Early model 325e Rustoration

[OBD2]

Still at it !

Did some patch repairs to both rear trunk trays. Also fabbed up a new drivers side floor-mounted seat bolt.




Trunk batter tray. A lot of weird angles happening under here (fender, wheel well, bottom all had sections that needed cut out)


Patches were primered and lap welded


Hole where the body mounted seat bolt used to reside


Cut away and put in a new grommet in the frame rail


Seat bolt welded in

Immediate future work involves welding back on the drivers side exhaust muffler hanger (the metal where it attached under the trunk was completely roached, but I salvaged the "hook" portion) and patching where the fuel pump attaches in front of the rear driver side wheel. Thanks for reading.

[OBD2]

Attacked the fuel vent line routing this week. The metal tube that runs from under the backseat out the wheel well was rusted from the inside out. The $120 (lol) metal vent line cover in the wheel well was toast, and the mounting points had rusted through.



Got those areas cut-out and patched. Also created new vent line routing based on an idea I stole from YouTube



Using part of a fence post (AFTER using a stone to remove the galvanization - don't weld on galvanized metal, kids) and some 18g sheet metal I created a new outlet port for my vent lines:





My plan is to run a couple feet of vinyl tubing from what is left of the metal tube to this new vent port. Yes, the fuel vapor lines will now mostly be routed inside the vehicle, but they will be sealed inside the vinyl tubing with worm clamps at both ends. Yes, there is the risk of water making its way from the wheel well into the vinyl tubing, but the inner sections of the metal have been primed. Time will tell how well this works.


*Edited to correct my hard fuel line rant

[OBD2]

Got the rear end assembled and installed back on the car. Reinstall went smoother than expected, but the bar is set pretty low. I replaced all the soft fuel lines as well as the hard fuel vent line. The mounting area for the fuel pump was completely roached (see pics in earlier posts), so finally dealt with that. I haven't tested anything to see if it starts because I still need to do more welding on the front half of the vehicle and don't want any fuel nearby.

Before I tore into the car (May of 2020), I was having issues with 3rd gear. It was difficult to get into gear and was prone to popping out. I am hoping it isn't an internal transmission issue. In the meantime, I changed the fluid and decided to "rebuild" the shifter. It's going to be a little while before I find out if that solved my problem.

I'm having issues getting the two shifter level pieces to mated back together after replacing the innards, so if anyone has any tips on that it would be appreciated!

Next up is to finish the drinker's side floorpan and start patching up the corners and fender bottoms.

[OBD2]

So, to wrap up this thread... I sold the car back in July. It was a few patch panels away from being re-assembled (driveshaft re-connected and exhaust re-installed). I obviously took a small hit financially when the new parts are factored in. I'm not going to put my hundreds of hours of labor into that calculation. I learned a lot about fuel systems, suspensions, and welding while I had the vehicle, but I had the opportunity to get my hands on a different vehicle, so I sold my E36M and this 325e to make room and free up some funds.

It's been fun while it lasted, but looking to my future (project(s):