Dirty kick panels

Today I got dirty. My goal was to soak both kick panels with POR-15 Metal Ready. To do that I had clean them with Marine Clean.

I used my garden sprayer to shoot the Marine Clean, then rinsed with a garden hose. Used an air nozzle to blow dry, and muck blew everywhere. When things were dry I knocked off the lose paint and rusty bits with a wire brush in the die grinder. More muck. Eventually I got it all done.

Need to return to this area and continue with the floor and firewall. Need to find a way to seal the gap between the original metal and the replacement floor.

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Left door deconstruction

Finished deconstructing the LH door. Took a lot longer than the RH door due to a frozen lock nut on the upper stud that supports the heavy vertical section. Ended up splitting both with a die grinder. The stud was spinning anyway because the tapped hole was stripped. Another thing to repair when it goes together.

The rear bolt that holds the rear window bracket is extra short. Probably by design, to clear something.

Finally got RH nose under control

I never did make it in during the week, as I had hoped, so I had to start by applying filler on the low spot I found last week.

While the filler set I worked on the LH door. I discovered there were no fasteners holding on the wood trim panel. I just tapped it up and free with a candy hammer. I also removed the window lift motor. Note the one short bolt in the photo.

When the filler was ready I spent what time I had smoothing it and the surrounding area. I went ahead and applied a coat of etching primer and a coat of white enamel even though the area is not ready or finish paint. This coat is there as a moisture barrier, to prevent new rust while I work elsewhere.

On the way ... '94 E34 wagon

Just a quick note to announce a new addition to my stable, a '94 E34 wagon. Not nearly as lovely as the E9, a beast to the coupe's beauty, but a grand replacement for my dilapidated van. I plan to pick it up Sunday and pick up some plastic storage boxes to take the place of the cardboard boxes in the van. Everything works except the A/C, and with a little luck I can get that going.

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RH nose, air dam, almost ready

My goal for the day was to duplicate on the right side what I had done on the left, namely bring the repairs to a close and put down a coat of real paint to block moisture as I continue working elsewhere. This does not mean the area is finished and ready for paint. More like ready to start wet sanding as prep for paint.

Well, I didn't get that far. There are some tricky spots remaining. Most notably a deep groove along the joint between the panel beneath the grill opening and the air dam, caused by a fiberglass patch. In the close-up pic it is below the black fiberglass patch in the center of the pic. I got as far as being ready to apply filler but was out of time. Hopefully I'll do that during the week.

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LH door off, LH nose painted

Had a good day today. The kind of day where everything just works. Finished everything I planned to do with time to spare, so I had a relaxed lunch with my wife.

I bounced back and forth between painting the nose ... what I wanted to do last week ... and removing the LH door.



I used a #6 metric hex wrench on that special hinge bolt, and to get better grip I cleaned off the paint with a small, pointy wire brush in a die grinder. Came out easy.

On the RH side the door window motor ground wire on the inboard end was attached to the frame with a screw. On the LH side things were different. The original ground wire was extended with a sliced in section, then went to a multi-terminal ground point which was not connected to anything. Odd.



Wiped down the nose with acetone, applied two coates of acid etch primer, them two coats of white finish paint. This area is not finished, I just want to keep moisture out.

Next week I need to get the RH nose to the same level of completeness and disassemble the LH door.

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Bad shoulder brings me back to nose

On Friday I had an acupuncture session on my shoulder to treat an old issue that was aggravated by the century ride. That meant I was resting, so no hard efforts or heavy lifting. I decided to put off working on the left door and instead returned to the nose.

After my Friday appointment I stopped by BMW of Honolulu to walk the lot and get a price quote on rubber bits for the doors. Saw a super clean used 3 series wagon, too new, too expensive, and a great looking new Mini Cooper Coupe. Not what I need. The quote came to $2,000. The expensive pieces are the door seals at $400 and change each side. Seems excessive, but what can you do? Still no word from the guys in England.

My goal for Saturday was to get a coat of etching primer and a coat of enamel on at least the LH side, including the bumper mount and the top side of the air dam. I would have made it were it not for the car in the bay next to mine -- late model, pure white -- and wind -- not blowing away from that bay. I plan on going back Wednesday long enough to shoot it. I did do the POR-15 wash anf prep drill.



Since I had a little time I decided to get started on the LH door by removing the outer window trim piece. It just lifts of, no screws. Between the rusty clips and the rusty sheetmetal underneath, it was a bit of a fight. Previously I left the RH piece alone, but my curiosity got the netter of me so I tried to remove the part with the fabric and fuzzy stuff that rubs against the glass. Turns out it bends really easily. That, and the lack of rust, suggests it is made of aluminum. I wonder where I can source that felt fabric?

I spent Sunday afternoon shopping for a car to replace my van. Stopped by Servo to look at a 328IS (I am really looking for a wagon) and the salesman turned out to be my old friend Eddie Higa. What a small town. Also checked out a private party 5 series wagon, turned out the mechanic is a cycling buddy. Might be the perfect car. I'll call him Monday.

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