2002 Touring '74 from Belgium, full restoration project (Lots of pictures)

[D.martijn]

We finished spot welding the remaining spots of the outer rocker to the inner rocker. Also remembered to plug weld the extension of the B pillar to the outer rocker

 

 

I also forget to mention that we welded in three of our selfmade clamps to fix the wiring harness when we ever get the that stage!

 

It was then time to fit up the rear quarter repair panel for the last time with the trim to make sure everything aligned well. Then it was onto welding everything together. I made a long brass strip with slots in it so we could use the panel clamps (not sure how they are called exactly). Going nice and slow and cooling after every tack weld. We did get some warping but it's pretty minor, I think we might be able to get it close with some more planishing.

 

 

 

And the welds ground down. it's still slightly proud from the panel but I'll come back to this when I planish it a bit more.

 

I also added a stich weld at the front of the rocker. Decided to clean up the section toward the door.

 

 

 

Also spotwelded the rear little lip of the wheel well to the quarter, I remember there was a full stich weld in this gap. Would this be necessary? 

 

Before starting the same process of replacing the rear subframe mount, floor section, inner rocker, outer rocker, inner wheel tub (it's quite the list lol) 

We decided to first reattach the rear seat hinge mount and seatbelt mount while referencing from the original right side. After a couple of test fits with some old extra seats we have as spares, both brackets got welded in.

 

Before starting on the other side, we decided to first clean things up a little at the underside where we made a couple of repairs etc while doing the sheet metal replacements so far.

 

Starting with the rear lip of the wheel well we replaced. cleaning up some of the welds where we replaced a small section of the lip, and the repair of the floor. as well as adding a couple of stitch welds where needed as original.

 

Next up was stripping the front right floor panel of it's shipping primer with some acetone and going over it with the DA + adding a stitch weld at the front and rear of the frame rail.

 

While being in this area, I noticed some small rust spots under the clips that hole the rear brake line and transmission reverse switch wiring. Thus they all got removed and replaced with new clips. First marking out the location

 

And new ones welded on as original (stitch weld)

 

 

And everything in Corroless anti rust primer

 

 

 

Finally it is time to start repairing/replacing the rear right subframe!

Starting of with taking a couple of measurements like we did on the other side.

We took out reference from the bottom of the trim holes and measuring to the underside of the quarter panel where it runs towards the inside of the car (~13,2/5mm).
We cut the panel 2.5cm higher so 10,7/11mm from the line, so we don't have to work in the middle of the flat panel, thus minimizing the warping.. I noticed the W&N panel also having some kind of wave/too much material at the top (roughly where the trim sits)

It might come in handy for someone

 

Outer skin removed, seemed quite alright at first sight...

 

But definitely needed to remove it as usual

 

Next up will be removing the whole corner. We did weld in some square tubing to the B pillar and in the door opening + connection the floor to it as well since we will be replacing a big section of inner sill as well.

 

Edited July 25, 2023 by D.martijn

[D.martijn]

Today we started with removing the rear subframe point of the 02 Touring.

We made a hole in the rear wheel well to have better access since we plan on replacing it anyway.

This made cutting the outer wheel well easier compared to when we did the other side (before we decided to replace both shock towers) Making sure to add a couple of reinforcement pieces to keep everything on it's place.

 

We will need to carefully remove this piece of the outer wheel well panel since it's NLA for the Touring..

 

 

After this we started with making a new floor piece. starting with making a flat plate with a 90deg bend and shrinking the edge where it's bended. with some hamering and a dolly we made the little end curvature on the panel.

 

 

After this we pressed in the subframe bolt into the new bushing I previously had turned on the lathe at work.

This way we could mark the outer contour to determine where we needed to drill the access hole for the bolt.

By using the hydraulic press and some 3D  printed dies we pressed the reinforcement lip at the edge of the hole.

 

After this the turned bushing got welded onto both W&N panels. These do need some adjusting for them to fit.

The part with the rectangular hole needs to be bended more so it's closer to 90deg. This also closes the gap between the two panels when you fit the bushing. Otherwise there is quite a gap present between the two.

Just a little tip

 

 

And first test fit into the car. We still need to adjust/clean up the remaining floor as it's now just resting on top of it.

So it sits a little higher than what is should be

 

 

Next up is cleaning up the floor, welding in the new floor repair panel and probably the subframe piece as well!

[D.martijn]

I started with filling up the big hole we made to replace the whole rear right subframe point.

We had already made a new floor panel but somehow I missed and drilled the hole in the wrong spot so the subframe bushing wasn't sitting in the center at all, although it wouldn't have mattered, it bothered me..

 

So new panel was made and marked out the hole again, this time it's a lot better

I already welded it in and ground the welds down, ready for the next step! (welding in the subframe point and inner sill)

 

With the help of some box section clamped on to the inner sill I made sure the flange of the floor was sitting in the correct location for when we weld in the inner sill

 

I also trimmed the excess of the rear flange at the wheel well but forgot to take pictures..

[D.martijn]

We flipped the car back onto it's wheels and shimmed the rotisserie so that the car is level (unfortunately the concrete in the workshop isn't all that level..) 
Added some jackstands under the car as well to support it just a bit more. One at the front frame rail and one at the B-pillar, just beneath where we welded in the reinforcement that ties the B pillar and floor togehter.

 

Then it was time to remove the outer and inner sill. Took a while to drill out all the spotwelds, in the end we pretty much had to go at them again with the finger belt sander..

 

First test fit with the new sill (MVP panel), it isn't as nice as the inner sill on the left side, that one was a genuine BMW part.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with it but just the overall look compared to the BMW one..

 

We also noticed that the threads on the inside of the inner sill are coarse thread (or rather normal metric threads) and the original and new BMW panel have fine pitch threads. just an FYI.
Since we were able to save the old threaded plates, we decided to remove the MVP plates and add the original ones after sandblasting them.

[D.martijn]

Some more progress,

 

After checking the height of the subframe point by measuring from the other subframe point we previously replaced to a square tube that's also level with the car. we compared it to the one we need to weld in. We were only off by a couple of mm so pretty good. By using the jack we were able to lift it so it's level with the other one. The jig squares the point with the rest of the car. However we did measure to the front of the car as well, everything looks good.

 

Also making sure it's rotated correct so it's inline with the inner sill and floor!

 

First couple of spotwelds we were able to reach with some of the clamps in the way.

 

And the inside/underside

 

Fully spotwelded to the floor, we still need to add the stitch welds underneath but we'll to that once the inner sill and rear wheel well is in. Adding a couple extra spotwelds on the side at the floor flange and in the middle of the panel.

 

Inside spotwelds got cleaned up a little and everything sprayed with Corroless

 

Also prepped the inner sill for welding and cut it to lenght. as well as the remaining section of original sill got trimmed a little bit more. We did notice the floor flange sitting a little high at the front of the seat post, making it hard to add plugwelds / spotwelds. Might need to make a small relief cut and push it down a bit more.

 

We ran out of time for today but next time we should be able to weld in the inner sill for good. Then it's on to the wheel well!!

[D.martijn]

Today we addressed the front section of the floor sitting  a little high. making two relief cuts in the side allowed us to move it down some more, as well as stretching the flange a little.

 

Then it was time to fit up the new inner sill and measure the subframe point one last time before spotwelding the floor and subframe point to the inner sill. When we removed the jig in the end, after getting it all spotwelded. It removed very easily so should be pretty spot on.

 

 

 

Still need to fill the two little holes I used for some cleco's..

 

Front seat base also spot welded to the inner sill

 

Inner part of the rocker sprayed with Corroless and the section where the outer sill gets spotwelded onto with Technolit Inox spray. We've switched to this recently and it's very nice to plug weld onto as well!

And dries crazy fast, great product although it's a bit more expensive then regular zinc spray.

 

 

Next up will be removing the right rear wheel well and outer arch so we can fit the new panel.

Edited August 26, 2023 by D.martijn

[D.martijn]

Since the inner sill is fully welded into the car, the next thing on the list on this side is removing the rear right inner wheel well.

We first however decided to make a better reference bar so we can make sure the left and right one matches up exactly.

 

 

 

And the measurements we got on the left (new panel that was placed in while back) and original piece that got repaired in the very beginning of this journey..)

Some of you might notice that there is a difference between our measurements and the ones of the BMW diagram.

 

the distance between the rear subframe mount and mounting point for the shock absorber should be 412,5 but we are getting 405mm. Well there is an explanation, the BMW diagram levels the car by the rocker panels.
We levelled the car on the rear quarter windows, because of the way our tilting jig is make, other wise we would have to raise the front WAY up.. This results in the car sitting low at the front, our plumb bob on the shock tower is "sitting too much forward" (imagine tilting this drawing). However we did level the car also on the rocker panels by jacking up the front and are getting 412mm so it's all good in the end. We like to make it ourselves easy right?! 

 

Then is was finally time to remove the wheel tub.

 

As well as the outer wheel well panel, carefully grinding/cutting next to the stitch welds to remove as little from the panel since we need to reuse is (the Touring panel is no longer available)

 

The outer panel is in pretty good shape, better than the one on the left side. All the remaining underseal that was left and some of the panel bonding got removed so it's ready to sandblast.

 

The worst spot it in the rear of the panel, slightly better than the left side.

 

Still some remaining plates to remove but happy with the progress. ready to clean up the flange and maybe test fit the new shock tower panel already

 

[D.martijn]

Not a whole lot done recently as I went on a short weekend with the girlfriend but of course it was themed accordingly! 

 

We visited the international 02 meet in The Netherlands, got to meet some old fellow enthousiasts and check out some very nice 02's!

Only a small selection of the car that were there

 

There were a couple of Ti's as well, since we plan on fitting double solex's to the Touring.. Sure looks great

 

Early 1600

 

 

 

As we were about to leave, I spotted this gem. OH WOW.

 

I admired the engine bay for a couple of minutes!

 

And at last, some inspiration for when we finish the Touring.. same color, only we will have Borrani's fitted on ours

 

 

 

Back home, I managed to sandblast and paint the outer wheel well panel at my work

 

And started on repairing the first section of the lip. This panel is in a lot better shape than the left side we already re-fitted again.

 

Inside of the panel, I don't know what's up with all the little raised spots in the paint. as I cleaned the panel very thoroughly.. Seems to be something with the paint maybe?

 

Quick test fit on the new shock tower panel

[D.martijn]

It's been a couple of weeks but we managed to do some more work on the 02 Touring.

We started with cleaning up the flanges and remaining sheetmetal of the original shock tower panel.

 

First test fit was pretty good, we needed to shift the panel 5mm more to the front of the car. Some hammering of the floor flange above the rear subframe (we knew this was a little too long before hand tho)

 

After moving over the flange a little, we test fitted the panel again and it's pretty much spot on, maybe 1mm more but it's close. Also put on the rocker to check the height of it and the panel. Happy with the result.

 

Also test fitted the outer wheel well panel, it's a lot better than the other side. We will need to massage it a little to get it nice and flush with the outer wheel arch but shouldn't be a problem

 

A little off topic but I'm sure we'll use it for the 02 as wells so..

 

In the meantime I also started on making a 2x72 belt grinder. Maybe some of you also know about this one, it's from Housemade called the Revolution Gen5 belt grinder.

I was able to get most of the hardware at work, as well as the motor. The frequency drive I got on Aliexpress as well as some other hardware. The aluminium wheels I got online too.

 

I made the steel parts from plates I found in the metal dumpster. It's overkill since I'll need to weld everything up but I decided to clean up the plates by surface grinding them; because why not right?

 

 

 

 

I was also able to 3D print the handles and some other small parts like the VFD controller housing

 

 

[D.martijn]

A little more progress on repairing the outer wheel well panel.

The rear portion of the panel was in rough shape, making two separate patch panels it got repaired.

 

 

 

In the meantime my brother cleaned up the old wax coating on the inside of the quarter panel

[02Wobin]

Great work as always. Good tip to not use the whole quarter panel from W&N, i must exhange my rockers to later on and ordered the quarter panels aswell. But seems dumb to weld so high up on the flat panel. Have you noticed any warping when welding yours?🙂

[D.martijn]

1 hour ago, 02Wobin said:

Great work as always. Good tip to not use the whole quarter panel from W&N, i must exhange my rockers to later on and ordered the quarter panels aswell. But seems dumb to weld so high up on the flat panel. Have you noticed any warping when welding yours?🙂

 

Thank you!

 

We noticed that the upper part of the repair panel was a little wavy as well. Like there was to much material, it had some kind of oil canning on the edge of the panel. It's also the reason why we cut it towards the bottom.

 

There is of course some warping but we should be able to address it more, by some hammer and dolly work. I didn't bother as of yet to do this job. Plenty of bigger things to do 😄

[02Wobin]

13 minutes ago, D.martijn said:

 

Thank you!

 

We noticed that the upper part of the repair panel was a little wavy as well. Like there was to much material, it had some kind of oil canning on the edge of the panel. It's also the reason why we cut it towards the bottom.

 

There is of course some warping but we should be able to address it more, by some hammer and dolly work. I didn't bother as of yet to do this job. Plenty of bigger things to do 😄

Great that you share this information🙂 are there anything specific to think about when replacing the rockers? 

[D.martijn]

2 hours ago, 02Wobin said:

Great that you share this information🙂 are there anything specific to think about when replacing the rockers? 

 

Definitely taking you time. Hows the inner rocker and subframe point rust wise?

Fitting the door and stainless steel trim is also a good idea to check the height of the rocker

[02Wobin]

37 minutes ago, D.martijn said:

 

Definitely taking you time. Hows the inner rocker and subframe point rust wise?

Fitting the door and stainless steel trim is also a good idea to check the height of the rocker

Yeah i can imagine it takes some fiddling to get it all lined up. 
 

the inner rocker is shot on left side but looks ok on the right. I did not buy the inner ones as i will try to fab/patch it the best i can. Subframe points looks terrible too actually. I guess they have to be replaced first before the rockers?

 

good tip with the doors🙂👍

Edited October 16, 2023 by 02Wobin
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