Quick words of advice required - pretty please!

[m_thompson]

That's really not very nice! How do the front wings (fenders) fit to the car? Are they bolted, welded, spot-welded, a combination of the foregoing?

I can see, from my strictly amateur viewpoint, how it would be sorted. I can also see how much work is involved.

Like the Hack Mechanic said, there is quite a combination of welding techniques needed.

The area around the windshield is overlapped and spot welded through; the area near the door hinges is blind spot welded; the area by the sill and along the fender well is pinch spot welded; the area between the hood and head lights is butt MIG welded.

The attached image shows all of the little pieces that are under the fender and attach the fender to the fender well. These are attached with a combination of pinch spot welding and MIG welding. I replaced these fenders in the mid 80s. There were no patch panels available so I had to fabricate quite a few parts. I think that there are patch panels available now.

Getting all of these parts to fit together and maintain the fit around the hood and door was really painful and time consuming. That translates to expensive.

 

[gjm]

Like the Hack Mechanic said, there is quite a combination of welding techniques needed.

The area around the windshield is overlapped and spot welded through; the area near the door hinges is blind spot welded; the area by the sill and along the fender well is pinch spot welded; the area between the hood and head lights is butt MIG welded.

The attached image shows all of the little pieces that are under the fender and attach the fender to the fender well. These are attached with a combination of pinch spot welding and MIG welding. I replaced these fenders in the mid 80s. There were no patch panels available so I had to fabricate quite a few parts. I think that there are patch panels available now.

Getting all of these parts to fit together and maintain the fit around the hood and door was really painful and time consuming. That translates to expensive.

Now that is much more like it! I'll not hold out much hope for finding anything similar.

I've referred to Jaymic before (I've no connection with them - honest!) but they stock a vast range of repair panels. See here. When I go visit them I may have to ask some very pointed questions about costs for replacing quantities of hidden metalwork.

Found (yet?) another E9 3.0 CSA for sale, this time with a non-original (but 70s fitted) full-length sunroof, probably from Webasto. Forum member gatorgum in Calgary mentioned having a car fitted with something similar - I've PM'd him to ask how he's got on with it but note he's not been here for a while. Anyone else have any experience of these?

 

[x_atlas0]

Given how most enthusiasts feel about them, might I ask why the requirement for an auto? Just about every E9 I have seen on this board or otherwise, if it was an automatic, has been converted because the stock auto box is rubbish, even by period standards.

There has been talk of swapping in the 4HP22/24 (with mechanical controls) used in E28s and some E12s. That auto box is vastly superior to the E9's stock 3 speed, but it is still a far cry from the stock 4 speed manual or later 5 speed box.

 

[gjm]

Given how most enthusiasts feel about them, might I ask why the requirement for an auto? Just about every E9 I have seen on this board or otherwise, if it was an automatic, has been converted because the stock auto box is rubbish, even by period standards.

There has been talk of swapping in the 4HP22/24 (with mechanical controls) used in E28s and some E12s. That auto box is vastly superior to the E9's stock 3 speed, but it is still a far cry from the stock 4 speed manual or later 5 speed box.

Unfortunately the autobox is an essential part of the spec for us - the car is mainly for my wife who has a back injury and cannot drive a manual.

How involved is swapping the 22 or 24 for the '20'? Given the car is intended for regular use I'm not overly concerned with originality, but would prefer to not make any changes that couldn't be undone - even a engine and transmission swap for a later 3.5 would be entirely acceptable.

Of course, I need a solid car to work on first!

 

[gjm]

Graham:

Gee, that second coupe, the one you posted on Picasa, looks pretty bad too. I am going to guess that it rains from time to time there in Norwich. I suppose it is easy for we Californians to be dismissive about rusty coupes (though we get our share here as well), so I don't want to sound negative - but, I'd suggest that you keep looking.

That area between the top of the front fender and the inner fender well that is visible with the hood open is the first place to look when evaluating rust. Corrosion there is both common, and expensive to fix.

Jay - this'll give you an idea of the sort of asking prices we contend with over here... :-o

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C157617/