Stamford’s ZS180
 

The poor zed has been sorned since November 2012 and has been laid up due to the winter break, plus holidays, ill health and a bereavement. So tonight I dug it out and popped it on the driveway. Two flat tyres, covered in crap and cobwebs!

Got the wheels off, rear calipers off, then started to strip the lower arms and coilovers. The coilovers need cleaning as the adjusters have become stuck. I need to raise the car by around 25mm as the interior is back in. Plus with the new rims and tyres that need to be bought it needs clearance. However on stripping the offside coilover the inner lower LCA bolt is seized! So I can see some fun ahead, will soak the joint first but I think it'll be a drill through job to get it out! Then there's the nearside to look at!

Once the brakes have been overhauled (including new hoses and fluid) then it's down to the garage for the balljoints to be done as I don't have the tools and the patience to do it myself, while it's there they will MOT it.

Before then I'll need to roll the arches as the rims and 235s may be a tad tight. BTCC kit will be nice :D

So hopefully the old girl will get some use this year and on a personal note it is a much needed diversion from things that have happened recently.

On a good note it did start first time with a fresh battery, god I miss the noise! :D

Nice one Mick ... Good to hear. Shout when you need some extra hands ... Red knows the way to Portsmouth !

Glad to hear the zed is released!
I look forward to some piccys! :)

Sounds like a plan, best of luck.

Hope the nuts and bolts are kind and all spin off.

:smile1::smile1::smile1:

Yay..! Good news Mick, hope it all comes together nicely which I'm sure it will. I'm sure a "do stuff" get together could be organised if help I'd needed down the line.
I've only ever seen your zed once in the flesh at zedten so be good to see it back on the road once again :D

Pour some cocacola over the bolt:)

good stuff mick,good to hear your getting an interest again for the zed,after recent events,hope it all goes well,also look forward to pics on the progress mate

can fully appreciate where your coming from
just done a mini strip on mine to paint all the arches etc
got a few bolts to drill out myself now lol

get some pics up they allways give you a boost
o and if you do the front and remove the arch liners m6 button head bolts replace the plastic screws in the silly clips fine and look good too while being cheaper than new plastic ones:happy2:

Good to see the beast is running again.........Too good to sit unused, and like Dan said, we all know the way down south, ...........

Could be a good excuse for a BBQ, plus still got your box of bits in the garage Gordon!

Coca cola over the bolt? I have heard of this before, does it actually do anything or is it one of those urban legends?

coke works a treat on stuck injectors on diesels
How about a mini zs meet with bbq at your place and bring some spanners :clap:
get 5 guys on it
1 on each corner while you oversee lol

:D sounds ideal! Delegate! Got plenty of tools, but found last night that my trolley jack is past it, need to buy a new one, can't grumble as it is 20 years old!

Tyres will get ordered Friday hopefully. Braided hoses as well. Need to check the brakes over, can see a bit of money in them as well! Arch roller on the cards, do I buy or borrow? Not one to borrow but probably won't use it again. Set of plugs, oil change................erm this list is growing. Can't see it being ready for Duxford at this rate :sad: But at least it is being shown some attention.

Good to hear Mick I am sure you will have it looking and running superb in no time.

Thanks grimmy, about time I did something. I was having visions of it becoming one those neglected cars taken root in the front garden! It'll come good as it is a much needed diversion. My dad always liked it, so there's some incentive.

When you are done you can come up here and work on mine keep the distraction going.:smile1:

Yeah it does, have some amazing stuff at work at the moment called torson spray. Reallly good.

Great to hear the old girl getting a good going over mick, be good to hear de is mobile again :)

what a waste of rum!

Mick - it's good that you are finding the strength to start doing things for yourself.

Thanks James. About time I looked forward, I know I can't keep feeling down so thought what's the best tonic? So decided to get on and do something. No rum wasted here! I have two bottles of my dad's and have started to like it again!

Far too good a car to be wasting away in the garage anyway, look forward to reading the updates & progress, you really going for the BTCC kit then ? Rolled arches will look great
and as you said a good way to keep your mind off other matters.
Good luck Mick.

BTCC kit would be top of the list, if it comes off and not too costly then I would have one for sure. Rolled arches will do for now then if the kit does happen then it can go on after. Just doing the rounds on tyres at the moment and trying to get what I can done within a budget.

The shopping list has started!


Just ordered:

• x4 235/40x17. Had to compromise, will be trying Maxxis MAZ1, not bad for less than £240 posted!
• Set of stainless steel braided hoses.
• MTEC full set of front/rear discs with Mintex pads. Dimpled and grooved.

That's this paydays budget blown, plus a little thanks to dear mother for wanting to help as well, bless her. :kissing2:

Just need to remove both LCAs and fit the alloy ones, refurb the AVOs again! then....

Once that little lot is delivered and fitted it'll be off to the garage for its ball joints and MOT.

But I very much doubt Duxford will be its first outing this year, all a bit too late tbh, but not wanting to rush it.

Good start by the sound of it.

You don't fancy the brembodge brake set up then?
Keep thinking about that myself

Rob

Even with all the issues they have?

Can't justify the cost, the calipers cost a fair bit these days and still require a refurb. Anyway the standard set-up is more than adequate for my needs and have never had any braking issues, just fade when overworked on track.

eh ?

Only issues im aware of is the pads sticking in the calipers but not a issue if properly refurbed
unless im missing something??

Rob

I think they are meant to reduce brake squeal as well.

The guys at MTEC have checked the pad boxes in the warehouse and the Mintex pads do not include shims, so need to source some, rears definitely, fronts not been stripped yet but might as well.

That's strange that they don't come with them, from when we've dealt with them at work they usually come with a rubber backing shim (anti squeal backing) that is actually stuck onto the back of the pad.
I know the ebc's do and I really cannot fault them on my car, on track or road have always been brilliant with no fade and work really well even from stone cold.
I honestly thought that Mintex came with them too as most suppliers do now when of a good brand.

Neither my front nor rear mintex had shims when I changed them last year. I re-used the originals.

Issues I had were lower ball joint rubbing on the disks under hard cornering, even with the shims behind the discs and that wasn't lowered... Had pads sticking, but a refurb fixed that... Any more spacers and you need longer studs in the hubs and then your front wheels have a wider track than your rear wheels... (I really needed longer studs TBH)

Those are just the issues I had... there are loads more documented elsewhere...

I shant bother then
just get some drilled and grooved discs when there shot then

Rob

I wouldn't get drilled discs on a road car, they tend to crack more easily due to heat/cool cycles.

Although I like the apperance and braking of groved discs they are a tad noisy compared to smooth.

Apparently a lot of drilled discs are just std discs drilled and then put on the market, which means they are not treated in the correct way and have a lot less stress than standard and crack\fail a lot more than they should...

So if you do go with drilled and grooved discs then I would look for known brands and avoid the cheap options.

In between other jobs I managed to do Sunday:

Stripped both rear coilovers, had to use alot of heat on the platform collars as both were seized solid. This took some time to shift, managed to reset them 20mm higher. Hopefully be able to tweak the height once on the car but can't be that far off from where it needs to be, roughly 40mm drop max. I think these will be replaced at some point for some new ones.

Got back under the car to tackle the LCAs, started on the nearside arm, got all the bolts out and got to the inner one, same as the offside, this seemed to be going well, the breaker bar started to make some difference then 'snap'! So I will either attempt to drill through but a cutting disc looks favourite here as the arm will not be re-used. Same needs to be done on the offside one as the bolt head has rounded off and this was using a 6-side impact socket!

Tyres, brake set, hoses should be here Weds/Thurs. So will require getting the tyres fitted at some point. I'll be needing an arch roller to fettle the fit as well. Anyone have one to hire?

Moving onwards and upwards, bit hot Sunday, specially using heat.

Dont over do it, little and often I'm told.

Been informed my tyres arrived this morning. Looking forward to getting these fitted and seeing what the score is on clearance!