Geez dude, you have the worst luck with the rear end of this car.
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The Humble Lachssilber 4 Door - Austin's Daily 325i
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Paynemw
1986 Toyota 4Runner SR5 - Sold!
the ebb and flow of 325is ownership - In RVA
1988 BMW 535is - RIP but my dream BMW
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Wow, just read through your entire thread.
Can't believe you got rear ended twice, that sucks! Anyway, great work on the tailpanel so far.
The bronze stuff you found between the panels was probably when they replaced the panel the first time. It's indeed a weld through primer.
I would strongly suggest using it again when welding the new panel onto your E30!
Good luck!
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I just learned from Jordan’s thread that many of the seams back there and the front valence to fender seams were brazed from he factory. That’s what the brass/bronze stuff is. Basically brass solder.
great job keeping it alive man! That’s the worst luck!
and I have stripped and refinished bmw wheels before and I’ll never do it again. I don’t know what kind of primers they use but it was a shit show trying to get it off."In God we trust. All others must bring data." -W. E. Deming
/// 1987 325is /// Project Thread
Past: 87 is, 88ix, 88 i, 87 ic, 89 ix, 17 others.
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So I've had a couple experiences with insurance companies and have learned from them. You HAVE TO PUSH BACK, their job is to get away with the cheapest outcome for them. My first experience started with an accident with my first car in HS, it was clearly the other persons fault and my dad was there to help thru it.
The other party was fully insured, I had liability only and it was the same insurance company... So it went like this "it was your fault" so they would only have to fix his... we said no and argued it out, then it was "it was both parties fault" again they fix his car and I get the shaft... we said no and argued it out, then they finally they said OK it was their fault and we settled.
My last experience was on my E30 and when it was legally parked so it was clearly not a 'who's fault is it' it was but unfortunately it was a 'who done it' hit and no note... Long story short, I found who did it and it went to insurance. As typical they tried stating it was only worth something like 1200 and the estimate was 2700.
Here is the key point to all this, DO NOT SETTLE until you are satisfied of the outcome. You have more say in all this then you think, you can also get your insurance involved if needed. My whole argument with them was it was not my fault, fix it or replace it... all I want is a car in the drive that is as good as mine was or better! That is what whole outcome of what an insurance settlement should be, to get your car fixed back to what it was or a replacement car in it's place.
They tried to push the Kelly blue book value... I said screw that it is a quick reference, the streets drives the real value. I gave them examples of cars and said for them to find a replacement car that was even close to what mine was for 1200... Long story shortened again, they settled on getting mine fixed and it didn't end up with a salvage title... 8^)
Sorry for the long post but I get pissed when I see people get screwed over by insurance companies, I hope this is your last dealing with them and maybe this will help someone else following your thread.
Great job on the car and look forward to new work on updates/upgrades and not recovery work... 8^)
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Originally posted by D.Martijn View Post
The bronze stuff you found between the panels was probably when they replaced the panel the first time. It's indeed a weld through primer.
I would strongly suggest using it again when welding the new panel onto your E30!
Good luck!
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Originally posted by whodwho View Post
Here is the key point to all this, DO NOT SETTLE until you are satisfied of the outcome. You have more say in all this then you think, you can also get your insurance involved if needed. My whole argument with them was it was not my fault, fix it or replace it... all I want is a car in the drive that is as good as mine was or better! That is what whole outcome of what an insurance settlement should be, to get your car fixed back to what it was or a replacement car in it's place.
I appreciate people saying "you need to fight back, I did and they gave me $5,000" but unfortunately in Pennsylvania, that's just not the case and I am 100% sure I got as much money as I possibly could because I let USAA hear it. I fought as hard as I could for myself but ultimately I have no say in the matter.
All that to say, I can't really look back now, I got what money I could and am doing what I can with it. It is unfortunately a risk you have to take in certain states unless you want to get classic car insurance which my car isn't really worth getting for. BUT this e30 will be back on the road and it will be by the power of my 2 hands which has a certain level of accomplishment with it.
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Originally posted by 2mAn View PostYou should build an indestructible rear end
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Welded in the tail light panel this weekend.
The thing I hate most about body work is its never perfect. Like its good enough but my perfectionist self gets very caught up on the small insignificant details that aren't perfect.
Anyways, neither is the rest of the car, and everything lines up pretty good so it will do the job.
I ran out of Argon, so I'm still going to go back over all of it and add some more tack welds just to be 100% sure its not going anywhere
Untitled by Austin Kratz, on Flickr
Starting to look like a car again!
Untitled by Austin Kratz, on Flickr
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Good work my dude! This e30 definitely has a story to tell.Paynemw
1986 Toyota 4Runner SR5 - Sold!
the ebb and flow of 325is ownership - In RVA
1988 BMW 535is - RIP but my dream BMW
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Not a huge update as I am still collecting tools/equipment/stuff needed to paint. I am still trying to wrap my head around everything I will need to try to set up a mini paint booth in my garage and everything I need to make sure the surfaces I am painting are prepped properly. Also a little bit of a waiting game for the weather to warm a bit.. Its slowly coming along though..
This corner had some body filler previously from the shop that repaired it, and it had cracked and chipped off so I did the best I could to refinish that and smooth the transition
Untitled by Austin Kratz, on Flickr
Untitled by Austin Kratz, on Flickr
And I picked up 2 paint guns, one for primer and one for base/clear. One cost $220 the other cost....... $10..... with a Harbor freight coupon. I might need to do a side by side spray comparison on the old trunk lid just for the sake of science, but I'm pretty excited to see how well a decent quality spray gun lays down clear. Gotta give myself the best chance I can.
Untitled by Austin Kratz, on Flickr
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Been making slow progress in small steps.
Primed then seam sealed all the seams around the tail light panel, inside and out. Then applied the chip guard/paintable undercoating to the bottom skirt section, and over all the seam sealer. Did my best effort to ensure this never rusts.
Untitled by Austin Kratz, on Flickr
I am happy with the texture and finish of the SEM undercoating I used.
Untitled by Austin Kratz, on Flickr
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