Time for an overhaul of my 1.9 '98 BMW Z3 Individual

[Matt Barnes]

You didn’t need to take the door card off.. wires come out of the back of the motor easily enough (as you have found) and they are colour coded too

thanks mate...I realise that now but I'm claiming the forensic approach... plus I need to spray the speaker grills black

 

[Matt Barnes]

thanks mate

Probably a bit late now but I have a topaz blue back moulding with the 4 posts intact …. but you would have to spray it !!!

thanks Malc.. I'll see how my JB weld mod holds up

 

[Matt Barnes]

ok not much happening today, but I did put the mirror back together.... looking FAR more like it now !.... and yes the over spray on the cable bothered me that much I sprayed the insulation black...

Now that I'm turning my attention to the body panels and trim.. I did an audit of my sprays...... I only have the offside sill to paint and what's left in that can isn't going to be enough, so at least one more can from my German friends is needed. The other cans here are 2K clear coat. When you puncture the base to mix spray with hardener, you have about 36 hours to use it.

Then I thought about the anti gravel strip that runs the bottom half of the sill. The stuff I have on the right isn't really textured enough although it could do

I know some people have used Gravitex on theirs so I might look into that.

 

[Matt Barnes]

right.... another weekend... soooooo....

went to put the Diff oil in... pulled the cap to realise there's no spout.... and I couldn't find me bleedin funnel.....so that got quickly abandoned........

then I thought... that's it.. it's time to clear coat the body panels.... firstly I had to retrieve them from the attic, and yes they were nice and warm !... didn't need a heat gun to warm those up !!

As it's been a couple of years I think since painting them, I had to scuff the surface with a scotch pad for the clear coat to stick

I thought I was being good by wiping the panel with Meths... but all it did was make it streaky, so ended up laying down another coat of Fiji Green !!

as it's quite warm in my garage today !... I only waited about 20 minutes before applying the Clear Coat

With the other panels I used Wet & Dry and squirted loads of water, gave it a good scuff, and wiped dry.

It doesn't look it, but had a failure with the nearside wing as the aerosol blew up a puff of dust which landed on the panel... I'm hoping I can use cutting compound to get the nibs out..

Then it was the turn of the rear wings.... again same routine, plenty of water and Wet & Dry to give a good adhesive base for the clear.

and for the nearside

As it's 2K Clear Coat... I now need to wait a WEEK before I can cut it back with compound... and no, I'm not putting them back up in the attic !

 

[Mazza]

Matt
that’s a lot of good work and aiming for the perfect finish

One thing to remember … it’s the wife’s car so you should be going with ………
That’ll do !!!!

 

[Matt Barnes]

Matt
that’s a lot of good work and aiming for the perfect finish

One thing to remember … it’s the wife’s car so you should be going with ………
That’ll do !!!!

Mrs B actually said.... "you've done so much on that it might as well be yours".........I'm going to see if I can get her to say it again on record

 

[Matt Barnes]

ok last day of the weekend, and I thought it was time to check the engine....

First off I removed the spark plug cover, thought I'd freshen it up and frankly ballsed it up...

As off the car

cleaned it up and with the scotchpad managed to put some deep scratches in it... so tried filler primer

Back with the matt Black and had the cunning idea of masking up the letters so I could spray them silver.....quickly realised it would bleed everywhere... so like an idiot tried painting the letters

I realised quite quickly it looks...... awful.... so that lot is coming off..... right onto happier things

Got the coils and plugs out and they look really good !

Then grabbed a 22mm socket and when for the engine turn.... there were a couple of squeaks from the defiant auxiliary belts that have slept for three years, but it turned over lovely and smoothly

Finally managed to get the petrol pump plate back on... what a faff that was !... anyway, it's back now... not sure what your solution to keeping the Access flap in place ? maybe glue it ?

Then finished up the afternoon tidying up the door card speaker grille

then refitted that damaged heat shield. Next came my comedy of errors.. trying to refill the Diff. Found a funnel with a flexible pipe. Had just enough space to have it upright. Filled half the funnel with oil and tried to adjust the pipe which led to the funnel tipping a third of it all over me.... so guess who needs to buy another bottle of Diff oil !.....


I'm taking another week off, week after next to hopefully get it back roadworthy!

 

[Matt Barnes]

rightio..... this is it.... by the end of next week, we MIGHT have a running car !.... I'm taking next week off to tie up all the loose ends on the mighty Fiji Phoenix and finally get her running on all fours.....

So today was one forward step and one slightly backward...... on with the forward step...

for the spark plug cover, I'd previously sprayed it matte black (Parkside paint is surprisingly good!).....then hand painted the BMW logo, and although I have an A level in art, it was frankly... shocking .... so today I rubbed it down again and sprayed it black...... again... then tried a different masking technique

basically cutting thin strips of masking tape for better control....which took... foreverrrrrrrrrr..

Top coat of again Parkside paint.... silver this time naturellemant

and boom, there you go....I did go back with very fine brush to touch up a couple of areas of bleed through, but quite happy with that

Now to the step back. I had previously painted and clear coated all the panels, and the offside wing was pock marked with craters, some of which were dust and some were bubbles from me not letting it flash off before clear coat... I tried to sand them out but they were too deep.... ended up fully scouring the panel and repainting it. This time I'll let it flash off properly !

So next week there'll be plenty of updates !!

 

[Mint]

Getting very close now Matt, what will you do with all this extra time you will have?
Or has SWMBO already got you a list

 

[Matt Barnes]

Getting very close now Matt, what will you do with all this extra time you will have?
Or has SWMBO already got you a list

I don't know mate....though I think keeping it going will keep me.occupied enough!

 

[Matt Barnes]

I warned you I had the week off !.... so let's get cracking

First, learnt my lesson filling the Diff..... much easier and cleaner !!

Then it was onto filling the power steering fluid, which is made FAR easier when removing the air box..... and I'm glad I did!...

Look at the state of that !... completely rotted acoustic foam

Took out the slightly "curious" plastic frame.... just a case of lifting the yellow arrowed tab and gently prising it under the orange arrowed tabs and it lifts out.

out with the Dyson and some brake cleaner..... there.... much better

The lid foam looked pretty much intact so I let that be for now

Power steering oil topped off and a good clean with brake cleaner

Then it was time to finally address that offside sill cover... it had been clogging up space for about a year now I think....

Shame the car isn't black...

My process for new panels is first a good key up with a scotch pad

Then I stopped...realised I hadn't dry fitted it to the car yet !.....

and I glad I did stop, as the holes just wouldn't line up... quickly realised the sill was jamming against the jack pad rubber... after I took the pad off it slotted right into place... phew !

back to keying up... got a nice smooth dull finish

Then I masked up a line in readiness for the anti gravel coat

First off, two coats of filler primer

The two full coats of UPOL Anti gravel, and I was mightily impressed... it's almost like factory !

This is the stuff I used, worth every penny

Needs to fully dry for about 4 hours... so I'll tackle that again tomorrow

 

[Mazza]

Hi Matt, I had the same problem with the air box and bought 15mm black foam sheet , and used cardboard to get the shapes then cut round them to get the foam correct.

Thinking about it, I think the 15mm was difficult to go under the cage which from your picture looks like it is was in the lid so may not be a problem for you

 

[Matt Barnes]

Hi Matt, I had the same problem with the air box and bought 15mm black foam sheet , and used cardboard to get the shapes then cut round them to get the foam correct.

Thinking about it, I think the 15mm was difficult to go under the cage which from your picture looks like it is was in the lid so may not be a problem for you

Thanks Malc !.... I read somewhere it's just acoustic foam and doesn't add to the filtering?... but I'll certainly bear that in mind...

 

[AntStark]

I just hoovered mine out of my 1.9..no noticeable difference in sound. Would rather that foam dust not get into my engine

 

[Matt Barnes]

I just hoovered mine out of my 1.9..no noticeable difference in sound. Would rather that foam dust not get into my engine

That's what I'm thinking mate... lid's not so bad as it's above the filter

 

[Matt Barnes]

ok eyes down look in for day 2 of holidaying in Costa Del Garage...

So today was mainly braving wet sanding, cutting and polishing the newly clear coated quarters and wings. But first... final two coats of filler primer on the new offside sill cover..

That then has to cure for 24 hours before I can add top coat...and another two days before clear coat... slow business this painting malarkey!

right now the bit that could go horribly wrong..... taking a shiny nearside wing... and sanding it down.... gulp

you can quite clearly see all the orange peel

so it's out with the sanding block and 1500 grit wet & dry... I was too scared to go lower !

The idea is to get it uniform smooth and NOT go through the clear coat....take out the nibs, fish eyes, dust, lumps

et voila

once it's all uniform, you then go onto the cutting compound I used Maguire's as it seems to be the compound of choice

When your polisher is bigger than the part you're polishing !!

wool pad for cutting, foam pad for polishing

cutting compound will get you a smooth shiny finish..... polish then gives you a mirror !

Then onto the rear quarters... same process

cutting compound, then polish

and the offside

given I'd lost most of my bodyweight in sweat... I decided it was time to do something outside.....shove a long lance in some cavities !

now THAT's a big can!

Spent time with the 360 wand and a thin torch to make sure I hit all the areas of the sills and other cavities

750ml can was enough for me to do both sills pretty thoroughly...

so tomorrow I paint the new offside sill. I need to be careful with the 2k clear as once activated only lasts 48 hours... and I need to clear the sill cover, offside wing, a bit of the boot lid and part of the bonnet where the clear had bubbled up.