bmwe21.net forums

cobbler2u wrote:Hi Welcome
Looks like a nice car. You planning of keeping it standard.

For the time being, probably.

I might well change the suspension for more modern coilovers, while keeping the standard ride height. For now my priority is bodywork (and anything I find mechanical wise along the way)

Long term, it might see some "lows" although I hate that phrase with a passion. I would also love to do an engine conversion, but I would want to do it in such a way that the car can be returned to standard, fairly easily and leaving no trace of the non standard engine ever being there, if that makes sense? That's all a long way off though.

I detailed the car yesterday, it was freezing and time was not on my side, so I didn't get chance to get many pictures, so I'll pop out today and try and grab some decent ones

Also, these turned up:



I know they,re not strictly legal, so I'll carry a spare set of legal ones in case I get an eager police officer.

Really enjoying the car up to now, it feels really nice to drive, certainly puts a smile on your face!

Nice to hear you're having fun with it!

Yesterday saw me spend the entire day working on the car, the plan was to get the interior stripped out, so I could locate a leak that is causing moisture on the drivers side carpet.

I went to start the car so I could move it in front of the garage, but of course, in standard fashion, it wouldn't start.

So I pushed it over to the garage, and went about finding the problem.



Some friends came over to give me a hand with it, we started by checking the fuel lines, they seemed fine, so I tried starting it, and voila, it started. Possibly I flooded the engine with fuel with my multiple attempts, then it drained? I dunno.

Anyway, now that the engine was fine, we started on the interior.

Once we had the seats and the carpet out, the extent of the leak was apparent. We took the sound deadening off which was saturated in water:

(sorry for the diabolical iPhone camera)



And you can see the water damage is contained to the drivers side:



Anyway, time was pressing on so we never found where the water is coming in from, but now the interior is out, I'm happy.





I wanted to fit my black and silver plates, but again, there was no time, so I'll have to do that in the dark this week at some point

Also, and more concerningly, there is a crack/hole in the passenger footwell, looks to be a weld seam that has torn and gone rotten, so that will need cutting out and welding. Not the end of the world, but still not what I wanted to find of course.

So it's got a drivers seat and a top dash, and that's pretty much it now!

Onwards and upwards!

I guess there's always something to be done on a 30+ year old car, but sofar this isn't too bad I guess!

It may be good to hop in after a rainstorm to try and locate the source for the water leak. Some suggestions:

- bad windshield gasket, means water coming from above behind the dash
- water holes at the bottom of the door clogged
- no plastic behind door card or not glued properly
- lacking rubber ring around the hole for the wiring for the door mirror

Of course the hole you found may be a source as well!

If the car has a sunroof, the hoses for draining the water may be clogged or may have come loose inside the front arches, or the seal around the sunroof metal plate may be letting too much water through. It doesn't have to be water tight and almost never is, but if there's a big opening there's just too much water being let in.

Good luck with the search and keep us posted on your findings!

Thanks mate,

I think the sunroof itself is okay, as the headlining shows no sign of water damage at all.

The drainage pipe is almost certainly blocked though, because when I poured some water down the drivers side drain, it barely came out at the bottom of the car (I don't even know where it's supposed to go)

Can I get to the drainage pipe? Is it accessible via removal of some panels?

My plan is to remove the rest of the interior (dash, door cards, headlining) and get someone to hose the car down heavily, with me in it, that way I can hopefully find the leak/s.

Windscreen seal is another one I think it might be, around the pedals/on the upright section of the bulkhead, it was drenched, literally the worst bit, so it could be coming in on one side of the windscreen and running down the bulkhead.

The hole is over on the passenger side footwell, and is very very small, so I doubt it's that.

Thanks

hey mate

how did you find it removing the carpet?

i really want to take mine out to see how it looks under there and mainly to clean it also!

byza213 wrote:hey mate

how did you find it removing the carpet?

i really want to take mine out to see how it looks under there and mainly to clean it also!

It was a doddle. Here's a quick walkthrough of what I did.

- Door seals, and inside sill trim removed.
- Seats removed from mounts.
- Seat slider controls removed from mounts.
- Seatbelts/seatbelt clips removed.
- Gearstick/handbrake gaitor removed.
- Accelerator pedal disconnected from mechanism.
- Glovebox removed.
- Centre console removed.

It then came out without too much fuss. Little bit of pulling and twisting here and there, but on the whole it just pops out.

Give us a shout if you need any more help.

Found the cause of the water ingress:



Behind the pedals. Not the end of the world, just needs cutting out and welding.

Also took the dash out to inspect the bulkhead behind it. Looks good tbh, no rust at all.



Progress is going well up to now. Just need to take the rear seats out and inspect behind them, then get the interior 100% watertight.

Loving having something to work on!

Glad you found the cause, and even better the rest looks ok behind there!

Saw your car this morning whilst stick in traffic outside your house. Looks lovely. I live literally 1 minute away from you. Small world

Awesome mate!

If you fancy meeting up, I would love to meet some faces from the forum.

You mind if I ask roughly where you are in Sale?

pmd

So last night I got cracking with the '21 again. It was about -2°C last night, so the 500W lamps came in handy to provide some heat, as well as light!

The last of the interior:



And out:



Arches and panels intact









Door cards off too:



The passenger side door card has a rounded screw holding the armrest on, so I can't remove the card, I'll have to get a screw extractor on it to get it out

Anyway, I'm happy that there is no serious rust (granted I still have to remove the headlining!) and it appears that I only have a few areas that need welding to make it water-tight.

I'm hoping to take the rubber window seals out this weekend, so I can inspect behind them. Do they just peel off? Will the glass come out when I take the rubbers off, or will they be sealed in place?

Doesn't look too bad! If you don't have a sunroof, very little chance of rust there so better leave the headlining in then as it's quite a job to get it back in in a decent way.

Windows: just have a look in the FAQ section here. Rear sides are rust sensitive and the front windscreen and its seal. None of them are hard to remove.