It always comes down to condition and economics. And what you would pay for a replacement Z.
The first thing was to look at the condition of my chassis. Mine is a 2.8 wide body in silver with 140K on the engine. Now the engine we all know is reasonably bullet proof but its at 140K so............. upgrade/new engine.
So any Engine work/replacement I knew I needed to looked carefully at her body so it would not let me down with any money spent.
When I looked at the economics I would get 3+K for her now (with all the wear and tear) and then I would have to spend 5-6k on a replacement car, in a condition I would want. I have owned her since 2008 which is nearly ten years and she has been a great little touring runabout. So she owed me nothing and maybe I owed her a little TLC...
All I can say is that stripping down your z down to her Knickers is really easy, if you plan properly.
Buy yourself trim removal tools and do not worry about saving the clips. You are more likely to damage the paintwork trying to save a clip....Buy all new clips and screws.
Underneath the rear quarter panel, it was really bad on the return sill. When I cleaned it all off the sill on the panel was nothing but holes. It was time to replace if I want that 5K miles look.
One interesting thing is for the rear quarter panel removal is you need two people. Someone should hold the boot lid. Because you have to remove the boot hinges and support it. This is simply because the boot lid is attached to the rear quarter panels. The good thing though is once the panels are off you can just put the lid back because the boot catch will hold it in place. DO tape it on as well though.... see towbar pic.
The other thing amongst all this wondrous planning I did... Was to forget to check the replacement sill condition. Sills was one other area I knew I should replace. They are Cheap and I bought them as "BRAND NEW" off of Ebay......I cursory looked at them when they arrived, they were right.
Only when I took the old sill off and compared both together did I find that one of them had been damaged in transit. So sadly that meant extra work a bit of panel beating and some filling to repair it. Its still a new sill, but this was annoying
Like all Z owners I though while she is stripped down what else can I do..
I fitted a Towbar from Watling
This is a great kit, took 2 hours to fit (follow the instructions explicitly). No "Cut out" to the bumper and standard electrical connecting so no relay required. When the bumper is on all you see (if you look for it, is the Square removable socket and electrical socket. She will now tow up to 1/2 tonne (no more) on a removable hitch and you loose no ground clearance. So a camping trailer, Jetski or Glider is ok. Overall you do not exceed 500Kgs
Overall this has been a really useful exercise. The car is nearly 20 years old. With 140K on the clock It told me that with this work done. I can look around for and engine replacement and upgrade at the same time. All in the replacement budget (with a little bit more in the pot) for a 3m class car. And With the engine and M50 inlet manifold and throttle body bore I already have on her sold, I can offset that against a rebuilt Engine of more power giving me lower mile comfort.
So I shall look to upgrade to an rebuilt S50 or 3.2 M engine, and make all the normal refinements to the suspension and breaking to handle 350BHP normally aspirated.
First thing though will be to get her back together and find that new panel.
update
Just bought the last rear quarter panel from BMW in the country!! £280 ouch
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