Patcon

So the metal thickness in the front frame rails is still good? Whenever I see rust thru in the reinforcing plates, the front frame rails tend to have gotten pretty thin. My wife is from Texas and there is no shortage of guys who are good welders there. You will be proficient in no time. Just use a good machine or it can be frustrating especially on the thin metal in these cars. Charles

Stud welder is the way to go. It will take a number of close welded studs and work from the outside in towards the center of the dent. If the metal is good and not thinned out by corrosion a stud welder should work fine. Drilling holes is a bad idea because this area of the hood tends to get water up into the structure and the holes will rust from the back side if you don't weld them closed. To drill out the spot welds and open the structure up will require a lot of drilling because you don't want to stretch the pieces to get access because they won't go back the way you want when you try to reassemble it. You will probably have to do some filler work because this is a very hard area to work on and it will be very difficult to get it perfectly smooth... Charles

So it appears you cut the end off the jet tubes and threaded them. What did you use for jets to thread into the modified tube? Charles

Sorry about the paint job not turning out the way you thought it would. Paint work is time consuming and time is money unless they work for free. I would not be happy about all the over spray, though. It is a simple thing to protect some of these areas with light gauge poly sheeting. It is surprising how many things show up when pretty shiny paint is laid down. C

FYI be careful with the AC parts in the footwell. I have found they can be brittle after 40+ years and are not easily repaired or replaced... Charles

I have started dealing in BMW Z3's at my dealership. I have a 2001 BMW M roadster that has front end damage. We will be repairing it soon. I am looking forward to driving that one. 315 HP M3 motor only available in the USA for 2 years. Aught to scoot... C

Good idea, very sharp. I will be doing this soon. Thanks for the tip... Charles

I think welding is a bad idea. A good welding program can probably do it without blowing themselves up (i.e. clean the tank, nitrogen purge etc.) but the coating on the inside will burn or char and if the metal has pinholes it will be hard to weld on it with out burning more holes in the thin metal of the tank. I had pin holes like this on one of my f-350's tanks where mud had collected on the tank and rusted pinholes in it. I got some stuff from advance auto. I believe it was called goop. It is a fuel safe product in a tube where the sealants are in the store. I put a couple of coats over the area on my tank with it empty of fuel. That was years ago, leaks never came back...I drive it nearly every day. Charles

I love seeing great fabrication work. I have a great appreciation for this skill set after having tried my hand at some easier welding jobs. I am very good with my hands but fabricating panels at this level is much harder than it seems. Beautiful work... Charles

Bart, The car I am working on has the same sealant around the intake hat. I believe that black sealant is the factory sealant. It was piled up thick like yours was on the fire wall side. I used 3m seam sealer to seal up all of the cowl area seams and to go over the factory sealant around the hat. Charles

Is it possible that the exhaust heat is caused by something else? wrong mixture or improper timing? Just thinking out loud... Charles

Like the engine bay, very clean and the gloss black cover is a neat touch... Charles

Bart, There are six or seven spot welds around the intake cover. Drill those out and the cover will come out in one piece. You still won't have great access to the area between the vent stack and the firewall but with a good light you can see most of it. I did this on a restoration so I could seal all that up and epoxy prime those areas. Charles

The limited slip can be checked in a gentler manner. With both rear wheels off the ground spin one tire forward. If the opposite tire spins in the opposite direction it is an open diff, if it spins in the same direction it is a limited slip... Charles

I was hoping you had a picture of the hot UPS delivery lady... now I'm disappointed. The drums are pretty cool though. What makes them superior to standard aluminum drums? C

I was hoping you had a source. All I have seen is poly replacements. I haven't seen any rubber steering couplers for sale. NIX240z can you mold these in the correct material? Charles

That's wheel is just plain silly. The dude in the blue coat has some serious hair going on... C

Fresh water floods aren't so bad; salt water floods not so good. If everything dries out good you may get out ok... Charles

I did a lot of research looking for a high solids floor epoxy. It is very chemically resistant but if you slide something heavy like a tranny it will scratch it right off the concrete. I etched my concrete before the first coat. If you want to grind your floor Sunbelt rentals here in the US have floor grinders for rent. They offer the stones in carbide and diamond you have to buy the stones. The latter being way more expensive and faster. C

Where did you source a rubber steering coupler? C

I agree. I hate the way the new Google works and their new algorithms are playing havoc with website search results. I also despise having to click twice to get to maps, finance or news versus the one click before. That is not progress. I agree with Bart that it could be the NSA... C

I love Japanese tools especially their hand saws. They make a special saw for every cut imaginable... C

I used an epoxy floor finish in my floor ("color chips" I believe...). It will chip if abused but almost no chemicals will touch it. It looks a lot like the rustoleum kits but higher solids... Lots of outlets is good. I like the alternative energy approach where it makes financial sense... Charles

I hate it, but I'm too far away sounds like fun...

I don't know needle numerology so what is the stock needle. What kind of step in needle size relatively did you make? Charles