Re-body project for my 24V e30

[bimmer630]

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[bimmer630]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bimmer630]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bimmer630]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bimmer630]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bimmer630]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bimmer630]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bimmer630]

I was more than unhappy with the results of my floor/tunnel repair.. I think my lack of proper cleaning of the metal combined with some huge gaps was a recipe for disaster...
I cut it all back out and grabbed yet another donor section from my silver parts car.. and this time I went all the way from “rail to rail” (there are rails midway between the rocker and the tunnel)
this time I made a template of the new piece and marked the cars floor using the template and subtracting about an inch from that and cutting the hole in the car itself WAY smaller than it needed to be, and then gradually scribing, trimming, grinding, checking, measuring, cutting, etc etc... until I ended up with this. I think I’m happy with the fit.. it’s even too tight in some spots...
And this time we have a new tool at the shop, a “crud thug” that easily removes undercoating and paint. A process which I performed lazily the first time around with a wire wheel.. and didn’t get everything down to bare metal.

[Northern]

If you don't have a second set of hands, try to find some way to secure it so you don't need to hold it: Small vise clamps, or drill a hole in the spoon to use a bolt through whatever void you're welding across, or a big welding magnet, etc.

[bimmer630]

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[bimmer630]

Do you use a welding spoon at all? If not, it helps a lot with the gaps. Hell, I just use some crushed 7/8" copper tube.

After getting super frustrated with welding the gaps and having some burn through, I did order a Welding spoon. It proves to be not very helpful though becauseIt was tough getting it into position by holding it with my arm through the shifter hole and all the complex shapes and what not on the inside of the tunnel Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Northern]

Do you use a welding spoon at all?
If not, it helps a lot with the gaps. Hell, I just use some crushed 7/8" copper tube.

[bimmer630]

So the patch that i put on my tunnel to fix the gashed up sheetmetal, ended up being a mess since presumably the Welder is messing with me intermittently and the sheetmetal being so thin, I kept burning through the metal, especially in the spots where my gaps were too large between the patch and the floor... so i made a new patch Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bimmer630]

Some more progress today. All of these sections were grafted out of the junk car... I’m slowly stitching it all in there. You can see the booger weld mess of my tunnel patching. I cut the pieces with too fat of gaps and it caused everything to get messy... i had to lay down piles of weld in places to plug up holes that were burning through... I’ve ordered one of those copper backing plate tools which you lay over the backside of the panel and it helps to get a better weld when you are welding up holes... hopefully that helps me clean this mess up a little before i grind it down seam sealer it and undercoat it. After all is said and done, none of the repairs will be visible hopefully. The section I patched in that holds the sliding trans mount studs will be pretty obvious to a keen eye, since the part inside the rail had to be zapped together and it’ll be tough to clean up to make “pretty” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bimmer630]

Pulled the trigger on a factory core support.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk