3 is for want of a better term "sh1te", even in Harman Kardon form so it had to go. Not that you need music with the glorious noise this thing makes with a twin-pipe, resonator back SS exhaust with no silencers, has to be heard to be believed that a 2.8 Z3 can produce this sound.

I digress again. Stereo gets ripped out ready for sale to a Z3 owner who does not like music!! New system is put in as follows:

Head Unit (young people terminology for a car radio) is a Retro Style case with modern guts (bluetooth, SSD card slot, USB, Hidden CD slot).

https://www.calibereurope.com/product/rcd120bt/

About £130, so not a beast but sports 4x75 Watts without the need to resort to a separate power amp.

Original 5 1/4 inch footwell speakers (which are dire) taken out along with the integral amplifier on the passenger side speaker. The door tweeters were sold along with the door cards a while back.

The 5 1/4 inch units are replaced with some secondhand Fusion 6 1/2 inch units (separate tweeter) which interesting fit directly in the hole (needed to re-drill mounting holes in speaker) and fit behind the original kick panel. The voids behind the speakers are filled with some speaker wadding I had leftover from a Hi-Fi speaker build I did last year (pic attached if anyone is into Hi-Fi).

The new Fusion Tweeters are wired in and mounted on the side of the Replica dash facing the quarterlight window so the sound reflects back to the cabin.

The same evilBay seller that I bought the 6 1/2 speakers also sold me a pair of Sony 4 inch dual cone speakers which I use to replace the tiny original speakers (which are also dire) behind the headrests.

To top all this off and because I like reasonable bass with my music I add a Pioneer under-seat active sub-woofer from which I do not expect too much as it is £99. This is wired back under the centre console to a switched live and into the radio via two RCA connectors.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384108309835

After some playing about with the settings on the sub-woofer to get the sound balance right I fired it all up with Money by Pink Floyd. The result is fantastic for the money (£130 Radio, £45 second-hand speakers, £99 subwoofer, Total £274) and more than good enough for a baby sports car, where let's be honest, the stereo will be off when belting down a country lane and only running music whilst sitting in a car park outside the garden centre waiting for SWMBO.

"i'm allright Jack keep your hands of my stash"

 

[MisterP007]

One last (maybe) comment on the Interior.

The interior door handles are second-hand Triumph Herald/Spitfire and worked out well after a bit of fiddling about to make the door handle work.

The window winders are for show only and are screwed and Tiger Sealed from behind. So all good.

Well, all good until the MOT that is. I forgot to tell the tester that the Leccy window switches were on the toggles and as the window winders are so convincing... yep... you guessed it.... he pulled the bloody thing off!!! More work to put it back as the door card had tome come off again, just as well it is screwed in place with SS Screws and cup washers 60's style.