Jim's Chromie Thread - Hail Storm Aftermath

[Jim320i]

Cheers dude

The outer sill on the driver side is hiding more than meets the eye I think though, so when I get to that point and the car is off the road, i'll be looking for a 'pro' to sort the work for me. Not sure what the cost of replacing the whole sill is though, but depending on the price I might have both sides done. But thats ages away yet.


Plan is to get it looking presentable, align all the panels up properly as they're all over the place at the minute, seal those wings at the top too.

New tyre/s depending on what needs changing then an mot Dont need it on the road til The German Show but want to get it on a while before that just so I can make sure its running ok so I dont have issues on the drive down there.

[magpie]

i love this pic,made me laugh a bit and think about a fragger i had



kerbside motors FTW!

[Jim320i]

I bet your neighbours loved you...

My old man lives on a busy street and has his camper, the small trailer on the back of the big on pictured, & 2 beetles... I had to drive up before hand to park my car in the space so he could get back in with the trailer on. A few neighbours were out and the look they gave us as he turned up with more scrap was great

[magpie]

that trailer combo is funny as fook m8,i'm laughing and thinking what if you added the BBQ trailer on the end

[Duke137]

Nice to see some progress being made, don't think the welds are all that bad? I know they don't look like a beardymat special but think they should hold out ok

[capri_rob]

Nice work Jim - be nice to see this road legal again

[Jim320i]

Started cleaning up the rear arch the other day, driver side, few scabs like I mentioned before, all of which are just surface scabs, grinded away and treated, sealed up, just need to underseal the arch but got side tracked...

I thought I would get the rubber fuel pipe off just to clean it up and inspect, poked the fuel tank slightly and it was 'soft' around the filler neck As some of you may remember, when I first got the car I had issues with rust in the fuel, which with the help of others on here, established it was rust in the tank... So at this point, I thought I may aswell drop the fuel tank... I have to the end of the month to get it on the road (My target date) so that its running and any running issues sorted before the drive down to the german show.

I have a spare fuel tank which im hoping to have powder coated aswell as a couple of other bits, depending on if they get a chance.

Anyway, ran out of day time yesterday so couldnt get the tank off, need to undo the front of the prop but weather looks good for a few days so hopefully I'll get it off.

Also got to use my 'new' ramps too, which are great, once the car comes off them, i'll get them painted up like new


Pictures of the underside 'before'... I'll get a finished picture once im done under there


New Ramps



Underneath 'Before'



Very very rusty tank Glad its coming off...



Thought about getting a new exhaust but its the cost at the moment so doubtful. Would be great to have a stainless but not happening this year. I noticed Duke has a 320 exhaust for sale which looks cleaner but there isnt actually anything wrong with the one on it...

[Duke137]

Dude, I will trade that bosal one for the bits I want from you?

Great progress btw

[capri_rob]

Have you done the beam/trailing arm bushes already mate ?

[Jim320i]

Duke, i'll send youa pm shortly

Rob, from memory, they were replaced just before I became the owner, but want to check through the history first. But i'll be upgrading to rear discs at some point so will be refurbing a new rear beam and switch it all in one go Same for the fronts to 51mm struts so trying not to spend too much on the parts I wont be using for that long...

[capri_rob]

If the beam bushes have been recently done just get some void fillers from danthe - will make them last a lot longer - then all you need to do is swap the trailing arms

[Kedge]

Jim, you'll struggle to find anyone whole powdercoat a used tank no matter how dry it is inside. Just rub it all down and paint with POR15 chassis paint!

Liking those ramps!

[Jim320i]

@Rob - My names down on the list for one, but I was still debating if I was going to or not

Kedge - I need to sort out a tank and some other bits to send in work with Ricky and he's gonna try and get it done at his work. But we'll see... You know how realiable he is at best

[Kedge]

You know how realiable he is at best

Yup, think i'll be stripping that engine!

[Jim320i]

I've told him a few times to get in contact with you as he made me look like a c0ck. I did mention it again yesterday when I seen him briefly, and he said he should be able to have it on friday... I said to him, 'when you have the cash in your hands, give kedge a call', so he might call you, but dont hold me to it

[Kedge]

LOL, don't worry about it Jim. It's not your fault/problem at all. If i have to strip it it'll take me more time but will make me a lot more $$, would just be nice to get it out my garage though!

Get on Facebook fella, i need to discuss some parts i need

[Jim320i]

So, zones been down, had a bit of time to play around...

The old Tank is off, which isnt all that simple to get off Have fun, anyone else thinking of doing it!

The tank is extremely rusting on the inside, I'm debating on chopping it open at a later date just to see the extent of the rust and to where it started.

The fuel level sensor/sender thing was the early plastic type with the filter at the bottle, which was also split so was allowing the rust to get through. I do have a slightly later version to go back on which is the metal type but basically the same thing

Hopefully over this weekend, the replacement tank is going to be sand blasted so that I can paint it up and not have to worry about it again, also got a few other bits to get done and hopefully some powder coating but not 100% if its happening yet.

Unfortunately, my camera has packed in so I cant document anything at the moment, hoping to use a phone or something but I dont have a great phone as I end up breaking them so just use crappy old peter pass down ones Mainly because im tight fisted, but, my camera is off for repair so should be back in... 3 weeks

I have sanded down the rear beam a bit too so that I can hammerite it up as well as the arms etc. The diff is also off, which should hopefully be blasted too and then i'll hammerite that.

Just working my way through the countless scabs under the car, its unreal Regardless of how mint you think your car is, unless you have taken back the underseal, you dont know if there is rust there... That goes for everyones motor. Regardless, the back half of the car to where the tank is has been grinded back in the scabby parts and treated/seam sealered/primered, and now just needs undercoating but its been raining and now its flooded out where my car is so 1 1/2 of pudding under and around the car aswell as flooding my unit

I'm currently waiting on a quote for some roof sheeting for the unit, once thats been sorted and fixed, i'll be getting the floors concreted as currently its just hardcore, with a 4 inch thick base, water should be able to get in there then, aswell as just outside it, gonna hopefully get about 6metres by 8 metres concreted over so its nice and raised

But these things cost money and I dont like spending too much in one go Makes me feel sick

So, at the moment, just waiting for it to stop raining and to de flood, then i'll be back out there to get it all undersealed, and the rear beam hammerited. Then the tank back on with new fuel lines etc, all new powder coated bits and then need to get the interior back in, which might come first depending if I get time.

Just a bit daunting everytime I look at the wiring side of things, and I still need to figure out how to install the Cruise control

[Jim320i]

Small update, my phone takes pictures... Although not very good ones so I couldnt get it to focus for under the car.

Got a picture of the diff though and thats all











Poor quality pictures but its all I have til my camera is back from being repaired.

The whole rear is undersealed now, the rear beam and arms have been hammerited. I didnt managed to get anything powder coated as my mate let me down... As he lets everyone down Sorry to anyone else waiting on him for anything...)

Replacement tank has had 3 coats of hammerite, same goes for the filler neck and pipe cover that sits in the rear arch.

So need to get it all back on once I clean up some new brackets for the tank from another tank but the rainings coming in so wont be getting anything done just yet

Also need to fit a rear anti roll bar so that will be added too.

Need to take off the driveshafts to give them a good clean up.

Then all back on

[Jim320i]

Slowly getting it back together,

Rear end is back together now bar one drive shaft as the jubilee clip thing had come off so the rubber had come back slightly. I've regreased it and threw a normal jubilee clip on there for now, but need to get a proper one on there as it wont spin with that sort on

Getting the diff back on was a pain in the arse as it wouldnt line properly, but got there in the end...

I did get the fuel tank up and on, then realised I needed to attach a hose from the passenger side on the top... So had to drop it back off again, but didnt take long.

I'm suprised on how easy it all was to do to be honest

The rear beam was brushed up with Hammerite. I'll be getting another one blasted and powder coated as well as disc brakes for the rear at a later date and i'll switch it all when its off the road next, as well as replace all the bushes etc.





Andy from down the road, who I posted pictures up of his Sport a while back brought down some exhaust sheilds he had hammerited silver, but then didnt use them and bought knew... They came in handy and were good enough for El Turdio


Painted up the drop links and fuel tank brackets in tacky gold too


Doubt it will stay clean for long though...

Next plan is, down on the ramps and the interior back in, and hopefully start her up... Then back up the ramps and get under the front to underseal whats left and figure out whats leaking from the gearbox/engine area

[Kedge]

Good effort there Jim. Nice to see you don't need arm bands to get under a car now to

If you want to put the proper clips on the driveshafts i've got the crimping tool if you need it.

[Grrrmachine]

That's a cracking job; it's made me proper jealous that I didn't put that much effort into making my underbody look as good!

[Jim320i]

Kedge, do you have any of the clips as well? Its one of them things that I have got to go out for that take ages to find and cost 20p or so... If you've got one, and the tool, that would be awesome

Grrrr - Get under there and strip it all down! It doesnt take long at all. I didnt remove the beam or anything, just the tank and diff. The rest I removed the scabs and undersealed etc. A few days work but well worth it

Although I do think the silver on the back of the diff plate wont last long When putting it back up, some of it on the edge came away So... When I change the rear beam at a later date, i'll be getting that off and hammeriting it as the silver was only sprayed

[Meatballs82]

Looks pimp compared to before mate, good stuff!

[Jim320i]

The Aftermath from the hailstorm we had











Rickys car







Mini



Unit front got hit, it was fully green before



House roofs and kennel roofs



















The hails, this was an average size one, theyre were some massive ones.

[Kedge]

Still amazes me seeing this, so glad we only got the rain here!

[Duke137]

Holy shit!

[e30topless]

that's fucked the job up, I hope your insured Jim ?

[Rtaylor2208]

Ouch that all looks very very expensive to get sorted out, at least the house and newer cars can go through insurance.

[johnl320]

That is horrendous, amazing how the glass held out on the skylights and windscreens, gutted for you.
I wouldn't be surprised if local farmers have some dead livestock after that, looking at the size of those hailstones!

[polsta]

fooking hell unbelievable mate, i feel for you , weather in our country is getting worse/more freakish by the year

, the underside of the car is looking super there, quality work

[DanThe]

Christ Jim, I hope you have a decent insurance policy in place

[Jim320i]

Roof tiles are already on the order so got 500 odd coming so gonna be on them soon as they arrive... Luckily, Ricky is off work too so we can crack on and get on it soon as they arrive.

The cars, only the mini and the red chromie were insured... The red chromie, they'll just right off, the mini, the insurance will be sorting...

My chromie, the missus Clio, 2 breakers, a old mini were not insured as all off the road

Those windows on the roof, one was cracked, but only the corner part so thats always good... Thats were I actually was at the time, we ran back into there, watched in amazment, then started getting a bit worried so had to close the curtains just incase the windows came in, stayed away from all glass but nothing broke in that part

Still cant believe the damage to the chromie I'm gonna try and ring one of those dent removal companies tomorrow but I have a feeling they're gonna be fully booked up round this area for a while... Not sure they they charge per dent either... That will be expensive

I counted

28 dents on the boot
54 on the roof
87 on the bonnet
14 on the sides



Ricks had 170 we counted... I won that one

[Kedge]

I'd be buying another E30 fella, that's going to cost way too much to sort out even if you got lucky and replaced the bolt on parts with ones in the right colour.

[Duke137]

I'd be buying another E30 fella, that's going to cost way too much to sort out

[spook]

How long did that storm last, did the hail stones take the face of those bricks?

Sorry to see the damage to your cars mate.