Peterboroughdave
Member
After being involved in the May 2017 Cambridgeshire marathon roof motor move into boot day held in Peterborough (13 motors moved and fettled by Mike - DLV) I finally found the courage and motivation to tidy up the brakes, properly clean the wheel arches and make remedials to the minor kerb rash on the 2 rear wheels. (17" turbines)
I had the luxury of my mother-in-laws double garage and decided to work one side of the car at a time. Wheels removed, brakes dismantled but not disconnected (calipers supported on large paint tins), sprayed the arches and the suspension components with engine cleaner and left to soak in whilst I worked on a thorough clean of the wheels, including removal of sticky pads from previous wheel balance weights. I then wiped down the wheel arch liners and cleaned using white spirit before coating with turtle wax tire treatment which gives a fantastic finish to black plastics (Forum member tip)
Wheel Remedial
I let the air out of the rear wheel drivers side, and inserted playing cards between the tire and the rim before fully masking off the tire.
Where the edge of the rim had been marked, I used 120 grade paper to remove any high spots before applying a tiny amount of wheel filler.
Once it had hardened I then sanded back to profile with progressively smoother grades of wet and dry until I was happy that it was all smooth.
The wheel was then cleaned before I masked off to leave just the localised areas that had been sanded, I then applied several thin layers of grey primmer.
When the primmer had fully dried I removed the masking tape and with 1200 grade paper blended away the ridge at the primer to wheel interface caused by the masking tape. I then cleaned off the wheel with painters wipes, covered off the wheel centre/spokes with a number of cloths to give a soft edge before spraying just the wheel outer section with silver paint ( I had previousely taken the wheel in to Halfords and selected the best colour match from a choice of about 9 similar silvers -Fiat paint proved to be the closest by a unaminous vote,
from Halfords staff and myself).
When the silver had dried, I removed the cloths from the wheel centre and spayed the full wheel with a cleat laquer. in any areas that felt a bit rough to touch.
After several days, I used solvol autosol metal polish to smooth the surface paint. Really pleased with the result, total cost about £30 for enough materials to do all 4 wheels if required.
Brake tidy up.
I used a combination of drill mounted wire brushes to clean off the rust and other deposits from discs, carriers and calipers and also the rear trailing arm (RTA). This took a fair amount of time, approx. 4 hours for one side of the car, which included removing a small access panel in the wheel arch liner to get to the front of the RTA, and un-cliping brake sensor cables, brake lines that are attached to the RTA.
Before Photographs:
I cleaned with white spirit, masked off the disc pad area, the sliders/mounting surfaces on the caliper carriers and other small fittings, before spray painting the brake components (using high heat silver/black) and hand painting the RTA with smooth black hammerite paint.
After all the preparation, re-assembly was a rewarding experience.
I then repeated the full process on the other side of the car.
Hope that this was not too long winded and that you can see past my dreadful spelling.
I started this work before deciding to sell the car and it took the best part of the week to complete on Thursday last week before selling the car to Forum member Boris on Sunday, I really wish that I had done this work sooner but still delighted with the result and the new skill set that can be put to use on the newer Z4 that Sarah acquired last month.
Photographs for completed work to follow in next post as having trouble loading more than 4 photograpghs
Regards
Peterboroughdave
I had the luxury of my mother-in-laws double garage and decided to work one side of the car at a time. Wheels removed, brakes dismantled but not disconnected (calipers supported on large paint tins), sprayed the arches and the suspension components with engine cleaner and left to soak in whilst I worked on a thorough clean of the wheels, including removal of sticky pads from previous wheel balance weights. I then wiped down the wheel arch liners and cleaned using white spirit before coating with turtle wax tire treatment which gives a fantastic finish to black plastics (Forum member tip)
Wheel Remedial
I let the air out of the rear wheel drivers side, and inserted playing cards between the tire and the rim before fully masking off the tire.
Where the edge of the rim had been marked, I used 120 grade paper to remove any high spots before applying a tiny amount of wheel filler.
Once it had hardened I then sanded back to profile with progressively smoother grades of wet and dry until I was happy that it was all smooth.
The wheel was then cleaned before I masked off to leave just the localised areas that had been sanded, I then applied several thin layers of grey primmer.
When the primmer had fully dried I removed the masking tape and with 1200 grade paper blended away the ridge at the primer to wheel interface caused by the masking tape. I then cleaned off the wheel with painters wipes, covered off the wheel centre/spokes with a number of cloths to give a soft edge before spraying just the wheel outer section with silver paint ( I had previousely taken the wheel in to Halfords and selected the best colour match from a choice of about 9 similar silvers -Fiat paint proved to be the closest by a unaminous vote,
from Halfords staff and myself).
When the silver had dried, I removed the cloths from the wheel centre and spayed the full wheel with a cleat laquer. in any areas that felt a bit rough to touch.
After several days, I used solvol autosol metal polish to smooth the surface paint. Really pleased with the result, total cost about £30 for enough materials to do all 4 wheels if required.
Brake tidy up.
I used a combination of drill mounted wire brushes to clean off the rust and other deposits from discs, carriers and calipers and also the rear trailing arm (RTA). This took a fair amount of time, approx. 4 hours for one side of the car, which included removing a small access panel in the wheel arch liner to get to the front of the RTA, and un-cliping brake sensor cables, brake lines that are attached to the RTA.
Before Photographs:
I cleaned with white spirit, masked off the disc pad area, the sliders/mounting surfaces on the caliper carriers and other small fittings, before spray painting the brake components (using high heat silver/black) and hand painting the RTA with smooth black hammerite paint.
After all the preparation, re-assembly was a rewarding experience.
I then repeated the full process on the other side of the car.
Hope that this was not too long winded and that you can see past my dreadful spelling.
I started this work before deciding to sell the car and it took the best part of the week to complete on Thursday last week before selling the car to Forum member Boris on Sunday, I really wish that I had done this work sooner but still delighted with the result and the new skill set that can be put to use on the newer Z4 that Sarah acquired last month.
Photographs for completed work to follow in next post as having trouble loading more than 4 photograpghs
Regards
Peterboroughdave
I was going to break down but it's a daily driver so had very limited time really like yours too definitely worth the effort look forward to seeing your e89 ones