Marc and Erik,
Incredibly helpful. Thank you for the info, pics and diagrams!
Stephen
Incredibly helpful. Thank you for the info, pics and diagrams!
Stephen
CSL Restoration
- Thread starter Marc-M
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Marc-M
Well-Known Member
Just a quick one about the refurb of the rear tail lights.
Ground out the lenses and sent the surround off for chroming.
They came back and I stuck the lenses in with clear epoxy glue, and they gook great, especially when the chroming cost £40.00 and the cost of NOS is £100s plus.
The only little niggle is you can see a little bit discolouration due to the glue thickness around the edge of the clear reversing lights.
I did apply a coating around the back side of the lens to ensure they stay water tight.
But a very easy restoration of the lights
The job done - you can see a bit discolouration around the edge of the reversing light lens.
Put on plenty of epoxy glue to seal the lights - this was put on after the lens were stuck in.
Ground out the lenses and sent the surround off for chroming.
They came back and I stuck the lenses in with clear epoxy glue, and they gook great, especially when the chroming cost £40.00 and the cost of NOS is £100s plus.
The only little niggle is you can see a little bit discolouration due to the glue thickness around the edge of the clear reversing lights.
I did apply a coating around the back side of the lens to ensure they stay water tight.
But a very easy restoration of the lights
The job done - you can see a bit discolouration around the edge of the reversing light lens.
Put on plenty of epoxy glue to seal the lights - this was put on after the lens were stuck in.
No issues with the fitting of the lenses due to increased thickness of the metal after chroming? Looks great.
Marc - great job! How bad were the frames prior to rechroming? Most I have seen I did not think would stand up to rechroming or do they build them up after stripping them?
Thanks,
Rohan
Thanks,
Rohan
Marc-M
Well-Known Member
Dear Steve and Rohan
When they chrome they strip all the old chrome off - so no problem with thickness.
The rear frames were quite bad - see photo - not so bad with pitting but overall dull and flaking chrome.
When they chrome they strip all the old chrome off - so no problem with thickness.
The rear frames were quite bad - see photo - not so bad with pitting but overall dull and flaking chrome.
frogisland
Well-Known Member
Marc, had my window trims polished (Nyphos, Crewe) and then anodised at the same place as yours - satin finish, circa 15 micron. Not particularly pleased with the outcome, whilst alot more consistant than yours. the satin anodizing stands out against the bright chromework I have on the car and it has a fine speckled finish when viewed under light. Also, on one piece of trim, whilst polished, the previous top coat (anodising?) was not completely removed and I now have one piece marginally two tone post reanodising. I'm not sure what the answer is re these trims, other than hoping that BMW will reproduce one day! Either way, its been a costly exercise.
My light surrounds and centre trim piece were rechromed some time ago, I went down the same route using 2 part epoxy to cement back in. I encountered a thicker chrome coating which made my lenses more difficult to reinsert.
JP
(for the observant; race car hence plastic rear window and boot strap mount)
My light surrounds and centre trim piece were rechromed some time ago, I went down the same route using 2 part epoxy to cement back in. I encountered a thicker chrome coating which made my lenses more difficult to reinsert.
JP
(for the observant; race car hence plastic rear window and boot strap mount)
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Marc-M
Well-Known Member
Its a pain in the ass - my trims are as good as you are going to get, but not to my standards - there is only one other option due to the fact that bmw are not making all the trims...
Take off the anodizing - re polish and paint with a 2 pack clear coat.... but the clear coat may crack ....
There is not much else you can do - the satin finish you have looks quite constant - but I can see what you mean ----
I have no option but to put the trims on and wait till new ones are manufactured....
Has anyone got any close up pictures of the trims just polished and clear coated, this may help us both.. and any comments ?
Regards
Marc
Take off the anodizing - re polish and paint with a 2 pack clear coat.... but the clear coat may crack ....
There is not much else you can do - the satin finish you have looks quite constant - but I can see what you mean ----
I have no option but to put the trims on and wait till new ones are manufactured....
Has anyone got any close up pictures of the trims just polished and clear coated, this may help us both.. and any comments ?
Regards
Marc
Over here we are fortunate to have Speedway Metal Polishing, Dan polishes these then applies a ceramic coating which is very durable. He does the same with the belt trim, both come out looking brand new.
Chris,
Do you know what brand of ceramic coating Speedway uses?
Over here we have a couple of shops that can apply a ceramic coat which is called "Ceramic Pro", and I've been thinking of trying that for my beltline trim aswell.
I saw that they have several shops in the UK that applies these coats on whatever you need coated too. But you'll probably have to do all the polishing yourself or have someone else do it for you.
Cheers,
Do you know what brand of ceramic coating Speedway uses?
Over here we have a couple of shops that can apply a ceramic coat which is called "Ceramic Pro", and I've been thinking of trying that for my beltline trim aswell.
I saw that they have several shops in the UK that applies these coats on whatever you need coated too. But you'll probably have to do all the polishing yourself or have someone else do it for you.
Cheers,
Sorry, I don't
Marc-M
Well-Known Member
The photos SPL have sent me of the shell after dipping - does not look to bad ( so far) but will be ripping it to bits when it comes home next week.
Looks like some crappy welding has been going on..
Looks like some crappy welding has been going on..
daddywad
Well-Known Member
Hi Marc, car looks good straight out of the tank. mine was in similar state but it was still a bit scary when you first see it. the "rifle butts" under the wings were actually so thin you could see a torch through them.
belt line trims; I chromed mine and they look awesome, a little work needed to get the clips to fit after but worth the effort.
rear lights; I did exactly the same as you did, again a little fettling required to make the lenses fit after but very satisfying
Mark
belt line trims; I chromed mine and they look awesome, a little work needed to get the clips to fit after but worth the effort.
rear lights; I did exactly the same as you did, again a little fettling required to make the lenses fit after but very satisfying
Mark
if they are just polished
like i did
you just need to polish now andthen
with mothers
like i did
you just need to polish now andthen
with mothers
gazzol
Well-Known Member
Hi Marc,nice build thread. I'm also in Preston and I'm just putting my CS back together for the 2nd time, 1st time was 10 years ago (thread on here somewhere) a few new areas of rust needed tending to. Any way to the point. If you polish and clearcoat your aluminium the clearcoat will eventually flake off. Over what timescale I cant say as there are too many variables but it will eventually. However with not much use (read bad weather) it may last for years. Interestingly Real OEM.com shows the waistline trim as available here also the front windscreen trims are shown as available but the rear screen ones aren't, here.
Looking at your car I can't believe how good the shell is compared to the poor condition of the brightwork. Good luck with the build.
Looking at your car I can't believe how good the shell is compared to the poor condition of the brightwork. Good luck with the build.
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Marc-M
Well-Known Member
I have decided to post a lot of pictures of the car after it came back from dipping, to show you all how not to weld and put in sections of steel.
The job does not phase me, as it’s the bit I like doing the most, especially of fabrication steel and welding.
I have got 2 new front wings and 1 rear wing, but there are quite a few sections I will have to make.
Anyhow, sit back with a cup of coffee and see the mess I have to sort out… (I better get some spare bottles of argon)
The job does not phase me, as it’s the bit I like doing the most, especially of fabrication steel and welding.
I have got 2 new front wings and 1 rear wing, but there are quite a few sections I will have to make.
Anyhow, sit back with a cup of coffee and see the mess I have to sort out… (I better get some spare bottles of argon)
Marc-M
Well-Known Member
Not so bad - it will be a runner in a few days!!!
Well you can see its been botched up, and how some folks do things - not me.. #
Cant wait to get stuck in...
Damn! That's a lot of crappy patches..
But I'm sure you'll get it corrected, and sometimes when it feels hopeless you can just stare at all the previous bad craftmanship/patches on the car, shake your head, smile/cry and get back to it. I know I did!
Keep it up!
But I'm sure you'll get it corrected, and sometimes when it feels hopeless you can just stare at all the previous bad craftmanship/patches on the car, shake your head, smile/cry and get back to it. I know I did!
Keep it up!
Aussiecsi
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the photos ...I now have the confidence that the structural integrity of the E9 will save me in a high speed crash . My wife will no doubt encourage me to drive often .
Thank you for sharing! I'm looking forward to watching you clean this one up!!!
Bwana
Well-Known Member
Wow....A lot of that looks like it's too thin to weld anything back on it. The car was acid dipped, correct? Why are there still what appears to be rust streaks on say, the inner fenders? Now that the car is pristine clean, what do you do to the surface to prevent surface rust from forming on the areas you're not working on?