Lugy's BMW 740I and friends
Discussion
Love the color combo on the E38 and the stance, stock ride height?, and boy., she cleaned up nice, need to give mine a good polish and an engine wash aswell, but to be honest I'm a bit scared to take the hose to the V12 in my case.. 
Might leave it to a detailing professional, then it's their problem if the thing doesn't start haha.
Might leave it to a detailing professional, then it's their problem if the thing doesn't start haha.
J4CKO said:
Loving the Saab, used to have one the same colour but mine was a 5 door, looks much better in 3 door form, classic shape.
I had a cooking spec 9-3 5 door a couple of years ago and would tend to agree, I think the 3 door is still a great looking car IMO.PowerslideSWE said:
Love the color combo on the E38 and the stance, stock ride height?, and boy., she cleaned up nice, need to give mine a good polish and an engine wash aswell, but to be honest I'm a bit scared to take the hose to the V12 in my case.. Might leave it to a detailing professional, then it's their problem if the thing doesn't start haha.
Yup, standard Alpina suspension, I'd imagine the Sport would have the same setup? Do you have a machine polished? The paint on mine is rock hard, would hate to attempt it by hand! Might leave it to a detailing professional, then it's their problem if the thing doesn't start haha.I was a bit skeptical of doing the engine, I usually do it on my cars but this was a bit scarier. Fortunately the M6x V8 has a great big plastic cover over most of the sensitive bits and generates a massive amount of heat to dry it off.
This might be of interest if you do decide to have a shot yourself; http://youtu.be/LESRJrB1L5I
sparks_E39 said:
How's your E38 doing for rust? I'm still after one. Apparently the earlier ones don't suffer as much.
For a 17 year old car it's really not bad at all, there's some slight bubbling on the front arches and one of the rear arches has a bit crusty-ness. It's going in to get these bits sorted soon while it's not a major issue. My gold one has been lying outside for a year and a half covered in god knows what and to be honest it's rusty parts have hardly got any worse. Lugy said:
Yup, standard Alpina suspension, I'd imagine the Sport would have the same setup? Do you have a machine polished? The paint on mine is rock hard, would hate to attempt it by hand!
I was a bit skeptical of doing the engine, I usually do it on my cars but this was a bit scarier. Fortunately the M6x V8 has a great big plastic cover over most of the sensitive bits and generates a massive amount of heat to dry it off.
This might be of interest if you do decide to have a shot yourself; http://youtu.be/LESRJrB1L5I
Haven't tried to machine polish mine yet, only had it a few weeks, but a mate of mine used to do that for a living, so I'll let him loose on the paint.I was a bit skeptical of doing the engine, I usually do it on my cars but this was a bit scarier. Fortunately the M6x V8 has a great big plastic cover over most of the sensitive bits and generates a massive amount of heat to dry it off.
This might be of interest if you do decide to have a shot yourself; http://youtu.be/LESRJrB1L5I
Yours actually looks a little more planted then mine does, bit I bet they share the same suspension setup.
Lugy said:
Yeah, yours does seem higher, maybe my springs are a bit more worn, though I'd expect that to make the car quite spongey which it isn't. Unless it's had different springs fitted at some point!
Yup, comparing the two yours seem a bit lower. But mine has the M-sport suspension on it, and that is the Alpina one, so it should be the same. Both look great however, and I'm on the hunt for the proper Style 37 wheels.Time for a sort of monthly update….
No disasters to report which is good, let’s start with the BMW. July started with a trip down to Thirelstane Castle for the Borders Vintage Rally, I had been entered with the Cavalier but as it needs work I swapped over to the BMW. It seemed to draw some positive comments which is always nice.
Next came a running repair. Occasionally after a cold start the car would run lumpy for a couple of minutes, then continue to run smooth as normal. No codes were showing so the next diagnosis was an air leak. There is a straightforward fix on Timm’s Meeknet site; http://www.meeknet.co.uk/E31/BMW_E31_840ci_Inlet_M...
You can see the washer added in the second picture.
Carry out this 10 times and hey presto, no more lumpy idle! Some weren’t great to get to but a simple enough job.
I’d booked my car in to get the rusty front wheel arches and rear offside arch sorted out last month so 2 weeks ago I dropped the car off, went on holiday and came back to find a lack of rust!
I’m very pleased with the job, the rust was ground away, the inside of the front wings were coated with stone-chip and then painted. It’s not perfect but it’s as good as I’d expect from a painter (by not perfect I mean it needs a light polish – I’m just being anal!).
I also joined the BMW Car Club and attended my first show with them at Moffat, again the car drew lots of positive comments.
And one extra photo, taken one nightshift as the sun was rising.
And now on to the Saab, which has been brilliant so far. It does actually feel quite sporty to be in and although it’s Cavalier based it’s actually really good to drive. It’s been treated to a little love too.
First of all I replaced the vacuum hoses with silicon, some of which were a little perished, it’s not turned it into a racing car but it’s hopefully prevented in future issues.
Next up I gave it a bit of a tidy up, nothing major, just a good clean inside and out, with the paintwork getting some Poorboy’s Black Hole to fill in some swirls and a coat of nice wax. I also tidied up the rear arches though this wasn’t the best job ever, I’ll need to revisit that! It’s still better than it was though.
Finally I fitted a service kit. I forgot how easy these cars are to work on, everything is a doddle.
Obligatory mid service shot.
So that’s it for now, both car’s are due their MOTs next month so both need a look over, the Saab needs a couple of tyres and I have a couple of cats to fit to the BMW. Hopefully if they’ve not emptied my wallet I’ll get the Saab Noobtuned too.
No disasters to report which is good, let’s start with the BMW. July started with a trip down to Thirelstane Castle for the Borders Vintage Rally, I had been entered with the Cavalier but as it needs work I swapped over to the BMW. It seemed to draw some positive comments which is always nice.
Next came a running repair. Occasionally after a cold start the car would run lumpy for a couple of minutes, then continue to run smooth as normal. No codes were showing so the next diagnosis was an air leak. There is a straightforward fix on Timm’s Meeknet site; http://www.meeknet.co.uk/E31/BMW_E31_840ci_Inlet_M...
You can see the washer added in the second picture.
Carry out this 10 times and hey presto, no more lumpy idle! Some weren’t great to get to but a simple enough job.
I’d booked my car in to get the rusty front wheel arches and rear offside arch sorted out last month so 2 weeks ago I dropped the car off, went on holiday and came back to find a lack of rust!
I’m very pleased with the job, the rust was ground away, the inside of the front wings were coated with stone-chip and then painted. It’s not perfect but it’s as good as I’d expect from a painter (by not perfect I mean it needs a light polish – I’m just being anal!).
I also joined the BMW Car Club and attended my first show with them at Moffat, again the car drew lots of positive comments.
And one extra photo, taken one nightshift as the sun was rising.
And now on to the Saab, which has been brilliant so far. It does actually feel quite sporty to be in and although it’s Cavalier based it’s actually really good to drive. It’s been treated to a little love too.
First of all I replaced the vacuum hoses with silicon, some of which were a little perished, it’s not turned it into a racing car but it’s hopefully prevented in future issues.
Next up I gave it a bit of a tidy up, nothing major, just a good clean inside and out, with the paintwork getting some Poorboy’s Black Hole to fill in some swirls and a coat of nice wax. I also tidied up the rear arches though this wasn’t the best job ever, I’ll need to revisit that! It’s still better than it was though.
Finally I fitted a service kit. I forgot how easy these cars are to work on, everything is a doddle.
Obligatory mid service shot.
So that’s it for now, both car’s are due their MOTs next month so both need a look over, the Saab needs a couple of tyres and I have a couple of cats to fit to the BMW. Hopefully if they’ve not emptied my wallet I’ll get the Saab Noobtuned too.
sparks_E39 said:
Looking good. Mind if I ask how much the rust repair to the arches set you back? I've got bubbling on one of my rears and want to sort it soon... 
It was £300 so £100 per arch I guess. Now looks like the time to get that sorted out before it gets too bad. Mind and make sure you clean behind the lip on the inside of the arches too, mud building up there doesn't seem to help very much!Lugy said:
It was £300 so £100 per arch I guess. Now looks like the time to get that sorted out before it gets too bad. Mind and make sure you clean behind the lip on the inside of the arches too, mud building up there doesn't seem to help very much!
Thanks, I've been quoted around £140 to sort it properly so seems about right.That's a really nice looking E38 you have there.
Time For this month’s updates, starting with the BMW, it started July with a trip down to the VBOA Rally at Billing in Northampton, quite an uneventful trip, with the car covering 750miles over the weekend and barely breaking a sweat. Strangely with the cruise set at 70mph it averaged 27mpg on the way down, on the way back with the cruise set at 95(insert unit of measurement here) it rose to 29mpg. Not exactly scientific and could have been down to the lighter payload (less Estrella!) but still!
Two weeks later the car was pointed south and headed towards Donington for a round of the British Truck Racing Championship. In terms of the racing, all I can say is wow. The TV coverage does them no justice at all, they’re now my favourite sounding vehicle and the racing is proper, the guys and girl aren’t shy when it comes to driving them. It now makes all other motorsport seem quite tame in comparison though.
Again, the car was flawless, even though a boat would have been better on the way back up the M1!
Finally, today it passed its MOT with only an advisory on tyres which was pretty good I thought. The tyres are surprisingly cheap for decent brands too so that’s next on the list I think.
On to the Saab, its MOT was due early in the month so that was my main priority. The dash was showing an ABS warning so that needed sorted, I got there eventually with a new N/S/F ABS sensor and a replacement ABS ECU which appeared to work, there’s a wiring issue somewhere though, which causes all the lights to come on then go off again, it’s very annoying but I’ll get to the bottom of it! It needed some tyres on the front too so it got a couple of Contisports which have made a big difference to how it can corner and accelerate now. After that, it passed with no problems.
Two weeks later the car was pointed south and headed towards Donington for a round of the British Truck Racing Championship. In terms of the racing, all I can say is wow. The TV coverage does them no justice at all, they’re now my favourite sounding vehicle and the racing is proper, the guys and girl aren’t shy when it comes to driving them. It now makes all other motorsport seem quite tame in comparison though.
Again, the car was flawless, even though a boat would have been better on the way back up the M1!
Finally, today it passed its MOT with only an advisory on tyres which was pretty good I thought. The tyres are surprisingly cheap for decent brands too so that’s next on the list I think.
On to the Saab, its MOT was due early in the month so that was my main priority. The dash was showing an ABS warning so that needed sorted, I got there eventually with a new N/S/F ABS sensor and a replacement ABS ECU which appeared to work, there’s a wiring issue somewhere though, which causes all the lights to come on then go off again, it’s very annoying but I’ll get to the bottom of it! It needed some tyres on the front too so it got a couple of Contisports which have made a big difference to how it can corner and accelerate now. After that, it passed with no problems.
2 months updates here....
Another month and yet again, nothing really to report with the cars.
The BMW hasn't really done a massive amount of miles, next month it should do a few more though, we're heading to Spa and then it'll be visiting it's home with a few days in Bavaria. It does need some tyres on the back so they've been ordered. Ended up sticking with the same type of Kumhos that are already on the car, couldn't fault them really, good dry/wet grip, quiet and decent wearing. Also had to order a front parking sensor and I've got some time on a ramp this weekend to fit the new catalytic converters I've had for ages, then a quick check over and we'll be good to go.
In the meantime, here's a couple of shiny pictures. I picked up some Autosmart Topaz from the man, definitely gets the seal of approval from me.
The Saab has been dodging away quite happily too but it's developed an intermittent ABS fault which looks like it's down to dry solder in the ABS ECU. I need to decide whether I can live with it or send it off to someone like BBA, the main issue being that when the fault is happening, it goes in to limp mode and limp boost!
I also had a go at repairing rust on the rear arch, it wasn't an instant success but after some wet sanding and a bit polishing, I'm fairly happy considering it was my first attempt with a spray gun and proper paint.
Picture is before flatting/polishing.
It also got some Topaz, it actually looks quite respectable when it's clean!
And finally, old Ubu the Cavalier was dragged out of the garage, had the new/old wheels I've had for about 10 years fitted and did a few laps of the garage.
Can't wait to actually get her sorted up, looking good and back on the road!
Oh, and a wee group photo....
September's update....
The BMW started the month needing some new back tyres, ended up getting a pair of Kumhos the same as what was on, decent price, good wear and good wet/dry grip. Also needed a new parking sensor on the front so that was seen to as well.
Then just a check over and we were on a wee roadtrip to Spa for the Historic Masters, Zolder for Truck Racing and a few days in Bruges.
Drove overnight to catch an early ferry...
Then straight to Spa, got stuck near Brussels in the aftermath of an accident for quite a while but still managed to get from Dunkirk to Spa in about 4 hours.
Didn't really take any pictures at Spa but got a couple of videos....
One here; Spa Historic Masters - YouTube, more uploading.
Zolder was quite a cool circuit though not too spectator friendly with high fences in most places.
Some impressive airbrushing on some trucks on the in-field;
Parked beside the "Atomium" in Brussels....
Bruges was quite pleasant, bit expensive though our hotel had a happy hour!
"It's a fairytale town, how can a fairytale town not be someone's ****ing thing?"
Then pointed back home where the car found a friend.
And waiting on our boat to come in.
All in we covered 1500 miles, the car was flawless and as you'd expect uber comfy. It even managed over 26mpg which was quite acceptable given how quickly we covered ground at times....
Back home, it wasn't looking so shiny so went back up to the garage and spent a couple of hours on it.
And a couple of stickers
The Saab has been plodding away as always, did need another ABS module but that's given me full boost all the time and no intermittent speedo/warning light problems.
I did go out for a wee run with some other Saab hoodlems, took this picture at the Cairn O'Mount somewhere near Aberdeen. I've got to say, for all the bad press the old 9-3s get, I'm really liking this car!
Another month and yet again, nothing really to report with the cars.
The BMW hasn't really done a massive amount of miles, next month it should do a few more though, we're heading to Spa and then it'll be visiting it's home with a few days in Bavaria. It does need some tyres on the back so they've been ordered. Ended up sticking with the same type of Kumhos that are already on the car, couldn't fault them really, good dry/wet grip, quiet and decent wearing. Also had to order a front parking sensor and I've got some time on a ramp this weekend to fit the new catalytic converters I've had for ages, then a quick check over and we'll be good to go.
In the meantime, here's a couple of shiny pictures. I picked up some Autosmart Topaz from the man, definitely gets the seal of approval from me.
The Saab has been dodging away quite happily too but it's developed an intermittent ABS fault which looks like it's down to dry solder in the ABS ECU. I need to decide whether I can live with it or send it off to someone like BBA, the main issue being that when the fault is happening, it goes in to limp mode and limp boost!
I also had a go at repairing rust on the rear arch, it wasn't an instant success but after some wet sanding and a bit polishing, I'm fairly happy considering it was my first attempt with a spray gun and proper paint.
Picture is before flatting/polishing.
It also got some Topaz, it actually looks quite respectable when it's clean!
And finally, old Ubu the Cavalier was dragged out of the garage, had the new/old wheels I've had for about 10 years fitted and did a few laps of the garage.
Can't wait to actually get her sorted up, looking good and back on the road!
Oh, and a wee group photo....
September's update....
The BMW started the month needing some new back tyres, ended up getting a pair of Kumhos the same as what was on, decent price, good wear and good wet/dry grip. Also needed a new parking sensor on the front so that was seen to as well.
Then just a check over and we were on a wee roadtrip to Spa for the Historic Masters, Zolder for Truck Racing and a few days in Bruges.
Drove overnight to catch an early ferry...
Then straight to Spa, got stuck near Brussels in the aftermath of an accident for quite a while but still managed to get from Dunkirk to Spa in about 4 hours.
Didn't really take any pictures at Spa but got a couple of videos....
One here; Spa Historic Masters - YouTube, more uploading.
Zolder was quite a cool circuit though not too spectator friendly with high fences in most places.
Some impressive airbrushing on some trucks on the in-field;
Parked beside the "Atomium" in Brussels....
Bruges was quite pleasant, bit expensive though our hotel had a happy hour!
"It's a fairytale town, how can a fairytale town not be someone's ****ing thing?"
Then pointed back home where the car found a friend.
And waiting on our boat to come in.
All in we covered 1500 miles, the car was flawless and as you'd expect uber comfy. It even managed over 26mpg which was quite acceptable given how quickly we covered ground at times....
Back home, it wasn't looking so shiny so went back up to the garage and spent a couple of hours on it.
And a couple of stickers
The Saab has been plodding away as always, did need another ABS module but that's given me full boost all the time and no intermittent speedo/warning light problems.
I did go out for a wee run with some other Saab hoodlems, took this picture at the Cairn O'Mount somewhere near Aberdeen. I've got to say, for all the bad press the old 9-3s get, I'm really liking this car!
That really is a gorgeous E38. I'm currently looking at E39 540is but the searches keep turning these up!
How do you find the tiptronic function on the gearbox? It will likely be my first auto daily after a decade of manuals, and I'd like to be able to have a play around with the gears when required
How do you find the tiptronic function on the gearbox? It will likely be my first auto daily after a decade of manuals, and I'd like to be able to have a play around with the gears when required
A wee update here from the last couple of months, nothing particularly exciting though!
October:-
It turns out that it was a year ago on Saturday that I picked up the BMW, I'm pleased to report that it's been a pleasant year. Strangely, given that it's not an everyday car, I've managed to rack up over 10k. Maybe someone has been using it when I'm not looking! In that time it's averaged 21.5mpg and not actually cost that much to keep running, I'm at a service kit, 2 catalytic convertors, 2 cam cover gaskets, 2 back tyres and a parking sensor so far. Also strange, is that I'm not bored of it, I look forward to going places in it, I still like how it looks and I'm not even bored of filling it up as often as it needs!
(Allegedly) It showed a stable, quiet 135mph (on a disused runway) the other day too, but then that's what it was designed to do I guess! It also never fails to impress those who set sail inside and even holds it's own on the twistier stuff.
Anyway, enough babbling on....
Not had to really do anything to it this month, just regular cleaning and another coat of wax (Dodojuice Blue Velvet this time).
Went along to a cars and coffee breakfast meet yesterday, took quite a few photos but most were rubbish (see my camera thread! Lol). A pro 'tog took this one though, my new favourite of the car and one I'll be buying from him!
And another from a recent BMW meet;
Now, you may remember there's a fourth car in the fleet, old Goldmember the original 7 series, I set myself the ultimatum that I had to do something about it so, the engine is out, I've got a big box of bits I've kept and now it just needs loaded onto the trailer so the wheels can come off then it can go off to the big scrapyard in the sky. Or China. I do still feel a bit guilty but it's sat so long that it'd need so much to put back on the road it's not really viable.
The Saab has been doing great as usual. I even made a couple of improvements.
Something that's been annoying me with this car has been the dash insert. It's a carbon one but as you can see, the 'carbon fibre' part want to part company with the plastic.
£6 was spent in the local breakers and now the dash looks like this;
I'm not the biggest fan of wood effect but this is miles better than what I had before and makes the interior less tatty!
Next up was new brakes all round, Mintex's brake box on the rear and a Brembo set up front.
Before....
I used some paint called 'Coo-Var' on the calipers which seems pretty good stuff but stupidly expected Hammerite spray can black for the discs which turned out crap. Should have stuck with the pound shop stuff I normally use! I'll most likely need to repaint them soon. Anyway, not the best job ever but better than rust. And they're red so it's faster. Or slower....
Before....
After....
Even before they're bedded in they seem better than the cheap crap it was wearing, hopefully my brake judder when they're toasty will be cured too.
And some final photos....
Hopefully, next month I'll have brought the Cavalier inside and made a start! In the meantime, I've been stocking up on tools and welding supplies for when I do.
November's:-
Time for this month's update, the BMW has been soldiering on as per normal, well mostly. Last week I used the car daily for a change but on Friday it took quite a few attempts to start, it would run for a couple of seconds then switch off. Eventually it got started and after initially running a bit rough it went back to running perfectly. Plugged in my computermibob which showed up a camshaft sensor issue. Good quality sensors are quite expensive but an easy fix! Few!
I've also swapped in a couple of bits from the Gold car (RIP!), nothing major but little touches that make a difference.
The original headlight switch had gone funky so changed that;
One of the rear doors was missing a lense for the puddle light;
Not anymore!
I also fitted the undertrays that had gone missing but forgot to take a picture.
And probably the best part, I stuck a PAYG in the phone and....
:lol:
I've started to come up with a plan to do some maintenance over winter too so will start to get in about that at some point.
The Saab has been running fine, it even managed a trip down to Brands with no complaints;
It got dirty;
It got cleaned;
I got some mats from the breakers, the cat wonders why I got cream ones;
And I treated it to a new head unit;
And finally, with the Gold car out the road, I brought the Cavalier back inside, with a view to getting it sorted.
Unfortunately the rust mice have been at it and seem to have had a good feed. I knew the rear sill areas on both sides needed attention but what I thought was a case of patch up the inner sills and weld on new outers has become somewhat more complicated.
It's much worse than anticipated, not great photos but you kind of get the idea;
Basically, it needs inner arches, outer arches, inner sills, outer sills and the sides of the floorpan rebuilt on both sides. That's before I inevitably find more problems, I know the floor pan at the front is soft.
I really don't know what to do, it's obviously going to be a substantial job to repair it properly though not impossible. However if I was going to go to that effort then I'd rather do it on something more desirable than an old Cavalier. I've thought about the reshell route but then it wouldn't be the same car. To be honest if I did condemn it, it would be fair to say I've had my money's worth out of it!
October:-
It turns out that it was a year ago on Saturday that I picked up the BMW, I'm pleased to report that it's been a pleasant year. Strangely, given that it's not an everyday car, I've managed to rack up over 10k. Maybe someone has been using it when I'm not looking! In that time it's averaged 21.5mpg and not actually cost that much to keep running, I'm at a service kit, 2 catalytic convertors, 2 cam cover gaskets, 2 back tyres and a parking sensor so far. Also strange, is that I'm not bored of it, I look forward to going places in it, I still like how it looks and I'm not even bored of filling it up as often as it needs!
(Allegedly) It showed a stable, quiet 135mph (on a disused runway) the other day too, but then that's what it was designed to do I guess! It also never fails to impress those who set sail inside and even holds it's own on the twistier stuff.
Anyway, enough babbling on....
Not had to really do anything to it this month, just regular cleaning and another coat of wax (Dodojuice Blue Velvet this time).
Went along to a cars and coffee breakfast meet yesterday, took quite a few photos but most were rubbish (see my camera thread! Lol). A pro 'tog took this one though, my new favourite of the car and one I'll be buying from him!
And another from a recent BMW meet;
Now, you may remember there's a fourth car in the fleet, old Goldmember the original 7 series, I set myself the ultimatum that I had to do something about it so, the engine is out, I've got a big box of bits I've kept and now it just needs loaded onto the trailer so the wheels can come off then it can go off to the big scrapyard in the sky. Or China. I do still feel a bit guilty but it's sat so long that it'd need so much to put back on the road it's not really viable.
The Saab has been doing great as usual. I even made a couple of improvements.
Something that's been annoying me with this car has been the dash insert. It's a carbon one but as you can see, the 'carbon fibre' part want to part company with the plastic.
£6 was spent in the local breakers and now the dash looks like this;
I'm not the biggest fan of wood effect but this is miles better than what I had before and makes the interior less tatty!
Next up was new brakes all round, Mintex's brake box on the rear and a Brembo set up front.
Before....
I used some paint called 'Coo-Var' on the calipers which seems pretty good stuff but stupidly expected Hammerite spray can black for the discs which turned out crap. Should have stuck with the pound shop stuff I normally use! I'll most likely need to repaint them soon. Anyway, not the best job ever but better than rust. And they're red so it's faster. Or slower....
Before....
After....
Even before they're bedded in they seem better than the cheap crap it was wearing, hopefully my brake judder when they're toasty will be cured too.
And some final photos....
Hopefully, next month I'll have brought the Cavalier inside and made a start! In the meantime, I've been stocking up on tools and welding supplies for when I do.
November's:-
Time for this month's update, the BMW has been soldiering on as per normal, well mostly. Last week I used the car daily for a change but on Friday it took quite a few attempts to start, it would run for a couple of seconds then switch off. Eventually it got started and after initially running a bit rough it went back to running perfectly. Plugged in my computermibob which showed up a camshaft sensor issue. Good quality sensors are quite expensive but an easy fix! Few!
I've also swapped in a couple of bits from the Gold car (RIP!), nothing major but little touches that make a difference.
The original headlight switch had gone funky so changed that;
One of the rear doors was missing a lense for the puddle light;
Not anymore!
I also fitted the undertrays that had gone missing but forgot to take a picture.
And probably the best part, I stuck a PAYG in the phone and....
:lol:I've started to come up with a plan to do some maintenance over winter too so will start to get in about that at some point.
The Saab has been running fine, it even managed a trip down to Brands with no complaints;
It got dirty;
It got cleaned;
I got some mats from the breakers, the cat wonders why I got cream ones;
And I treated it to a new head unit;
And finally, with the Gold car out the road, I brought the Cavalier back inside, with a view to getting it sorted.
Unfortunately the rust mice have been at it and seem to have had a good feed. I knew the rear sill areas on both sides needed attention but what I thought was a case of patch up the inner sills and weld on new outers has become somewhat more complicated.
It's much worse than anticipated, not great photos but you kind of get the idea;
Basically, it needs inner arches, outer arches, inner sills, outer sills and the sides of the floorpan rebuilt on both sides. That's before I inevitably find more problems, I know the floor pan at the front is soft.
I really don't know what to do, it's obviously going to be a substantial job to repair it properly though not impossible. However if I was going to go to that effort then I'd rather do it on something more desirable than an old Cavalier. I've thought about the reshell route but then it wouldn't be the same car. To be honest if I did condemn it, it would be fair to say I've had my money's worth out of it!
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