MadaboutKitcars

I was thinking of a bit of welding around the fuel tank...


... what could possibly go wrong?

I said that just before I cut the end off my finger in the back of a cement mixer....

Should I add highlights?





Not sure I like the Maser badge on the grille. I have run out of money for chrome but am thinking of adding some painted highlights in white/off white. Possibly a few bits of text along the front wings or across the tail

I decided to fix the screen wash this weekend so I glued half a screen wash pipe connector to the snapped bit


To make it easier to fit and reduce the risk of snapping again I added a short connector. The heat gun made the cold pipe all warm and flexible


and fitted


Clearly after such an extensive piece of work I needed to take it for a shake down run. Off to Lyndhurst to see what the rest of the world is driving


Must paint the remaining wheels black


and sort out the proper grille


Does it look out of place?


Quick look around the New Forest





I decided the paint could be improved. Well, after my last spraying I don't think it could get worse.

First, duck tape some wet and dry to a cheap polisher, then sand/polish the bonnet, then realise you will need another sheet of wet and dry




It doesn't get rid of the blotchyness caused by my terrible thin paint spraying but there is definately the potential to shine



That is enough encouragement for me to take the time to give it another coat of paint and try to do it properly this time.

Looks very nice WCA.

I like the "patina'd" paint look, don't get it too shiny please.

This afternoon has been largely frustrating.

I decided to paint the two back wheels black to match the fronts. I put the wooden spanner on the spinners and twisted. Nothing. Twisted harder. Nothing. Tapped with a hammer. Nothing. Harder tap. The wooden spanner split.

I found an old window sill I could use to recreate the spanner. I got my trusty old jigsaw down from the shelf and managed to cut nearly half an inch before the blade snapped.

Finally managed to shape the thing to fit the spinner ears and removed the wheel. Primer and paint were both too cold so I put them in warm water for a while. Painted the wheel (badly) and put it back on. Went to remove the other wheel and my home made spanner split. I guess the spinners tighten up with use.

Sat in the drivers seat for a rest. Decided to squirt the windscreen wash only to find it didn't work. Popped the bonnet and discovered the carefully glued pipe and unglued itself and dumped all the screen wash.

Three hours work and the some result - I managed to tighten the drivers side wing mirror.

I am now going for a bath with a car magazine and a few beers. I may be some time...

Today I found time to fit the side repeaters.

First I had to find the original wiring and bulbs. I took Chris's advice, turned on the hazards and then stuck my head under the bonnet and tried to find the flashing lights. Easy!*

I then had to decide where to position the repeaters on the side of the car. They couldn't go on the bonnet piece as that lifted and was awkward for wiring. They couldn't go on the door for similar reasons so they had to go on the little wing panel. Decision made. Easy!*

Now where on the panel? There are lots of vent cut into it which makes positioning dificult but after 30 minutes of blu-tac and standing staring I decided they would be least bad at the front top of the wings. Easy!*

I used the rubber gasket as a template to cut out the hole for the light to fit into. The light units are push fit with a little metal spring holding them in place so I had to make the hole a good fit. After faffing with a drill, dremel and hammer the holes were in place and the light unit fitted. Easy!*

Refit the front wings to the car after pushing the bulbs in place and the jobs done. Easy!*


*After the waste of time that my efforts were yesterday I thought I would record every little step of success today to cheer me up. ;-)

Still would rather not have the repeaters fitted though :-(

Could you not of put it at the rear of the panel, so it doesn't get in the way of the vents? Sorry...

I love the shape of your car but dont think the indicators help, If you have to fit them, what about hiding them either in one or more of the vents or in the chassis holes so they light them up?
Or extend the wiring and fit them in front of the wheels?

at the rear of the pane - Tried that initially but they looked worse
hiding them either in one or more of the vents - Falls fould of the angles of visibility laws
fit them in front of the wheels - The whole of the front lifts with the bonnet

in the chassis holes - angles of visibility prevent this too but now I am wondering about getting a light big enough to fill the first hole completely and protrude just enough to be legal

I will spend some time trying to work out what I can do but they can stay there while I think about it

surely it can't be too hard to put them in front of the wheels - near where the headlights etc are? There must be wiring to them you could piggy back them off?

It looks out of proportion on the side panel.

I hate the law sometimes, it really gets in the way! My old car Pandora originally had MGB number plate lanps as headlights to comply with the requirements of the day (or rather the night)

Things were easier for designers in he '60s!

What about a different style of light, more in keeping with the '50s style?

Al

I could wirte them in front og the wheel arches if I cut them into the main indicator circuit. The main indicators are behind the perspex headlight covers. But I quite like the idea of filling the first chassis hole.

I'm no expert but the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 states that side indicators only need to be seen from the rear-side view, between 5 and 60 degree. See here [url] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/schedule/7/made[/url] and scroll down to the diagram in Appendix 3.
Might allow fitting in a vent if you really want to hide the lights.

No photo update but I fitted a radio ariel into the boot. The exhausts sound great but tomorrow I am driving up to Stevenage and back so want something else to listen too. Especially when sat stationary on the M25. Last time I had 1.5 hours of Sheryl Crowes greatest hits for 5 hours of driving.

WCA - please don't take this the wrong way, but have you thought about covering the sills up? To my my mind as it is it makes the car look a bit fussy and draws the eye away from the curves and those lovely vents.

(I do realise that this is very much your baby and your opinion is all that matters at the end of the day)

Yes, I have considered covering up the sills. In fact I am still considering it.

When we uncovered them I thought 'Great! A nice styling feature' but I am getting less and less convinced.

I just need to decide for certain that I want to lose them and then if I do, how I want to do it. If you have any suggestions then please share.

Please feel free to question / criticise what every I do that you don't agree with. I don't get offended and I do appreciate other peoples input.

Cool, it's a bit strange for me commenting on others builds as I feel a bit of an imposter as I have not attempted my own build as yet (time, space, money, patience and ability are all factors here!)

What are the standard z3 sills like? Could they be made to do the job?

Or would it possible to bond a couple of strips of grp over and use filler/more grp to shape as desired?

Maybe a photoshop effort would give you an idea of what it would look like before you go to the hassle of making stuff!

I agree with your gut feeling WCA, cover them up, should give your car a cleaner smoother look, good luck with your final choice!

They are the standard Z3 sills. The Z3 has a plastic trim stuck over them. I am concerned that if I just fill them the holes will sink back over time. If I put a panel over the top it will stand proud of the doors.

Early days and still deciding

I reckon if you use a grinder around the hole edges,then glass paste them over, then fill them you should be okay? I think if it were my car I'd give that one a go.

Or a nice curved panel over the top ....would carry the body down lower visually and not have the abrupt look it has now

Mould some up in a length of gutter?

So the two options are to simply fill the holes or to add a flase sill. I am still tempted to on bolt back on the side exhausts which probably makes the extended sills less appealling. The pipes were only taken off for painting. I can't find a good side shot witht he pipes fitted but here is one with the holes filled in.



In terms of what I need to do - Advice Please

I need to clean the paint off the sill which is easy enough with an angle grider and wire brush.

To fill the holes I think Scotties idea about glassing over the hols and then filling should work but what is the process. I have a load of glass fibre, I have the resin that you add to it. Do I just clean the sill back to bare metal and let the resin hold the glass in place or do I need some special bonding stuff? If so, what?

Once I have glassed over the holes I plan to level the hole sill with body filler as there are a fair few dents and imperfections along its length. I assume I can just mix the filler and skim along the length of the sill. I then plan to sand back to a smooth finish with a flat bed sander so things stay reasonably flat and level. High build filler, sand, paint, wet and dry and then paint.

Does this sound like to will work?

My main concern is the glass finre and filler falling out of the holes. Any advice or reassurance on that part in partiucular is welcome.

WCA, can you lower the rear end a bit?

If you have access to the back of the holes, its a bit easier WCA.
You can then put some backing gauze on the inside of the holes and use P40 on the front, once it adheres to the backing stuff, it will never come off, its permanent.
Get the area around the holes back to bare metal first, then use P40. There is cheaper stuff on the market but P40 is available at Halfords for about £12 if you can't wait.
Afterwards, sand flat and fill normally.