Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

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dave9118
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

olympia57 wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 7:23 pm How are you getting on with the welding and body repairs ?
Slowly! I now have my generator set up, and bits are slowly coming off of it, but I want to get the tank off before welding or grinding. I'm still in consultation with fuerst Autoteile about the totally out of shape wheel arches and trying to get replacements for those.

I'm also going to level the car up before I start cutting which isn't as easy as it sounds.

Progress is slow, but I'm getting there bit by bit. Once all my ducks are in a row I think it'll move quite quickly!
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

Also, got a new tank from Schmiedmann for £200 on offer... none of this £700 pish Drew Pritchard was on about. No one will see it, who cares if it's aftermarket???
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randall977
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by randall977 »

Looks good - £250 isn't bad at all. Any photos of the underside of your car etc?
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

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randall977 wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 12:32 pm Looks good - £250 isn't bad at all. Any photos of the underside of your car etc?
I bought it on offer with free UK delivery in that price too!

I'll get some pics of the underside, although there's not much to see. It's been underbody sealed or something which is starting to lift off. This has been put over the original factory coating in some areas. Not sure how that works...
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

Billie's arrived today. Looking forward to replacing the tired stock suspension!
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

olympia57 wrote: Tue Jan 15, 2019 6:40 pm The anomalies of owning a series one .

Having an '86 will allow you to punch in both VINs into http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do?lang=en which will open a wide new world to your eyes.....
If I can offer one piece of advice it would be to check and double check everything before you order parts .
Yep. The curse of the E12/E24 variants strikes again!
I'm trying to replace the two rusty high beam inserts on it. It would appear that they are the E12 inserts... But they have the same numbers on the lenses as my '86!!!

The fun continues... :roll:
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dave9118
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

Wow, nice and shiny genuine Hella high beam inserts to replace the rusty ones. Lovely!
This one was £33 on eBay. I also purchased a NOS one for a tenner. A good little buy! \:D/

Certainly beats the hell out of the £112 for the same article on the '86!!
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

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This is the view of the right inner wing from today. Progress was halted by someone helpfully tack welding the wing to the nose... :x

The condition of these isn't good. Touch and go whether I bother repairing them! :(
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by randall977 »

Sorry to see so much corrosion - could you get some used sections from one of the breakers on eBay? Headlights are nice - same as mine, much cheaper than the later ones.
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

A real shame as the rest of the car is in pretty good shape. I'm debating whether to do new inner wings or not, but that's pushing the budget a bit and I haven't laid a lick of paint yet.

Yeah really good result on the lights... amazed they're still so cheap!
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by olympia57 »

I have to say Dave, with the greatest respect , that the poor condition of those front inner wings would prompt me to conduct a thorough strip down and detailed survey as I'd be astonished if they weren't indicative of heartbreak over the horizon.
I'd personally put the purchase of shiney new things on hold until I got the shell sorted, or at least became familiar with every cavity and orifice......
Good luck.
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by sansouci »

If the front end be bad, what can we hope from the rear?
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

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Sound advice, and I have had my bodywork and paint guy look over the car as a precaution. The rest of the car is in remarkably good nick. Even the wheel arches are pretty good! It looks like the front end took the worst of the weather where it was stored. There is also a hole in the roof, but away from the sun roof so no major work there.

The front end looks dramatic, agreed, but I expected as much, because you could see holes even before the wings came off.

Hopefully get some decent fabrication in there soon and you'll see a big difference...
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

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These are on eBay for 200 squids. Worth a punt or more sensible to stump up the extra cash and get newly reconditioned units?
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by randall977 »

Glad to hear that you're not put off from repairing the car - I've restored much worse (not a 6). I'm not that familiar with the brake servos - I always struggled to stop the Girling ones from leaking after rebuilding them - but maybe these are better.
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

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Buy recon ones if you can find the correct rated ones ,2002 are not , MB's are different....
I looked all over the world for a set of seals , from West Coast USA to NZ to DE and there was one that just wasn't available.
Don.
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

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olympia57 wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2019 8:12 pm Buy recon ones if you can find the correct rated ones ,2002 are not , MB's are different....
I looked all over the world for a set of seals , from West Coast USA to NZ to DE and there was one that just wasn't available.
Don.

I've found two companies that recondition these for between £275 and £375. I've never tried to take one apart myself so didn't know how much of a black art it was. But you're saying that it's possible to do yourself providing the correct seals can be obtained?
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

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randall977 wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2019 8:05 pm Glad to hear that you're not put off from repairing the car - I've restored much worse (not a 6). I'm not that familiar with the brake servos - I always struggled to stop the Girling ones from leaking after rebuilding them - but maybe these are better.
As long as it's mainly solid metal I'm confident I can patch it up. It wouldn't stand up to purist scrutiny but it'll look right from the outside!

Failing that, my bodywork guy will save my ass. He's restored panels that look like lace! :wink:
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

dave9118 wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:11 pm
olympia57 wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2019 8:12 pm Buy recon ones if you can find the correct rated ones ,2002 are not , MB's are different....
I looked all over the world for a set of seals , from West Coast USA to NZ to DE and there was one that just wasn't available.
Don.

I've found two companies that recondition these for between £275 and £375. I've never tried to take one apart myself so didn't know how much of a black art it was. But you're saying that it's possible to do yourself providing the correct seals can be obtained?
Perhaps that's why they're not selling at £200...?
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

Typically, I haven't had the chance to do much work on the '81 with work and a new dog, and now I'm having to put things back on it to allow me to transport it once my new lock up is ready. Still buying stuff though, and I just wanted to share this for anyone doing a project;

This is a new genuine fuel filler flap from BMW. I've searched for used replacement ones of these on eBay and they generally sell for around £30. I had a lucky escape when I bought one from Germany at around £35 posted, only to get a message saying the guy couldn't find it, so gave me a refund.

The genuine article in the picture is £18.82 + vat...
Always worth checking! :o
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

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Right, so the build's gone on hold while I sort out her new home, but in the meantime, I've seen an Epco engine crane locally for reasonable cash. The thing is that it's only rated to one tonne...

Is this going to be sufficient to remove a 6 cylinder engine and box? Anyone?
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by hornhospital »

It would be nice to have a 1.5 or 2 ton ("tonne") unit, but the 1 ton is adequate. The engine and transmission together weigh less than half a ton.
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dave9118
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

Thanks Hornhospital :o
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dave9118
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by dave9118 »

Am I expecting too much when in the market for replacement doors?

I've found these recently and the chap has sent me extensive images of the rust in the bottom, which he tells me is an easy fix. Now I'm thinking; if I have to weld a set of doors anyway, do I just get stuck in and do my own?

He wants £180 for the pair!

Thoughts?
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Re: Poor old '81 635... can we rebuild her???

Post by ron »

You do know the doors are slightly different from early to late? The difference is on the inner skin.
They are ALWAYS rustier than you thought!!!!!!
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