ATL ZHP v2.0 - A Silbergrau Owner's Chronicle

[zj96sc]

Having a gearhead dad to visit over thanksgiving has its perks:






Tranny is now filled with a 50/50 mix of Redline MTL and D4, diff is now filled with Redline 75w90.

[zj96sc]

hey dudes! 4 years no talk. hope all is well.

still racking miles on the ZHP. no mods of any interest or significance in these 4 years. I think one window regulator in that time.

had a growing issue of fogged windows after hot days, distinct smell of R134, and wet front pax carpet.

after some investigation i think i had intermingled issues; checked all the usual culprits (sunroof drain tubes, windshield seal, cowl) and found a loose passenger vapor barrier that i resealed - dehumidified the wet interior:



did not however resolve the refrigerant smell. i've worked with A/C enough that i was pretty sure it was R134 - but the A/C still worked and could never get a positive sniff with my refrigerant detector.

car was starting to give me headaches after 20-30 min so i took a leap of faith and went after the evaporator. i got lucky - found a leak! the hvac box design causes the evaporator to rub on the casing. i guess 10 years of this was enough and it wore through.



disassembly was significant:









reassembly is reverse of disassembly? put it all back together with BMW or OEM parts, mostly hella/behr.

-- new evaporator
-- new expansion valve
-- new dryer
-- heater core while i was in there
-- all the clips and plastic bits i broke on the way in and out

recharged by weight to spec, A/C is icy cold and the smell is finally gone. hooray!

after a few weeks torn apart i decided to clean her up. pulled of all the moldings and taped everything else - claybar, followed with griots polisher with klasse AIO (polish + glaze), then P21s carnuba on top. plus a new roundel on the hood :D

4 years later i still take potato pictures but the results are good (sharp eyes might spy another bavarian garage mate):



i've spent the last 2-3 years really focusing my F-250 at the expense of the ZHP. this leaves some catching up to do, areas of focus over the next few weeks:

Interior refresh:
-- A / B / C pillars have all sagged out
-- cup holders, center console, and arm rest are past it and due for replacement
-- time for a fresh zhp knob

Exterior:
-- fresh black kidneys (khoalty ones cracked)

Suspension/tires:
-- debating some 17x8.5 ARC 8s
-- FCABs (had em in a box since purchase) and RTABs

any questions on the work above let me know. been fun the last few days catching up on everyone's build threads. glad the forum is still going strong.

Paul

[anandoc]

The evap replacement is crazy. Makes me shudder thinking if I ever develop an evap leak.

[Vas]

Glad to hear you still own it

[ELCID86]

Wow. Impressive.


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous E46 fanatic

[fredo]

Car keeps looking good. How many miles on the clock ?

[GotZHP]

Damn, really like how good your paint came out. I am going to have to have some show me how to properly clean and freshen up a car. Cali drought has leftmy car with no wash in months

[theothersawyer]

That looks like quite the project! Car is looking good though!

[zj96sc]

thanks all.

mileage at 123k, purchased at 92k in 2011, so surprisingly only about 30k in 5 years. quite a bit lower than i thought. wife's car pulls most road trip duty and also split my mileage on the F250....hmm.

thanks GotZHP. Pleased with the polisher results. Lots of tutorials out there between autogeek, detailersdomain, and others. takes a little homework but really changes the game over hand waxing.

[danewilson77]

Welcome back. Good work.

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