How bad are my sills, what/how to restore

The place to pick up tips on bringing that showroom shine back to your E30.

Moderator: martauto

Post Reply
soul4t
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 381
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:00 pm
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:36 pm

Hi,

I have taken pictures of areas of my sills that are showing signs of rust!!!!! Whats the best way to go forward...I've had a poke at em and the areas don't seem weak in any way, but I can see future problems occuring!

Image
Image
Image
This ones bent 8O
Image

It's mainly jack points, which is expected and presumably reinforced more than the rest of it...which looks lovely!

Many thanks!
soul4t
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 381
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:00 pm
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Sat Feb 02, 2013 4:00 pm

diable wrote:That is the misconception most people have as they are not jacking points and get fooooked when used so.
Ahh I see! That would make sense! I've only used the points in pic 2 and 4 using the jack in the boot as it seems to sit nicely there!

Should I just bend the bent bit back in shape, rub down any rust on em, then use normal spray black on the outer...and a special underseal on the inside?
Jim320i
E30 Zone News / COTM Team
E30 Zone News / COTM Team
Posts: 10627
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Leicestershire
Contact:

Sat Feb 02, 2013 4:25 pm

The points in picture 2 & 4 are designed to work with the BMW Jack... I rarely jack it up from anywhere else. The BMW jack does its job spot on.

Your rust issue... :mad: Isnt really an issue, I would clean it all up with a wire wheel and treat it all etc. Not sure whats best, but zinc primer, then underseal on the underneath and paint the outer with normal paint. I might be wrong on that part but it looks pretty solid :cool:
soul4t
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 381
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:00 pm
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Sat Feb 02, 2013 4:40 pm

Cool, Thanks for your input Jim320i, I hope you're right... 8)
snakebrain
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 3685
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 11:00 pm

Sat Feb 02, 2013 7:16 pm

Get it clean, gunk the relevant bits in Bilt-Hamber Deox Gel, probably a few times to get really clean metal, apply paint etc. Job jobbed.

Better to do it now than in a few years when the rust has crept deep into the sills..
soul4t
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 381
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:00 pm
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Sat Feb 02, 2013 7:21 pm

That stuff looks interesting, seems decent!

Cheers!
User avatar
Jozi
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 3076
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:00 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:37 pm

I was also going to suggest deox gel!

Wire wheel on a drill or angle grinder to clean it well back around the rusty area's, deox gel it once or more, good etch or zinc primer, paint and/or stone chip where needed.

Those cill jacking pads look mint btw! I chopped mine out and plated over them, trolley jack under the car for the rest of it's life!
soul4t
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 381
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:00 pm
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:51 pm

Jozi wrote:
Those cill jacking pads look mint btw! I chopped mine out and plated over them, trolley jack under the car for the rest of it's life!
Thats good to know, I though it was generaly in pretty good shape, I rekon it must have been garaged for a few years!

Under body seems good, just want to find all the problem areas to address to prevent work needing to be done that I can't do on it myself.
snakebrain
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 3685
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 11:00 pm

Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:13 pm

Jozi wrote:I was also going to suggest deox gel!
Amazing stuff; like Kurust x100...

I want to try the powder stuff you dilute in water. Imagine a bathtub full of de-rusted shiny bits!! :D (I know, my life is sad and meaningless....)

Check tonybmw's site out for a demo of its rust-eating properties.
User avatar
Jozi
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 3076
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:00 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:38 pm

snakebrain wrote: I want to try the powder stuff you dilute in water. Imagine a bathtub full of de-rusted shiny bits!! :D (I know, my life is sad and meaningless....)
I've used it, it's very good also! I did find it needed a little help sometimes with a wire brush. It seems to breakdown the rust bt some of it doesn't go until you removed by rubbing it or with a wire brush. You could also do the same with electrolysis (think thats what its called).
Post Reply