The complete repair, rebuild, repaint, and v8 swap of my early model sedan

[bmwmech1]

I agree with PEZ, Justin... it looks great, the welds look good! I'm glad to see you stitched it also, that's a big improvement over just plug/spot welding it. It ain't goin' anywhere, lol! Have you decided whether or not you're going to make the core support removable? My 2 cents, but I would for sure... I can't remember if we talked about that or not. Anyway, just wanted to give you a little encouragement...

Garey

[JGood]

I agree with PEZ, Justin... it looks great, the welds look good! I'm glad to see you stitched it also, that's a big improvement over just plug/spot welding it. It ain't goin' anywhere, lol! Have you decided whether or not you're going to make the core support removable? My 2 cents, but I would for sure... I can't remember if we talked about that or not. Anyway, just wanted to give you a little encouragement...

Garey

Yep. I only have a few more spot welds to drill on the passenger side, then it will be out. I wanted to talk to you about the attachment points. I know you have the 90 degree brackets at the frame rails, but what did you do at the top where it meets the fender? I'm trying to figure out a way to make it as solid as possible, as the frame rails feel a little sloppy without it attached. Although I'm sure with the subframe installed that will be minimized.

[bmwmech1]

Yep. I only have a few more spot welds to drill on the passenger side, then it will be out. I wanted to talk to you about the attachment points. I know you have the 90 degree brackets at the frame rails, but what did you do at the top where it meets the fender? I'm trying to figure out a way to make it as solid as possible, as the frame rails feel a little sloppy without it attached. Although I'm sure with the subframe installed that will be minimized.

Up underneath where the core support attaches to the upper part of each inner fender, I drilled 2 holes per side and welded captive nuts on the outside of the inner fender and bolted it through, with a piece of angle iron welded on. I'll see if I can find a pic or 2... BRB

Here's a pic from the back side and you can see the captive nuts welded on towards the top...


And here's from the inside. You can see the angle iron and the bolts...


As you can see, the bolts are only on the bottom, since the front fender bolt actually ties it together on the top. I tried to make it as simple as possible, without re-inventing the wheel, so to speak. You can duplicate it or use it as a jumping off point for your own design... doesn't matter to me, man.

Garey

[JGood]

Perfect! Thank you.

[bmwmech1]

Perfect! Thank you.

Yup, no problem...:D

Garey

[JGood]

This morning was productive...

Proof that I didn't completely ruin the car: The strut bar fits. This strut bar previously did NOT fit this car. It fits my other e30 just fine, but that drivers side wheel housing was so rusted and collapsed to the point where that bar simply wouldn't fit. Now, it fits perfectly, with just slight friction when sliding into place, just like my other e30.





I also now have a removable core support! Well, I guess I technically have a 'removed' core support, but it will be 'removable' when I weld brackets onto it and reinstall it




I also welded up a hole in the passenger wheel housing. For the next few weeks I'm going to be repairing the passenger side front of the car, since the drivers side is all finished up. The damage isn't nearly as bad, I'll just need to patch a few holes.

Received these in the mail yesterday: e38 740i exhaust manifolds. They will need modded to fit in the e30 chassis. This will be my first time doing my own exhaust work.

[kts]

Proof that I didn't completely ruin the car: The strut bar fits. This strut bar previously did NOT fit this car. It fits my other e30 just fine, but that drivers side wheel housing was so rusted and collapsed to the point where that bar simply wouldn't fit. Now, it fits perfectly, with just slight friction when sliding into place, just like my other e30.

Congrats! That has to be a great feeling to have replaced the shock tower/driver's side wheel housing and the strut bar now fits into place like it should!

And as some others have said your welds look pretty good to me. I've been reading your thread off and on so I might have missed it, what brand/model of a welder did you get? I've been toying with picking one up for a few different uses and I'm trying to figure out which one to get.

I can't wait to see how the exhaust work turns out as well!

[JGood]

Congrats! That has to be a great feeling to have replaced the shock tower/driver's side wheel housing and the strut bar now fits into place like it should!

And as some others have said your welds look pretty good to me. I've been reading your thread off and on so I might have missed it, what brand/model of a welder did you get? I've been toying with picking one up for a few different uses and I'm trying to figure out which one to get.

I can't wait to see how the exhaust work turns out as well!

Thanks! It was a great feeling of relief, my heart was pounding as I carried it over to the car, lol!

I'm actually using a friends welder. I split the garage with him (that's his silver e21 in the pics next to my car). It's a Lincoln, I'll check on the model number and get back to you. It's a 120v, and I haven't had any troubles with it all, so I'd recommend it.

[Jean]

Good work! Takes lots of pictures next time you work on that rad. support. That is one thing I want to do with mine as well ! :) Would make the job of "sliding" the engine/tranny in so much easier.

[JGood]

Good work! Takes lots of pictures next time you work on that rad. support. That is one thing I want to do with mine as well ! :) Would make the job of "sliding" the engine/tranny in so much easier.

Thanks Jean! Will do. I actually did take a lot, just didn't upload them. I figured at some point someone would ask me how exactly to do it, so I took pics from every angle. It's a bit of a PITA. In addition to spot welds, there are a few solid beads of weld. And most of them are difficult to access. I'll get the pics uploaded in the next day or two.

[JGood]

Worked for another hour or two today on doing some patching on the passenger side engine bay area. I'm getting better... the welds still don't look fantastic, but it doesn't take me 8 hours to patch a 2"x2" hole anymore, lol.

Found something interesting on the pass side 'wheel housing strut' (the side piece that bolts to the wheel housing and fender, only seen with fender removed). There's cracks in it. One horizontal crack, and one vertical crack, right near the shock tower. Also, 2 of the 3 beads of weld that attach it in the rear have cracked. Apparently this piece has been under a lot of stress. I'm going to spend some time checking all the seams out in the wheel housing, to make sure nothing is falling apart.







This area is going to be a PITA is fix. It's the drain hole for the cowl. Apparently it didn't drain so well, and was also under some stress. All the seams came apart and the metal became a bit bent/disfigured.





Here's the rust on the floor and frame rail. Pretty gnarly, just like the driver side.









This Friday, my buddy is coming over to help me tear down the 1/4 panel. This is the panel that I replaced years ago, the bondo cracked pretty bad right at the C pillar, so we're taking it down to metal to make sure it's structurally sound, welding if necessary, then re-bondo-ing it. Bondo and I don't get along, so he is going to do this while I watch and drink beers. I do want to learn, but I'll practice and learn how to use bondo on something other then the largest and flattest panel on the car, haha.

[JGood]

Also located an e32 brake booster, master cylinder, and the linkage parts for remote-booster mounting.


BTW, here is a list of parts I'm currently in need of... if anyone has anything.

e34 530i/540i or e32 740i MAF and alternator
e39 540i 240mm flywheel, aftermarket or stock
m52 clutch kit, something that will hold 300hp
540i intake elbow (filter to TB)
MZ3 radiator
e34/e32 body side x20 plug with a few inches of wiring
e36 328i driveshaft
2.93 or 3.25 LSD

[DTM190]

Brave project but I love that you are doing it for sentimental reasons. Love it and I love checking progress

[MR 325]

I have to say, that strut tower replacement had me pretty scared too. So happy to hear the bar slid right on!

[OoPEZoO]

You realize that you are going to completely freak out once this is done and you go around your first corner...LOL. That front end must have been flexing all over the place while driving. Its going to feel like a completely different vehicle when you get it back on the road........and I'm not refering to the motor.

Just out of curiosity, were you running a strut bar? If so, was it hinged or solid?