Sunday, April 11, 2010

Patching the nose, #1

Last Sunday was Easter, and while I did work at the shop it was a shot day followed by a family dinner, so I never got around to uploading photos until today. I set up a Skype video phone session with my son in California -- my mother-in-law was incredulous that such a thing were possible. I make it happen I used my new T-Mobile MyTouch 3G phone tethered to my Fujitsu tablet PC. Very cool.

Lotus100411-01 Lotus100411-02 BMW100411-01

On my way in I stopped at Home Depot looking for rivets to repair the Europa's windshield wiper arm. No rivets (no surprise!), so I picked up some stainless steel cap screws (#6-32 x 1/4 in.) and matching aluminum nuts. Should look cool. The rivet hole was just 1/8 in. and to accommodate the screw I had to drill out both pieces to 9/64 in. I used Loctite on the nut. After that I noticed that the way I had been doing the spring was wrong -- it is supposed the hook onto a steel pin. There are holes for it in the cast mounting knuckle. Piano wire from a hobby shop would fit, the kind used on model airplanes. Stainless would be best. More shopping.

I also picked up a hardware storage box, which I have been meaning to do for years, and an aerosol system for POR-15 that is cheap enough to be a one-time use. After reading the instructions in more detail I see where it is like a spray can in that it can't shoot vertically. Even so it may prove useful.

BMW100404-01 BMW100404-02 BMW100404-03
BMW100404-04 BMW100404-05
BMW100404-06 BMW100404-07
BMW100404-08 BMW100404-09
BMW100404-10 BMW100404-11
BMW100404-13 BMW100404-14

Last week focused on the interior details of the nose, especially the LH side. I need to good plan on how to repair the damage around the roundel indent, most of which is on the RH side. It looks doable, but tricky. I found more thick bondo in the area around a seam where the nose joins the fender. Can't tell if this is original or collision damage repair. One of the grill mounting tabs is almost rusted off and will need a welded-on patch.

BMW100411-02 BMW100411-03 BMW100411-04 BMW100411-05 BMW100411-06

This week I decided to work my way back to welding by working on the patch for the large hole near the front LH corner. I cut and ground the hole to be more rectangular and designed the patch with a folded lip along the rear edge. I put some curvature unto it after flanging by hammering with a thick, sold steel rod and a shot bag underneath. Finished off with the usual POR-15 Marine Clean and Metal Ready treatment. The patch will be welded next time.

No comments: