** Acme [Akagi] bought a pink estate car - E30 325i project log! **

It's good that you're trying to fix it, but, the holes in those welds and that hammer smashed...christ I'd not want that work on my car. It's going to rust out again in nearly all of those spots and probably more. :(
 
It's good that you're trying to fix it, but, the holes in those welds and that hammer smashed...christ I'd not want that work on my car. It's going to rust out again in nearly all of those spots and probably more. :(

Better than if I tried to do it! Its not a 10/10 job but a 10/10 job would be thousands for all this work...

No the welds aren't perfect, some bits are worse than others, but will be fine once the welds are all seam sealed and stone chipped, or ground back and filled over and painted (depending on where they are), and the cavities are all waxed.

If the welds were a work of art, I wouldn't seam seal them all. But theyre not. So every single bit gets smeared with seam sealer, whether it has holes in or not... Do not want this bitch going rotten on me again, for years.
 
Last edited:
I know what you are saying Acme, but it doesn't take any effort to knock up a slightly smoother patch than that - it's not like it's harder to hit a piece of metal with a round headed hammer than a flat headed one. It's just using the right tool in the first place.
 
I know I know. I wont be recommending Dave to people unless they just need a simple patch or something, but its good enough and it was hard finding someone reasonably competent who would do it on my driveway.
 
Well, turns out I'm a bit **** with filler, so I'm just skimming the welds with it and sticking two coats of primer on so that the welds are actually covered up, and then will have to rub it back and get someone who knows what theyre doing to help somewhen... :p
 
Have you treated the welds and bare metal before whopping the bodge arl ower?

Several people say its fine to stick the filler over the bare metal, so I do it, and THEN someone comes along and asks this.....

Sigh.....

Treated how..? It was previously sitting in primer, I took it back to bare metal, cleaned it, and then applied filler. I thought filler was best applied to bare metal so it adheres better?
 
Several people say it's fine. One person on here shares their experience on how to do it, you change your mind.

Come on man just do it the way you want to do it.
 
I have lots of experience with rust :D I reckon it would be fine in hot countries or for a garage car that comes out on weekends.

In my mind I want to be protecting the metal the best I can. Whenever I’ve chipped off lifted filler, it’s always been bare underneath and the rust/water has got behind it.
 
Yeah but I did some searching after reading what vanpeebles said and people do recommend painting it or coating it in something first... :(

I thought, with the weld being in a waxed cavity, it would be OK to just fill over it and paint, but I dunno.
 
Can you actually see the weld?

Well, no, on the one side it is inside the sill, which has been cavity waxed. On the other side, it has been fillered and painted over, having first been wire wheeled and cleaned.

Its not the tidiest job though hence my saying that at some point it will get sanded back a bit and have someone who has a delicate touch, do it neatly.
 
That would be great if they were the sort of welds that allowed for them to be ground flat. They are lap joins. And the welds go all perforated if I grind them back too much....... Bloody useless.
 
Back
Top Bottom