Tomrdy's Nardo grey 3.0i (Thank you and farewell!)

[tomrdy]

one of the things i do for a living... and let me tell you, you've done a great job! Fantastic!!

Thanks Beedub really appreciate that

[tomrdy]

Got gifted a 1:24 scale model of the Z from a friend for secret santa!

He bought it in the colour of my car not knowing that I had wrapped it (ha!). He looked a bit nervous earlier in the day when he saw my car and asked "... is that... not the colour it was before??"

Welp, only one thing for it I thought... this weeks distraction from work....

[chrisgreen]

Looks nice! Good job! How does the wrap stick to the car - is it heat or glue? If it’s heat I assume it leaves your paintwork nicer than glue?

[tomrdy]

Thanks!

Think of the wrap like a sticker (so glue/adhesive). Totally removable

[tomrdy]

Definitely not my best wrapping lol. It's actually quite hard to wrap because theres nothing to tuck the edges into.

Excuse my disaster of a study room...

[BeeEmm]

Looks fantastic and very realistic. Great job, well done! Have you wondered how the front of your house might look with a wrap. Actually there is a bridge near you which could do with a makeover before New Year.

[tomrdy]

Looks fantastic and very realistic. Great job, well done! Have you wondered how the front of your house might look with a wrap. Actually there is a bridge near you which could do with a makeover before New Year.

Haha if I'm ordering that many rolls of wrap for the bridge maybe I'll get a discount! 4-5 rolls should do it

[Beedub]

Try your hand a PPF wrapping.... total ball ache!!

[tomrdy]

Quick update on the car as I suppose this is now a diary instead of strictly about the wrap!

Got a replacement emergency kit as mine was missing from previous owners




Hard wired in my dashcam. Line is run along the A pillars and into the fusebox on the passenger (LHS) footwell area.









Also wired in a cheeky LED into the glove box (hooked in with the interior lights).




Gloss black plastidipped my mirrors. I have planned to try using Autodip instead but seeing how this plastidip holds up since I sprayed it already.






Did the roof motor relocate! This was a pretty annoying job to do just because of the contortionist style positions you need to be in!

Here's some pics in case there's a helpful angle for someone else when they're searching (I know i tried to find lots of pics myself before starting).

Mine had some foamy stuff around it.



Foamy stuff removed



I found the best way (for me at least) to take off the top cover (of the motor housing) was to stick my arm in from the passenger side (LHS). This way I could pull upwards instead of having my arm in a weird non-leveraging way from the boot.



With the top cover off, you still won't be able to pull the motor out all the way to the boot as the lines are looped UNDER the lower housing. This is how far you'll get:





You'll just need to man-mode it and rip that F***KER out with all your strength (if your tab isn't broken like mine). It took me 2 hours of meddling - trying to locate the cable tie; use a camera to navigate etc.... - then just gave up and decided to just absolutely wring at it. Turns out that was the best way. There's no tips here really just... yank it as hard as you can until it breaks!

This is the clip/hoop you're trying to break off:




Here's the drain hole UNDER the housing:




After that it's just a case of following the instructions that forum pioneers have written

I reused my lower housing to sit the motor. Still need to sort out a piece of carpet trim but it's working great!




And my most excited up-coming thing is... a new soft top!

My car had a tear in it that was patched by the previous owner and I've somehow lived with it for the past few years. It constantly bothered me as I am quite a fastidious person - my previous car that I had from new was (pridefully) kept absolutely immaculate inside and out. Reason I didn't do it before was there just didn't seem to be any guides on how to replace the soft top (just the skin and not the entire roof). But somehow the other day while trying to search again, I found a PDF from Autotops that a member on Zpost had posted. Don't know why this thread never came up on my search in the past! Link here (https://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=968789)

So I ordered a Sierra one and it'll be here in a few weeks from the US. To say I'm excited is an understatement!

Here's what it looks like right now:




But before I can get to the top when it arrives, I need to sort out my VANOS service which I have been avoiding like the plague. I have run some basic diagnostics with my C110 and it does appear there's NO advancement/retardation of the cams which I am assuming means its borked (as expected).



The adaptation angles never move - not a nth - while the position % do vary but very abruptly. It would be on 31% and suddenly drop to 0% when I off throttle after WOT and back to 31%. No idea if that's normal either but regardless, this will be a cool experiment to see if this cheap diagnostic tool can be used to preliminary check VANOS function. I will of course check it again after I have replaced the seals to see what the readings change to.

Would be really disappointing and awkward if... nothing changes

[Felix79]

Been a great read thus far, well done with all the different jobs you've managed.

[ben g]

Good to see some photos involving the hood motor relocation. Keen to try it out on my Z4.

How comes you removed the top cover? I thought everyone goes from underneath the parcel shelf, without touching anything above? Only reason I ask is because I removed that cover last year to replace my rear shock absorbers, so will do it again if that makes the job easier, but I'm also aware that they are quite difficult to remove

[tomrdy]

Been a great read thus far, well done with all the different jobs you've managed.

Thanks when I bought this car I had an intention to try and do everything DIY as a means of pushing myself a bit so hopefully the list of completed jobs keeps growing!

How comes you removed the top cover? I thought everyone goes from underneath the parcel shelf, without touching anything above? Only reason I ask is because I removed that cover last year to replace my rear shock absorbers, so will do it again if that makes the job easier, but I'm also aware that they are quite difficult to remove

Ah so I did do the relocate as per "usual" - removed the parcel shelf and spent most my time in the boot. The shelf has to come out if you are to do the relocate no other way!

Maybe my post wasn't clear but I only went from the front to get better leverage to unseat the parts (top cap, motor, lower casing). I just couldn't get the right leverage from the boot side with my arm squeezed in. Maybe I have weak wrists and forearms after I unseated everything I continued to remove them through the boot.

[Haggisman]

Well done Tom, my son has a signage business and they do a few wraps on cars so I can appreciate the challenges you would have faced. Great way to get to know your car. Great reading and good hints re the roof motor.

[DOOM]

Well done mate, well done!!
Pro work, for sure!!

[ben g]

Been a great read thus far, well done with all the different jobs you've managed.

Thanks when I bought this car I had an intention to try and do everything DIY as a means of pushing myself a bit so hopefully the list of completed jobs keeps growing!

How comes you removed the top cover? I thought everyone goes from underneath the parcel shelf, without touching anything above? Only reason I ask is because I removed that cover last year to replace my rear shock absorbers, so will do it again if that makes the job easier, but I'm also aware that they are quite difficult to remove

Ah so I did do the relocate as per "usual" - removed the parcel shelf and spent most my time in the boot. The shelf has to come out if you are to do the relocate no other way!

Maybe my post wasn't clear but I only went from the front to get better leverage to unseat the parts (top cap, motor, lower casing). I just couldn't get the right leverage from the boot side with my arm squeezed in. Maybe I have weak wrists and forearms after I unseated everything I continued to remove them through the boot.

Ah OK, that makes sense. I did wonder how people manage to do everything from inside the boot think I'm going to give this a go myself also, so appreciate the photos and tips