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Evening everyone, Another post from me! Tonight the car had its final sand off and then primer, which I'm totally chuffed about! The colour is going on next week. After what feels like a million times the car has finally been properly flatted off for the last time - it will have a light going over between the primer and the final colour but it's there. The car is so straight, I'm absolutely chuffed with the finish already and can't wait to see her in black and back at my workshop!

So this started as a California Car.....then I moved to Michigan. That sweet California patina turned into some good 'ole fashioned Michigan Rust. I wasn't planning to do any bodywork yet - but I already had the interior out (see other post), so I figured I'd nip it in the but while it was easily accessed. The rust isn't too bad - no holes, and it's upper body rust (Cali style) instead of ground- up. The rust is along the rear driver's side window. STEPS Prep area - Unscrew the window (there's two areas it's held in place), pop it out. - carefully take

Stopped in to check out some of the smoothing process Sprayed out for color check on the hood and trunk lid...

Slow going but nice to see some progress this winter. Fabrication now complete and essentially ready for prep work (filler, block sand process, etc) prior to paint. Photos don't do these guys any real justice...

Completed assembly of the E21 250 mm brakes. Also picked up the powder coated diff cover to close up my LSD. And picked up some chrome work (7-10-15) Checked out some of the welding going on (8-4-15)

Body work is still coming along... ! From bare metal, they are doing some more measuring and they finally prepared the car with the first coat of primer on some places.... Gotta get that body right and tight!

Well.... after being so emotionally hurt with whole court fiasco, I ended up just focusing on getting Tesoro ready for Brisbane. But then..... as with all restorations, there happens to be surprises! (I think I have mentioned before that I HATE surprises!) Surprises = set backs! Le Tran at 2002garagewerks has been working overtime diligently, sometimes til 3A with his excellent CSI/Archaeologist master body repair shop to get Tesoro's WHOLE body straight! We found additional issues with previous bondo repairs and shady work from the previous owners, that we decided to go bare metal now.

After 6+ months at the paint shop, I finally brought the car home in the pouring rain and began reassembly right away. I'm really happy with the color and work. I thought I would be able to put it all back together and have it running within a week but thats not the case. While everything is disassembled, I keep finding new things to fix before I put it all back together which is taking me down multiple rabbit holes. Some of the things that have held me up is replacing the sunroof drain tubes. What a pain and i found out that the paint and body guys drilled through the tubes when they put

The car has been at the bodyshop for over 2 moths and is now down to bare metal. There were a lot of things hiding underneath all the bondo on the car. Not a straight panel on the car but I find comfort in the fact that this car is getting the proper bodywork done after 40 years of shitty paint jobs and bad bodywork. As you can see from the pictures, there is a lot of hammering to be done. While the car has been at the body shop these last 2 months, I've been getting more and more anxious to get it back so I decided to make some door panels from scratch with the help of my bad ass Mom who

I recently sent the car off to get bodywork and paint done. I got a good deal here in Phoenix through a friend. I would love to have done a bit more of the bodywork and paint myself but I don't have a garage. It needs some rocker panel work and we're filling the lower trim holes as well as the front side reflector holes. I'm gonna keep the holes for the big bumpers cause I'm planning on driving this car a lot and Phoenix drivers are some of the worst. The car has been repainted a number of times so when the body work guy sent me some photos of what it looked like after they sanded it dow

If you found some rust on the body of your car, and want to both make your car look fabulous again AND prevent the rust from spreading like the cancer it is....Here ya go Step 0: First, you gotta clean the car. Good ol'fashioned car wash. Make sure it is dry afterward. STEP 1 - GETTING RID OF THE RUST Depending on the depth of your rust, you may be able to start with hand-sanding, or you may have to use a dremel. 1. Use 250 grit sandpaper to sand the paint and loose rust from the area so you can see the impacted area. Use a sanding block when sanding so you don't get wobbles in your surface. SAND IN AN 'X' PATTERN: First diagonally across the surface one way, then across diagonally the opposite way. 2. For deeper rust pockets, pick up a dremel and gently grind away rusty bits. I prefer using a metal-grinding disk so it has some give and doesn't go too deep too fast. Careful that you're only taking away the rust, and not good metal. If your rust hasn't gotten pitted yet, skip this step. 3. Use 200 grit sandpaper with a sanding block to evenly sand off any remaining rust. Clean and dry surface thoroughly. 4. Use Rust-Etching Gel (also called Naval Jelly) over the affected area. Use as instructed on bottle. This will etch away any remaining rust particles on the surface. Clean and dry. Image: Rust Before Image: Area after dremel, sanding, and etching. Etching Gel: STEP 2: PREVENTING NEW RUST 1. Epoxy Bare metal. Epoxy will seal the Oxygenout of the metal so it won't rust again. Apply a thin layer so the metal is coated. Let cure. 2. Apply bondo over uneven surfaces (where rust was pitted). Use a bondo-spreader to run across the surface and remove excess bondo. Allow to cure, and then sand with a sanding block (hard foam is best). Start with 200 grit dry sandpaper to knick off the rough bondo. 3. Once the bondo isn't super-rough, I'd start wet-sanding. You can use the water to see the reflections in the surface as if it were painted, so you can make sure you're making a smooth surface as you sand. I'd start with 300 sandpaper and slowly move to higher grit from there. Remember to sand in an 'X' pattern. STEP 3: MAKING A BEAUTIFUL SURFACE 1. Tape off the car except where you want to spray Primer. I'd suggest bagging the entire car, since overspray is a mystical and evil force. You can use painters tape and trash bags. Give yourself a little extra room around the sanded area, or the thick primer will leave an edge where you taped. You want to be able to feather the primer. 2. Spray the primer. You CAN use a rattle-can primer, but I really don't recommend it, especially for larger areas. Pick up Catalyzed Primer (follow the mixing directions) from an automotive paint store (like Finish Masters), and a cheap gravity-feed paint gun (Harbor Freight sells them for $15). Hook it up to a Air Compressor and you are all set. Careful to stand back a few feet when you spray the primer. Test spray a piece of cardboard so you can get a feel for how it works if you've never painted before. Use long strokes across the body, passing past where you want to paint each time. Start with one light coat, let it sit a couple minutes, then paint your first 'real' coat. This prevents drips. If you DO get drips, don't stress, you can just sand them away. You'll probably need a couple rounds of primer, sanding between each. Your first round should be 2 coats, then just 1 after that. Make sure to clean your paint gun! Acetone works great. Also, wear gloves and a mask when painting. Be safe! **if you decide to use rattle-can primer, make sure it is high-build. SEM makes a great one 3. Start sanding the primer. I'd start with wet-sanding sandpaper at about 300 grit, then slowly move to higher grit. Make sure you're sanding in an 'X' pattern, using a hard foam sanding block. Just soak the sandpaper in a bucket of water, and periodically use a soaked cloth to clean the surface as you sand. Look at the reflections on the wet surface - you should be able to see nice smooth reflections so you know you're not sanding lows into your body. Feather your sanding efforts out to the edges so it blends nicely with the remaining paint. 4. If you're sanding in an area that has edges or design lines, details...make sure to mask off the edges as you sand. Use 3M Vinyl tape so it sticks to the surface as you wet sand, but doesn't harm your paint or leave a residue. Tape one side, sand against it, then tape the other side, sand against that. 5. Clean the surface. All done! You can paint, send it to a shop to paint, or just let it be. Either way, you don't have to worry about rust anymore! If you decide to paint, I recommend against rattle-can paint. You can get the exact BMW color of paint from Finish Masters, and use the same gravity-feed gun to paint. I DO recommend a separate gun for your clearcoat. Masked off car ready for primer, with all that awesome protective gear and cheapie Harbor Freight paint gun! Make sure to cover the whole car!! Using 3M Vinyl tape to hold edges on the window. Notice the area that was once pitted, uneven, and rusted, is now smoooooooth! Primered surface with tape to keep edges. Top has not been sanded (notice hard edge), bottom has been sanded (notice feathering) And here's the 3M tape I recommend: this is the first article I've attempted, please let me know what you guys think! View full article

Hello all, I have a 1973 BMW 2002tii that has suffered some rust to several of the body panels. I am looking for body parts including quarter panels, hood and trunk lid. If anyone has any parts that are rust free please let me know! Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Will cover shipping costs. Thank you. Blake

I need some advice on the mount location on the hood that I have. As you can see from the photos the metal is cracked in that area and I am not sure with my novice welding skills if I could repair it and have it still shut and line up properly.. and yes the bolt for the hinge is stuck.

Hey Gang, any recommendations for a welder and painter in St Paul/Minneapolis MN or close to? I have a floor pan to replace on the driver side (so far...haven't pulled up the rest of the carpet yet and its a '76). It's been tough finding quality and affordable services in these parts (I'm from Los Angeles originally). Also-does anyone have any thoughts on what to replace the old insulation on the floors with? (I work at 3M so I'm hoping its one of those products!) Thanks!

Hey guys, I am getting the passenger rear quarter sheet metal patch panel in place and I'm a little hesitant to tack it in right now. It seems like the W&N panel does not have the same body contour as the original. Does anyone have any suggestions for lining it up or rolling it out? I would like to get the contour correct - or close to it - before welding it up. I'm trying to minimize the amount of body filler needed. You can see in the pictures how the replacement kind of flattens out the contour. Gimme some hints! Thanks, Pete

If this were a free for all dolly / tiptiserrie for use by any and all members, would it get passed around? Another member plans to pick up within the next couple of weeks and when he’s done.. Would like to see how far away it could get. Location NorCal Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

This popped up from a new Facebook friend, Stefan Ries from Germany. https://www.facebook.com/stefan.ries.923?__tn__=%2CdC-R-R&eid=ARC5t1d8rTsO_wNB1nnvQ__xcUvHWv0Ni5uaoob0lyXnN3b0-c3XhdRVZcE3nlh-EroFrFgdtTLH7dUj&hc_ref=ARQbERjrMQK5x5oKTteCyl20lYBIwNO68c0iT3gQ_41jegHljILbTEszXphfSlGMfsY&fref=nf This is a pleasant surprise. Price shown in another post was 898 Euros. Produktion der Frontmaske ist in vollem Gange Ab Mitte Januar sind sie dann lieferbar. Production of nose panel runs! From middle of january they will be available! Production of the front mask is in full swing They are available from mid-January. Production of nose panel runs! From middle of january they will be available! · Rate this translation

Hello everyone! I was fitting my new front fenders and noticed that the lower section on the drivers side was sticking out maybe 1/4 inch passed the nose cone.. upon further investigation I found that it had been pushed in about 1/4in on that side.. however upon further investigation there is some tweaked metal as shown in the pictures and I was wondering how I should attack straightening it out. some of the photos are of the passenger side for reference

Hey guys! Cleaned out the garage this weekend and came across this. I've been trying to find info on how to identify exactly what year this is for. It came with my car when I bought it about 5 years ago. Just looking at it , it appears to be for an older model 2002. Anybody have any ideas about the year this would fit? They may be all the same. No idea so far. Also This is for sale, just don't have enough info on it to list in classifieds yet. From what I remember it was mounted on a car and not days later car was rear-ended so they took it back off. That explains the un-neat edges. It is still good and useable! Just a little dirty. As you can see lights and horn hookups already installed. Thanks! Isaac

Today I removed the fenders to check and see how bad the rust is on the pillar. Not Bad!!! Great news. I was pretty anxious to tackle the leaded joint up front. I mean I have taken so many fenders off cars - dodge dart, plymouth valliant, vw Bug, (never a ghia though) and NONE of them had a leaded joint! OK so I started there first. ground off the paint to see only shiny metal - got out a pic and sure enough it was soft. Then I got out the heat! IMG_4566.MOV And sure enough there were the two welds folks spoke about - or

moving along this is to show the inner panel needed patching. Here are the panels from W&N - .0277 thick. p/n A41 35 1 855 113 Hood looks great... down to the metal Rear deck needed a bit more effort - was hard to close due to latch not properly tensioned - PO must have slammed his hands down on it one to many times Rear panel looking good too! Removed a bunch of extra bondo from PO Ahhhhh Agave paint chip check - using PPG, two stage. Body shop insist on PPG. QP work