My 88 SETA

[It's Soda Not Pop]

So added a small, but nice, addition today. A new knurled shift knob.

[It's Soda Not Pop]

Anything that has pitting in it will probably come back.

Wurth makes a good weld thru prime to help seal in between the patch panels.

3m fast and firm is the closest seam sealer off the self like the factory stuff.

Defiantly nice to have a dry e30, I’m still working on that one!

Yeah When I bought the car in Feb 2015 it had this issue that I just put on the back burner for too long. But for now it's solid and will work. Good thing about this car is that it's not pristine or a garage queen. She is rough in places, but solid (for most part) where it counts. I can get in it and drive it without worrying about the miles or dings.

I appreciate the advice.

[moatilliatta]

Anything that has pitting in it will probably come back.

Wurth makes a good weld thru prime to help seal in between the patch panels.

3m fast and firm is the closest seam sealer off the self like the factory stuff.

Defiantly nice to have a dry e30, I’m still working on that one!

[It's Soda Not Pop]

So all the rust has been cut out and replaced with new metal. Everything has been resealed and painted. I'll take some more pictures of the final product later. These are just few of was cut out. It's not 100% factory fresh, but it's solid and will not leak.

[It's Soda Not Pop]

The other day I installed a cup holder/wireless charger in place of the ash tray. What a great addition this piece is. Thank you again https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/member/121840-dfraid.

I'm also in the process of cutting out some cancer that my right rear battery compartment has slowly accumulated. For the most part this is only rust that is on the car. She has been a good purchase (leap of faith when I got her) so far.
The pictures look real rough. It is rough I have since wire wheel a lot the rot out and it looks a lot better. But I will be welding in fresh metal very soon.

[It's Soda Not Pop]

Went to my local Cars and Coffee and someone took a picture of me coming in.

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Nice to see pics of the CATuned rear bumper! It doesn't look bad at all! I've been debating on ordering one but now it seems they are currently out of stock.

Garagistics carries them as well I believe. Keep in mind they are not perfect, but not bad for the price and they are durable.

[Codym42]

Nice to see pics of the CATuned rear bumper! It doesn't look bad at all! I've been debating on ordering one but now it seems they are currently out of stock.

[It's Soda Not Pop]

So I did a few things over the past few days. A few dress up bits and stuff that I didn't need but money was burning a hole in my pocket I guess . I also purchased edge protection seals from CATuned. Now they are not OEM, but they were very affordable and new. I'm under the impression that you can't get the oem any more, or at least you have to hope sites just have them in stock.
Anyway the seals are not one solid piece. They are cut at one end and you have to just mate them up on the car. No big deal. They fit ok. They are tight which is nice, but I wish that they were a bit deeper. Again they fit tight and they do seal up good. But they could be deeper, meaning slide on to the pinch more. My old seals were shot and these are miles better than what I had. I will probably track down some OE ones later on, but for now these will do. I will post pictures of stuff later to show you guys what I mean.

*Update*:

[digger]

i have done the same get a used block and get the Machine shop to do the short block, this way all the tedious stuff gets done by them. Agree i wouldn't bother getting another head when yours probably just needs a light resurface

[It's Soda Not Pop]

I also have to make the wife not leave me. lol

[It's Soda Not Pop]

sounds like you only need a short block, surely the company that quoted a long block will do a short block or only the machining if you wanted to DIY.

Depending how much you wanted to DIY and the cost vs risk of short/long block vs bare block and DIY will give your answer.

It will come down to money and turn around time in the end. I don't mind doing the work on my own. That's what I've always done. But as I get older I really just want to enjoy the car sooner than later (meaning I don't want it taken apart and laying around for 2 or 3 years before it gets back together). Also I'm having to replace my AC and Furnace which was not planned so that where went a good chunk of change.
Like I said earlier I believe I'm leaning toward buying a good used block and a stroker kit and having a machine shop handle the hard stuff. Then I'll just resurface my head and run with that. The head is in good order and already an upgrade.

[It's Soda Not Pop]

sounds like you only need a short block, surely the company that quoted a long block will do a short block or only the machining if you wanted to DIY.

Depending how much you wanted to DIY and the cost vs risk of short/long block vs bare block and DIY will give your answer.

Oh yeah they will do a short block. I'm just at odds with what exactly I want to do. I know what end result I want.

[digger]

sounds like you only need a short block, surely the company that quoted a long block will do a short block or only the machining if you wanted to DIY.

Depending how much you wanted to DIY and the cost vs risk of short/long block vs bare block and DIY will give your answer.

[It's Soda Not Pop]

It usually takes going through a few machine shops to get a good one. Worse if you're not sure what to look for and its always expensive to do it twice. A turn key solutions is a nice luxury though.

What engine ingredients do you have?

I haven't order anything yet. I was going through Bimmerheads for either a done long block or their 2.9 stroker kit. I do already have their SS head so I could reuse that.