E30 Zone

Alright chaps,
I'm about to tackle to scuttles and front jacking points on my car. I know some may be saying just scrap the shitebag, but Ive had it too long and I'll never be selling it ha.

Right, both scuttles were gone, so I've removed the screen, cut out the rust and and I'm the process of getting some good scuttles to weld in place. I want to know if there's anything I should know about? Any tips etc. I've not welded on a car before, but I've got the help of an experienced welder to aid me.
The same goes for the jacking points too. Ive cut out the drivers side, including where the accelerator pedal goes into the floor.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks.

Dunno what you mean by "both scuttles". An E30 only has one.

But if you're welding in that area, remove the dash if you haven't done so already. There's all sorts of sound deadening against the bulkhead, and if you build up too much heat in that area it can easily catch fire.

Jacking points are a piece of piss in comparison, but again, have a thick cloth or leather gloves handy to put out the inevitable burning underseal.

Good on you for taking it on and not scrapping it!

Do it one plate at a time

Practice on some off cuts first. Don't get put off when you start welding the car.

As important as the welding is rust proofing after, including waxoyling it

Looking forward to the resto thread

Thanks chaps.

Yeah by both scuttles I meant both sides.
I was wondering if I had to take the dash out. Pants.

What's the best stuff to use to rust proof after I've welded? Just waxoyle or a combination of things?

All depends on how far the rust as gone pete...

Scuttle seems ok Pete. Not as bad as I thought but still a fair chunk was out.

Any pictures?

have a look around the end plugs of sealant in the scuttle (furthest corners) mine looked fine but underneath very rusty also quite a bit of rust on the bulkhead from condensation

also just above the hole where the loom enters the cabin and behind the fuse box can be bad

I know it does look like there's more rust colouring in there, but it's just the light!

I've read about the fuse box too, now I'm taking the dash out I'll be able to check that properly.

Also , the back of the battery tray had some rust on it, but I've ground that down and it now looks ok.

Taking the dash out is NOT the end of the world.

good work you've cut it all out!!! remember to keep in mind that the wings have to sit flat to the fixings and fairly tight to the curved section

Yeah I've changed it before, just a hassle because I'm great at misplacing little screws and clips. No matter how organised I try to be!

jimmyspeed wrote:good work you've cut it all out!!! remember to keep in mind that the wings have to sit flat to the fixings and fairly tight to the curved section

It's bits like this which worry me, all the aligning and making sure it looks unmolested when painted.

I have a shell down here come and get the sections you need

if your using a replacement panel it shouldn't be to bad, as it will have the desired shape, even if your making the patch you just mock it up with the wing in place and look down the body lines

once you've finished welding give the weld a good clean with a wire brush and then clean with something like acetone/thinners, you can acid etch it now to get a good key or get it covered up with a good zinc primer( a can is often better in inaccessible places as you can work it in)

on the inside a polyurethane sealant or if you're feeling flush the 3m brushable seam sealer. Then paint.

outer areas are different usual etch, prime, high build, paint , lacquer

Those pics look fairly similar to mine, although I didn't chop into the A-pillar.

Take on board the rest of the advice in this thread, and take out the dash and any associated soundproofing. There are a few common rust spots in the bulkhead, and you'll kick yourself afterwards for not fixing them when you had the chance.

Don't rush into the welding. Take your time with your metal files, and get the replacement metalwork as millimetre perfect as you can, so that the two edges to weld together are as flush as possible. 5 more minutes with the file will save you hours of trying to weld together badly fitting steel.

A good trick is to get your hand on some copper or brass bar - something like 50mm wide, 5mm thick. You can hold this under the joint, or clamp it in place, and it helps to soak up the excess heat so that you don't burn through with the welder.

The other thing is to use a flappy sanding disc to clean up your welds rather than a grinding disc. It gives a much better polished finished to the steel, and saves mucking about with filler when it comes to painting.

Nice one, thanks a lot for the tips chaps. Going to have a crack at it today. I'll bang some pictures up along the way hopefully.

Wish me luck.

Pete

Sweep I'll call you in a few hours about bits and bobs.

You cab but a whole new scuttle panel from BMW with the number stamped , i think someone said they were about£80 odd, would make a better end result to just put a whole new panel in

Looking forward to seeing this. Need to do the same to my scuttle. Cotswolds quoted me about £38 last year for a new stamped scuttle panel. not bad at all!

Rhyse30 wrote:Looking forward to seeing this. Need to do the same to my scuttle. Cotswolds quoted me about £38 last year for a new stamped scuttle panel. not bad at all!

If you go down this route, make it clear that you expect the stamping of the number to be close in quality to that of the original.

polsta wrote:You cab but a whole new scuttle panel from BMW with the number stamped , i think someone said they were about£80 odd, would make a better end result to just put a whole new panel in

Not if you are worried what the chassis number stamping looks like !

This is the first effort. Just welded, smoothed down with a sanding disc and then sprayed with zinc primer as advised.
Not perfect but not bad I don't think.


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