A well travelled e30 - Cali to London. 84 coupe

[mjweimer]

Are those the front subframe bolt locations? So when you removed the front subframe, the passenger side front bolt was not present (or just fell out)?

I think you are looking at a reasonably easy repair on the drivers side, hammering the metal back into place and welding the cracks. The passenger side will be more interesting. I think you are stuck cutting out the area and then welding a nut to a plate and welding that plate to the chassis (or buying a section of good frame rail). That will require some careful measuring to ensure the subframe still bolts up square - the subframe itself should have two alignment dowels on the topside of the rear-most mounting holes that align the subframe to the chassis rails.

Good news is that your rotisserie allows for easy access to mock up the repair, bolt up the subframe to measure/check fit, etc.

So I lean towards its condition B) rather than A)

[benwalsh91]

Morning All,

Need a bit of help/advice.

Was looking over the car last night and i found these areas, they are on the frame rails at the front of the car.

What SHOULD they look like as i presume they shouldn't be split/cracked.

The one below is on the Drivers side (LHS) and has the cracking and the threaded insert.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

This one below is on the passenger side (RHS) and has the cracking and no threaded insert.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Is it:

A) proper fucking fucked mate

B) Slightly fucked

[benwalsh91]

Just focus on the individual stuff and repair accordingly. It can be easy to get overwhelmed. Do you have a whiteboard or something to write on inside the garage? Make a list of things you know you need to work on and tackle them one at a time.

Couldn't find a white board big enough so i created an excel spreadsheet. I wish this was a joke but i am deadly serious.

[2mAn]

It has dawned on me that i may have bitten off a lot more than i can chew with this one and its stressing me out a bit, i am trying to break it down into just small bite size pieces and move forward

Just focus on the individual stuff and repair accordingly. It can be easy to get overwhelmed. Do you have a whiteboard or something to write on inside the garage? Make a list of things you know you need to work on and tackle them one at a time.

[benwalsh91]

So on Sunday i got out of bed early and got myself outside with the aim of getting some bits done on the e30.

First things first Mrs. Walsh wanted some planters for out the front of the house and wanted them painted so that was my first job of the day, i figured if i get this out the way i have the rest of the time to do some e30 bits

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Personally, i am not really a fan of the colour, but she chose the colour.

Next on the list is that i wanted to expose that rust spot on the front passenger side corner to see how bad it was.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Shouldn't be too difficult of a patch job. But i guess we will see later on.

I also found some cracking around what i believe to be where the subframe mounts? i may be wrong, i took this car apart so long ago, regardless i will need to weld this back together, maybe see if there iis reinforcement mounts for this area

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

The ARB mount was completely broken too but i forgot to get a picture of that, i will grab one tonight and upload it here:

I was cleaning up the car to see how bad it was without using the wire wheel attachment to the grinder and i am happy to see how clean the underside actually is underneath all the dirt and grease.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

I also removed the remaining brake hardlines and fuel lines that was on the car.

It has dawned on me that i may have bitten off a lot more than i can chew with this one and its stressing me out a bit, i am trying to break it down into just small bite size pieces and move forward

[econti]

Rip into it but don't get carried away like I have done, else you'll never drive it again

[benwalsh91]

Alright, so where was we then.

I got a few hours in the garage today. First things first i had to get 4 new tyres for the daily driver and filled it up with diesel. After being extremely sore after that i decided lets get some stuff done to the e30!

And i got something done that i have been extremely scared of doing for quite a while but it needed to be done to get the progression moving forward.

First things first,

tidy up the work bench as it was quite a mess in there

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

clean garage done, now time to make a mess.

Got the old girl into position before we really flipped her life upside down

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

And i was only meant to blow the bloody doors off. (or something along those lines)

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

I knew there was a reason i put this terrible fake grass down outside the front of the house. Ignore the snowman, Christmas is only 9 months away.

And then it was time to get really sketchy.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

And some rather brown pants later we are up and supported under its own weight.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

and gave it a little twisty twist

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

This is actually terrifying.

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

But i am so glad it is done and keeping everything crossed that it does not collapse!!

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

Daily driver on the right after hurting my bank this morning.

I started having a little clean up on the e30 just testing some stuff out and poking around. i unfortunately found 2 areas of rust but in the grand scheme of things it could have been worse.

Bottom of the battery tray in the boot

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

And the passenger side footwell

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

And a collection of items that i am using to clean bits up etc etc

Untitled by ben walsh, on Flickr

the rust areas will be getting cut out and new welded back in

Hopefully we can start making some progress on this car now!!

As always, your opinions and comments are always welcome below.

[twright]

If you decide to not strip it, inspect it very carefully. It is possible for rust to form underneath the factory undercoating.

You can usually find the rust because the undercoating will start to peal or bubble up. If you see those signs, scrap or peal off what's there. The rust shows after removing the undercoating.

[econti]

It depends what condition it's in, and if you plan on driving it on salted roads.
Down here in Aus I wouldn't bother. I also have a series 2 and the coating on them is better.
if I were you, I would be inspecting the underside with semi regularity (every few months maybe?) and if you see any stone chips, rust converting them then resealing that small section if need be. If you drive it often.

[benwalsh91]

I would highly highly recommend not stripping the whole underside if you can avoid it, on my S2 it took me 140 hours of wire wheeling, and that's not 140h of general time, I started the stop watch when I picked up the grinder.
Neighbours were not happy.

thanks for the heads up, do you think its worth coating over what's already there then? i guess it comes down to how bad it is under the car when i flip it over, i know for a fact there is no rust so its not like i will be coating over any rust. but it NEEDS to be coated to continue its life now in the UK, i want to drive this car and not have to worry it turning into swiss cheese in the future.

[econti]

I would highly highly recommend not stripping the whole underside if you can avoid it, on my S2 it took me 140 hours of wire wheeling, and that's not 140h of general time, I started the stop watch when I picked up the grinder.
Neighbours were not happy.

[luckybk]

yeah, this thread keeps giving lots of heartwarming things; the whole roadtrip story, new house, how it was saved from sale during a pandemic--now a cute puppy & attention from bmw itself AND actual project progress...unheard of...

[justinpirie]

So good to have an update, thank you! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[QuiqueUy]

The wheels are Weds Bavaria and rather hard to get hold of. Wouldn’t mind a set in 16s. These are 15s but only 7j iirc

ohh noice ! i was confused by the polished lip it might be some image wheels or something like that ! they look sweet on pre facelift for sure !

[benwalsh91]

what wheels are those? really like them !

The wheels are Weds Bavaria and rather hard to get hold of. Wouldn’t mind a set in 16s. These are 15s but only 7j iirc