The Short History of an Old BMW (2002 project)

Day ~25 to 28 (~3 days of work), Driver Rocker Panel Install + Por15 - July 10th, 2015

As I previously mentioned, at the end of the last post, Kosta was going to be swinging by following the resignation of my welder (Benjamin). At that point I thought his referral wouldn’t amount to anything but luckily he came through and his friend (Justin) showed up to start some welding on July 29th. I guess I should have given him more credit than I did, Benjamin does have a lot of work (farming) to do at home in the summer.

I’ve had Justin (the welder) over 3 days now and I’m pretty happy with his work. If any of you guys need some work done, inexpensively send me a PM and I’ll provide you his contact details.

I’m finally starting to accept that I won’t be able to drive the car before the season ends... it’s sad but it also gives me a lot more time to complete it :p.

Driver, Rocker Panel Install

The last item Benjamin welded before signing-off was the rocker panel, it was to be spot welded in. He only had time to spot weld the upper portion, after he left I noticed a lot of the welds hadn’t caught, I was going to ask him to fix it up but he never returned... enter Kosta. Kosta fixed up the spot welds and secured the driver rocker panel. We then tack welded in the ¾ panel patch (which I picked up from http://www.restoration-design.com/, I think they just get their BMW stuff from http://www.wallothnesch.com/, so if you’re not in a rush, you could save a few dollar and get it directly from wallothnesch.com...live and learn.)

Kosta workin’ it.


I had cut out the panel patch section before receiving the patches, which turned out to be a bad idea because I removed a section which wasn’t part of the patch, the bottom right of door opening (in photo). I fixed that up with Justin and didn’t make the same mistake on the other side.




Passenger, Rocker Panel Removal

Removed the rocker panel, was easier 2nd time around. I learnt the lesson to leave that little tab in place (2nd photo).

Lots of rot


Cleaned-up the rust and had Kosta weld in some patches (BTW, this is the day Ernest took his photos for his “Behind The Scenes” post)


Next I degreased it and prepped the metal with the Por15 kit.

I wanted to do the inner rocker and at the same time the inner front fender as well. It took a lot of elbow grease to remove the paint, road grime and seam sealer but after a few hours... it was ready for work. My plan is to strip the 4 wheel wells (and front inner fenders) to put por 15 and then some new seam sealer before sending it to paint. I also plan on doing some cleaning on the underside of the car. Haven’t decided how far I’ll go yet, 1 thing at a time.

Here’s some photos of the Por15 process (I should have taken a before photo to show how much grime was on there).


Fyi, the wood was painted because I’m a banana.


Front Sub-Frame Re-assembly

As seen in one of my previous posts... I had completely disassembled the front sub-frame, grinded it all the components down and followed the por15 process. I figured it was time to start reassembling mostly because parts were thrown a little bit everywhere and I wanted to do something other than make patches.

I had already placed my order when I discovered that urethane bushings are apparently loud (squeaky) and on top of that I also heard there’s not a noticeable difference between the stock rubber bushings and the urethane bushings. Although I should say, I’ve read posts on how difficult it is to reinsert new rubber bushings and I’m very happy I don’t have to go through that.

In order to try to avoid the squeaks, I ordered some extra urethane lubricant from the manufacturer, I guess I’ll see how that works out when the cars running again.

Lube



...more photos on the Sub-frame reassembly to follow.



#hatethiscar
 
(continuation of) Day ~25 to 28 (~3 days of work), Driver Rocker Panel Install + Por15 - July 10th, 2015

Passenger Rocker Panel Installed





so now I can finally remove the 1" square tubing which was securing the car for rocker replacement. excitement!!!

#hatethiscar
 
Day ~29 (about 1 day of work), Let's Grind - August 30th, 2015 - September 12th, 2015


I was finally able to remove the temporary square tubing we had put in to reinforce the shell while replacing the rocker panels. Despite the actual work of removing those 6 pieces of metal didn't take much time or even effort, it felt like huge progress was made. I think it was because it meant the days of welding were numbered.

Shell supports out mother f'ers!



My plan was to grind down the floor pan, to bare metal and Por15 it. I laid out my tools, ready to go at it.




I don't understand how the floor pans rust rust in these cars because grinding off the paint/primer/whatever is a huge pain in the arse. I think i might settle for doing a pretty good job removing the worst before applying the Por15 process. I mean there's no rust or anything, so why break my back.

Note to people who might attempt this: if you leave even a small trance of that tar sound deadening on the floor and try to grind it, it will just heat up and spread. I recommend having a razor blade scraper to remove it as your grinding. If not it just makes the whole process all the more annoying.

I plan on giving it another shot of grinding before proceeding with Por15.

(front)

(back)



Look at our "lovely" patchwork done on the passenger floor pan. We had cut the tranny tunnel wall (of the car) a little too high, so we had to put in a patch there. The donor floor pan was also in some bad shape in the right corner (thanks DenverTii scammer from bmw2002faq), so there's another patch there. We also plugged the drain holes.




Since the welder had a few things to fix inside the shell, I moved under the car. I started scraping off the underside with a razor blade and metal scrapper/spatula, if i would have started with the grinder from the start it would be a hot mess.Surprisingly it doesn't look that bad once you remove all the muck, I think I'll give it a light grinding in everywhere and a heavy grinding on the bad spots before putting some more Por15 and a rubberized undercoating.



I should finally have more free time on evenings next week :) so hope to make some good progress. Unless the bachelor party I have on Saturday & Sunday incapacitates me for a while ;)

hate it.
 
Day ~30-34 (about 4 day of work), More Grinding and prepping + Por15, September 12th, 2015 - November 3rd, 2015


I was hoping to have the grinding + the Por15 finished before leaving on Vacation to Florida (September 25th), unfortunately, there was way more grinding (in tough places + under the car) than I had anticipated. "More work than anticipated," is really the story of this project.


Grinding complete, shot of the floor pan.


Then on to the degreasing... Since I would be working upside down under the car, in addition to the usual latex gloves and long sleeves, I used a dust mask (respirator) and a full face guard. I was using the spritz spray nozzle (included with the original kit i purchased) After a short time, the cuffs of my sleeves were pretty wet, while I was under the car I looked at the bottle in my hand to see if there was that "skeleton hand logo," or something.

After about 10 minutes my wrists were burning, I got out from under the car and read the label where it was written in uppercase "CAUSES BURNS," awesome.

I was having supper at Ernest's that night so I got to show off my burns to the boys.



Under carriage degreased



The next day for the Por15 - Metal Ready, which is a much stronger chemical... I put my latex gloves over some garbage bags which I made in to sleeves and taped them together. With the Metal Ready, I didn't need to do any scrubbing, you just need to keep the surface wet for a period of time (25 mins if memory serves me right).

Poor man's hazmat suit.


Rinse down. Those drain plugs, I removed and welded up could have come in handy.


Paper laid out for the painting process.


The rust prevention rundown (shown on the driver inner fender).
Grinded down, Degreased, Metal Prep, Por15, Sanding, Seam-sealer, Matte Topcoat.


A few more shots of the Por15. I just love that glossy finish, it's a shame i needed to sand it and topcoat... which I'm doing everywhere except the floor pan.

Floor pan


Under carriage


Rear tire well


... you get the picture

Floor pan, light sand + seam sealer


Floor pan, topcoated in matte black



After the matte black topcoat, i still need to put the rubberized undercoating... hopefully by the end of this weekend so I can take this thing off the jack stands.


Side note: I had taken a photo of the car before doing the Por15 and posted it on twitter writing "ready for #por15" or something. This week i got a tweet from Por15 saying they put a photo of it up at their SEMA both, because of some contest. I didn't win anything.

I can't wait to get this piece of crap out to a paint shop. i hate it.
 
Oh the joys of POR15... finishing my E34 tank reseal from hell this weekend. Looking forward to my floorpans in the mk1 GTi track car, not.

From experience, the most gratifying part is assembling freshly painted/restored or new parts. Looking forward to the next update...
 
.... I was having supper at Ernest's that night so I got to show off my burns to the boys...

That's the day I served cow balls in Kosta's honor and we all thought you were going to die for sure from Por15 skin rash... Fun Times!!!

I'm happy too see that this car's continuously causing you so much pain, both emotional and physical.
 
Very nice work there!! Do you plan to change the color when you will paint it?

I would like to paint in Black... but I think I will keep it the original colour.

That's the day I served cow balls in Kosta's honor and we all thought you were going to die for sure from Por15 skin rash... Fun Times!!!

I'm happy too see that this car's continuously causing you so much pain, both emotional and physical.


They were very moist, I have been meaning to ask you for the recipe.
 
Im shocked and surprised you have not made purchase of a sand blaster yet.

Very Nice work, great initiative!

I'm sure my car would be in similar condition if I had a garage at my house I could use long term.
 
Im shocked and surprised you have not made purchase of a sand blaster yet.

I heard that sand blasting should only be done by a professional on body panels, else they might warp... not to mention the mess it would make.

Getting the car media blasted by a pro would cost ~$1,500 and is out of my budget.

...also I saw some soda blast kit on Eastwood, but those products usually don't work well.
 
Soda blasting is usually the best option for body panels... Got a quote in the same price range for a mk1 Rabbit for soda done by a pro. Problem is that you're at the mercy of your compressor.

Sent via town messenger.
 
Soda blasting is usually the best option for body panels... Got a quote in the same price range for a mk1 Rabbit for soda done by a pro. Problem is that you're at the mercy of your compressor.

Sent via town messenger.

Apparently there a guy in Granby who will do a car for $900.. worth the investigation if you're thinking about getting it done.
 
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