MadaboutKitcars

but what about the doors..........?!

Fill them in and hop over the side!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LoL

Good point, fit some classic door handles while you're about it and maybe add some roundels and advertising stickers to break up the shape of the doors.

I have worried about the roof but I don't like the proportions with a soft top. Maybe I'll speak with Chris about the LM mods I originally considered.

On the wheels and tyres, these are more 70's to my eye and my kids (15 and 20) hate them as the modern style is for stretch tyres on wide wheels. I couldn't find anyone who was prepared to make adapters for the wire wheels and trust me I tried. These will be appearing on an internet auction site near you shortly.

The interior is next. although don't tell the wife. Not sure what to do with the door handles, I'll have to see what is possible.

I struggles with how to 'lose' the BMW on my design.

The wire wheels were a big difference along with the higher profile tyres. I had Olsen Engineering make some hub adapters for the Z3.

The door handles were replaced with dainty little ones from an Fiat Barchetta.

The roof - I was lucky and the Z3 soft top looks okay and I don't have a hard top for it.

This photo shows the wheels and handles. It also shows how the standard BMW door is noticeable against the new nose and tail but it doesn't really show unless you really look at it.

The interior is the hardest bit. I didn;t want to lose the creature comforts like electric windows, roof, heated seats, air conditioning etc and I also couldn't afford to rip out and replace the entire dash so I stripped out what plastic I could and had new door cards made up and leather stuck over bits of the dash. It works better than this photo shows I think.

After all that I too have been asked if it is an MX5. You get a real puzzled look when you reply "No, it is a BMW"

fatbloke - Belated congratulations on the MOT.

I'd agree with Mr T that the primer is the main give away.

If you are saving up for a professional paint job, why not give it a “temporary” coat of paint.

I posted these photos of a hand painted car on my own build thread.

Total cost = £35 including the brushes!





A slightly left field suggestion would be to paint the hard top in a completely different colour.

E.g. Body work in red and hard top in black.

That way your lorry driving friend may think you have put an MX5 top on a Ferrari roadster to keep the rain out.

Good luck, Paul.

FB you made me laugh with your story about the lorry driver!

I think the Towed has it all sewn up, and agree with all he says.

Basically identify all the salient MX5 features that brand it as such, and remove them.

Also Paul is tight on the primer, that's the biggest give away.
Good luck with sorting it.

Got to agree with Paul on that one, take a look at these California Spyders -





Black or white might work best on a Rosso Barchetta body.

Also liking WCA's Fiat doorhandles idea. Just use your imagination and a bit of ebay surfing and you'll be surprised what classic looking parts you can find on a shoestring budget. After all, who'd have thought Ferrari would fit Rover 45 seats to their 250GT?

Couldn't find an Olsen Engineering doing splined adaptors in t'internet land, did you mean Orson Engineering?

http://www.orsonequipment.co.uk/

Were they reasonably priced?

Thanks all for the suggestions. I love the hand painted car, look great.

I tried Orson and they never got back to me. I also tried MWS who said they wouldn't make their universal adapters to fit the MX as they would be too heavy for the car. I had a good look around for other universal adapters and then thought sod it, I'll put muscle car wheels and tyres on it.

The truck driver did at least have a question in his voice so it wasn't that obvious.

MWS wouldn't touch my BMW and yes. It It Orson. Sorry. They were £120 a corner from memory but it might be cheaper now that they have the pattern but as it is for a BMW that probably doesn't help you much.

This was the guy I dealt with : Dave Wood [email]davewood@concept-eng.co.uk[/email]

No, I couldn't work out why his email address wasn't Orson but he was there when I collected them.

Back to the doors, for my Kobra im hoping to get rid of the door handles all together and install remote controlled solenoids. im also going to trim the edges of the doors to get away from the 'square' feel, somthing like this.....

I really like the picture of the California spyder. The few replicas that have been built were quite expensive which makes me think...

How about a BMW Z3 based California spyder ?



It´s just an idea which I´m sure some would like to build.

MGB panels are a good start for this one..........

Here's a starting point:

Half way there I'd say...





Get the SWB finished then who knows, Tribute 250LM next?

Someone did hint at it before, based on an MGF. Here's the photoshop that was posted:



Definitely, maybe, possibly

Is this feasible?

Yes. And the glass from the MX5 Mk2 soft top makes a perfect rear window. PS I have one on my ebay listings at the moment, but just sold a hard top yesterday, D'Oh!

Fatbloke asks "is it feasable ?" and Tribute says yes.

Could it look something like this ?:

Thanks DSG4ME - looks good.

I'm hoping it could be something bonded on to the hard top to take advantage of the existing mounts.

Exactly what I was thinking, why reinvent the wheel.

Patrick. This is the Toyota Supra spoiler that I was talking about. A good starting point.

Clever idea.

That looks like it will bring the lines out to where they need to be and create the wing section - excellent (as Mr Burns would say).