1981 BMW E12 M535i - Gold

As high a quality as ever. You'll be sure to snap us a pic when the painting is done?

What looked like a fairly solid rear panel, turned out to be full of filler






Managed to get hold of a 520 rear panel, but the exhaust cut out was in the wrong place, so that needed attention first






form new opening







weld up the old one











and clean off









remove the old rear panel








and clean up the old paint in the boot






sort out another rusty spot





and get the new panel in















other side arch turns out to be full of filler too





so it gets the same treatment















So apart from fitting some new front wings that should have been it

But there were some shody looking repairs at the front end











so being the inquisitive type I decided to explore further














so only one way to deal with these, yep cut out the rot and see what we have left











new steel welded in and cleaned off











and the front

















BMW still supply the battery tray panel, so that saved trying to make one












and a part section of front panel
























and try the new wing on for size





as expected both sides were the same





what looked quite inconspicuous turned into this








drastic action needed

The car is already painted so more photos soon

As ever the quality of your working is something else. Lovely car as well.

I'll need to work on my patience then your welds turn up very flat!

I've been experimenting with copper backing as heat sink but then i have to set my MIG to a much higher amp to get proper penetration. But i guess the copper actually reduces cool-down shrinkage?

In any case I've got a way to go untill i can produce welds like yours

Wow - cannot wait to see this finished

David

You are dead right re the copper acting as a heat sink, I would only use that where you were trying to fill a hole or a large gap, otherwise as you say you will have to turn your welder up and then you end up with more distortion, what you can do though is clamp the copper adjacent to the weld, that way it will work as a heat sink to minimise distortion, without actually affecting the weld

wowsers those lights came out really well!

I used a fine polishing compound, actually Farecla G10, but something like T cut would work just as well, to remove the light scratches and then normal car polish after that.
But even giving them a wash inside made a huge difference, once the insides are clean the outside looks so much better