Help!! Scuttle pannel hole - dodgy fix from previous owner

[Tools]

Hi recently got a what i thought was a good deal on a 316i 1990.

Allthough i have only noticed that the scuttle panel has been dodgly fixed up. Managed to push my thumb through the panel and am now left with a fairly big hole to the left of the vent. Does anyone know what i can do about this? and how much money it is roughly going to cost to fix it. Also is this an essential part of the car structure?



This is the other side of the scuttle panel which has obviously been covered up in the same way.

[Tools]

Sorry forgot to mention,

Thanks in advance for any help

[alane]

hi
its not structural
you could just fill and paint it ,but if it was me i would cut out all the rust and replace with new metal ie weld a section in then paint it , would be expensive at a garage all welding usually is . depends on what the cars worth and how long you intend to keep it .

[parksie]

If you know a good body man ,i think he could repair it,or then again he may just burst into fits of laughter , the only way to replace it is windsreen and most of the dash out£Â£Ã‚£Ã‚£Ã‚£Ã‚£s.

Sorry i'm not much help but thats my honest verdict

[Tools]

if i can fill and fibre glass up and then re paint well enough do you think mot would have a problem with this?

cheers again

antoine

[parksie]

The MOT inspector wont be bothered about this unless you have jagged metal/rust visable or protruding

[Motorhole]

Also take this as a hint to check the rest of the car thouroughly so you don't find any other nasty surprises!

[alane]

i agree with the above the mot inspector is only interested in corrossion within 30mm of a structural point for example a jacking point or suspension mount . but obviously if it has jagged edges it could cause failure filling and painting will be fine

[telski789]

every e30 i look at this is the first spot i push against! i must have about 20 places i check before i even consider looking inside it!! bit late now i know but a bargain can soon turn into a nightmare,check under the passenger footwell,i looked at a sweet sport a while back and it had a respray,but the floor was long gone!! get an IS,im told they have galvanised floors!!

Tel

[Bob_S]

IS's seem to be stronger than other e30's I have heard a rumour they have been dipped elsewhere

[bigkev]

i think you'll find the measurement is 300mm alane incase anybody gets confused

[JohnH]

I probably wouldn't bother - there was /is a 318i for sale in the for sale forum that needs some minor work - I think something like that is a better way to spend a couple of hundred quid rather than trying to patch up the rust holes temporarily

[WillG]

alane you should resize your avatar really it makes margin too big

[WillG]

every e30 i look at this is the first spot i push against! i must have about 20 places i check before i even consider looking inside it!! bit late now i know but a bargain can soon turn into a nightmare,check under the passenger footwell,i looked at a sweet sport a while back and it had a respray,but the floor was long gone!! get an IS,im told they have galvanised floors!!

Tel

All car panels ive seen from last 20 years are zinc plated, most rust starts at spot welds where the zinc is burnt off I think tho think they might plate whole shell and around welds is places it didnt plate very well. If you see seams starting to rust drill out spot welds spray with weld through primer and mig where you drilled out hole and it wont rust again for a long time. Should always use weld throught primer on back of anything you weld really and it will last alot longer.

[matty325]

like most have said the screen has got to come out
but its not a big job for a good body shop maybe 150 quid or so

chin up

[Taylor325i]

You can buy the complete scuttle panel from the stealers for about £30 odd but you have to take in your reg document so that they can stamp the chassis no. into it.



Taylor.

[DanThe]

All car panels ive seen from last 20 years are zinc plated

Have you ever heard of a company called Ford?

[nickso]

All car panels ive seen from last 20 years are zinc plated

Have you ever heard of a company called Ford?

dont think ford have even got round to it now lol, all my fords rotted like nothing else ive owned, girlfriend had a fiesta si with 80k on the clock.......most folk thought it had seen 180k

[kevin316i]

I had the same issue with my iS. Didn't notice till after I bought it that there was some patching on each side at the bottom of the A pillars. Brought it toa local body shop where the guy there took out a lump of filler from each side, he was disgusted. To repair it, he removed the windscreen, welded a metal plate in each side and filled and sprayed over. It wasn't cheap, but the job is excellent with a perfect colour match. You would not know it was repaired. For extra protection I sprayed cavity wax on the inside.

The sickening thing is that this was probably done before the car was resprayed by a previous owner and they took the trouble to weld closed the spoiler holes in the bootlide but couldn't be arsed to weld a repair in the scuttle area

[WillG]

All car panels ive seen from last 20 years are zinc plated

Have you ever heard of a company called Ford?

lol never owned any but know they are bad havent ever looked at panels from one, only worked on VAG, BMW and french cars and all of them were so just assumed all did it.

[Brianmoooore]

If it's any consolation, rust in the scuttle panel is no indicator that the rest of the car is rusty. This rust is caused by a large lump of sealant at the base of the screen pillar hardening and shrinking, exposing bare metal and drawing in moisture by capillary action.
Of course, it's no indicator that the rest of the car isn't rusty either.

[kevin316i]

I agree with Brianmoore, there is a problem the sealant on the underside of the scuttle panel at the A-pillars that allows moisture ingress over time. This is one of the watchout areas to check when buying an E30, along with a few others. Of course, some of us don't find out about these until we have bought the car