Peter - if you bring a set of those with you in March when you visit here, I will hook you up with Erica. She is not Polynesian, and alas I cannot speak to her, uh, tastes, but after she digs her elbows into your back you will be able to stand up again.
Will have to start somewhere
- Thread starter Peter Coomaraswamy
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Deal!
I can warn anyone doing this themselves that if their back is not in bad shape before you start it will be when you finish!
Actually, I was doing OK until I reached just a little too far for a tool and it was all down hill from there.
After seeing Steve's issue and hearing from lots of folks I just sort of looked at it and tried to figure out how best to prevent the tearing or punching through. I am still convinced that two issues lead to this, first poor design, I say that with lots of humility because the other issues that plague these cars are not necessarily the "design" but the materials. I would venture to guess that BMW/Karmann knew about this before the end of production but changed very little in the way of strengthening this area. I have seen pictures of it on stock set-ups as well as our modified suspensions. And second, of course, my guess that the stiffer shocks with the lower springs increases the stress in that area. I initially wanted to do this without welding but that was impractical because there is kind of a sealed up "torque box" to use mustang terminology back there and you would have to drill in some pretty strange places, not that blind welding is that easy either. So here goes; I removed the fuel tank so I could stand up and that helped a lot on the left side but reaching around to the rear required putting a bead down on the sheet metal and then joining the strap to that with another bead. If this design is worth anything there would be some better ways to make them, first, getting a slight bend in the straps was a pain and then conforming the strap to join the disc on top could have been more exact, but with the use of a vice-clamp I think I got it OK. I posted some pictures below and I'll grind down the welds a little and flood with primer and paint to prevent any rust and hope for the best. I'll also put some very thin foam in between the straps and then a thinner one all around so the plastic E-skin fits properly. There is lots of room for the skin, but let me finish up just to be sure. My welding was much better on the right side after I got a little practice welding in zero gravity-freggin' mess- Please be kind!
Also, steel is 1/8 inch thick, down-straps are 1.5 inches wide, top disc is 3 inches in diameter.
I can warn anyone doing this themselves that if their back is not in bad shape before you start it will be when you finish!
Actually, I was doing OK until I reached just a little too far for a tool and it was all down hill from there.
After seeing Steve's issue and hearing from lots of folks I just sort of looked at it and tried to figure out how best to prevent the tearing or punching through. I am still convinced that two issues lead to this, first poor design, I say that with lots of humility because the other issues that plague these cars are not necessarily the "design" but the materials. I would venture to guess that BMW/Karmann knew about this before the end of production but changed very little in the way of strengthening this area. I have seen pictures of it on stock set-ups as well as our modified suspensions. And second, of course, my guess that the stiffer shocks with the lower springs increases the stress in that area. I initially wanted to do this without welding but that was impractical because there is kind of a sealed up "torque box" to use mustang terminology back there and you would have to drill in some pretty strange places, not that blind welding is that easy either. So here goes; I removed the fuel tank so I could stand up and that helped a lot on the left side but reaching around to the rear required putting a bead down on the sheet metal and then joining the strap to that with another bead. If this design is worth anything there would be some better ways to make them, first, getting a slight bend in the straps was a pain and then conforming the strap to join the disc on top could have been more exact, but with the use of a vice-clamp I think I got it OK. I posted some pictures below and I'll grind down the welds a little and flood with primer and paint to prevent any rust and hope for the best. I'll also put some very thin foam in between the straps and then a thinner one all around so the plastic E-skin fits properly. There is lots of room for the skin, but let me finish up just to be sure. My welding was much better on the right side after I got a little practice welding in zero gravity-freggin' mess- Please be kind!
Also, steel is 1/8 inch thick, down-straps are 1.5 inches wide, top disc is 3 inches in diameter.
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Back felt OK so I went to the shop, looked at the car, back immediately went into spasm, turned out lights, went home:-(. Maybe try again this morning.
Now that my car is on jack stands accessing the towers is much easier on my back! If you haven't already lift your car up a foot or 2 and it is much less aggravating.
John Buchtenkirch
Well-Known Member
A lot of people have forgotten about them because they rarely advertise anymore but Doans pills do help :smile::smile::smile:. They don’t take away 100% of the pain, which is good because you still get warnings if you’re going too far where you could hurt yourself further but they seem to take the excruciating and disabling edge off the pain so at least you can get around and maybe work a little.
Whenever I hurt my back I wear a weight lifter’s belt and then with Doans I am still able to work at about 90% of normal. The weight lifters belt keeps pressure on my lower spine which is where I have problems. My sympathy goes out to you, I’ve been there & felt your pain. ~ John Buchtenkirch
yes Steve, but you're so tall, those better be big jackstands. Peter, i hadn't figured out why you didn't put the car up on the lift and stand up thru the gas tank hole ... at least for the passenger side.
John, I remember those pills, I used to see the commercials for them on our black & white TV 
BUT, I will take your advice and pick up a bottle, although they may be as hard to find as a NOS carpet set . RS, yes, I did remove the tank, but there was still a lot of twisting to try to get decent welds around the back side and those awful speaker holes were no help at all.
I finished up the trunk area yesterday without incident or injury and took some shots which I will post later today. I am very happy with the results and Steve, the elephant skin fits with no issues so it's off to bigger and better things as I move forward towards the front end and interior. I'll pick up the wheels today that I had blasted.
Thanks for the input!
BUT, I will take your advice and pick up a bottle, although they may be as hard to find as a NOS carpet set . RS, yes, I did remove the tank, but there was still a lot of twisting to try to get decent welds around the back side and those awful speaker holes were no help at all.I finished up the trunk area yesterday without incident or injury and took some shots which I will post later today. I am very happy with the results and Steve, the elephant skin fits with no issues so it's off to bigger and better things as I move forward towards the front end and interior. I'll pick up the wheels today that I had blasted.
Thanks for the input!
Just a note for anyone refreshing the trunk, it's easy to say but harder to do- be really careful when removing the plastic skin. It can get brittle- I was lucky. Clean carefully. The wood needs to be in good shape if everything is going to fit correctly. Do not try to improve things or they will not fit- I put a little extra seam sealer in one corner and it prevented the forward most wood piece from sitting flat. I had to remove the piece and bring the sealer down a bit (in picture). I would say that a refresh of the entire trunk area is about 20 hours work, not including the shock braces which would add about another 8 hours including making the darn things. So, pictures below- comments and suggestions always welcome-Thanks
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More pics
Just a little more progress, please do not make fun of the off shade gray paint on the "goodie box". You should have seen what it looked like in the beginning, and since it's made of some weird material the color will come off if you "clean" it too hard.
Just a little more progress, please do not make fun of the off shade gray paint on the "goodie box". You should have seen what it looked like in the beginning, and since it's made of some weird material the color will come off if you "clean" it too hard.
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Peter,
looks like you are missing 2 of the wrenches - you can buy those from BMW or on ebay. you are also missing the small allen / hex wrench. there have been posts on where to buy those ... don't remember off hand.
look at Penske, they have the listing of all of the stuff that goes in.
http://www.penskeparts.com/DiagramsMain.aspx?vid=47811&rnd=03192010
03 71111103081 RING SPANNER - 8-100.04 1 $12.76
04 71111103078 OPEN END SPANNER - 10-110.12 1 $12.76
05 71111103082 RING SPANNER - 12-130.07 1 $12.76
06 71111103079 OPEN END SPANNER - 12-130.16 1 $12.76
07 71111103099 RING SPANNER - 17-190.17 1 $12.76
08 71111103080 OPEN END SPANNER - 17-190.35 1 $12.76
looks like you are missing 2 of the wrenches - you can buy those from BMW or on ebay. you are also missing the small allen / hex wrench. there have been posts on where to buy those ... don't remember off hand.
look at Penske, they have the listing of all of the stuff that goes in.
http://www.penskeparts.com/DiagramsMain.aspx?vid=47811&rnd=03192010
03 71111103081 RING SPANNER - 8-100.04 1 $12.76
And the trunk lid skin is NLA, its very thin, you can use the thicker elephant skin which is pretty thick but I haven't tried that one. Or use another after market vinyl.
Thanks RS, I was hoping I might find a "donor" on the site but that's not a big issue now, may save that one for the next guy (or girl), I guess no e9 is complete unless there is some tinkering to do on it.
Proper repair question; I removed the wiper motor today and I did see that there was some rust behind the insulation and of course I dissected appropriately and found about 6 holes the size of a pencil eraser so I went underneath and moved the speedo cable and assorted wires out of the way and there is no contamination beyond those holes. I was wondering what the forum opinion would be to treat that area and not weld on a new piece as it would be difficult to make and could cause a little heat damage to some of the components underneath. There are lots of wires :-( Normally I would cut and weld, but it's not that big of an area and thought I might cause more harm than good.
Thanks,
but that's not a big issue now, may save that one for the next guy (or girl), I guess no e9 is complete unless there is some tinkering to do on it.Proper repair question; I removed the wiper motor today and I did see that there was some rust behind the insulation and of course I dissected appropriately and found about 6 holes the size of a pencil eraser so I went underneath and moved the speedo cable and assorted wires out of the way and there is no contamination beyond those holes. I was wondering what the forum opinion would be to treat that area and not weld on a new piece as it would be difficult to make and could cause a little heat damage to some of the components underneath. There are lots of wires :-( Normally I would cut and weld, but it's not that big of an area and thought I might cause more harm than good.
Thanks,
Chris, do you think the trunk lid skin is removable, cleanable and re-gluable? So far I have been able to use all the original components-
Thanks
Thanks
Hex wrenches here, the small one is 6mm:
http://www.wihatools.com/300seri/351sermm.htm
I've removed my trunk skin before, worth a look to see about tightening it up, I think it's mounted on a thin board so reglueing is a possibility.
http://www.wihatools.com/300seri/351sermm.htm
I've removed my trunk skin before, worth a look to see about tightening it up, I think it's mounted on a thin board so reglueing is a possibility.
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I removed the panels, scrubbed them and was not satisfied so repainted with SEM warm grey
Removable yes, very thin with an even thinner foam backing which has probably disintegrated.
Chris, I would love to see the foam they used between the plastic elephant skin and the inner trunk wheel wells- there was nothing but dust left there when I removed them. If the same foam is used on the upper trunk liner then it's probably dust too. On even the nicest of our cars I am amazed how "frumpy" that piece looks. I made new panels for the blue coupe from some textured fiber board painted grey and it looks really good, no wrinkles and can't really tell it was not ordered that way, but the blue coupe is never going to be "stock" again.
Same stuff as the toolbox lid, it was white but turns yellow over time. Not needed under plastic arch covers but I did cut strips of Dynamat type stuff to put on the horizontal indentations on the arches so plastic couldn't get pushed in and broken.
Tom P
Well-Known Member
Hi Peter,
For your trunk lid, I had a similar issue. I suppose you could remove those panels, remove the elephant skin, glue and staple it back together.
I decided to start fresh. Found new elephant skin, matched the thickness of wood as close as possible, cut out the pattern, glued and stapled the material down and inserted new push fittings. Warning: Scope Creep Alert...
See photos of how it turned out here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom_p_pics/sets/72157601967489736/
Good luck!
For your trunk lid, I had a similar issue. I suppose you could remove those panels, remove the elephant skin, glue and staple it back together.
I decided to start fresh. Found new elephant skin, matched the thickness of wood as close as possible, cut out the pattern, glued and stapled the material down and inserted new push fittings. Warning: Scope Creep Alert...
See photos of how it turned out here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom_p_pics/sets/72157601967489736/
Good luck!