My 1988 e30 325ix - Garage'd

[jeenyus]

I also ordered the most expensive screw know to man. $8.75 from the dealer and oddly that's the cheapest place I could find it. It's the screw that holds the bumper molding to the plastic bumper.

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[jeenyus]

Pulled some sound deadening from the trunk today. I cannot believe how god damn heavy that stuff is. I've heard horror stories about removing it; using dry ice and shit, but mine came out in massive slabs.

Took me maybe 15 min with a cold chisel and a 2lb hammer.

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[jeenyus]

Took car of some more rust this weekend. The area above the license plate light was pretty bad. It actually ate away a sizeable chunk. I was able to remove all the rust, prep it and cover it in POR15 then reassemble. Put in some new license plate lights too. The tabs where the license plate attached to were also getting some rust as well, so I replaced those tabs with some nice fresh ones.

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[nando]

probably is with all those speed holes

rofl

[jeenyus]

LoL I guess you're forgetting, I patched them.

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[DrJosh]

My e30 is faster than your e30.

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Probably is with all those speed holes

[jeenyus]

you're halfway to a singer E30 with that composite body work.

My e30 is faster than your e30.

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[DrJosh]

you're halfway to a singer E30 with that composite body work.

[D.Martijn]

I would suggest getting a mig yourself, save yourself some trouble and avoid the flux core.
I'm sure it's possible to follow a few courses locally. Just to get the hang of it and if you have questions regarding amperage etc etc.

Or you could always figure it out yourself and keep practicing.

[jeenyus]

Turned out looking really good. I guess it may be time to learn welding sooner than I thought I'd have to. Either that or just pay someone.

I always knew the exterior would need to be welded, so I appreciate the advice you guys. This e30 has been a great learning experience for me and continues to be so.

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[15Michaeljoseph]

What the hell, here: just wanted to show you that it can't be that hard or expensive if I could do it, although, time consuming--- yes.
I guess I didn't take as many pics as I should have before the carpet went back in :/

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[15Michaeljoseph]

I recently finished fixing my rusty floor pans and fender bottom using some 20ga sheet metal and that cheapo $90 HF flux welder. It takes a little bit of skill when working with that machine, but it was so cheap and after everything is ground down, seam sealed, and coated with Eastwood rust encapsulator and rubberized undercoating... You could pretty much never tell. Much better than fiberglass, imo.

I'm a novice... You should learn! That welder has come in handy for a couple other previous projects as well.

(I've got more pics of the finished product but Tapatalk only lets me do 9 at once)

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[rzerob]

It will last for a while but it is not a permanent fix. If it was, then everyone would do it more often. If you plan to keep the car for the long haul I would invest in a welder. A welder as in the piece of equipment or a welder as in someone who welds. Its a useful skill to have when working on cars.

[jeenyus]

I have done fiber glass patches to get by before and even with using POR15 the damage got worse over time. This is through my personal experience. It is okay to patch it with fiberglass for now as long as you fix it properly in the future. I would not let it go more than a couple of years at most.

Thanks for the input. I'm curious how the rust kept spreading even with the POR on it. The inside of the battery box I ground back a few inches to bare metal and then prepped, cleaned and laid down the fiberglass on top of POR15 and went from there. The exterior is still fucked, but I was more concerned with the inside of the battery box this time. You think that won't last?

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[rzerob]

I have done fiber glass patches to get by before and even with using POR15 the damage got worse over time. This is through my personal experience. It is okay to patch it with fiberglass for now as long as you fix it properly in the future. I would not let it go more than a couple of years at most.