So it failed its Mot!

[Andy325i]

Took my E30 for MOT today and it failed on the following things:

Scuttle panel rusty, (no surprises there) Does the dash need to come out? Can anyone provide a link to a guide of how to get it out please?

I have an angle grinder/welder, but guessing something like a dremel or simular would be most helpful to clean it up to weld

Any links to what you have bought would be most appreciated


Also rear metal brake pipes (the ones that join the T Piece by the fuel tank)

And it has a fuel leak where the filler pipe joins the tank. Is this likely to be the tank or the filler neck itself?

Any help much appreciated!


Andy

Will get some pictures up in a bit.

[verde]

If you need a gas tank i have one I can sell. Hopefully if it is the actual tank though you will be lucky and can patch it

[Speedtouch]

Expanding foam FTW!

[Andy325i]

Thanks Euan, I have a new tank here How would expanding foam help? lol

[Grrrmachine]

"Scuttle rusty" can be anything from a 5p blister at the windscreen seal to a big chunk of rot the size of a 50 pound note. The former can be dealt with by grinding back to fresh metal with the windscreen out - the latter needs a whole new scuttle from BMW (pounds!), the dash and windscreen out, and a significant respray afterwards. It's impossible to advise further without pics.

As for the rear brake pipes - bad news. Those are nigh-on impossible to access with the rear beam in situ. To do the job properly, you're going to need to drop the exhaust, then the diff, trailing arms, driveshafts and subframe, THEN do the brake lines and fuel tank in one job, then reassemble. And since you have everything off, you end up rebushing the subframe and doing the suspension top mounts, all the brake lines and flexi hoses, then a suspension upgrade starts looking appealing....

That's the "doom and gloom" perspective.

[Andy325i]

Thankyou Thought it would be some arse out fun

[sanitroc1]

Hi Andy dremel type tools have their uses but it will take ages. For removing rust and paint I use a small belt sander / power file . I have both air and 240v black & decker ( which has to be the best tool they ever made ) and prefer the 240v one . With a 60 grit belt you can get into tight spaces and within a few mm right into corners and edges . The belts last well and have enough cut to dress the welds back . I have just had a mot pass on the blue tourer I was in at chedder with just handbrake cables , front flexi and a balljoint . I can make brake pipes if you need some . Steve .

[Andy325i]

Ah! Hi Steve, nice to hear from you Advice much appreciated I shall look into the belt sander/ power file

Much appreciated, just about to set about pulling the rear end out

So far one breaker bar broken, new one bought

[harry_p]

As for the rear brake pipes - bad news. Those are nigh-on impossible to access with the rear beam in situ. To do the job properly, you're going to need to drop the exhaust, then the diff, trailing arms, driveshafts and subframe, THEN do the brake lines

only if you're attempting to salvage what's already there.

go in armed with the knowledge that it's going to be a horrible job, get some new hoses, hard lines and clips. just cut all the old stuff off and start a fresh.

quite possible then to do it without even dropping the subframe.

[SteSE]

As for the rear brake pipes - bad news. Those are nigh-on impossible to access with the rear beam in situ. To do the job properly, you're going to need to drop the exhaust, then the diff, trailing arms, driveshafts and subframe, THEN do the brake lines

only if you're attempting to salvage what's already there.

go in armed with the knowledge that it's going to be a horrible job, get some new hoses, hard lines and clips. just cut all the old stuff off and start a fresh.

quite possible then to do it without even dropping the subframe.

100% possible with out dropping the tank and beam.

[harry_p]

I was trying to remember what I had off when i did mine.

might have had the exhaust off, but got a feeling i did the lines after i had already put it back on and driven the car.

didnt touch the beam or fuel tank though.

[Andy325i]

Thanks guys, arse end is now out. Please excuse the iphone pictures lol

Here is what I found with the tank, so guessing its the tank itself. It certainly looks like it's seen better days.



Luckily the one I bought from ECP a while back didn't sell when I fragged the car so I still have a virtually new one I can drop in

Here are the brake pipes:



The 2 that failed are the front to back and the one that goes to the nearside rear. Obviously I'll be changing:

T piece (ordered from BMW today)

The 3 metal lines entering the T piece

The 2 flexi hoses from body to trailing arms

I'd say the subframe bushes were pretty well shot, not sure how they passed





For those of you with a keen eye, the blocks you can see have a strip of wood ontop then 2 layers of carpet before getting anywhere near the sills

Of course I will replace:

Subframe bushes

Rear trailing arm bushes

Diff bush

Handbrake cables

Hopefully I have all of these in stock in pollybushes (Que the OEM Homo's )

And the scuttle panel:

Near side:



Off side:



I have a new scuttle panel from BMW that I bought about 5 years ago for my previous 325i, so may well use the ends of it here.

And how it was when I started it

[Grrrmachine]

That scuttle!

[stew72]

It that scuttle really a cause for an MOT failure?

[G-Bear]

One of those race spec scuttles eh? Good on you for getting stuck in.

[Morat]

It that scuttle really a cause for an MOT failure?

That scuttle would be enough to send most E30s to the bridge. Kudos to Andy325i for saving the car.

[Brianmoooore]

Here are the brake pipes:



The 2 that failed are the front to back and the one that goes to the nearside rear. Obviously I'll be changing:

T piece (ordered from BMW today)

The 3 metal lines entering the T piece

The 2 flexi hoses from body to trailing arms

The existing tee piece will be as good as the day it was made after twenty seconds with a wire brush.
You also need the U shaped spring clips which hold each end of the flexible pipes in place.

[Andy325i]

Thankyou Brian

[Speedtouch]

Stunning to see such scuttle rust on a late J-reg (1991?) car, but I suppose that is 22 years old now...

[Ianb]

If the scuttle's that bad take a long look at the rest of the Bulkhead / front floor/ inner sill area's, Looks like a lot of water's been finding it's way in there, also you may have fun getting the remains of the rear subframe bushes off.
Respect for going the repair route though. If it helps, Motormech do full brake pipe kits, i used one and it was excellent.

[andyp]

It that scuttle really a cause for an MOT failure?

That scuttle would be enough to send most E30s to the bridge. Kudos to Andy325i for saving the car.

I was going to say ive broken up better bodies than that, good on you if it can be saved, seeing the pics its hard to believe the rest of the car is not like it

[DanThe]

The scuttle on my track slag has holes in the top skin and has never failed an MOT on it

[Brianmoooore]

Hole near the bonnet seal is 'in a prescribed area'. (Within 300mm of the strut top mount.)

[Andy325i]

Thanks guys, will do my best

I am only the 5th owner from New.

1st was BMW as it was a demo car for a while

2nd was my mate who bought it from BMW

3rd was his wife when he bought his business

4th was mates dad, when mate bought a Land rover (WTF?)

5th is me I bought it with a damaged door/ NSR quarter

Paid £300 for it. Fitted a new NSR quarter and rear panel (rear panel was rusty up inside box section). Had it painted.



So back to the matters in hand...

If the scuttle's that bad take a long look at the rest of the Bulkhead / front floor/ inner sill area's, Looks like a lot of water's been finding it's way in there, also you may have fun getting the remains of the rear subframe bushes off.
Respect for going the repair route though. If it helps, Motormech do full brake pipe kits, i used one and it was excellent.

Will Do Ian, atm I am working on the side of the road so doing the best I can with what I have. Hoping to have a unit in a year or so, so I will be able to not be tied to time/ weather etc etc. For now if I can stop it getting any worse then I'm happy. What ever it needs it will get eventually.

When you say Motormech do the brake line kits, do you mean the 4 flexi's or the metal pipes?

Tonight I dropped the wheels off the axle and slid it out



and soon after



Cracked the bolts off and undid them with fingers. Hard to belive they have been in there 22 years!







Only bolt that was a concern was the 10mm holding the T piece on for the brake pipes. This was very rusted in there, but with some gentle loving it came out in one piece Very happy about that

Found some of the bits I need as well:

Replacement subframe with newish poly subframe bushes (quick wire brush off and painting before install)



Replacement tank (will repaint and waxoyl before installing)



and should I need it found this filler neck in GWO



My plan is to:

1)Clean up the rusty area's where needed
2)Treat with rust killer
3)Etch primer
4)Paint with Hamerite
5)Give whole area a good waxoyling

Is this the best way to do it? (Any advice appreciated here!)

Hoping to tackle the scuttle panel on Sunday/ Monday.

Andy

[G-Bear]

Good work Andy. I feel your pain as a roadside tinkerer.. I've managed to upgrade into a yard with not much level ground. It's borrowed land and on borrowed time so time still plays a factor and adds to stress. Keep on plugging it..

[Brianmoooore]

1)Clean up the rusty area's where needed
2)Treat with rust killer
3)Etch primer
4)Paint with Hamerite
5)Give whole area a good waxoyling

Is this the best way to do it? (Any advice appreciated here!)

Lose the Hamerite - it's far too brittle for use on cars, and only needed where rust hasn't been treated. Use a paint from the same range as your etch primer to ensure compatibility.

[hennabm]

A far better rust preventer paint than Hammerite is POR 15. It is ultra violet sensitive so underneath a car it is ideal. It can also be over painted if needed wher UV may get at it.

The black paint dries to a satin smooth finish. After opening the tin the instructions advise a film of clingfilm between the lid and tin otherwise you won't get them apart.
Experience tells me this is correct.

I did my diff housing in this years ago and no rust has ever come through since

[bigwinn]

"
As for the rear brake pipes - bad news. Those are nigh-on impossible to access with the rear beam in situ. To do the job properly, you're going to need to drop the exhaust, then the diff, trailing arms, driveshafts and subframe, THEN do the brake lines and fuel tank in one job, then reassemble. And since you have everything off, you end up rebushing the subframe and doing the suspension top mounts, all the brake lines and flexi hoses, then a suspension upgrade starts looking appealing....

That's the "doom and gloom" perspective.

Malc and I did do this with everything in situ. To be fair there was a lot of swearing and grazed knuckles but it took about 3 hours to do both sides.

[Andy325i]

Thanks guys not done anything on the car today, (Damn fitting it around a 50 hour week on lates at work!)

Did dig these out of stock before work though



Diff bush

Trailing arm bushes

Rear ARB bushes (16mm) Didn't realize I'd ordered these ages ago along with the others. Hopefully 16mm is the standard arb size for the rear?

ECP hopefully should have the new hadbrake cables and flexi brake pipes in first thing tomorrow morning, and off to BMW to collect the spring clips and plastic pipe clips on Saturday morning

Also ordered some Etch weld today (mainly for the Scuttle, I already have etch primer for the rear)

http://www.bilthamber.com/etchweld

and also bought some Electrox:

http://www.bilthamber.com/paints-and-coatings/electrox

Was thinking:

Rust killer

then

Layer 1) Etch Weld / Etch primer

Layer 2) Electrox

Layer 3) Top coat

Then Waxoyl

Lose the Hamerite - it's far too brittle for use on cars, and only needed where rust hasn't been treated. Use a paint from the same range as your etch primer to ensure compatibility.

Thanx Brian, I did look for top coat on the site, but can't see any in their range?

If I'm not being blind, (it's likely I am!) Would the best option be to use a decent quality rattle on top of the Electrox layer?

...time still plays a factor and adds to stress. Keep on plugging it..

Here here! I think September to February are pretty much written off due to bad weather (Cold I can handle, not such a fan of mopping up water off the road to the point of suturation!)

Time is tight, but at least I am now single through choice and the cars are getting some much needed TLC

Thankyou for the help so far people, it is much appreciated

[jonny323i]

Stunning to see such scuttle rust on a late J-reg (1991?) car, but I suppose that is 22 years old now...

I used to have a j plate 325i and it was by far the rustiest e30 Iv ever owned and that was 10 years ago

[jonny323i]

Stunning to see such scuttle rust on a late J-reg (1991?) car, but I suppose that is 22 years old now...

I used to have a j plate 325i and it was by far the rustiest e30 Iv ever owned and that was 10 years ago