I've bought Bernie's E28 RHD M5 - Page 13

Bayerische · 21st October 2007, 01:25

Thats good news, I admire the amount of effort you are putting in to the restoration and can almost feel your frustration with the lack of progress but it looks like your over the hump now. I can't wait to see Diamond Diana at the next meet finished in her new finery. It will be a great car when its done and to use an old cliche nothing good ever came easy. Thanks for posting the pics its great to watch her come back to life again.

Regards,

Bayerische

davidoli · 21st October 2007, 08:54

Thanks Guys ....Essex Boy , I will be talking to the bodyshop about undersealing and suitable methods and will be taking the opportunity to have her well protected for the coming years !

Bayerische , thanks for your words of encouragement ....... this restoration malarky can try ones patience !

Gurman , I am seriously concerned about your state of mind ...... the lights are on yet nobody appears to be at home !

cookiemonster · 21st October 2007, 21:29

daveyboy
looking good the mig welder is plenty big enough ,and the welding looks good no birdshit cowboy stuff.
undersealing the best company by far in the uk is before an after .location newbury berks.
they steamclean the underside,
dried in special booth .
and clean it and the chassis rails etc with the stuff they clean the harrier jump jet engines out.and then waxoyl injected.
belive me the money you are spending on repairs ,it is well worth the cost .
comes with a five year guaranttee ,if any rust shows in that time ,
go back full a free of charge retreatment.

all the best cookie

davidoli · 21st October 2007, 21:52

Nice 1 Cookie .....drop me an email with their details .....

D

davidoli · 10th November 2007, 19:51

Neil kindly decided to give up his Saturday and kick on with some more welding of Diamond Diana .......

Today was the turn of the rear jacking points which are a touch more awkward due to the presence of the large bean can type bushes :

Neil had to fabricate a few different plates and began his work with a small sill repair :

His fitness and boxing experience certainly result in him not being afraid of hard , dirty work :

One corner down , just one to go .....once this lot has been red oxided and undersealed it will be as tidy as the factory finish but stronger :

A couple more good days like today and we should be ready to trailer her back to the bodyshop for the wings and new driver's door . I am so grateful to Neil who has started the ball rolling again and rekindled my enthusiasm .

No 66 down for a well earned night's rest :

essex boy · 14th November 2007, 21:52

Its coming on nicely, looking forward to your next instalment!

Mfiver · 18th November 2007, 00:43

David,

You deserve a medal for posting all this. I think it's marvellous, seeing the warts-and-all photos with such clear detail.

If anyone is wondering what to look for when buying an E28, they could spend a very profitable half an hour carefully studying these!

I was interested to see the photos of the OSF wing repair on Diamond Davina (013, other thread). There should be a big drain hole in the base of the wing (in the horizontal section) about 15mm in diameter. This often gets filled up with crud (because it's unseen behind the plastic splash plate) so the wing goes poxy at the bottom.

On my old M535i someone had incorrectly filled it with a rubber grommet. This component should have gone in the hole in the front end of the sill: it took me a while to find out why the carpets were getting wet (one of the first jobs I had done was the toeboards, i.e. round the throttle pedal and the same place on t'other side, so I knew it wasn't that). When I took the splash plate out there was a virtually solid lump of crud about 2 inches deep in the bottom of the wing.

The crud creeps round the rubber seal on the splash plate (they don't necessarily fit too well) - the seal can often be perished after all this time.

The heater plenum also drains into the area behind the splash plate and of course this means you get debris such as rotting leaves if the car has spent plenty of time parked outside - most have. This can help fill the drain hole.

Anyway....thank you and please keep up the good work!

Regards

Mfiver

davidoli · 18th November 2007, 10:49

Much appreciated Mfiver ....... It's amazing how many things spring to light as you go around the car , section by section , and drive them around .

When I acquired Diamond Diana ( No 66 ) she had been a daily driver for the previous owner , covering approx 8,000 miles per year . She'd had regular maintenance and major parts such as a new gearbox etc .

However , she had not had TLC and a proactive nurturing maintenance regime ........ hence the works required now !

I am , in a perverse way , enjoying the restoration and my in depth knowledge of these hand built beauties is increasing by the day !

p.s. Thanks for your additional tips !

Mfiver · 18th November 2007, 23:27

Credit where credit's due!

The thing about the rot caused by crud behind the splash plate, it's such an easy thing to prevent. Unfortunately until a car gets into the hands of an enthusiast, such attention is rarely given.

Of course it's a bit late in this case but for others....

For right side, turn car on full right lock, remove 2 x 8mm hexagon-head self-tappers and out it comes. Clear out crud, check rubber grommet is present in end of sill then wash it all out with a hose and scrubbing brush. Replace splash plate and repeat on other side but with full left lock.

The drain holes in the sills are also well worth doing - a straightened paperclip is good but try not to break through the underseal/anti-chip coat. The 'holes' are in fact little raised sections in the inner sill pressing.

On my old M535i I managed to bung these up with an over-enthusiastic application of Waxoyl (thinned with white spirit to make it more mobile and applied on a hot day....). Subsequently I had to keep clearing them on hot days (when the wax softened and flowed into the drain holes) to stop the sills filling up with water.

Of course at first I knew it couldn't possibly be the drain holes because I'd cleared them out first. Then after laboriously drying the carpets twice whilst becoming increasingly baffled I noticed a tiny blob of wax under the sill on a hot day. Then the penny dropped....

Regards

Mfiver

davidoli · 19th November 2007, 09:48

One is never too old to learn !

Thanks again MFiver !