D.martijn

Small update, I was able to find an original BMW front nose panel in Germany. The seller told me it had been laying in his fathers attic for 30+ years. Since the corona pandemic it's pretty hard to travel + it was over 9hours driving to the location, a bit far. After asking for extra pictures, we came to an agreement and the panel got shipped to my door. The back side has some paint on it, the front has overspray but still has the black coating from factory. Very happy with my purchase, I couldn't wait and test fitted the panel with the fender and the (still original) door that's fitted on the Touring. The back side where the panel gets welded on to the car was taped before painting, thus leaving bare metal, hence the rust. It's only surface rust so no big deal. This folded edge is also a lot cleaner than the old reproduction nose we currently have And a test fit on the car, the cross member fit's nicely against the frame rails. The other nose had a +5mm gap! Test fitting a fender. Crazy how much better it fits! With the other nose, the fender sticked out a good 5mm or so.. The gap is a little bit on the bigger side, but the nose panel wasn't fully seated against the egde of the inner fender. I'm sure we'll get if nice and even once it's getting mounted for good.

After adjusting the lip on the doorskin, we test fitted the skins again onto the frame. The lower and upper section are pretty good, although in the middle we get some weird bump/tin canning when clamped on to the frame. My brother went to a local friend/body shop/classic porsche restoration shop to ask for some input. The owner told us it should be possible to remove the tin canning so there's that. However, just a couple of days ago, MVP announced that they'll also release doorskins for the 2002 in a month or two. Not sure if we should try and get doorskins from them or use what we currently have..

After fitting the new doorskin on the repaired frame, we noticed the upper curve, where the belt line trim sits. Was a bit weak compared to the rear quarter panel. We decided to try and make it a bit more pronounced. My brother found a random paint can with the correct radius, a trip to the local steel yard and we get some tube in the same diameter (75mm). We supported the doorskin on some angle iron and cut two slots in the angle iron so the creas in the door skin sits on the lip of the angle iron. By using some clamps, we tightened the tube little by little untilt he radius was correct. No the new doorskin sits also a lot better against the door frame. Next up is welding in the door hinge panel and repairing two small spots. We might also try to transfer the door handle pocket over from old skin to the new as it could have been pressed a little better..

Got the new lower section of the door frame welded in. The new flange got clamped against some box section, so we were sure it's flush with the existing frame. Clamping it down pretty tight also made sure the gap stayed nice and consistent. Fully welded And grinded smooth, minimal filler will be needed! The window frame brackets got spot welded again showing the before and after New drain hole, we drilled them a little closer to the edge. But not completely as we plan on running a bead of sealant in the corner of the frame and skin

Got the new lower section welded in. The new flange got clamped against some box section, so we were sure it's flush with the existing frame. Clamping it down pretty tight also made sure the gap stayed nice and consistent. Fully welded And grinded smooth, minimal filler will be needed! The window frame brackets got spot welded again showing the before and after New drain hole, we drilled them a little closer to the edge. But not completely as we plan on running a bead of sealant in the corner of the frame and skin

Thank you! I just used a caliper to measure some basic dimensions to get the overall shape close enough. I then model the sheet and base the dies from that model. It's a pretty basic Ender 3 pro

Started on repairing my door frame I printed a couple dies to remake the corner pieces of the door frame Basic shape was there but some adjustment was needed A little bit of work with the hammer and chisel.. Welded! And finished Next up was removing the lower flange of the door frame. I got new plates bend up at a local fab shop Ready to weld in!

Finally some more progress! The corner on the other side of the door was in pretty good shape. only the little triangle was a bit thin. So we removed this inner section and were able to keep the original pressed shape We were able to adjust the shape of the pressed sheet a little bit more with the use of a hammer and chisel. After some adjustment on the radius it was close to be welded in Clamped onto place Welded in And finished Next up was removing the lower flange of the door frame. I got new plates bend up at a local fab shop (I also asked some info from this guy when I made the dies to press in the indentation in the rain tray panel) Ready to weld in!

Not wanting to hijack your thread, but if you are in need of the guide plates that sit under the aluminium rails, I still have a few in stock

It's been a while but we started on repairing the drivers side door frame. I first made a small "panel" for the corner, I think this is originally only braced to the door frame but I decided to use the spot welder. After this, we cut out some rot on the flange that sits a cross both sides of the door frame and where the door skin is spotwelded onto The repair patch came from an other door we had cut up as a test.. After making sure the flange was nice and straight, we also welded it onto the door frame. (I didn't take any pictures of this) There was also a spot on the front side of the door, where the flange was mangled a little, this got cut out and some new metal got welded in. I also tried modeling the corner section of the door. After this, I modeled two molds to try and press the shape in some 0,8mm steel. The molds were 3D printed, after work I cut a small sheet and tried pressing. Turned out pretty ok. I will have to adjust the shape a bit with hammer & dolly but for the most part the shape it there.

I mean the section where the top of the fenders get welded /lead seamed onto the nose, sticks out significantly. This is with the nose panel seated against the flange of the inner fenders. Thanks for the help so far guys!

Yes, it did have an accident in the past. But we were able to straighten everything out. Going of from the Schutz I also assumed it probably is original. About the braces, I was talking about these sections, on the pictures you can also see these in place on my old reproduction nose. I didn't know original noses also had these. (problem with this nose is that it's seems like it's too short (at the corners where the fenders are welded to it) And there is 5mm gap between the lower support in the middle and the underside of the frame rails where they are welded to each other. I'm not sure how to correct this, without having to remove this support and weld it up higher. The fenders I got are old stock pieces, brand new. They had an old BMW sticker on them, so they are still good quality

Hey guys, After getting NOS front fenders for my 2002 Touring, and fitting them together with the old reproduction nose we got with the car. The nose seems to sit to far back (pressed against the flanges of the inner fenders) Door gap at the B pillar is good (3-4mm), gap at the back of the fender and door is also good. The fenders stick out a little from the nose panel (where the seam originally got leaded) I now sourced (what the sellers lists as) an original nose panel. However, before driving and paying, I would like to show you guys a couple pictures I received to confirm this is indeed an original BMS nose panel. thanks! (my nose panel came with some adittional bracing pieces between the top and bottom sections where the grill sit, did the original panels also have this?) also shown here

The middle flange that's rusted it your strut brace if I'm not mistaken. Pretty structural piece IMHO, makes me wonder how much rust is elsewhere ..

Yeah, I bet! How long is the lead time to dip a body? Nice Touring, loving the color. Just recently I saw an identical one on the highway here in Belgium. Currently also restoring one.. it's quite rusty as well ?

Great progress on you 02! I'm curious how it'll look once you have it back from the acid bath!

I plan on making my own repair panels. The panels W&N are offering isn't very good quality I think. Especially the corners. I might try to remake the pressed corner section by making a 3D printed mold. We'll see how good it turns out

Today the door frame got sandblasted together with the new hinge panel. Pleased with the result, took a while to reach all the tight spots as the sandblasting cabinet at work was just big enough for the door frame to fit in. After sandblasting, both the frame and the new door skin got a coat of corroless, now we can start on repairing the door frame and fit the new skin. (bottom of the door frame will obviously need to be replaced)

Today the frame for sandblasted together with the new hinge panel. Pleased with the result, took a while to reach all the tight spots as the sandblasting cabinet at work was just big enough for the door frame to fit in. After sandblasting, both the frame and the new door skin got a coat of corroless, now we can start on repairing the door frame and fit the new skin. (bottom of the door frame will obviously need to be replaced)

A little update, after we also fitted the old reproduction nose panel we got with the car, it seems like the nose panel itself it a little to short? The fenders stick out a little. I might have a source for a new old genuine nose panel but it's pretty expensive. so I'll have to think about that one. However, we decided to go ahead and start with repairing the doors. At first sight they look pretty rust free, but once the skin is removed, there is quite some rust present in the folded flange, even at the top of the door. The door skin is also spot welded in a couple of places After carefully removing the brazed connection on both corners of the door, we test fitted the new panel after cleaning up the flanges. It sits pretty tight against the door frame with the help of some clamps. With the door skin gone, we got a close look "inside" the door. we had already noticed some buldging at the part where the hinges go through. But upon further inspection, there is quite a bit of rust forming between the door frame and the hinge attaching point/panel Since we had already removed the skin on an other drivers side door, just to "test". we decided to use it's hinge panel on the better door frame. After some clean up with the belt sander, we will obviously sandblast the door frame Spare hinge panel, as you can see it's "painted" black. I'm pretty sure this door was a new replacement door once in it's live time.

A little bit further from where I live an (I think) older gentleman also has an unimog. Bright orange, I once saw him driving it down the road, too cool! ?

I got a message from a friend that he needed a tap and die for his E30, I told him to come to our workshop when I was done with working. While waiting for him to arrive, I test fitted the new fender a little more, very pleased! It would have been a shame trying to adjust the reproduction ones as these are pretty much spot on. (time wise) I decided to also clamp the inner support piece, to check fitment of the mounting holes Nice and flush with the doors

Yes! Only a couple km from München we first thought about making a weekend out of it and also visiting the BMW museum but it's still closed because of covid..

Found some NOS fenders in Germany (where esle right.. ) After 1660km of driving we arrived back home with our find. The guy selling these was a real enthusiast, he even works together with Schnitzer to make replica E9 race cars, He even invited us to come to the Nürburgring when they have a test day in the future lol. He also has this.. not registered since 1980!! I gave one panel a very quick test fit and am very pleased! We definitely made the right call to buy some original sheet metal