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Found more rust this evening.

On the join of the inner wing and the wheelarch.



It could be worse, fortunately, it's generally pretty localized rust when I do find it.

Also tried to take the damper off but the hub assembly wouldn't come away from the control arm ball joint.

How would I get this off? A long ball joint splitter?

They tend to get really stuck. And since you won't be able to use that one anyhow I'd go for more firepower with a balljoint fork like this one:



it may help to give it a lot of WD40 or alike the night before, helps dissolve the rust inside.

Any reason I won't be able to use that one again?

If it needs replacing, doesn't that mean I'll need a new control arm (they're all one piece aren't they???)

Because you completely ruined the thread on it? Get a new one and you'll have fresh bushes as well which means much less chance of the dreaded front suspension shimmy. They're not that expensive but you can always fit a used example if you want.

Indeed use a splitter and some heat with a flame or paintstripper.

I used to untight the nut a bit, spray lotts of penetrating fluid (WD40) and then heat it up. with a fair amount of hammer hitting the nut will be getting loose.

Got the car back on all fours yesterday.

Arches cleared of underseal now:



Also got a shot of the car without a front bumper. Quick PS of it with the holes on the lower panel smoothed off:

Bought these the other day:



They were cheap, so pretty happy.

They need a full refurb though, but all in good time

I just love that front valance on the early cars.Its much more subtle than the later type.
Nice Eddie,i like it.

Some parts arrived this weekend

New front wings, and repair panels for the lower rear quarter.

(piss poor iPhone camera)



Yet again, this whole 'E21 thing' has come up with a pleasant surprise.

I ordered the parts from Wallothnesch. Along with the wings came their brochure, which is potentially one of the handiest things I've had yet for this car:





Parts diagrams for the entire car. Everything is listed, and at the back it's all priced up.

Tremendous

Their parts catalog can come in handy indeed, even though its based on the oem parts manual you can also find online on www.realoem.com or www.bmwfans.info

Yep, while I know the diagrams are widely available elsewhere, I sometimes find getting accurate prices can be tricky.

Their catalogue has a full price list at the back, so it makes life easier in that sense.

I like organisation I guess!

Eddie. wrote:Yep, while I know the diagrams are widely available elsewhere, I sometimes find getting accurate prices can be tricky.

Their catalogue has a full price list at the back, so it makes life easier in that sense.

I like organisation I guess!

Make sure that you refresh the pricelist sometimes because that can change from time to time. Just download from their site.

Tonight saw the start of the final push to have the car ready for Saturday.

Windows removed, rubbers, seals and trims all removed. Sunroof and door hardware has also all be taken off the car.









Also, the all important areas are free of any corrosion.

Lower windscreen corner:





The rear windows are also completely fine.

Next few evenings will be busy ones, but it's all very exciting now

Amazing, no bad surprises. Great news! Good luck preparing for the weekend!

So the brownmobile went to the paintshop this morning.









My mate and his dad trailered it there for me





Very excited now