Well its been about six weeks, so I've got some news to update on her, which you may or may not be interested to read about!
I have a regular journal on e36coupe.com, but you need to be registered to read it. So I will keep updating this thread with my posts from there as I go along...
January
Been a bit of a slow month, as I had to spend a proportionately excessive amount of money on the missus after treating myself to the Z , which meant the car fund has taken a back seat for a month.
Then it was a combination of Christmas, snowfall and illness that kept me from getting on with tidying the car up.
Anyhow, before Christmas the car went into see my mech for a 'proper' inspection II (valve clearances + box oil all-in), even though the car had been serviced just 800miles ago, for my own piece of mind. All the usual service items replaced along with the valve clearances checked and new 'box + diff oil, plus I had the vanos filter and gaskets replaced for new. Lovely.
The last couple days a little progress has been made. When I bought the car, you may remember I posted up a picture of the engine, showing a little rust on the fuel and vacuum rails. That is still there... but will be sorted in course. However, The chromed trumpet nuts were tatty, as was the oil filter cap. So these were replaced with new items (at a cost of £3 each trumpet bolt), and I also purchased some Evo 'vert strut tower caps, as I think these smarten up the bay;
There is some paint coming away from both the plenum and the rocker cover, although entirely cosmetic, these will be addressed at some point as I continue to smarten her up.
My good woman treated me to one of Bilal's (Storm Motorwerks) Titanium-finish Storm V2's for Christmas. Well, what can I say. The Z3M gearthrow is short anyway, and this is about an inch shorter. Coupled with the sheer weight of the thing (520grams iirc) and the new 'box oil, the shifts feel sublime. A lot more 'guts' to each shift now. Such a small item, yet such a significant change in feel. Love it.
Bloody cold in this weather though
I think the titanium finish is perfectly suited to the car's interior;
Yesterday I removed the drivers door card to tidy up some small marks made on the leather, probably from the previous owner shutting the door with the keys still in their right hand. It was a good excuse to treat it to a full scuffmaster dye treatment.
The leather and plastic were shampooed, and then the individual marks were treated with the neat dye, applied with a cocktail stick. Once all of those were seen to, the entire leather elements were washed with 2 coats of 85/15 dye/water solution. Came up like new.
Before;
After;
The door card now looks lovely, and has a more matt finish to the leather, which I like. The passenger side was pretty much fine, so I Scuffmastered that in-situ, as it just required a quick shampoo, a single wash with some dye solution and then a condition.
The seats will be removed and the leather centre console will be receiving the same treatment soon too
I have a regular journal on e36coupe.com, but you need to be registered to read it. So I will keep updating this thread with my posts from there as I go along...
January
Been a bit of a slow month, as I had to spend a proportionately excessive amount of money on the missus after treating myself to the Z , which meant the car fund has taken a back seat for a month.
Then it was a combination of Christmas, snowfall and illness that kept me from getting on with tidying the car up.
Anyhow, before Christmas the car went into see my mech for a 'proper' inspection II (valve clearances + box oil all-in), even though the car had been serviced just 800miles ago, for my own piece of mind. All the usual service items replaced along with the valve clearances checked and new 'box + diff oil, plus I had the vanos filter and gaskets replaced for new. Lovely.
The last couple days a little progress has been made. When I bought the car, you may remember I posted up a picture of the engine, showing a little rust on the fuel and vacuum rails. That is still there... but will be sorted in course. However, The chromed trumpet nuts were tatty, as was the oil filter cap. So these were replaced with new items (at a cost of £3 each trumpet bolt), and I also purchased some Evo 'vert strut tower caps, as I think these smarten up the bay;
There is some paint coming away from both the plenum and the rocker cover, although entirely cosmetic, these will be addressed at some point as I continue to smarten her up.
My good woman treated me to one of Bilal's (Storm Motorwerks) Titanium-finish Storm V2's for Christmas. Well, what can I say. The Z3M gearthrow is short anyway, and this is about an inch shorter. Coupled with the sheer weight of the thing (520grams iirc) and the new 'box oil, the shifts feel sublime. A lot more 'guts' to each shift now. Such a small item, yet such a significant change in feel. Love it.
Bloody cold in this weather though
I think the titanium finish is perfectly suited to the car's interior;
Yesterday I removed the drivers door card to tidy up some small marks made on the leather, probably from the previous owner shutting the door with the keys still in their right hand. It was a good excuse to treat it to a full scuffmaster dye treatment.
The leather and plastic were shampooed, and then the individual marks were treated with the neat dye, applied with a cocktail stick. Once all of those were seen to, the entire leather elements were washed with 2 coats of 85/15 dye/water solution. Came up like new.
Before;
After;
The door card now looks lovely, and has a more matt finish to the leather, which I like. The passenger side was pretty much fine, so I Scuffmastered that in-situ, as it just required a quick shampoo, a single wash with some dye solution and then a condition.
The seats will be removed and the leather centre console will be receiving the same treatment soon too
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