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

[TimKninja]

UUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH. This is what this is going to require? I think ill be looking for a shell come spring time. :/ I dont have the means, patience or space to do this much repair. But im still following this thread. I was hoping to. Ut out the rust and patch it from the inside. But now looking at it, thats not the proper way. How long do you think it took you to get the strut tower out?

[dnick]

damn dude! good luck to you and your a fucking champ for tackling this project. keep up with the updates when you can!!

[JGood]

UUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH. This is what this is going to require? I think ill be looking for a shell come spring time. :/ I dont have the means, patience or space to do this much repair. But im still following this thread. I was hoping to. Ut out the rust and patch it from the inside. But now looking at it, thats not the proper way. How long do you think it took you to get the strut tower out?

Since the entire front of the car was stripped, not long. Maybe 2-3 hours of careful drilling. I could do it again quicker now that I know where some of the hidden spot welds are. Getting the new one installed will be the difficult part, making sure it's aligned properly, welded, and sealed up.

[mikeedler]

mad props to you for doing that work!!!!
are you going to buy the firewall section new?

I did alot of floor repair panels on my 55 BelAir, wasn't fun but was great to know it was done right.

[TimKninja]

Since the entire front of the car was stripped, not long. Maybe 2-3 hours of careful drilling. I could do it again quicker now that I know where some of the hidden spot welds are. Getting the new one installed will be the difficult part, making sure it's aligned properly, welded, and sealed up.

Stripping the front including dropping the subframe and motor? My rust hasnt gone into the shock tower, you think it still might need to be removed? I think your probably the only person who has done this in depth of a repair to the firewall.

I applaud your dilligence.

[JGood]

mad props to you for doing that work!!!!
are you going to buy the firewall section new?

I did alot of floor repair panels on my 55 BelAir, wasn't fun but was great to know it was done right.

Thanks! I would buy it new, but I can't find it in BMW's parts catalog. The cockpit area of the car seems to be completely missing from the catalog actually, I can't find floorboard pieces or anything.

Stripping the front including dropping the subframe and motor? My rust hasnt gone into the shock tower, you think it still might need to be removed? I think your probably the only person who has done this in depth of a repair to the firewall.

I applaud your dilligence.

It doesn't need to be removed, it just makes it easier. My firewall rust didn't go into the shock tower either, the shock tower had rust in a different area, unrelated to the firewall. The strut tower butts up against the firewall like a "T", and that's where the rust is. So obviously it's much easier to remove it, so you can work on the car from the inside and outside.

You could simply cut out all the rusty metal, and cut/form a new panel and weld it from the inside. It would probably work fine and last for years if you take the time to get ALL of the rusty metal out, and properly prep/seal everything. Obviously it's easier said then done...

[petrolhead]

You do have the dimension for the chassis? Because you'll need them to get everything back the right way.

[Simon S]

Holy shit ! You are crazy !!

(but in a good way)

[JGood]

You do have the dimension for the chassis? Because you'll need them to get everything back the right way.

I've got a few measurements

[N2MYE30]

And I thought an engine swap was challenging. Nice work AND researching. Bravo sir! Subd.

[JGood]

I guess now would be a bad time to come to the realization that I:

1. Do not know how to weld
2. No nothing about metal fabrication
3. Am at a point of no return, and need to learn how to do 1 and 2

That's OK, I knew that was coming. So I had a buddy explain the basics of welding, picked up some scrap metal, and went to town.

This was a a butt joint I did after about 20-30 minutes of practice. Still not great, but I'll get there. The heat zone is too wide, and the weld itself is really high. But wire speed was way down and voltage was the whole way down, and I wasn't getting great penetration, so I'm not sure what's up with that.




Then I started trying to fab up a piece to cover the hole in the firewall. This is where I hit a wall (no pun intended). I am having trouble forming this thing. I have the proper tools, just don't know how to use them. I may recruit someone who knows their way around body work to steer me in the right direction, as I could potentially spend weeks doing this and make no progress.

[petrolhead]

I guess now would be a bad time to come to the realization that I:

1. Do not know how to weld
2. No nothing about metal fabrication
3. Am at a point of no return, and need to learn how to do 1 and 2

Don't be depressed. I 've come to realize the same after rebuilding & replacing half a chassis :D

You can do it ,through research , trial & error.

Some parts are simply best bought new, or taken from some salvage yard (? that the right term?) car..

[JGood]

Don't be depressed. I 've come to realize the same after rebuilding & replacing half a chassis :D

You can do it ,through research , trial & error.

Some parts are simply best bought new, or taken from some salvage yard (? that the right term?) car..

Yeah, I'm currently considering sourcing the firewall section from a junkyard. It's not available new, or I would have already ordered it (along with the floorboards).


NLA, last price was ~$380.

[JGood]

Decided to ditch the idea of welding in a single piece to fill the hole, and decided to break it into smaller sections.

So, I did my first welding session on the car. Here is where I found out just how hard it is to weld 22+ gauge metal. I had voltage on minimum, wire speed on 2.5 out of 10, and I was still burning through every few seconds. I couldn't even get a pool going before it started burning through. Probably took me an hour and a half of grinding and welding to get this in:




But, I enjoyed the work and learned a lot. I think I may try thinner wire for the next piece, hopefully things go a little better.

[dude8383]

Don't know how I missed this thread but I'm glad I found it through your other post.

Major props for jumping into this!