Josi's Touring refresh now resto!

[Jos]

The saga continues..

After replacing the engine we discover a slightly rusty rear section just above the diff:


Pulled the petrol tank and began a chopping, 1st place to check was the seatbelt mounts, yup, they're fooked:



At this stage I decided given the surface rusting along the seam that it was better to chop all this out so it never (well in the next 20years) needs revisited.

Some mashing with a hammer also broke through on the chassis legs around the spring beds, this worried me but upon chopping them out they appear to be relatively intact.



Abused class on Thursday night and made a new beam section, I will now need more metal to replace the other choppage but at least they are flat bits.

Bending this made the 14SWG pressbrake sweat a bit!



More to follow, the list of replacement parts is getting longer!

[Jos]

1st patch in

[Jos]

Floorpan and reinforcing beam back in. FCAW is horrid compared to GMAW although the borrowed Sealey with the dodgy wirefeed isn't helping matters..

Ran out of wire so still some of the seams to finish, oh and some grinding! Seatbelt mounts and the bracket for the expansion tank also left to do.

[Jos]

More progress, almost ready to start putting stuff back on.

Amazing what 2:1 TFR mix and a powerwasher can clean!

[tonybtonyb]

Nice work keep us posted

[Jos]

some more, rust all killed off with Vactan and a nice coat of 2 part epoxy over it all. With the temperatures at the moment it's going to take 2-3 weeks to cure! Beams and arms have fan heater assistance!

[Jozi]

Good job! I thought mine was bad but I got lucky I guess! When do you aim to have her finished for?

[Jos]

I wouldn't go for 'good job'.. 'proper job!!' maybe lol!

I'd love to do what you did with yours but I need a car this year! Maybe get another one and work on it (after the e36M3 gets some attention and I get rid of the M42 donor from the drive!)

The rest of the chassis is fine, was just that bit for whatever reason, arches I thought were gone but was mostly just surface rust. There's a little bit of cill work needed but it's very minor. Front seatbelt mounts need something done with the seats being from the e36, something like the 2dr arrangement with the bar or a heavy loop bolted through the floor.

I'm aiming for the end of this month for MOT, parts are beginning to arrive and assembly should be starting on Wed/Thurs, want to leave the epoxy to harden a bit before poking at it and I want some stonechip over it as well.

[Jozi]

Good job doign a proper job

I had little bits everywhere but no big sections like that! In hindsight, I should have fixed the engine on my first touring and keep driving it, but I didn't and never thought I'd be so long at it either!

You's have her in time for the E30owners big meet then?!

[Jos]

I did some work on it last year at the front prior to the engine detonating, front inners had some holes under the washer bottle area which needed patched but nothing like the rear, the usuals at the 'jacking point's were done too. It's amazing how long little simple things take, wish you'd never started them sometimes!

Should have her ready unless the MOT goes south!

I have the e36 M3 as a temp replacement but then fuel prices almost doubled and the insurance jumped to £1100 for the year (35yrs old 10yrs+ NCB... like WTF?!)
I use a Bandit 600 as my daily, not so nice in the rain but 65mpg, cheap as chips to service and tax/insure (license for 1 hour - £170 fully comp, dropped to £100 this year) and get bus lane usage:)

[Jos]

Tank back in, 10minute job single handed, considering that as just lucky really.
Tank was corroded along the lip, hole in the filler and hole just above the filler. Chopped it out with dremel and made repair patch, fixing the filler hole in the process. The lip I split open, treated with Vactan and closed gain, coated with epoxy. New mount welded on in 1 place, wasn't enough left to save! New filler pipe bracket made from 304 stainless.

Slow progress but I'm getting there. Beam and H&R springs next, these were a b**tard last time!

[Jos]

Completed rear beams are heavy as hell! Fun with the H&R rear springs coming soon.

[Jos]

Annnd back on it's wheels!!! No rear calipers yet, would have been done except the handbrake cables were a complete bastard. Had to put a steelie on the pass side as it had moved on the ramps, couldn't get the alloy back on!

Nothing more till the weekend, GF back from holiday tomorrow!

[Jos]

MOT Failed due to overheat and pissing coolant all over the tester! Rectified by removing viscous and M40 rad, replaced with much bigger electric e36 M42 Rad. 2 speed effort but the resistor pack isn't working reliably so stat is wired together onto the high speed setting, trips in at 82C drop the temp to 76C in about 60seconds and switches off. MOT retest on Monday!

[Jos]

MOT Passed!

Wheel bearings still need done mind you