Project Facelift

[Jand3rson]

yeah im gonna do my retrofit but i cant find any parts cars with good valances to cut out.

It has literally taken me just under 2 years to finally track one down. I must have had arrangements with about 5-6 people that had them, said they were going to cut it off for me and ship it, and the deals either fell through or I just never heard from them again. It was really starting to piss me off, but I finally got mine from Joe Funk (Funkmasta) in Portland.

[87' 325]

yeah im gonna do my retrofit but i cant find any parts cars with good valances to cut out.

[Jand3rson]

Trent
Bill
Josh



Esteemed list.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Bill. But even if you ask him, he'll tell you himself that his is totally half-assed.

[backtrail69]

I have one sitting behind my car waiting to put on, I am just at school and i need to do alittle rust repair to it and fit it + paint. Thanks again Nando for the hookup.

I am sure there has to be more than 3 of us people who rule.

[nando]

That one guy with a bronzit 318 that just recently bought a s2002 did that swap a little bit ago. So thats 3 :)

it's sterling silver, not bronzit..

[Ray Smoodiver]

Trent
Bill
Josh



Esteemed list.

[Rocla]

I'd use that same body"putty" or glue or whatever it's called that is used on factory seams to prevent the moisture getting to seam.

[Jand3rson]

Fascinating.

[Schniddy]

That one guy with a bronzit 318 that just recently bought a s2002 did that swap a little bit ago. So thats 3 :)

[Jand3rson]

hah just shrug and say it a e30....

looks might fine. Im going to use this as a precedent on my retrofit as well. thank you for the pictures my man.

That's why I'm posting pictures of the whole process. I'm one of only 2 people I know of that have done this rear apron swap with an E30, and I know I'm not the only one that's thought about it, I've wanted to do it for 2 years. So by doing a step-by-step of the whole project and detailing the work, I hope that I can give the necessary info to others that might want to try it.

[87' 325]

hah just shrug and say it a e30....

looks might fine. Im going to use this as a precedent on my retrofit as well. thank you for the pictures my man.

[Jand3rson]

no, not if you do it the R3V way. When we replace panels at my work, sorry we dont use screws and undercoating. If I was doing that, I would make it look factory. I know you wont see it, I am just trying to make a point that if another few hours were put into it, in the end you would know it was done "factory like",
and yes, it will flex, and eventually crack the undercating you put on it.

Please, explain to me how rubberized undercoating is going to crack.

And I realize the way you do things at your work is different than what I'm doing. The difference between your work and my garage is that I don't have a customer paying me inflated shop charges to perform factory-level bodywork on their car. I have myself and my brother in law, using the tools we have available to us, and the methods that will work the best within the budget that I have. I'm not going to spend large amounts of money and dozens of hours of time making a DIY retrofit look like a factory body line, especially seeing as how it's going to be in an area that will NEVER be seen. This is not a factory-fitting piece. I appreciate your concern here Mike, but there's really no need for you to keep pressing this matter. The method we are using will be more than adequate. You've made your point clear that you don't agree with the way we're doing it, let's just leave it at that.

[browntown]

I really need to take the time and go to the community college welding classes, I want to weld so much stuff, and have a buddy that is a competent welder with all the certs, but I wish I knew how so I wouldn't be so scared of this kind of work. My entire welding experience was with oxy-acetylene tanks and filler rod in high school.

no, not if you do it the R3V way. When we replace panels at my work, sorry we dont use screws and undercoating. If I was doing that, I would make it look factory. I know you wont see it, I am just trying to make a point that if another few hours were put into it, in the end you would know it was done "factory like",
and yes, it will flex, and eventually crack the undercating you put on it.

I disagree. And I will take that bet. When you replace panels at work, they probably fit. This rear panel, while it might look it in pictures, is far from fitting correctly. Could I have done it? Yea, would it have taken another 10 or 20 hours on making some filler plates to extend a few sections since they are about an 1inch away? sure. I don't have that time or patience. It isn't like the panel totally lines up perfect all the way across in order for a perfect seam weld. If it did, I would have seamed the entire thing. If you saw mine in person, you would say, oh, yea, you did it right.