JohnFBD
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Repaired door frames and set up the new skins from W&N, the insides of both halves were epoxy primed before reassembly. Working on the gaps.
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2800CSA Restomod in Oz
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Repaired door frames and set up the new skins from W&N, the insides of both halves were epoxy primed before reassembly. Working on the gaps.
JohnFBD
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Nose section positioned and spot weled in place. Fenders gaps checked, 5mm +1mm seems to be the concensous. Now able to tack the fenders in place and lne up the new upper nose panel with the bonnet and weld in, it will get spot welded and lead wiped at the joins. If you have done this before, you will appreciate the amount of "fettling" involved in getting everything aligned but it is well worth speading the time at this stage as you have to live with results and I want this car to look right!
That top nose panel from W&N is a bit of a pain, not one of their best parts.
That top nose panel from W&N is a bit of a pain, not one of their best parts.
Really appreciate you posting these pix. Very helpful for those who may see such "activity" in their future....or those who think that the vestige of an E9 that they have recently stumbled across, can perhaps be saved. Excellent work! Mike
JohnFBD
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Here are some better shots of the lower quarters, the W&N panels were very good.
JohnFBD
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The tops of the doors were rusted out on the inside so this piece needed repairing, the rest of the door frame was solid.
JohnFBD
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The rear of the car is all test fitted and will tackle this next week once the front is complete. Couldn't find a good trunk lid so will probably repair this one.
JohnFBD
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Meanwhile the S54 is back from it's freshen up!
while it is all apart, you may want to consider stiffening the chassis.
http://www.vsr1.com/restoration-services/bmw-e9-restorations/
http://www.vsr1.com/restoration-services/bmw-e9-restorations/
JohnFBD
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Thanks Stan, some really useful detail in those photos (and some nice restoration work!)
Out of curiosity, if you are going to put an S54 in it, why are you concerned about the welds looking originals?
PS: spectacular and inspiring work!
JohnFBD
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Not really concerned but just like it to look as neat as possible since I'm going through so much effort
JohnFBD
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Getting to the end of the body repairs, some fine tuning to do but everything is lined up nicely, old factory lead wiping redone now just need to repair the boot lid. Split, chemically dipped, frame repaired and skin patch made, I was happy to do the frame repair but it takes a real craftsman to make that piece from scratch! Thanks to the boys at MotorRetro.
JohnFBD
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I'll epoxy prime the inside of the frame and skin then assemble and final fit.
JohnFBD
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The diff support looked solid but with all the extra power I opted to use the La Jolla differential reinforcement.
floridabmx
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thats some damn nice metal work.
JohnFBD
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One of my rear shock towers was stuffed so taking some inspiration from bdigel (Brendan) I got stuck into changing out the mounts to take the e28 rear subframe coilovers. I had some e28 top hats that were going to be paperweights but as they were only 5 Euro each, I got another pair and made something tall enough to do the job. I added some fishplates for extra strength.
It's no small task to get these puppies in and correctly lined up for the e28 rear, access to weld is pita!
Also needed to fab the pockets for the trailing arm clearance
It's no small task to get these puppies in and correctly lined up for the e28 rear, access to weld is pita!
Also needed to fab the pockets for the trailing arm clearance
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JohnFBD
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Final bodywork completed, gaps tweeked, trunk and bonnet done and the chassis stitch welded for a bit of extra rigidity. I spent well over 550 hours getting the body back to this level plus all the replacement panels from W&N, it was a big job and not for the faint hearted, I'm fortunate that I could do 80% of the work myself under the guidance of Motorretro (without their expertise and well equipped shop the process would be far more painful!) I can imagine the bill if I had given the whole job to a shop to do!
JohnFBD
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Now Von Trapp is back in my garage (next to the Red Baron) ready for the next phase of the project.
Glad that some of you guys are trying this out, like you said its not easily done work , that is a tricky piece to install . Many people seam to think that this e28 conversion has been done before , and that everything just bolted into place , witch after having done this twice is just not the case . Can't wait to see your project completed !
nice work i wish my body guy would have done that as the front left fender is too far in by about 3mm
and not aligned w the back
but i can get it nicely set up anyway
and not aligned w the back
but i can get it nicely set up anyway