Eta-to-M50: Build thread

[MoparJ]

anyone manage to shave off extra brackets without welding?

I did, but as stated already, the sheet metal is very thin and is extremely hard to work with. All I can say is, resist the urge to twist and bend the brackets back and forth until they snap off.....it WILL deform the thin sheet metal and make more work for you later.




Not perfect by any means, but all I had was a grinder. My welding experience goes no further than being able to booger-weld two pieces of metal together, so I didn't cover all of the holes; I'll probably regret that later, but welding just was not a viable option for me considering the flimsiness of the metal in the bay.

I used Straightline body filler by POR-15 to smooth over the grinding and regular POR-15 over the (little) rust spots I had......highly recommend their stuff, by the way.....both the filler and rust preventative are a little expensive, but are among the best out there.

[Jand3rson]

First application of Bondo is on and drying, I'll go start sanding once it dries.

[joshh]

I have engine mount arms for this swap if you need them?

[gregslow318i]

I have engine mount arms for this swap if you need them?

I already gave him a set with the motor

[White325is]

Just a little tip. The inside of the bay is so bumpy that its easy to just skim coat the whole panel so you dont have to try and feather everything out to make it blend. Lay it on thicker than needed. Then when its cooling use 80 grit to shape everything. If its not dry enough to shape it will gum up the paper. It should kinda float off I guess you could say. Go over the whole panel with the 80 so the whole surface looks even. Then let it dry all the way and go and hit it again with 80 to smooth it out better. Then add one last coat of bondo and hit it with 120.
When I didnt know exactly what to do I found this site to be awesome.
http://www.autobody101.com/content/
This forum here used to have a great auto body section too. I became a member there just to ask questions and get help.
I havent been on in a very long time. But you can find usefull info here too.

http://www.s10forum.com/

Looking forward to seeing every, good luck buddy.

[Simon S]

this thread is turning into the most-informative, in-depth discussion on proper bay shaving - ever - just at a time when I wanted to learn more about it..

Thanks Josh.

I <3 r3vlimited

[nando]

Yes. I used a spot weld cutter to remove the M20 coil bracket, the AFM bracket, and the M42 coil brackets, then used a die grinder with a 2" flap wheel to gently remove the nubs left from the spot weld cutter. The AFM bracket was kind of tricky because IIRC it has a seam weld at a few spots but I just used tin snips to gain more accessibility.

I plug welded a late model expansion tank bracket to my wheelhouse on my 318is. This was fairly difficult because of the thin metal in that area.

harbor freight part #? :p

[Jand3rson]

this thread is turning into the most-informative, in-depth discussion on proper bay shaving - ever - just at a time when I wanted to learn more about it..

Thanks Josh.

I <3 r3vlimited

Glad to hear it, that's why I do such in-depth build threads when I do stuff like this.

So here's the pics after the first Bondo application. I laid down the first coat good and thick like White said, and sanded it down with 100 grit to where you see it now, and everything is almost completely flat and level. I'll do a little bit more sanding tomorrow, then do the next skim coat to fill in any remaining low spots or little holes.







Still a few little low spots here and there on this side, mainly where the ridges from spreading were, should be able to fill them in pretty easily.

[Aptyp]

this thread is inspiring

[gmyers395]

That already looks a million times better. Good work.

[Jand3rson]

Went out and did some more sanding and got it down a bit lower, there's still some little low spots from where applications of filler might have created ridges over other spreadings, so I just put down one more thin skim coat over the 3 areas. Gonna go sand it all back down in about half an hour, spray a guide coat, then sand through that and hopefully put the primer down.

Question before I do spray the primer, what's the best way to clean the surfaces before spraying? I've just been wiping everything down very thoroughly with a lightly damp microfiber after sandings.

[ShowStopper]

i use a tack cloth. i think its called it whips grease from ur hands and dust off.

looking better man.

[Jand3rson]

Thanks. I feel like I should apologize to you and the few others who told me earlier that I was going about it the wrong way, I appreciate the advice and help. :up:

[White325is]

Wax and grease remover. You can get it at a local auto body supply store. Buy a gallon of it.

[ShowStopper]

Thanks. I feel like I should apologize to you and the few others who told me earlier that I was going about it the wrong way, I appreciate the advice and help. :up:

its fine. just glad u keep going forward. ;)

Wax and grease remover. You can get it at a local auto body supply store. Buy a gallon of it.

o yea i forgot about this too. u will be able to see where u wiped with this stuff so u know u got it all cleaned.