rust repair

[shane281189]

got the new inner wing tacked in place and have seam sealed the welds , any thoughts ??

pics below..

[shane281189]

also have have two questions between the battery tray and the inner wing there is and rectangular cut out is that there for a reason ? i was told mabye for aircon ?

how hard are sillls to replace?

[Grrrmachine]

looks like someone's cut their own hole. You'll need to copy them, by cutting out that battery tray and completely replacing it.

Also, look at the metal bracket that holds the windscreen washer reservoir in place. The seam below that, where the inner wing meets the chassis rail, is looking pretty crusty and is a standard rot spot. You'll want to cut that out and replace too.

Are you using any anti-rust treatments? Fertan, Dinitrol, Bilthammer, that sort of stuff?

[shane281189]

Cheers im going to replace the battery tray , I have a mate who has a couple for breaking do I've been using them for donner parts. There is some surface rust there but nothing thats to bad I do have the parts to replace it with a fresh one ,, may well do that . I have a chemical that you brush on that kills the rust and brings it back to bare metal but can't remember what the make of it was . Getting disharting with all this cutting out and replacing parts :/ but budget is tight

[Grrrmachine]

Bit by bit and you'll get there. Took me six months to cut out and replace all the metal I needed to, and it was in pretty much the same state as yours. You'll get there.

Just be aware that sometimes it's false economy to use parts from a donor car, since all E30s rust in the same way. If you can, buy the donor car bonnet - that'll give you all the sheet steel you need for the rest of your repairs, without the rust of introducing old rust into your new repairs.

[shane281189]

cheers mate , i was going to ask you two questions where ive replaced my inner wing and in the process of putting onthe flitch im worried when i bolt the wing on il have alignment issues ? or is there adjusment

also where ive put these new pieces of metal in how can i make it look as its still orignal should i grind down the welds and seam seal it or just leave the welds (my weldin dont look profeesional)

[Grrrmachine]

A good trick to smooth welds out is to use a flap disc - dozens of sand-paper flaps that bolt to a solid disc for your angle grinder. Grind your welds down with a normal grinding disc, and then have a few quick passes with a 40grit disc to flatten everything smooth. That's how to make invisible welds.

But if the weld is going to be hidden with the wing, keep as much of the material as possible for strength. As for alignment, you've used the bonnet mount for alignment so your wings should bolt on ok - the bolt holes do give a few mm each way for alignment, and you can always drill the bolt holes if needed.