Will have to start somewhere

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Almost done with the trunk interior pieces. 5 hours so far. Came out very well in my opinion. Found small rodent's nest behind fume collector in trunk. Mold may have been a blessing- killed rodents- no chewed wires or interior pieces (so far). How's that Monty Python song go "Always look on the bright side of life".

 

[adawil2002]

Impressed Peter. You got the rear fender skins off without breaking them. Really cleaned up nicely.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Didn't work that well on the first coupe, Thanks-

 

[Nicad]

Those pieces look very nice.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

It's kind of over-the-top, or would be but I think it is really important to completely remove not only the smell, but any evidence that there ever was mold. The only way that I can imagine to do that is to remove every part and clean and disinfect it. It is a pain, but as I take things off I realize how truly solid (so far) this coupe is. So, that gives me allot of enthusiasm as I move forward. After removing the fuel tank and washing the entire trunk area and removing the old glue etc,etc, I will re affix all the pieces and hopefully do a good job so it is going to be really neat to see what the trunk area looks like when it is finished.

Still not exactly sure what I'm going to do with her when I'm done, and I have lots of mechanical work to do as well so for now it's fulfilling its therapeutic purpose. Regarding color, When I see some of the unique colors on these coupes like Chris' Malaga (not to mention the new engine) and others like Nitro's Ceylon (or is it Sri Lanka) and those colors make such a "statement" sometimes I wish I decided on a different color for my "Midnight Blue" coupe. But, the Polaris is, I think, my very favorite and since it resides at work in the warehouse I have the vote of 19 office ladies and 6 gentlemen who prefer the Polaris over the blue unanimously.

I'm sure it's on the site but I wonder what the most common/uncommon colors are on the e9's.

Anyhow, thanks for traveling down this unpleasantly odorous road with me!

 

[HB Chris]

Looks like you won't have to paint anything, that's good!

 

[adawil2002]

Anyhow, thanks for traveling down this unpleasantly odorous road with me!

Best part about the forum/internet is we can't smell it. Right now it smells like warmed pecan pie to me.

 

[rsporsche]

Best part about the forum/internet is we can't smell it. Right now it smells like warmed pecan pie to me.

Andrew, i hope you have enough for all of us. we are on our way.

 

[Nicad]

Certainly smells better than POR15 rust paint.

Actually it doesn't smell bad , but will kill you faster than mold .

 

[rsporsche]

Regarding color,

I'm sure it's on the site but I wonder what the most common/uncommon colors are on the e9's.

of course people's tastes are different ... so your mileage might vary (so don't take offense if you have one of my not-so-favorites as a good coupe done well is still better than most cars regardless of colors) ... but here's my take.

lets see, some of the less common colors and some of my personal favorites - 22 inka, 02 colorado, 70 golf, 08 ceylon, 72 taiga, 71 agave, 36 riviera blue, 58 bristol, 65 turkis

then you get into some of my not-so-favorite / but not so common - 44 pastelblau, 01 nevada, 66 florida, 55 anthracite, 23 granada, 25 granatrot, 79 mintgrun, 78 jadegrun, 76 amazon, 68 tundra, 09 sienna (some are pretty rare - and i have only seen the color on another bmw)

very good colors - perhaps not as common - 85 chamonix, 06 sahara, 42 baikal, 41 atlantikblau, 86 schwartz

most common - 60 polaris, 40 nachtblau, 37 fjord, 24 verona, 21 malaga,

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

More progress; I thought I would send some shots and hope I'm not boring the spores out of anyone but you could say that this is the way a pretty original trunk should look under its elephant skin if it's not been hit or otherwise jacked with. I think I'll take the fuel tank out and then lift her a bit so I can get in the trunk from a standing position and clean more thoroughly. I hope to get allot of work done on the interior this weekend so my future posts won't be so drab.

 

[Nicad]

Mine looks a lot like that, complete with the hacked 6X9 speaker holes. I have found that Glue is pretty hard to dissolve. My trunk needs a bit of TLC as the spare tire area is a little weak in a couple of areas.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Even when I was a younger punk I wanted a stereo in my car that was super cool, so I bought a pair of Grundig box speakers and mounted posts in the center of the speaker boxes and mounted the posts to the rear "parcel shelf" with big washers. the boxes were 6X9 and worked better than wasting the sound in the trunk. I think before I'm done I'll cut some steel and weld it in there just because it bothers me. I took the tank out during lunch and feel pretty confident that I can get that trunk odor-free and looking stock- if not new . The interior is a whole other story-that will not be fun.

Question; on the very thin plastic pieces that cover the rear wheel wells in the trunk it looks like there was an almost transparent foam possibly sprayed on them. then they were glued to the steel humps. Does anyone know what that foam is and if it is obtainable?

Thanks

 

[Ohmess]

Hey Peter -- I was thinking about the potential structural issue caused by huge rear deck speaker holes, which are pretty common around here.

Have you given any thought to the battery relocation/rear strut brace: http://www.racetep.com/rbrace.html. I'm told on a stock car not to expect much benefit from the strut brace (although moving the battery helps a tiny bit), but I wonder if some of the stress concerns you mentioned earlier might be alleviated by installing one of these. Sure would be a whole lot easier to think about this with the interior and elephant skin out of the car.

 

[HB Chris]

The wheel arch covers had a very thin foam just like the one on the lid of your tool box, not sprayed. Not really needed but I glued some thin closed cell foam into the cutout recesses so nothing could push into them and crack them.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

HB, thanks, at least there is an explanation for why there was foam back there- I guess they could have made the plastic a little thicker but I don't want to ask too much.

Chris- over in VA!, I have seen those braces- I could be wrong but the idea of drilling 3 more holes into a piece of steel that is already not that strong bothers me. I have seen one that wraps around the shock holder and does not require drilling- might try that on the blue coupe, but battery relocation would be my primary objective. I had the holes welded up on Philip's car- came out really good and was not expensive- it's a fairly small job and can wait until you have the rear window out sometime. I also think that shock brace would strengthen a different part of the body than the parcel shelf does.

I trust your car is coming along well and hope you have found time to make it to work at least once this week!

 

[Nicad]

Seems to me Pop riveting in a piece of metal to cover the holes would achieve the same strength increase without needing to strip the whole interior for protection from sparks. I plan on trying to beef up the rear of my Coupe to add as much rigidity as I can. On a couple of cars I currently own chassis bracing makes a very noticeable difference in the way a car drives. Has anyone increased the amount of welds under the rear seats and noticed any improvement in rigidity?

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Did a little work this weekend- So I can pretty much definitively say there is no such thing as a rust free e9, and little though it may be if you're going to attempt to fix it correctly it will never be "original". I cleaned up the trunk as clean as it will ever be and fixed some small rust areas, cleaned up the tank and now waiting for everything (paint) to dry before putting back together. Space is at a premium in the warehouse so I have to do one step at a time a couple more shots above- took a while to clean off the black paint someone sprayed in there- why I have no idea:confused: Por 15, then some seam sealer, then a close match paint and just clear-coated- but not in the pictures.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

more pics

Just for the record- figured might as well do the tank while I'm at it. Also for anyone wondering what to do with their Ping-Pong table after the particle board delaminates this is a perfect option. "repurpose" right

 

[HB Chris]

Use 3M Strip Caulk to set the tank on, much better than the original foam junk.