Rebody Z3 Tribute GT project
- Thread starter Foglem
- Start date
Are you ok?
What gelcoat is used on these? Id like to pick up the same product so it's easier on my eyes to see a more complete body. Thanks!
I'm happy to say the weather is getting consistently warm enough to do bodywork! The big project for today was seeing if I could correct some panel gaps.
I started with this...situation. I found some nice gasket material that was pretty close to the panel gap that I want. A buddy sent me a video of using wax sheets to do this. Pretty clever. Anyway, here we are:
The gap is weird. So I did my best to use aluminum tape to act as a backer, then filled in with fiber re-inforced filler.
Once that was in I used some body filler to smooth things out.
Not bad! Or at least good enough for me
. I do have to remember to add some reinforcement behind the filler though. I realize the fiber reinforced body filler probably won't last on its own. I'm going to call this a success and do the other side.
Next was filling the insides of the headlight buckets.
These don't have to be perfect. I'm sure only a few people will look here, but I think this will be good enough to pass my standards. I will do the same to the inside of the hoodscoop as well.
Stay tuned! I'm looking forward to putting more time into this again. I was hoping to have the car near done by now, but the realization of how much work is required on each of the areas I need to address is adding up in my head.
Thanks again for following along!
I started with this...situation. I found some nice gasket material that was pretty close to the panel gap that I want. A buddy sent me a video of using wax sheets to do this. Pretty clever. Anyway, here we are:
The gap is weird. So I did my best to use aluminum tape to act as a backer, then filled in with fiber re-inforced filler.
Once that was in I used some body filler to smooth things out.
Not bad! Or at least good enough for me
. I do have to remember to add some reinforcement behind the filler though. I realize the fiber reinforced body filler probably won't last on its own. I'm going to call this a success and do the other side.Next was filling the insides of the headlight buckets.
These don't have to be perfect. I'm sure only a few people will look here, but I think this will be good enough to pass my standards. I will do the same to the inside of the hoodscoop as well.
Stay tuned! I'm looking forward to putting more time into this again. I was hoping to have the car near done by now, but the realization of how much work is required on each of the areas I need to address is adding up in my head.
Thanks again for following along!
Finally fixed the rear of the car on!
First thing was to patch the huge hole I made trying to position the fuel filler door.
I put some aluminum tape behind the hole so I had something to work against.
Then the entire rear of the car came off so I could ensure the fuel filler door was captured securely.
While that was setting up the modified gas cap was fastened back onto the car.
Once I felt that was nice and secure a bead of panel adhesive was put on the little trunk "wings" of the car. I neglected to take pictures of this part.
The entire rear of the car was bolted back into place. A ratchet strap was put on to try and pull the rear trunk lip closer in. I am hoping this will help make the trunk and body line up better. This is a poor description, but I'll do my best to show it in pictures in coming posts.
The flexible fuel hose was then put on. I added some hose clamps because it made me feel better. Also, notice how the hose clamps are oriented in a way that I can losen them in the future. Some of you may have been in a similar situation with hose clamps before...
This was a really big step and I have been dreading the fuel door for some reason. I'm glad it's (almost) done. A big checkmark here!
First thing was to patch the huge hole I made trying to position the fuel filler door.
I put some aluminum tape behind the hole so I had something to work against.
Then the entire rear of the car came off so I could ensure the fuel filler door was captured securely.
While that was setting up the modified gas cap was fastened back onto the car.
Once I felt that was nice and secure a bead of panel adhesive was put on the little trunk "wings" of the car. I neglected to take pictures of this part
.The entire rear of the car was bolted back into place. A ratchet strap was put on to try and pull the rear trunk lip closer in. I am hoping this will help make the trunk and body line up better. This is a poor description, but I'll do my best to show it in pictures in coming posts.
The flexible fuel hose was then put on. I added some hose clamps because it made me feel better. Also, notice how the hose clamps are oriented in a way that I can losen them in the future. Some of you may have been in a similar situation with hose clamps before...
This was a really big step and I have been dreading the fuel door for some reason. I'm glad it's (almost) done. A big checkmark here!
Started cleaning the body up. Sanding down all of the joining lines and making the area around the fuel filler look better.
I marked some spots here that I will address later, but both rear quarters will need to be modified quite a bit. I'll get to that in a moment...
I'm happy with how the fuel door turned out. It will be nice to be able to fill the car up at a gas station without getting weird looks. (Picture someone elbow deep into their wheel well fishing for the fuel cap.)
I started widening the panel gap here. I realize the car probably won't have consistent panel gaps all around, but I'll attempt to get them close enough. This area sits right on top of the sill, so I've been sliding sand paper between them to try and open it up a bit.
This is my solution to my wheel well liners. The original wheel liners in the rear of the car attached on the forward, top and rear. The rear bracket no longer exists for the rear so the back side of the wheel liner was just hanging. I made a small aluminum bracket and mounted a bolt to it. I think it will work pretty well
Ta da! Exciting isn't it?
Wheel liners installed. Looks like I have a tiny bit of trimming to do on it yet, but it's super close being done.
The last mechanical bits I'm messing with is the trunk. If I get that set I can put a lock on it and focus on the weather seal and just cleaning the body up! So exciting...maybe it's worth a vacation week to hammer through. I'd love to see paint on this car. Originally was thinking a blue/green, but I came across a single stage "isle of man green" from Tamco. Very tempting. It would be a cool nod to both BMW (because isle of man green is a BMW color) and British racing green (because get it? it's green.).
Anyway, where was I? Right. The trunk. It's a battle.
Here is a problem. The rear end is now fixed in place, but look at the panel gaps. There isn't one between the original red panel and the quarter panel. I can't just shave the quarter panel because the panel gap will look super weird as it transitions to the trunk gap. Another option is to cut the rear quarter and shift the entire panel gap which would require widening the trunk. Third option is to maybe put a small 2" rubber piece there to cover it up on both sides. Forth option is to just live with it. The other side of the car has a decent gap, so it is not symmetrical (this bothers me). I haven't decided how I'm going to do this.
Didn't I already post this picture? Yes, but now we are looking at something else. Look at the trunk. It sits flush with the rear quarter panel up until the body curves down, then the trunk sits proud of the body. I think I'll have to build the quarter panels up to match the trunk here. The other side is very similar. I can't do any of this until I finish getting the trunk to sit right though...
I'm also debating on shaving the rear lip to make the body and trunk flush together. This would require building up the body from the back so I have enough material to shave off. It would be a lot of work and would be shaving off a LOT of material. Roughly 2-3cm!
It's so nice out I want to be driving this. Don't rush...don't rush.
I also want to thank my dad for giving me sanding blocks that I can connect to a vacuum. Holy cow it cuts down on the dust.
I marked some spots here that I will address later, but both rear quarters will need to be modified quite a bit. I'll get to that in a moment...
I'm happy with how the fuel door turned out. It will be nice to be able to fill the car up at a gas station without getting weird looks. (Picture someone elbow deep into their wheel well fishing for the fuel cap.)
I started widening the panel gap here. I realize the car probably won't have consistent panel gaps all around, but I'll attempt to get them close enough. This area sits right on top of the sill, so I've been sliding sand paper between them to try and open it up a bit.
This is my solution to my wheel well liners. The original wheel liners in the rear of the car attached on the forward, top and rear. The rear bracket no longer exists for the rear so the back side of the wheel liner was just hanging. I made a small aluminum bracket and mounted a bolt to it. I think it will work pretty well
Ta da! Exciting isn't it?
Wheel liners installed. Looks like I have a tiny bit of trimming to do on it yet, but it's super close being done.
The last mechanical bits I'm messing with is the trunk. If I get that set I can put a lock on it and focus on the weather seal and just cleaning the body up! So exciting...maybe it's worth a vacation week to hammer through. I'd love to see paint on this car. Originally was thinking a blue/green, but I came across a single stage "isle of man green" from Tamco. Very tempting. It would be a cool nod to both BMW (because isle of man green is a BMW color) and British racing green (because get it? it's green.).
Anyway, where was I? Right. The trunk. It's a battle.
Here is a problem. The rear end is now fixed in place, but look at the panel gaps. There isn't one between the original red panel and the quarter panel. I can't just shave the quarter panel because the panel gap will look super weird as it transitions to the trunk gap. Another option is to cut the rear quarter and shift the entire panel gap which would require widening the trunk. Third option is to maybe put a small 2" rubber piece there to cover it up on both sides. Forth option is to just live with it. The other side of the car has a decent gap, so it is not symmetrical (this bothers me). I haven't decided how I'm going to do this.
Didn't I already post this picture? Yes, but now we are looking at something else. Look at the trunk. It sits flush with the rear quarter panel up until the body curves down, then the trunk sits proud of the body. I think I'll have to build the quarter panels up to match the trunk here. The other side is very similar. I can't do any of this until I finish getting the trunk to sit right though...
I'm also debating on shaving the rear lip to make the body and trunk flush together. This would require building up the body from the back so I have enough material to shave off. It would be a lot of work and would be shaving off a LOT of material. Roughly 2-3cm!
It's so nice out I want to be driving this. Don't rush...don't rush.
I also want to thank my dad for giving me sanding blocks that I can connect to a vacuum. Holy cow it cuts down on the dust.
Attachments
With the rear of the car on. I was able to get the trunk(boot lid) to sit in a way I like. First thing I did was mark some spots so I can take the trunk off and be able to put it back on right again. Then I sealed up areas around the opening so that water doesn't get into the ...what do we call the extended section? The hand bag holder? Maybe it'll help me organize groceries one day. Anyway, here we go:
Next step, sanding down high spots and working on panel gaps. The driver's side was sitting quite a bit higher then I would have liked, but I sanded it down and I think I got it relatively good enough ish.
The passenger side wasn't near as bad, but it still needed work.
The panels gaps are coming along, I'm very close to calling them good enough.
One of the last body shape questions I'm considering is dealing with the lip on the back..see here:
I'd really like it if I got the trunk flush with the bottom edge, but there are only two ways of doing that. Build up the trunk (meh) or build up the back side of the bottom edge and grinding off nearly 25mm of fiberglass. The more I think about it the more I'm thinking it's not that big of a deal. I will clean it up some and focus on fit and finish.
Now I have to figure out the trunk latch situation. My original idea was to use a classic hood pin, but upside down. The idea would be that the trunk lid would have the pin and you would unlock the trunk by reaching your hand under the lip of the body (between the exhaust pips). It occured to me that this car is very low and I am very tall. I'm re-considering my options. I can't put the standard 'T' handle under the license plate, there is no room. US license plates are taller than UK ones, so if I fitted a lock it would have to be either behind the license plate or off center. hmmm..
See? No room for a trunk latch. Unless off center somehow? Flip up license plate to reveil a latch?
Many more hours of sanding and body work to go. I really need to take time off to finish this. Fun updates coming. I've got some paint samples coming in and a new exhaust! I've got a nice microphone so I will take some sound clips of before and after...and during (have to try no exhaust for funzies).
Thanks!
Next step, sanding down high spots and working on panel gaps. The driver's side was sitting quite a bit higher then I would have liked, but I sanded it down and I think I got it relatively good enough ish.
The passenger side wasn't near as bad, but it still needed work.
The panels gaps are coming along, I'm very close to calling them good enough.
One of the last body shape questions I'm considering is dealing with the lip on the back..see here:
I'd really like it if I got the trunk flush with the bottom edge, but there are only two ways of doing that. Build up the trunk (meh) or build up the back side of the bottom edge and grinding off nearly 25mm of fiberglass. The more I think about it the more I'm thinking it's not that big of a deal. I will clean it up some and focus on fit and finish.
Now I have to figure out the trunk latch situation. My original idea was to use a classic hood pin, but upside down. The idea would be that the trunk lid would have the pin and you would unlock the trunk by reaching your hand under the lip of the body (between the exhaust pips). It occured to me that this car is very low and I am very tall. I'm re-considering my options. I can't put the standard 'T' handle under the license plate, there is no room. US license plates are taller than UK ones, so if I fitted a lock it would have to be either behind the license plate or off center. hmmm..
See? No room for a trunk latch. Unless off center somehow? Flip up license plate to reveil a latch?
Many more hours of sanding and body work to go. I really need to take time off to finish this. Fun updates coming. I've got some paint samples coming in and a new exhaust! I've got a nice microphone so I will take some sound clips of before and after...and during (have to try no exhaust for funzies).
Thanks!
Attachments
I admire your tenacity with the body work, coming along nicely.
Thank you. That is very kind.
Paint samples are in! I learned that that small air compressor is not remotely big enough to handle a low volume paint gun even for small samples like these. Either way, I got paint on the samples and something to look at. One of these is a black base coat and the other is a white base coat. They have been clear coated as well. I don't think there is a wrong answer here, so I'm letting it marinate on my mind a bit.
Both are BMW colors. Atlantis Blue (399) and Isle of Man Green (C4G).
Both are BMW colors. Atlantis Blue (399) and Isle of Man Green (C4G).
Last edited:
Again, not that you asked but IoM Green over black 
Can I ask about your 'small' compressor and gun? What make is it? How big is the tank?
Thanks
I have an Aeropro A610 LVLP spray gun. The tank that was used to spray these samples is meant for small things like filling tires or a nail gun. It's something like 3 gallons. It's a Central Pneumatic brand from a store called Harbor Freight. I was hoping it would be enough just to spray these samples, but definitely not.
When I paint the car I will be using a much larger compressor. I think it is closer to 80gallons. I do not have information on that (yet).
When I paint the car I will be using a much larger compressor. I think it is closer to 80gallons. I do not have information on that (yet).
Dxbolton
Zorg Guru (II)
Have you tried HVLP? Works great with my 100ltr compressor
I have not! I've never painted anything like this before. It's all a learning experience. I went with the low volume gun because of the lack of overspray, which might help in a DIY style paint booth.
I am borrowing a HVLP gun for putting on the high build primer. I guess we'll see what that's like when it comes time. Practice panels here we come...
I am borrowing a HVLP gun for putting on the high build primer. I guess we'll see what that's like when it comes time. Practice panels here we come...
3 US gallons is about 11 liters. Small tank can't really supply enough air for a HV HighVolume gun. I'm no expert but a small tank with an LV gun and small jet should be OK for doing a small panel and touch up work.
I gave my 120 liter tank to my neighbour coz I thought I'd never get to use it again and I needed the space to store my lawn mower. Wish I hadn't. All I've got now is a tiny 6 liter compressor for an air brush. It manages a small LV gut with a 1mm jet. Works ok for small jobs. Supplying about as much as an aerosol as long as I pause to pick my nose or scratch my arse every now an then. Not trying to get a gloss finish. Just get the paint on thickish and flat it back.
I gave my 120 liter tank to my neighbour coz I thought I'd never get to use it again and I needed the space to store my lawn mower. Wish I hadn't. All I've got now is a tiny 6 liter compressor for an air brush. It manages a small LV gut with a 1mm jet. Works ok for small jobs. Supplying about as much as an aerosol as long as I pause to pick my nose or scratch my arse every now an then. Not trying to get a gloss finish. Just get the paint on thickish and flat it back.
Last edited:
Dxbolton
Zorg Guru (II)
I use about 2-3psi with HVLP and 80% of the paint hits the panel. Very little overspray occurs. I work in a small garage or outside, and I’ve been happy with the results. This one turned out ok, bottom picture is the after shot
I can see your dilemma, they are both nice colours.
Here's a fun update while I decide colors and finish up bodywork. New exhaust!
View: https://youtu.be/XFcoYbl2N-U?si=bUv5d5AM577yW9dB
The before:
The after:
Still some adjustments needed, but fun times...
More updates coming soon (I hope)!
The before:
The after:
Still some adjustments needed, but fun times...
More updates coming soon (I hope)!
