A post rot!

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A post rot!

Postby stulee666 » Sat Nov 30, 2013 4:43 pm

Image
Image

Hi all
I'm after some advice if poss on the best course of action to take on my Firenza's A post?
You can see in the pic its blown out completely and because I'm worried about the shells strength now it has the ca18det engine in it I'm currently welding in a saftey devices cage that will be fixed to the pillars and bulkhead. I suppose the real question is should a repair like this be attempted by a amateur like myself or should I get in some professional help on this one ?

Thanks
Stu.
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Re: A post rot!

Postby fistfullofV5's » Sat Nov 30, 2013 5:52 pm

Hi,and welcome. It's always nice to see another Firenza on the forum. The question of whether or not you should tackle the job yourself is a difficult one to answer as only you know your welding skills. What I can say is that the a post is made up from several overlapping panels. You will maybe have noticed that some areas are double skinned,and it's likely that you will have to cut away good metal to get to the rot. You sort of have to work from the inside out to replicate how it was originally made. You'll need to make templates and to be able to picture in your minds eye how the individual sections go together. I've done similar repairs on my 2000sl,and it took time and patience to get right. It's not a job that I'd like to undertake without a garage to work in either. I would recommend you to Google Tony BMW to get a brilliant example of how it should be done. If you believe that you can do it, you'll save a lot of labour costs,and learn a lot about your car along the way. It is very rewarding to restore your own car,but you have to be honest with yourself about what you can and cannot do. Apologies for babbling on and I hope I've been of some assistance. Whichever way you go, good luck. That's a great looking Firenza.
Dave.
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Re: A post rot!

Postby droopsnoot » Sat Nov 30, 2013 7:24 pm

I'd echo that, I've done a similar area on both sides on my Sportshatch and there's quite a bit of panelwork in that area. It's all possible of course, just a case of peeling back the layers and getting rid of rot until you get a good base, then build it all back up again with new. Fixing this area properly is much more than just getting the screen corners sorted. A very common area to rot, though, as the pillars don't drain properly. It's all dual-skinned down to just above the sill.
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