My Coupe Project

[OCCoupe]

It has been almost a year since I've posted on this site. I've been busy with another project and now i think I am ready to tackle this one.

Back in April with quite a bit of help, I decided to jump in and start the long process of refreshing my e9 Coupe. I've never done anything like this before so I was without a doubt overwhelmed with the task at hand.

Subject vehicle:

She looks pretty here but there are many underlying issues so common with the e9.

Progress

Engine out

Now to get media blasted to bare metal then to paint

There were many issues that had to be dealt with including getting the color right. Nacht Blau isn't so exotic of a color; but now that the EPA is so tight on paint and since water base is mandatory in California getting the formula right isn't an easy task especially when the swatches are 40 years old. The first round of paint came out like Royal Blau. Great color but not for the Coupe.

I got a call on Wednesday "your car is painted". I was in shock, really? I went down today to take a look and here is what I saw:

(sorry for the lousy shots)

Doors. Notice the subtle mid line:

Rear deck lid:

Trunk, tough to see:

This is a partial of the hood:

US markers have been shaved and the euro headlight added. I also tucked the bumpers so she looks the part. Next is getting her home and letting her rest so the paint hardens before we get started on reassembly. Then we get started on the motor and interior.

I'll try to keep everyone posted with our progress.

Thanks for looking and for your support!
Mike

 

[vince]

Nice!! It's going to be beautiful. Love the color.

 

[HB Chris]

Mike,

You've put a lot of effort into your coupe. When you get it finished I think I'll retire my coupe from competition! Great job.

Chris

 

[OCCoupe]

Mike,

You've put a lot of effort into your coupe. When you get it finished I think I'll retire my coupe from competition! Great job.

Chris

Chris it will be a tall order to come close to the bar you set with your coupe. I have a long long way to go. Thanks for your support.

 

[RonP]

Mike,

The car looks fantastic! Can't wait to see it all done.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Thanks for posting

It's great to see an e9 in as many pieces as mine! I'll keep posting pics as I hope you will. I'm doing a complete undercoat this weekend and trying to put the suspension back in so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the great shots!

 

[OCCoupe]

Things have gotten interesting to say the least. There's been some forward progress and some backwards progress, or is that digression. Nonetheless the long strange trip continues and the saga becomes more complicated.

Every time I looked at the paint I discovered something else that I couldn't live with. I knew that I was going to have some paint corrections done; but it got to the point that I wasn't ever going to be happy with the paint. In addition the painter that I am now using, which is the painter I should have gone with in the first place, said he couldn't give me any rust guarantee if we didn't start from scratch. So back to the drawing board.

This is what the previous shop covered in bondo. Filler isn't a bad thing if used correctly. It isn't supposed to re-form panels, just to fair out imperfections.

There was a lot of debris left in the trunk from when the car was originally blasted. The previous shop didn't do the greatest job cleaning the remnant media. This is now back down to bare metal.

At some point in its life someone decided to add a CSI battery tray, the old one probably rusted out which is why it was replaced.

Since I plan on doing a CSI conversion I am going to add a CSI airbox bracket.

Fortunately the fenders are in nice clean shape, no rust rearing its ugly head.

Dealer installed antennae.

Virtually perfect rocker. Some rust towards the back. Fortunately the rear of the rocker is not structural.

The hood and trunk lid have proven to be a bit of a challenge. They took a beating front the second round of media blasting. The metal has been stretched and beaten out of shape so now the sheet metal is concave where it sits on top of the structural bracing. The metal will need to be heated and cooled to allow it to shrink and regain its shape.

The deformation is subtle and very difficult to see.

Link to all the pics:
<iframe width="480" height="360" sr...urger/embed/slideshow/Coupe Update"></iframe>

 

[OCCoupe]

We all know Karman used cheap metal to build the coupes. That along with poor techniques and a no e-coating really stacked the rust odds against the poor coupes. Knowing this I had the body shop spray etching primer on the body so it wouldn't develop surface rust.

We are well in to body work. The doors and trunk lid have been mounted for fitment. TThe body gaps from Karman was pretty poor. Here we are trying to get the gaps a consistent as possible.

Here are the two fenders that had seen a little action now cleaned up.

It's hard to see the body lines against the dusty primer. Plus my mad camera skills make it nearly impossible to see any detail, what so ever!

Still not perfect; but close.

We added metal straps to support the roof. The roof is very thin and easy to push down. The straps help keep the shape of the roof.

Consistent gaps.

Here's that clean roof line.

A couple of pictures of Dr. Cain performing surgery prior to the full bare metal blast. We took everything out.

 

[RonP]

Too bad Dave did such a great prep job and then decided...hey look a squirrel!!! Sems like you are on the right track now.....not on the $4500 complete, but nonetheless...the right track.

 

[deQuincey]

amazing, Dave, well done !
keep it in the right track !

 

[Jean Luc]

Salut , jolie cette E9 .
Question , pourquoi ne pas avoir traité et peint l' habitacle avant de faire la finition?

Hi, this pretty E9.
Question, why not have treated and painted the ****pit/ interior before the finish?

 

[OCCoupe]

Too bad Dave did such a great prep job and then decided...hey look a squirrel!!! Sems like you are on the right track now.....not on the $4500 complete, but nonetheless...the right track.

Unfortunately Dave's prep job was mediocre too. He used too much bondo instead of working the metal. We also found wadded paper as a backer for the bondo where metal should have been used. It was almost fortunate that we found a small rust bubble poking through which was an indication of how poorly the car was prepped. In the end I paid him $6,500.00. You get what you pay for.

Now on to better things!

 

[wkohler]

Can't wait to see the body painted. It even looked good in the etching primer but it's going to be phenomenal when finished and you won't have any lingering doubts either which is very important with these cars!!

 

[RonP]

Unfortunately Dave's prep job was mediocre too. He used too much bondo instead of working the metal. We also found wadded paper as a backer for the bondo where metal should have been used. It was almost fortunate that we found a small rust bubble poking through which was an indication of how poorly the car was prepped. In the end I paid him $6,500.00. You get what you pay for.

Now on to better things!

Looks like you are on the right track now.

 

[Stan]

And....

 

[OCCoupe]

Stan you dog! That is a horrible shot, I've lost nearly 50 pounds since that picture!!!

 

[Stan]

Stan you dog! That is a horrible shot, I've lost nearly 50 pounds since that picture!!!

At least!!

 

[OCCoupe]

Back from paint!

Ok so today the Coupe came home from paint again... This time I think we have it right!

Schutzed wheel well

Schutz line front fender/valance

Front wheel well schutzed

The dark color makes it difficult to see the swage line, too much reflection to see it.

Inner fender, note that on top of the inner fender is a tar insulation pad that is a shared part with e28's. The insulation comes in large sheets and needs to be cut in to shape, formed to the fender and adhered to the fender. It took me 6 hours to adhere the pieces to the car.

Look closely and you'll notice the brushed on seam sealer on the brackets and on the seams of the engine bay. We tried to duplicate the original factory look.

Still needs a little kp after polishing

 

[RonP]

Can't wait to see it in person! Looks excellent in the photos.

 

[alanmcg]

wow

looks amazing mike, just like i knew it would.

i am interested why you chose to put the 'tar insulation pads' back? what purpose do these actually serve? as they can trap moisture (in a very bad place), ive seen lots of folks leave them off after repaint. i am sure you looked into it thoroughly, so am interested in your thoughts.