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I took my engine out and decided to address the epic bodging in my car by a previous owner - I always knew about it - but at the time i last poked at it and it looked fairly solid - but its got a lot worse over the last two years.





this next pic shows the true extent of the bodge, the patch was way too thick to the metal they were welding it to - and also whats worse is that they didnt follow the countour of the chassis rail - instead they patched over the hole / rust and then filled the gap towards the inner wing with seam sealer - bodge it and scarper




now has been repaired and really nicely done too - given a temporary coat of etch primer.





which leads me nicely only the next horror lurking the dreaded "rust under the windscreen rubber" unfortuantely my car also has suffered a little from this too. my fabricator / welder guy is coming tomorrow to sort this out along with a patch on my rear arch lip just under the bumper mount (thanks to a mudlflap!) some idiot has previously had this windscreen out and then used some Kurust and filler to repair the screen corners, they probably bought a couple of years of time but it wasnt a repair that was good enough but it could have been a lot worse.




ill post up pics tomorrow evening when the windscreen corners have been done.
Things to come

New engine - 2.8 24v with US spec m3 cams and the obligitory m50 intake and big bore throttle body.
Changing the braking system - going to get rid of the stupid servo
Smooth and clean engine bay (no brackets and fresh paint)

I hate boodges like this, to the average punter it adds no value as the car will look the same as it did before you fixed it. Some times I think it best to start with a rust bucket because at least you now what lie's ahead. I don't think there is one bit on my e21 I have not redone that was done by the previous owner and I bought it believing it had been fully restored (with photos) and was a rot free shell.

I keep saying this but apart from the odd e21 that hasnt actually been ON a road I can safely say that there is NO SUCH THING as a mint E21. not anywhere in the world. theres something wrong with all of them..

My car is 95% solid and once i have sorted these bits and bobs out - it can again hang out with the mintest of them. I have now been out and discovered theres a couple of more bits i have found today that need sorting.

this is what happens when you have a mudflap



Check out this bodging effort!!! i had to laugh though when i saw this. "Metal" filler and to reinforce it had some metal doo-dab in there. I would love to ask which previous owner decided that this would be sufficient .





I just discovered that my car hasnt ever been "undersealed" with that nasty tar like stuff, its actually still wearing the original factory stonechip that was then painted over in the factory colour. thats probably a good thing as that means that if i get the dirt off ill be able to find more patches / dodgy crap

passenger side (the drivers side was just like this)



after giving it a really good going over with some "gunk" degreaser and a blast with my pressure washer




I couldnt get some of that crud off - A steam cleaner is now going to be hired to clean the underside / rest of my arches. Glad my footwells look great!

It'll be well worth the effort Nas - but sure you know that.

As Jason said, even 'restored' shells end up needing attention. If I had the cash I'd have a shell dipped, new metal and then chemically treated to protect it.

The best original shell I've seen is the TWR (apart from the recent ''paintwork'') but that sat inside for over 20 years, whereas other cars have been used.

Anyway, keep at it mate. It'll be awesome once done.

Nice work there. Will be good to know your driving a structurally sound car after your done. Never ceases to amaze me the corrosion you guys suffer over there. Even on relatively new cars too... Lots of mk1/mk2 escort get sent from Australia back to UK every year, im surprsied a few e21's haven't found there way back over.

Whats your plan for the brakes this time round?

Hi .Nige Hope you been keeping well mate.

Well the plan for the brakes are mini cooper S front discs (294mm) and a four pot calipers off something jap. My old fd3s had awesome brakes and a set of four pots is next to nothing off one of them. I was going to use the wilwood power lites on the rear with vented rear disks off a 325ix e30... As I am 80% sure they are bolt on.


The pedal box is getting binned. I saw your idea and it looked good. But I am going to fit a bias pedal box instead made by optimum balance here in the UK. Its a 6.1 ratio and should be a nice challenge !
Its salt on the roads in winter that kills cars. I avoid driving my bmw in it as its just not good for it.

I'm not suprised people are getting mk1/Mk2 esco from there. Has to be cheaper than buying and restoring one here.

Good to see you getting in there and sorting it out, at least you will know its done to a high standard, It would be nice to see that engine bay sparking and fresh with new engine in. from the start of tread it is one of the mintist of e21, to me, Well All the best.

Good work you're doing to your E21! You got some nasty rust there. Seeing that rust makes me scared of the rust my car must have underneath

Lol cheers.. I know what you mean. I was scared too take my screen out but glad I did before it got worse.

Actually I have seen a lot worse tbh.

My car is just a little frilly round the edges... Ill be able to sort it no worries. No bodging either!!

Soo the repair was done. All the old crud was cut out and fresh metal welded in.

I only have one pic for now... But both sides were done.. the only welding left is that crusty bit where the mudflap was, the back end of the sill and the engine bay needs the holes where bolts went welding up..



This arrived today too. Looks like it will fit nicely just needs some clever mounting.

Same pedal box that I used in the 30 m3

Do you need to strengthen the floorpan before bolting it in?

Well It looks like the one I used so it is a top mout type with the masters in the cockpit, and it was more of a days fabrication to the bulkhead to form a frame the pedal box bolts to rather than bolt in.

The one thing i would say Nas for the brake light switch get a m10 hydralic one from CBS online and rather than use a 3 way tee for the front brakes get a 4 way and use one port for the brake switch. Other wise you need to make a bracket to hold the electric switch and it is a bugger to get right.

Also run flexibles from the master outles to the hard line with banjo bolts on the master as it makes getting the cylinders in so much easier. I had a bais bar and rear bais valve, I would at least go with the bais valve and mount it in the engine bay so you can reuse most of the existing brake lines.

Yea I've spent some days now just trying to figure out my master sizes. Gone for 0.7 front 0.7 rear and 0.75 clutch.

The difficult bit is the part where I make the mounting.. I'm not going to modify the bulk head instead I was going to use the old pedal box as a sort of template.... First I have to get the position right to my liking....

I have old steel lines and ordinary rubber flexers so ill be changing these to copper and braided to help brake feel.

My brakes probably won't match the full power of the servo at slow speeds. i hope that when I work out my 300mm kit it will be better then the flexing stock assembly.

Id found that hydraulic brake switch.. Comp brake do the rest of the kit on ebay for a bargain...

Check out this item I found on eBay: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1006906813

So tomorrow the welding guy is coming back to weld up unused holes in my engine bay and the rust damage on my rear arch as well as that bodge on my rear sill.

Btw I mentioned that 325ix rear disks are vented. It turned out they aren't.. Forget I said that!!

Your master sizes seem wrong as you need more pressure to the front.

As for vented disks buy my 5 stud to run e34 rears. Or use 325ix touring rears

http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E30/T ... ad_sensor/