MadaboutKitcars

Windscreen cover

Hi Rene;
I have sent you a PM to clarify, but might as well state it here as well;

The windscreen is not covered by the GRP, just the gap that would
normally take the Z3 rubber trim, it will become clearer on Monday when
Chris installs the rear/roof section to Geoff's car. I'm sure Chris will post pics on the forum to explain to everyone.


We are the Benelux supplier of Tributes kits


Rob

Thanks Rob,it clarifies but i like to see some pic's first.
There are always some issues with every build i do wich are not forseen and usually cost a lot of money my way.
Once i bought a restoration project which was half done,only painting and finishing the interior was left to do.It seems all the parts were there,nice solid body in primer and it looks fine.The seller told it was never welded only sandblasted and primerd.
In blind faith i painted it all and started putting it together and discovered the doors were a bit too tall(5 centimeter)and after a lot of investigation it seems my nice solid car was made of 2 nice solid cars,front was 1956 and behind the B pillar there was a 1957 rear end welded on..........scrapped it in the end.
Looking at the SWB kit my guess is i am when it is done 20.000.00 euro's poorer but the proud owner of a nice car..........so in don't like unwanted surprises afterwards.
René

Hi Rene;
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with kits in the past, I can tell you the Z-3 kits that Tribute makes are of a different league!

That's why we, when looking at the first proto, immediately signed up to be the the distributor for these conversions.

I can understand your concern, please wait for the photos of Chris.
As you know there is a large 'masking' surround along a Z-3 front window, and that is being covered by the kits new bodywork.

Offcourse we can show you all during our builds in March when we will build 3 cars simultaniously.

Rob

An outlay of twenty thousand euros should result in the, erm, Rolls Royce of Ferrari replicas.

Unless you're paying someone else to build it or using a Z3M as a donor, I think you could get a decent example on the road for not much more than half that figure.

With the body kit retailing at about 5,000 euros, a donor for around 3,000, and allowing another 4,000 for wheels/tyres, lights, filler and paint, where's the other 8k going to be spent?

I'm hoping to get one of these started myself in the not too distant future, and I'll be budgeting for a spend of about £7,500 which will include a complete interior transformation. That's only a fag-paper over 10,000 euros at the current exchange rate.

It would be possible to spend an awful lot more of course: I'm aiming to use BMW E39 steel wheels and try to make them look like Dunlop Racing wheels, but if you go for genuine Borranis with bespoke adaptors and fit them with Vredestein Sprint Classics, you could blow ten grand on the wheels alone.

Anyway, however much you spend I'd love to see a build thread getting started soon.

Mr T.i am sure you can build a drivable SWB for 11k,but as you say with steel wheels,almost stock interior etc.
A decent 6 pot donor will set you back 4-6 k overhere,i don.t want a knackered 300.000km donor but a low milage 6 cylinder.
Kit is 5 k.
Professionel paintjob including prep and polish around 4k.
Bespoke leather interior with period seats 3,5k.
Period steering wheel,wire wheels,tyres,stainless exhaust,badges,engine bling,period dash gauges and more will add the bill.
This is the way i will go so i think 20k is pretty realistic.
The build itself i can do myself but interior and paint will be done by a pro.
The build of my Anglia hotrod i did almost everything myself but it is not a show car,A SWB should be flawless and as near an original as possible in my opinion.
It does not matter,this is the way i like to go IF i decide to buy a kit,how someone else like to do it is his problem and as long as you have fun building it and are satisfied with it in the end that's what it's all about.

Thanks Bob. The parts you have listed are for those who want to move the filler from the original Z3 location up to the top of the rear wing.

The kit has no set provision for filler location, as everyone will want something different. Geoff's SWB, for example, will be fitted with a modified stock Z3 filler flap over the existing cap/neck.

Any update pictures Chris?

Hi Ian. We got the sills and door skins out of the moulds today and hung on Geoff's car, but due to a couple of visitors to the workshop from 4-6.30 I missed the daylight and couldn't take any pics easily. The rear end section will arrive and be trail fitted on Monday so more pictures then.

I agree with your plans for the fuel filler, Chris, I will be re-using the standard fuel flap on my 275GTB re-creation (re-profiled to match the contour) as the alternative is so expensive but if anyone wants to follow me, as you say, they can use an authentic looking alternative.

Quick question for Chris at Tribute: is the roll cage necessary to support the roof structure, or could an example be built without one?

It's not that I'm a cheapskate looking to cut costs but I might just want to go more for a GT (as in Grand Touring like what posh people did in the 18th Century) rather than the race car look.

Thank you.

I think Chris has already replied to this question but, just to save his time, it is not a roll cage as is required for racing but just stiffening for the roof panel. The Z3 already has rollover protection behind the seats (if they are fitted).

Thanks for the answer 275, but what I really want to know is, is it essential to fit the cage to support the roof panel or could you build a car without it?

Mr T. I think if you don't use the cage the joint of the roofpanel/windscreensurround will crack or at least move/flex a bit as the stock body is a convertible.
As i remember well you have a slk convertable is'nt it?
If you tie a piece of string between the windscreentop and the rear of the car very tight and drive one wheel on a high curb you can see the string hang down a bit,just try..........
Usually the roof structure is the strongest part of a unibody car.
The cage Chris has made will stiffen up the body a lot and stop it flexing.
René

Towed, Rene and 275 are correct, the GRP roof section would come under a lot of stresses if some sort of bracing is not fitted. If you don't want to fit the supplied "cage" maybe forming a close fitting framework of 25mm steel box section glassed to the inside of the roof linking into windscreen frame, behind door shuts and down the rear pillars to the Z3 boot structure might do the job. This is a MAYBE, I know from production MX250's and the SWB prototype that the cage system works, a smaller section frame may not have the same torsional strength.

Rene is spot on with the curb/string comment, I am currently driving a targa roofed Mk2 MR2 and park on the pavement outside my house overnight, on frosty mornings you can hear the roof panel joints crack as you drive off the curb. The BMW Z3 is very rigid structurally for a convertible but they do still flex.

Thanks for the replies, I guess I'll just go for the roll cage/brace then.

Not sure where you got the idea that I drive an SLK Rene, I actually have a Nissan Micra. Oh, and this -

[QUOTE=Mister Towed;63727]Thanks for the replies, I guess I'll just go for the roll cage/brace then.

Not sure where you got the idea that I drive an SLK Rene, I actually have a Nissan Micra. Oh, and this -

Sorry,i must have you mixed up with another guy..........WCA perhaps?
The silver car looks good,is this a new build?.............i can't remember seeing any pictures of it before..........
Forgive me as i am new here..........and a bloody foreigner too

Not a new build Rene, it took me two years to build and I've had it on the road since summer 2013.

If you go to the Ribble and Sammio thread, then click the 'views' tab on the right hand side of the page, my original build thread should pop up. I also have an 'on the road' thread which covers my experiences with the car since finishing it.

The SWB won't be replacing my Spyder: earlier this evening I told my wife that I was thinking of selling it to fund a new project but she's put her foot down, forbidden me from selling it and instructed me to build a 250 to go next to it in the garage. Result.

If you hadn't seen my car before then you won't have seen the three West Norfolk Spyders together -







Good luck with your SWB project, and don't worry about the foreigner thing, we're all foreigners somewhere.

SLK is mine - correct. It does have flex with the roof down but a bit less than the Z3. Either would need bracing if you fitted a glass fibre roof though.

So how does the factory fitted hard top cope?

On the Merc it isn't too bad as it is integrated into the car but there is still creaks and squeaks at the back when 'pressing on'

On the BMW I have only driven with the canvas roof

Almost full set of panels hung on your workshop jig Z3. Inner structures of boot. bonnet and front end section to follow shortly:





This is the Z3 windscreen surround minus is rubber infill trim.......



.......and with the kit roof in place. A false period windscreen rubber with chrome insert can be stuck to the windscreen to reduce the glass area further.



Replacement sill covers bolt on using the standard Z3 fixings:



Kit door skins have return edge which allows them to be bonded over the existing Z3 doors once glass and trim have been removed and an area in the centre of the door skin "pushed" in:







New side window installation and door handle mods would normally be completed before GRP skins are installed.

That looks so much more professional and finished the the MX250 kit. The finish looks to be very good, well done that man!
As you are putting this one together it might be an idea to take as many photos as possible and highlight the build process.
You could then E-mail the build manual to anyone who enquires about a kit.

Thanks.

When the kit is installed on Geoff's car we will be producing a build manual.

Is the rubber infill piece on the stock z3 needed to keep the water out?....or is the glass itself bonded in the frame?
René

Chris - Given how good this looks now (if you ignore the flash lines), I can imagine it will look fantastic painted.

The way it all fits to / around various points on the original BMW is very clever too.

Good luck, Paul.