shifter prob

[Geoff]

looks like a good project,  way to dive into it!    Just,  one thing, keep the abs.  it works great, and taking it out is more trouble than its worth.   
  Good luck and keep taking the pics.   They are a big help putting it together

[normboudreault]

Ooopss.. Too late for the ABS, already cut out.. Not too worried about it though considering it will be a summer/good weather car only...
Thanks for the comments - more welding updates coming...

[colin86325]

Nice work on the car, and inspires me to some day try my hand at the process.
When I first skimmed your post, i thought that you had lost ABS function as a result of the welding (it was not). 

Of course you should disconnect both the ABS unit and  the ECU during any welding.

[normboudreault]

Nice work on the car, and inspires me to some day try my hand at the process.
When I first skimmed your post, i thought that you had lost ABS function as a result of the welding (it was not). 

Of course you should disconnect both the ABS unit and  the ECU during any welding.

Thanks - I was inspired the very same way..be careful, you may soon find yourself with a dismantled car in your garage!

As for the ECU - ooops! Never thought of that! I will find out in a year or two when I try to start it!

[Jay-Vee]

Good to see you're back at it!

[DesktopDave]

While we're giving constructive criticism...I'd disconnect the starter and the alternator as well...just sayin' 

Nice work so far! I'd also like to nominate your car for an honorary 'rust belt' certificate! I've seen worse though...good thing that car is in good hands!

[Darky]

+1 to Dave
Where did the car live near a ocean or salt flats never seen one that bad.
Cheers

[normboudreault]

Dave: starter and alternator disconnected LONG ago as shown in the thread, of course if you meant it as general advice  - I agree.

Darky: it's 24 years old! They use salt on the roads here in winter but it doesn't seem to be the cause. More like a wet carpet that never dried. Its the worst area on the car but not the one that will give me the most headaches...

So continuing on with the work...

The RH side was pretty rusted out, so after cutting it out and grinding it:



I started with a template..









This idea while nice, didn't work. I couldn't bend it properly and just got angry... So I tossed it out and did this:





It was easier to bend the narrower pieces. Now I needed a piece to brace the top..



As I ground to clean up for the welding more rust appeared and required more patches.. Not pretty but stronger..



Had to cut out the outer edgeand tack in a new one..



With the final piece welded in and a quick coat of primer



Got the POR-15 out and cleaned everything up and voila:



Not beautiful but solid...

[DesktopDave]

Keep the updates coming! Like many other BMW vampires, I'm inspired by other people's blood/sweat/tears. I went out and started some bodywork on the E23 because of this thread.

[normboudreault]

Awesome Dave 

Hell if I can do it, just about anybody can! Not to say welding is easy - its not - but like everything in life,  you'll never know until you try!

Updates to come...

[normboudreault]

Forgot to mention: Happy 4th of July to my American cousins!

On to the passenger side..

Didn't look too bad with the sound-deadening still in place...


Once it was scrapped off however...


Lots of little areas to fix...


And this corner which looked to be a real challenge...








So I started with the easier stuff which was still a challenge because a few of the cutouts were
curved making it tricky to fit the new steel.


Pretty ugly welds.. Didn't notice my gas wasn't flowing properly which gave me lots of trouble...




That grey stuff is like epoxy steel, I used it to smooth out the welds. That was stupid, I won't do it again...
Live and learn...


I puzzled over this angle for a while. Its the floorpan steel curving up to meet the door frame.
I decided to cut it out and weld in a bent piece of steel. This would unite both sides and make it stronger..
Cutting it out was tricky due to the lack of space but it got done...


Quick coat of primer first..




Then on to template making...




Steel bending homestyle...




Holy Sh*t it fits!!!


Weld it in!! Hurry...


Nice... 


Por-15 it and there you go...

[normboudreault]

Oh NO! More welding!!....

Problem:







Screwed this part up the first time. It's a tricky piece cause its curved (tricky for me that is...).. So on the second attempt..







Not the best pic but its a smooth finish.. Im happy..



Im getting a new welding helmet - one of those auto darkening jobbies.
Mine is a PITA...I'll need it cause the next section of the car I'll
be doing is scaring me...

[normboudreault]

Feeling good about my welding "skills" Im tackling a biggie. This is what the back-end looked like when I first took things apart:

















That was back in August of last year! This is now:



Added a little primer a while back while I thought what to do.

And thought..and thought...and thought...

Finally, figured I knew how to go about it...

Step 1.



Step 2.



 

[normboudreault]

I decided to replace the rear panel completely instead of trying to cut out and weld every rusted area.
So I ordered up the rear panel from BMW (about 200$).
Here I continued to cut out the panel..





With most of it removed, the next part is to grind off the weld spots which you can clearly see in the pic below.
If you haven't done this yourself, the panel is spot welded every 10cm or so..So it requires a grinder to grind
down the weld (or a special bit if you have one) and plyers to pry the steel back and keep repeating all across...



Closeup... the seam sealer is tough as hell.. I used plyers and
the grinder with a wire brush to remove it where necessary...





 

[DesktopDave]

Where's the "eating popcorn/watching with interest" smiley? You're really going for broke with that rear panel, aren't you? Looks great though.

List your tools, if you don't mind - I have an E23 in the driveway that needs a lot of similar work done to it...I'll drop it off if you need some more practice.