I've Made A Huge Mistake! - BMW E30 325i Restoration
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ค. 2024
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#BMW #restoration #E30
In this episode of Restore It, I realise that I've made a huge mistake with the two rear outer wheel arch panels. I also redo an old and very embarrassing attempt at butt welding from when I first started. And once all of the mistakes are sorted out, I continue making progress on the chassis.
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:35 - The mistakes
02:12 - Refinishing a repair from the last episode
03:45 - Marking the inner wheel arch
04:46 - Redoing an old weld
05:00 - Making the new piece
06:32 - Welding in the new piece
07:57 - My secret weapon
10:37 - Finishing the welding
13:26 - Protecting the repair with primer
14:08 - Fixing the first huge mistake
15:51 - Stripping the panel down
19:35 - Removing all rust, paint, and undercoating
21:43 - Protecting the entire panel
22:30 - Fixing the second mistake Pt.1
23:28 - Welding in the kept piece
26:05 - Fixing the second mistake Pt.2
30:45 - Replacing a rusty area
31:39 - Making the new piece
33:47 - Welding in the new piece
35.28 - Outro + Test fitting the quarter panels
If you have any questions about the restoration, tools I'm using or anything else, just ask me in the comments. I read them all and try to reply as soon as possible.
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Only people who don't do anything never make mistakes, I am sure you will make more and learn in the process. Really impressed with your progression in welding, funny that the more you do the better you get.
Very true, Taz. And thank you!
Don't do anything new. If all you do is the same thing over and over, mistakes should generally be going down in your process. Sadly, restoration of old cars introduces a whole bunch of randomness, so making mistakes is just part of the adaptation/learning process. Plus, mistakes are the best teachers in the universe if you can survive them and put aside your own ego to do some hard learning from them.
Excellent work as usual young man respect. I’m dumbfounded that the e30 tax is now commanding £300 for a piece of wheel arch tin that you even had to remove yourself I bet bmw wish they had a warehouse with these panels now they’d make more than new car sales holy moly Jesus balls.
Thank you, Rupert! And I was thinking the same thing... But I think BMW are too big to care, you know. I just wish the aftermarket panel companies did every part, but I guess it'll be a few years until then. And even then, they'll be just as, if not more expensive than BMW. Jesus balls indeed, Repert. Thanks for the comment.
@@RestoreIt I wish e30 Norway would have focused more on the e30’s and not the e30 M3 panels first which is surely the minority here. Mind you what you’ve done to those arches that you got so wet for is above and beyond and at least their OEM - e30 Norway thx but no thx lol - keep chipping away your welding, shaping and cutting is so advanced compared to Spain chapters - mind you their climate we could do with some of that here right 😎
Something I learned during the process of repairing something like this, DO NOT THROW ANYTHING OUT before a replacement is in your hands and confirmed to be correct.
Great Video!
Practice makes perfect. I used to mess up my first welds , now they are almost invisible. Kuddos to you partner.
Thanks, Danny. I can't wait to not have to grind them down so much.
Honestly, I'm always amazed at the amount of work you're putting into this project. I'd have gone mad way back I'm certain. The amount of detail and scrutiny you put in work is admirable. Keep them coming and bravo for your work, it looks great !
For making bends and channels in panels you can use a rounded off chisel and something soft like a flat chunk of rubber matting. Can see some people using that technique on some of the Japanese body channels. You won't end up with 100 hammering knobs if you use a dolly to make the bend like the dull chisel lol. Or just use a hammer and dolly to planish the hammer knobs.
Try to use wood or how it is called in layers...? Any way make mold trap the metal with screws and beat it...
Make it kustom shows how to do battery try this way
Cheers, Richard I'll keep this in mind!
@My Cancer Vlog My guess is total scam replying via bot to every single video it can find on youtube. Why else would the comment mean nothing on an Auto body repair video. Moving in what direction? everyone's wallet..........
I have the same hobby as you and fully appreciate where you are coming from. I have Nissan 300zx under restore and have fabricated sections that look IDENTICAL to the areas you aren't happy with. I can't wait to go back and redress them. For bending a small length of straight sheet in a vice I have found that two pieces of angle on either side really help so you can bend in one go. The other area of a newly found skill I'm really interested in trying is hammer forming with a mould. It takes more time but looks to be really effective at duplicating pieces of sheet metal accurately. Well worth the time. The go to for these kinds of sheet metal crafting on TH-cam is Ron Covell (of course, metal god) and there is another guy I like called Make it Kustom who seems to do a great job of explaining these topics. I hope this helps :)
Great Job ! I love the way you talk about the mistakes you made and the way you solve them. So many others just pretend it is easy to get everything done !
Dude, you made a lot of progres. i jumped from a 5yr old video to this - there is a big difference in skill and knowledge.
Great to see you back👍
Qué trabajo más espectacular estás haciendo. Te echamos de menos!!! Estoy deseando ver los nuevos episodios de tu nuevo taller!
I'm a professional welder and i've just spent the past 3 months repairing my rusty motorhome. Watching your videos has actually helped me learn a lot a never knew, trust me when I say I made some major mistakes along the way too. Keep up the good work and cheers from NZ!
I really enjoy these longer videos
Keep it up! And thanks for sharing all the process
Brilliant video. Love how you are so detailed.
A real labour of love.
And we are back
You'll be sick of me once the new workshop is up and running properly!
Great work ❤
Vice, hammer and a lot of care is a perfectly great way to fabricate pieces. More power to you!
Also - I've found getting off underseal is much easier using a bit of heat with a heat gun or blowtorch plus a flat blade on a vibrating multitool, it's not any faster but there's much less shit thrown about. And I now try not to use my panel beating hammers to hit chisels - it makes getting a nice finish with the hammer and dolly later a lot easier when they aren't all marked up. I hear 3M Cubitron discs are amazing for stripping paint and rust and they really last too - I go through stripping discs really quickly so I'm keen to try them. Amazing work anyway dude, such a lot of work and a brilliant journey to follow!
Exceptional video editing here!
Love your work 👍
I've never seen such devotion in a droid before..
lol.. cheers mate. Rock on !
Mate more great content. I feel like you have come along way technique wise and that I have experienced and learned with you. Cheers
I find it absolutely addicting to watch your videos just because you are OCDoing it exactly the same way I would doing it, keep up the fantastic job!
Keep up the good work
Long time no see. I had started to begin to think you had retired! But I suppose judging by the amount of work you had to do in this episode you probably wished you had! Anyway fantastic work and great to see another video from you, Steve.
Eager to see more.
Hey dude! Glad to see you here. And, I know I know. Organising this new workshop is taking its toll, but I'm literally on the home stretch now. The first 'workshop build' episdoe will be out soon and after that you'll get sick of me, with all of the posting I'll be doing! Cheers mate.
Great work
Enjoy your time off. Well earned! Another great video, really enjoyed as always! Thanks
Love your dedication and your work ethic. You continue to inspire ! I find it funny that the junk yard guy wanted you to drive 500 miles and give him 300 quid for the honor of standing in the rain to cut off the part for yourself.
That’s just what I was thinking it’s criminal talk about e30 tax !!!!
Great video, great work, pure enjoyment!
Very curious to see the next steps!
At first, I want to say that 300 for this panel is plain robbery!
I have a 1990 Peugeot 205 that I value as a child, and the amount of pitting of your chassis amazes me, I had no problems with rust on it.
It only had an old crash at the rear, that was bad repaired. I fixed it, sandblasted the underside of boot section and rear arches and coated with a 2-ingredient primer
Great update. Good work!
Remember, if it is easy, then everyone would do it.
Be well.
Always a worthwhile restoration. E30.
I’ve found paint stripper to do a good job of softening up undercoating for removal. Put on some paint stripper, then use a paint stripping disc and wire wheel to remove.
Very interesting... I'll give this a go and maybe this will be the way I do the rest of the chassis. Cheers, William!
Suggest you take a look into hammer forming with mdf, some good videos out there. Keep up the good work
I will do this, thank you, Peter!
So much hard work 👍
Bear in mind that the 82-87 metal bumper saloons and Baurs have a different arch profile to the factory Convertibles and 1987 onwards plastic bumper cars. The Convertible has the arch tub lower - BMW did this to give more room for the hood mechanism. The plastic bumpers cars adopted this type arch to reduce manufacturing costs. Look at the rear arch profile on a Convertible or a plastic bumper car - the distance between the arch edge and the top of the wing is about 30 mm greater.
I am happy you gave a shoutout to Fitzee regarding metal,work, as he is truly the master fabricator; there is many others as well, but he is the king! He has sooo many tricks and advises…
Chap, I say! I've been watching you from the very beginning for all those 5 years, and this one is the 1st one I thumbed up. Now it's more or less restoration rather than dismantling, reassembling and re-spraying.
As for your questions:
1) it's called hammer forming, when you take a thick steel plate, some steel strips or bars, tack'em onto the plate, put your work piece on, and do the hammering to form all those knaps and cavities on the work piece;
2) in the previous video of this series you inquired about drill extension rods which are called just like that: drill extension rods. They're precision ground straight metal rods with ER collets on the outer end. For your application you should consider extension rods with Ф=8 or 10mm and ER11 collet. M-nut is preferred over A-nut. Oversized collets (e.g. 8mm for ER11 for your 8mm spot weld drill bits) are available.
Cheers.
Excelent work, slowly you're becoming experienced and it's wise to learn from wherever you can, but the most you learn yourself by doing it. Fitzee is a cool guy, he tackles many many problem with absolute success, although he sometimes welds and cuts a bit too much for my taste, since you can make with ease quite complex forms. 😉 Cheers, as you already found out, keep all the parts you cut or disassemble, nice or rotten, if not else, those will serve the purpose to be your guides.
You are doing an amazing job on that BMW. And I see the welding gettin really good. The endresult will be stunning!
I would literally never drive this in the weather when it's done, and from what I can see of the UK, that is when....once a year? Seems like the East Coast of the US too. Very nice work. Can't wait to see it all done.
It's impressive to see you improve your work as time goes by. I hope that I will be half as good as you are when I get to work on my Porsche 914...
Brilliant video mate! Loved the duration too and detail
Cheers Logan! I appreciate your appreciation. With my Mercedes out of my hair and the move almost done with, I can now spend more time perfecting these videos, and it feels great.
Awesome mate, looking forward to the journey
Great vid, I’ve got the same rot issues and I’ve put it on the back burner for years….
Seeing you show how it’s done is great motivation as I’m a bit out of touch with how to go about it .. thanks
What a good job man!
Thanks, F M!
I admire your patience and dedication that takes a lot, still loving the content tip of the cap to you sir
Looking forward to seeing more...
I stumbled over this video a few weeks ago, and finally had the time to watch it.
I think it's always weird, yet always funny, if one channel references another channel, that I already know of. While I haven't watched Fitzee's videos in quite a while, he really does give very great advice when it comes to welding.
Besides that, awesome video.
I'll make sure to watch the whole series (as soon as I have time for it...)
great job 😁👍
+1 on Fitzee's Fabrication. I've been watching his videos to help me restore my 86 E28 and your videos for even more inspiration on restorations!
You do quite well with what you have. You can put and endless amount of money into helpful tools and equipment, but getting the job done with basic means is surely satisfying and makes you that much more competent
Ahh man that must be gutting!! I can only imagine how that felt, the sinking feeling of realisation. Well done for keeping your head up about it and coming up with a solution.
KEEP AT IT FELLA, YOU WILL GET THERE.
Cheers, Stephen! Great name...
If you have a steel bench top you can weld formers to it, plug weld the patch on top, and shape it with a hammer and bits of steel as shaped punches.
Superb welding ..
dedication
Watching that video at night at max light kill‘d my eyes…🤣
As always, love your work!
Appreciate you!
Back at you, Chris!
26:33 Superfastmatt has an excellently explained video on how he learned to weld after 20 years of welding, and he explains exactly that problem.
I'll check him out. Cheers, Mike!
Not as important for mig especially on thin steel like this, more important when using tig and more reactive metals.
@@RestoreIt You're welcome! He's hilarious and has some really cool projects that he explains so well.
33:55 I know only too well what it's like to weld from beneath.
Back in '96-'97 when I worked as a welder at Maersk Container Industry in Denmark, for some time I would make repairs where the welding robots would not have welded the panel to the front/back frames correctly (due to dirt in the liner, dirt on the laser tracking lens protection, gaps, etc.). Welding thin sheet metal to much thicker rails can be quite challenging, in particular when you're using 1mm stainless wire from beneath. Spray and even blobs would drip down and burn holes in the cap on the fresh air mask, through the velcro holding the sleeves to the welding jacket, etc. After a while, I would start using duct tape where I knew from experience that they would burn through. But not before I had a big blob burn through the mask right beneath the visor, letting it trickle down my chin. For years aftter that, my beard wouldn't grow in that spot.
Welcome back!
Is there any particular reason you do tac welds and not beads? I know the metal is thin and you need to worry about heat but some of them look like a bead weld would work easier than a bunch of tac welds
It's all about not putting too much heat into the panel because when they're this thin, they just warp in horrible ways (ask me how I know) and two the lighlyhood of blow-through is so high, spot welding just makes sense.
I'm getting a new welder soon, once I have that I'll see if I can get away with more bead welds.
@@RestoreIt I figured it was something like that but just wanted to make sure
Remember you learn by mistakes,you also learn by fixing your mistakes.kudos to you for admitting too .happens to everyone.great content,just stay on it,may take longer but it is yours and just do it.great video 🌳👍👍👍😎😎😎
Thank, Tom. Much appreciated mate.
I've run into so many issues with parts over the years where even the manufacturer showed "in stock", until you actually make an order. I didn't order a bumper on my current project for 3 years during the restore because Audi always showed it in stock, and I hadn't seen any forum posts where people were saying they had issues sourcing one. Then I placed the order when I was finally ready, and it was the order that updated every seller on the internet to "no longer available". Sad to say that has happened multiple times to me on various parts over the last 10 years.
Oh damn... That would be disheartning. I got really luck with this arch panel. I'm guessing you got one from else where?
@@RestoreIt I was trying to buy a Eurosport bumper in November last year ('22), which was a factory appearance upgrade for the car I have. They don't make an aftermarket version like it so its OEM only, and they are a pretty rare option in the US. I am stuck with just reusing the original non-ES version it came with, and if I ever want the ES version I'll have to search wrecker yards for eternity....
NICE FIX, KEEP SAFE..
Thanks, Bob, you too!
Good job. Your welding will come the more you do it. Great video
practice doesn't make perfect but better knowledge and skills.
Seeing you doing this with such a little equipment is giving me hope, that one day I´m able to repapir my E30 too.
heignsight is a biach, nice work!
Oh it is... Cheers dude!
When processing offcuts like this, cut the unwanted panel right next to the flange with a sheet metal cutter (the V type) in an air hammer, then use an angle grinder with a hard stone to remove the flange. It's the fastest way to go.
The faster you grind, the better. Since it's so narrow, it will get hot and expand away from the target panel so it's obvious where the spot welds are and when you're about to cut through.
How fitting, a video from you! I have discovered some small rustholes that go trough to the trunk in my E30 just a few minutes ago!💸💸💸
Haha, unlucky Björn. Try not to completely dismantle the car in the process like I did!
I'm going to let a company do that for me!😂 I unfortunately don't have a workshop...😪
FIRST, add Super Thanks so we can send you some 💸 and SECOND, goddamn Stephen just look at that welding job @13:15.
Your skills have improved 1000% since you began. I’m soo proud of you!! Keep up the great work!! Dr. J
You're too kind, Dr J! Thank you. I really appreciate the kind words.
Super thanks?! I haven't even thought about doing that. I'll have a look into it when I get a chance.
Просто супер 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I can't recall if you own one or not but a mini Milwaukee corded bandsaw with a vertical stand is incredibly nice for cutting out patch panels. I work in a restoration shop and that Milwaukee bandsaw is no joke my favorite tool in the world and I use it every day. Also, awesome video, makes me want to start tearing into my e30!
First vIdeo I've watched of yours. I like your approach, setting a good example in my opinion. Regarding a metal folder I've got an 8ft long Edwards which cost a lot of money and is very heavy but it doesn't get used a anywhere near as much as my fly presses for folding steel. You can pick up a fly press for as little as £150 and make your own tooling, it will do a super job at folding steel, better than the big edwards folder I have. Using a vice does a poor job of folding and someone like yourself would so enjoy the tool.
Regards Ben
Try welding in a star pattern after you stitched it to keep the heat dispersed, weld between one stitch then do another stitch on the other side, compressed air cooling between the welds too to keep the heat down. Less risk of blowing through.
I know one of the things Fitzee does as well is he leaves his patches slightly larger than they need to be and cuts them to fit the hole on the car.
I notice some of your gaps are quite large when you fit your patches meaning you have to chase the gap closed. I used to do the same until I found Fitzee. It might be worth waiting until you've tried to fit the patch before you cut it to the same size as the old one. Meaning the patch will fit the hole better. If that makes sense....😅
On a separate note. The car is coming along well. A labour of love. It will be mint when it's done.
I have that same rohr welder! Fa staid machine for the money! I completed massive rust repair on my car with one and no issues
Those paint stripping (SVS) disks are also much better in rust removal than grinding the rust down or removing it with a wirebrush. The paint stripping disc wears down so fast because it is made of softer material than the metal. This way it removes everything on the metal without abrasion of the healthy material, which gives you a thicker panel to weld to in the end. Also when removing the rust, it does not "smear" healthy material over some leftover rust, which is often the case with grinding discs and leads to new rust from under the paint in the end. Same goes for the wire wheel: it just "polishes" the rust and doesnt remove it completely.
I had an 1987 325i E30 4 door with every extra for that year.
The only car I regret selling had sports suspension and the sports alloy's.
Put a piece of copper on the backside of the weld and weld say ten millimetres instead of spotting so much. The weld bites more, is lower and the copper, acting like a dolly, stops the weld falling through. Bit of practice with save endless grinding.
Love this series. Really enjoy you patience.👍🏻
Eastwood sell those copper paddle things
For your air hammer, i suggest getting a different chisel that has a flat surface on one end and a slope on the other.
That will prevent the chisel from splitting into the section you don't want to damage
What wire size and shielding gas do you use ? I started replacing my E36 sills and let me tell you, you make everything look easy and quick. Keep it up, favourite channel and huge inspiration !
Nice save on that slightly oversize patch cut @11:27. I'd grind the "red lead" or red primer back a little more to get a cleaner weld myself but great stuff overall.
Thanks, dude! Just a heads up, this primer is a top quaility weld through anti-corrosion bodywork primer that is designed to be welded through. I've tested it and the welds are no different on or off of the paint. Cheers!
@@RestoreIt I did notice it was weldable, I shall have to give the stuff a go.
Always horde parts until your project is done!
I would definitely contact E30 Garage Norway and have them scan those outer wheelhouse panels because more than likely there is someone out there in the same boat as you that needs those specific M-tech1 panels and they are currently made of 100% pure unobtainium.
Excellent work and commentary. May I recommend the TH-cam videos of Yorkshire Car Restoration on fabricating panels using basic tools and the tools themselves. When making depressed profiles in repair sections, it helps if you define the edges first by laying the panel on some thick quite firm rubber mat and chasing along the edges of the depressed are with a wide blunted bolster chisel or panel splitter. You can then move on to using the open vice jaws as you have done. Hope this is constructive and helpful. Regards.
Hey George, thanks for the comment. You're the second person to mention his channel, I'll make sure I check him out. You're also the second person to mention this method, so I'm absolutely going to start using it. It makes so much sense when i read it compared to what I've been doing. I really appreciate the advice and comment, thank you.
You should get a shrinker stretcher to bend flanges to gentle curves
TFS❗️
This is the level of detail I'd aspire to if I had infinite time and budget. I'd rather work on a house though, but I have mad respect for wanting everything to look top notch even if it's not going to be visible.
Hey buddy, great work so far! As I am building an e30 m3 touring currently I am pretty aware of what tools you need. And you should definitely get a compressed air spot weld drill, saves tons of time compared to grinding them off. Also for flattening your welds, you should get a compressed air angle grinder, since this takes so much less time compared to this finger grinder, and also you get a better result since its got a bigger surface, and on top of that its much smaller than then normal angle grinder, so you can work much more filigree, and have less pain in your hands (due to less wait compared to normal angle grinder). Trust me, add those two tools, you be much faster, better, less painfull. 🙂
Correction: i have notice at the end, you have a compressed air angle grinder, you just use the finger grinder more often as i do. I only use it whenever the finger grindeemr isn't possible to use
You can tell you've done millions of tack welds. They're looking really good now.
I am a hoarder and proud of it
Don’t beat yourself up with that wing. I think we all go through a similar stage, from keeping too many stuff to not enough. Whilst restoring my 240Z, I threw away some very rare OEM parts that were totally salvageable, thinking “oh, I have a replacement for that. That can’t be that rare anyway!”. I just wanted to not take too much space and avoid a pile of parts 🤷♂️
By now, i keep absolutely everything, including rusty bolts and bits, until that part of the project is done. Let’s say I’m working on the steering assembly: I keep every tiny bits until it’s restored and working.
Then I sell/threw away stuff
Oh god I can feel your pain with the arches, knowing how many hours it'll cost to repair the hole you cut into it. PITA that they don't make those panels anymore too, as they're gonna be rusty on almost every E30 that gets scrapped.
Buy a stretcher, shrinker to make them panel replacement parts
I have one, but which part in particular are you talking about? I need more practice on it really.
As I usually say to myself, mistakes are part of the path towards your goal
I know it's your car but I've been screaming at my screen through all your videos, M3 body conversion! Can you take a youtube poll? Maybe I'm missing something.
I will do this one day on the channel don't worry. Now with E30GarageNorway doing the full M3 kit. It can be done with any E30 chassis I come across. This one is going back to factory spec just because I'm a factory fanboy, but I will keep my eyes out for an M3 conversion car.
As son as you said "cut 'n butt" .. I heard it in Fitzee's accent 🤣
Very good. What primer are you using? None that I´ve ttried havent behaved that good when welding. When separating a spot welded piece that you dont need to save., just make cuts both sides of the spot welds, knock the pieces off and grind the leftovers down. Much faster than chiseling the pieces separate.
Novol Bodywork Primer
Maybe you should start learning how to TIG weld panels, it would save you some time on grinding and would look even better. And you have come a long way since previous welds, nice job👍👍