So it begins ! Rust Never Sleeps! Drift/Track

[BATTS91]

Ok so as some of you may know my e30 is going drift spec , a slow long project due to not having a job but wheelig and dealing here and there .currently m50 and will be m52

Today i had a couple of hours to take the dash out to inspect fully for rust heres what i found here . The car has more rust issues about but ill get to that when the time comes


Heres what i found on the drives side bulk head , appears to be in the battery tray area .



And the passenger side



There is abit more below this but forgot to take a pic ,
Tomorrow the headlining will be coming out and looking about the sunroof cassete .

[Craggy73]

Ok so as some of you may know my e30 is going drift spec

At least you won't have to re-fit everything once you've sorted the bodywork then.

[BATTS91]

Yes ! And no . Only differece inside will be no carpet or back seats .

Refit dash
Bucket seats
Harness's
Hydraulic handbrake
Paint interior
Make or find abs or carbon door cards

[jonesy318]

good luck with the sunroof cassette, didnt think mine would be to bad but boy did i get a shock, only just finished cleaning and treating the roof after removing the old cassette, new one is painted and waiting to go in, not the nicest job ive had to do on it...

[BATTS91]

What a mess !!



So ive found more Crust !! O/s sunroof at front










Think im going to invest in a dremel for this shizzle !

Thats all for now , thought id post up while have a cuppa and smoke , time to crack on with sound deadening

[G-Bear]

I love rust pics especially when they're getting fixed. keep them coming.

Fear not I've got an IS which I'm pulling appart soon in an attempt to cure its tin worm, it's likely to be worse than this..

[Clarkey1988]

looks like some nice rust im at about the same stage only ive started on mine at the rear valance/ battery tray. No better feeling than a nice solid bit of metal back in place of rusty old stuff.

[jimbom30cab]

Definite agree with above post very satisfying work, keep it up mate and post lots of pics. I had rust on. Ine in all the same places and found the Dremel was brill at currie out and grinding those upper bulkhead bits.

Enjoy

[G-Bear]

found the Dremel was brill at currie out and grinding those upper bulkhead bits.

Enjoy

Thats what I've just invested in.. They dropped in price recently..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_ ... Caps%2C365

I went for the £75 offer..

[BATTS91]

Thanks guys . To one person i think they scrap the car but i dont think its all that bad compared to what ive seen .

I just have to get a bew motor for my mig welder which is quite dear considering. £90 . Will also be investing in some magnets , a dremel like above and some hss jigsaw blades .

G-Bear : I was expecting more rust tbh so to find soo little as such is happy stuff , this is originally a 318is as it goes but has now nothing left of is gear . One day id ike to afford another e30 for the oem "ish" spec haha

I'll be getting a knotted wire wheel on the bulkhead rust tomorrow to find out the full extent of the rust there , and ill get snaps of all the other horrors around the car .

Stay tuned ;)

[BATTS91]

Jimbom: there will be plenty of pics over the coming weeks/months , im hoping the dremel will help with my scuttle too . Will be a very handy piece of kit when i get one .

[BATTS91]

Anyone got tips on removing sunroof tray ?? . I was thinking prop it up and drill the spot welds a boom its done .

Im considering tack welding the sunroof from inside and lots of tigerseal .

[polsta]

i dont know but with that sunroof rust there looks quite get the roof done 1st incase its a breaker, roof is the worst place for any rot and a bit of a maker or breaker

[BATTS91]

I think thats the best option too ! Every else is definatly repairable , roof on the other hand not soo much .

Ill post up in technical gor some info on sunroof tray removal tips

[scott180gtb]

Drill the spots around the opening.
Cut the supporting tabs
Place some wet rags on the roof skin wear the tray is bonded to the roof skin
Use a heat gun to melt the glue.
Start from the back of the car and work forward.
Take your time or you will kink the roof skin.
Enjoy

[BATTS91]

Thanks scott .

I decided to move away from destruction today to renew my wiper motor as they wernt parking in the correct position and juddering .
Was suprisingly easy to take out of such a small gap , undone the bracket then unbolted the motor off the bracket .



Grime an shit





All cleaned up , i took some sandpaper to all contact points to clean .

Nice fresh grease





Also put some grease the solder joints to protect them .

[BATTS91]

They now work a bloody treat

[jimbom30cab]

Nice job, you should do a wiki on that if there is not already one

[BATTS91]

I beleive there already is one my friend .


Ok so today a grew some nuts and got cracking with the sunroof cassete removal .

Started of by drilling the spot welds by the pillars , i drilled only the top layer as shown in photo but then decided to go all the way through for ease of removal .



Then i set to drilling the spots around the sunroof hole which deemed a little challenging as they wernt really visable on the outside of the roof , as you can see i missed one just a tad . Oh and my friend a can of ct90 .







These were a fooker to find !!

Next i came to the part i dreaded .



I next disconnected the drain pipes and got a hacsaw blade inbtween the roof and tray , it soon came apparent i didnt need to do this as a little tug an the bloody thing fell down !!
But..
The front was stuck and connected on the fromt five rivets also notice it was pulling the roof down so i had to prop it up with wood , racking my brain thinking ive missed them all or was now needing a heat gun i then come to the conclusion of prying the roof and cassete away at the rivet holes . Bobs ya uncle it droped





Took me a total of about 3.5 hours to do and i was taking my time having plenty of fag breaks !

[BenHar]

Well done!

Any rust on the inside of the roof?

Ben

[BATTS91]

Ahh that i forgot to mention , ive seen a tiny bit on the sunroof lip , and theres still residue / sealant on the roof skin , i shall be getting some abrasion on it tomorrow and see whats underneath but seems ok as far as i can see .

[BATTS91]

Oh and thanks for the well done cheers fella

[redcar]

Very nice.
Did the roof skin get damaged at all during the removal?

Will you be skinning the sunroof panel and spot welding it to some brackets then sealing the gap between roof skin and skinned panel with some sealer?

[BATTS91]

The skin got a very slight graze from grinding on the front passenger bracket , by the time i had packed tools away and taped carboard and blacksacks over the sunroof hole it was dark to see the if there was any warping off the roof , but i was cautious and had a soaking wet cold rag above where i was grinding in attempt to keep the roof cool and kept stopping with grinder .

As for the sunroof blanking im unsure of what to do yet , this pic is on e30tec . Im going to be strippingthe sunroof panel tomorrow and start planning . I dont like the idea of welding near the roof but short bursts of heat with lots of water maybe the answer . I was considering brackets from the roof pillars but that would get in the way of a cage .

Heres whats on e30tec thats given me some thoughts . I have some box section i could cut up to use as u shape brackets but it maybe too thick .

All advice or pics of other work is very welcome to help my construction .

[G-Bear]

Excellent work. Very inspiring to see you getting stuck in and removing the sunroof tray..

[jimbom30cab]

bloody good job mate, nice work and respect due !!!

[BATTS91]

Thanks .
I shall be mocking up some aluminium brackets tomorrow . From now on its thinking about strengh if im to use the sunroof and not rivet a sheet of carbon , so im hoping its not going to be too difficult .

[BATTS91]

Eye spy with my little eye !!!

Peer throught the looking glass...



And you will see !




On the roof side of things heres a pic but it looks worse that it is because of some sealer still on there and its all hard and crumbly , as soon as i find my knotted wire wheel ill be onit !



Found some on the drivers floor , im pressuming this is a common place as its where the studs for the heatsheild underneath for the down pipes.



I have come up with a plan for the sunroof and making brackets .. Ill update on that when i have the materials . For now i dont think i can do much until i fix my welder and get a regulator . anyone got an old welder laying about with a working wire feed motor ?? . I have a Clarke mig 195tec turbo , as far as im aware most are universal . Mine has 3 bolts holding it in .

[ross_jsy]

If you wanna do the loom connection properly, go order the pin removal tool from BMW and some new pins. Think it cost me circa £20. If you want the part numbers I'm sure I have them in the garage

[BATTS91]

Yes please , that would be great for when i go over to m52 . Or even if i keep the m50 . Thanks ross

[ross_jsy]

Tell you what, PM me your address and you can have the tool and any spare pins I have

[BATTS91]

Sweet cheers fella , is the tool big ? Pm on the way ;) z

[ross_jsy]

Nah it's the size of say a snack sized Kit Kat. Will get it out to you on Thursday

[BATTS91]

You sir are a star ! , i plan on going all out on this ol girl so this will be one of those little things that makes it great in the back of my mind .

there will be many differences with my car to make it unique , i have plenty of ideas on how to do things differently . after all it is a track drift weapon !

[BATTS91]

Not alot done today as im coming to the part were i really need my welder fixed ! , and its feckin cold out today .


I shouldnt be left alone with spray paint when bored !



Anyhow i poped out the big drain plugs and cleaned up with wite wheel and shot with primer



Cleaned up and shot with primer too .