This is a read-only archive of the old Madabout Kitcars forum. New posts and replies are no longer possible, but every thread is still here to browse and read.
You are following the same route I took Mr T, way before I got my body shell, I started buying all the knick-nacks and bits I knew I would need later.
It pays off as a bargains can be had there and then, as if you wait for the shell, the bargains have gone.
I'm sure your car will be stunning and I look forward to seeing your build.
Little bit of progress on two of the wheels yesterday and today. They came from Germany with a coat of black paint sprayed over whatever was stuck to them, which turned out to include a fair bit of rust -
After a couple of hours elbow grease with a sanding sponge I marked up and drilled 5.5mm holes between the existing ones before degreasing and giving them a couple of coats of silver smoothrite. The overall effect is quite pleasing as they now have something of the look of Dunlop racing alloys for just over twenty quid each. Bargain.
Before and after shots -
I've also bought a couple of badges on ebay so I'll take some pics of the bits and bobs as they arrive.
Ahh yes, the infamous Dunlop patent stickers. I say infamous because late fifties classic Jags have been marked down in concours d'elegance events because they shouldn't have them.
Dunlop only stuck them on while the patent was pending, which was apparently around 1953-4. Once they got their patent they no longer needed to protect their copyright by labelling the wheels.
So I'll give them a miss as this is supposed to be a '59 to '61 car.
The extra holes look great but I fear if I tried they could be all over the place.
I love the style of your seats but having driven down from Norwich to Dorchester in total comfort, I'll be getting a quote to have the original seats retrimmed in something more appropriate than the horrible beige plucked ostrich finish.
Good luck getting your seats trimmed Bob. I can recommend Brockwell brothers in King's Lynn if you can't find anyone out Norwich way. Proper old school craftsmen and they don't charge the earth.
Will have a think about the wheel branding - 'I say, ding dong' have a massive range of such things.
Ahh yes, the infamous Dunlop patent stickers. I say infamous because late fifties classic Jags have been marked down in concours d'elegance events because they shouldn't have them.
Dunlop only stuck them on while the patent was pending, which was apparently around 1953-4. Once they got their patent they no longer needed to protect their copyright by labelling the wheels.
So I'll give them a miss as this is supposed to be a '59 to '61 car.
Mmmmmm! Now there's something I did not know.
However, it would appear that all 16 original XKSS's had them, and I believe they were produced in 1955, so perhaps the patent was not granted until that year.
My car is intended as a 55 car, so I will leave my stickers on.
I don't think concours judges will ever be giving my car the once over, , so I should be okay in that department!
Thanks guys, the additional holes were worth the effort (and a couple of broken drill bits).
It took about three hours per wheel. They needed quite a bit of sanding and the steel between the holes is about 7mm thick. Drilling each 2mm pilot hole took around 3 to 4 minutes, but the 4mm and 5.5mm bits then powered through in around a minute each.
They look close enough to the original Dunlops to fool most people - the main giveaway is that mine have 20 holes while Dunlops have 15.
When you look at the price of replicas - Image Wheels Billet 46 alloys, for example (gorgeous though they undoubtedly are) come in at £309 + vat each. That's £1,483.20 plus delivery for four compared to £100 all in for my 'home made' alternative.
Just to answer a couple of pm's publicly, the wheels I got were fixed price buy-it-now on ebay.
I've just done a bit of surfing - couldn't find any more E34 sets for sale, but there are a couple of E39 sets that have an ET of 18, and actually have the right number of holes (15) -
BTW, I can't guarantee that these will fit the 250 as I haven't tried them myself yet. Based on Tribute's wheel information thread I think they'll fit, but please do your own research before purchase.
On another matter, I'd be interested to know how much clearance there is available to fit taller tyres.
The Z3 'standard' tyre sizes all seem to have a diameter of between 63 and 64cm, while I'm thinking of going with 185/80/15 Vreidestein Sprint Classics (an original SWB tyre size), which are 67.7cm across.
This means that the 185/15's will be around 20mm closer to anything that might foul them, anyone know if there's more than a 20mm gap between the standard Z3 tyres and the chassis, suspension or bodywork?
Just to answer a couple of pm's publicly, the wheels I got were fixed price buy-it-now on ebay.
I've just done a bit of surfing - couldn't find any more E34 sets for sale, but there are a couple of E39 sets that have an ET of 18, and actually have the right number of holes (15) -
BTW, I can't guarantee that these will fit the 250 as I haven't tried them myself yet. Based on Tribute's wheel information thread I think they'll fit, but please do your own research before purchase.
On another matter, I'd be interested to know how much clearance there is available to fit taller tyres.
The Z3 'standard' tyre sizes all seem to have a diameter of between 63 and 64cm, while I'm thinking of going with 185/80/15 Vreidestein Sprint Classics (an original SWB tyre size), which are 67.7cm across.
This means that the 185/15's will be around 20mm closer to anything that might foul them, anyone know if there's more than a 20mm gap between the standard Z3 tyres and the chassis, suspension or bodywork?
So, Campagnolo branded wheels they might well become...
I know what you mean about the chicken-skin seats. BMW did (still do?) some bloody awful colour combinations inside their cars, the bounds of which are only limited by the lack of taste of the person ordering the car new, which appears to be unlimited.
Never really been a fan of BMW's or their owners for some reason.
P.S. Not sure how I managed to quote myself, I'm not usually quite that vain, I meant to quote Bob's (Hurnleft) link to the Campagnolo stickers above.
Ha ha, I suppose I could always change the background colour to green if I get an angry letter from Maranello's solicitor. After all, I'd rather get on the wrong side of one of the biggest banks in the world instead of the Cosa Nostra.
I'll be keeping a running total of hours put into this project Paul - I estimated that I put about 2,000 hours into my Spyder to get it on the road (about 1/4 of the total you and Scottie have put into your own cars?) - but I'm hoping to keep the hours down to three figures this time round.
I'm also aiming to keep a better grip of the budget this time too - my garage is full of parts I bought for the Spyder but decided not to use - so there'll be no more alcohol fuelled 2am ebay impulse buys, instead I'll be careful to choose only the parts I need and look out for the bargains, like the seats and a set of wheels at only a hundred quid a piece.
Thanks guys, the additional holes were worth the effort (and a couple of broken drill bits).
It took about three hours per wheel. They needed quite a bit of sanding and the steel between the holes is about 7mm thick. Drilling each 2mm pilot hole took around 3 to 4 minutes, but the 4mm and 5.5mm bits then powered through in around a minute each.
Yes they look really good. Boron steel drill bits would have saved some time there...
Ha ha, I suppose I could always change the background colour to green if I get an angry letter from Maranello's solicitor. After all, I'd rather get on the wrong side of one of the biggest banks in the world instead of the Cosa Nostra.
You could also reverse the horse. There was a Ferrari replicator a few years ago who had the prancing horse facing towards the right side. Many people didn't realize the difference.
the straight six 2 litre as your number one choice would at least have a decent noise from the exhaust to back up the looks...
.
.
back to the badges saw this on a karma/dino thing
..
Struggling to find a 2 litre with a/c and cruise control (both pretty much essential for personal reasons). There was a 2.2 with a/c in Coventry but it sold yesterday.
I've never driven a BMW of any sort before, so I'll reserve judgement until I've given the M44 engine a chance to prove itself.
After all, if your daily driver is a 500bhp AMG Merc, pretty much any of the Z3 motors are going to feel a bit tame, even if you are merely a passenger in the AMG as the electronics do all the gear changes for you, back off the throttle if it thinks you're caning it too much and applies the brakes if you try to corner faster than Mercedes think you should.
eep: 