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got a few days of grinding and cleaning ahead.





looks like after all patches are done and its all cleaned up the rear tubs and arch repair panels may be done before the boot goes in to weld the boot floor to good metal in the corners.

Wwwwhat.......im totally amazed by the level of work here..its looking great to see the restoration like this one mate..

More excellent work.

I'm just amazed at the number of e21 getting high quality restorations right now. Brilliant.

a few hours tonight.
I wonder how much a car gains in weight over 30 years??? this is all the crud from the boot area, never mind the panels i removed.

trimmed it all down to the joints and cleaned up the brazed joints to test fit




looks not bad but found a bit more filler, so needs a tweek with the hammers after paint removal.


next on the tool list will be a torch set for brazing, means i can lead load and heat steel for bending then as well.
prob just be a used porta type kit as i dont use it often.

took a hammer to the filler in the arches as well, that was another pile of crud, the inner tub and outer quarter have next to no solid metal joining them.

oh man, you got a long way to go eh. I know what you mean about the crud. my car has loads of it. i only done one arch and i think its probably helped the car stay rust free in some ways as the mud has blocked the moisture from getting in. suffice it to say i will be making regular inspections of the underside, as its just as important as the top side from now on.

Gotta say keep up the good work. Its a very much a proper thorough job and it will be like a brand new car once your done.

thorough is an understatement!

tonights efforts


took off the outer lip and this is what i found




a bit of grinding later


not a view you see every day

tidy up the edge and punch for spot welds

HMMMMMM how much of this do i need??

test fit

joggle the edge

Jam it in place



couple of spot welds



start welding up

cant beat good penetration. oooerrr

Man that's some serious repair you're doing there! Well done on saving the car fella.

Respect!

I just compared these last pics to the first ones you posted.

Your car didnt look that bad. Just shows ya really.

Thanks folks, there have been some botched repairs, a lot of the holes have just had fiberglass and resin stuffed over them. I think i still have around 3-4 weeks of shell work to do before final strip for paint. I did buy the car with full intention of this level of work as i did want to learn body work.

Many more pics to come with every job i do, next point made by a friend is do i do a proper cage???

i do not intend to track, drift or race, more a lightened fast road sporty car.
but while the shell is at this level, is it worth the work if i ever upgrade powerplant running gear?
i dont want to waste the interior and create a head hazard for every day use, but?

Got a good day at the car today and tackled the bit i was dredding.
started rear arch panel









The previous repairs had cut right through the sill supports and the aft end of the sill panel behind the rear quarter so starte making up repair's for them



the inner sill had rotted away so need to make a patch for that.





will weld this side up when i flip the shell on to the other side

i didnt want to buy a whole panel just to repair this bit so i improvised

cut a bit out a spare panel i got very cheap.






there was accident damage so might as well cut it out.

i finished welding the rear arch up and trimmed the sill panel to size and spot welded in.

There are a couple of waves from to much heat, i was just being to greedy with the welding, but nothing that cant be sorted.

Nice job! Dont forget to do the fender rolling.

Good work fella. Definitely making progress!

Thanks, will do, i have just the hammer looked out for the job.