Murray_Calavera

A birdy on my shoulder is also telling me to do this.... But then the thought process goes, if our shit boxes are selling for $35,000ish and M240i's are now dropping into the $35,000ish range.... do I wave a magic wand and turn the shit box into a M240i? Then I get the ZF for free and it comes with a free B58 and a modern container to put them all in. Would feel very strange not having the shit box around though after all the time I've dumped into it.... but the thought is getting more tempting with each day. ... could put one of those detachable tow bars on the M240i and tow the bike to the track... can't do that with the shit box.... I dunno. The longer I procrastinate though the cheaper the M240i's get, I assume there will be a cross over point one day where I pull the trigger on it.

@GabsReDeal Any chance of finding a new mechanic?

@silviaz first thought is you are folding air into the filler as your mixing the hardener through it, GTS beat me to that. Next thought is, maybe too much hardener was used. Unfortunately there are a lot of variables that can give you pinholes. Maybe consider weighing out the filler/hardener to remove this variable.

Made me smile lol

Knowwhatchatmeanforsure. I really want one, but as I already have an IC7 I don't think I'll ever be able to justify the upgrade.

Have you seen the firmware changes so now everything is customisable on the dash?

It's too sexy not to install lol. Plus now that you have full control over the dash design and layout, you could make it look just like the factory cluster. Might even be pretty convincing with the UC10 (no ugly buttons on the sides) in a 3D printed surround.

The ECU has an internal temp sensor as well, it will throw a CEL on your sexy Haltech dash if there is an issue with temps. Seems like you can also link ECU temp to engine protection in Nexus as another option.

I do this, I also don't get the joke

+2 Mine came with a bonus flat battery.

Yep, correct. The way you are using the putty is incorrect. Its meant to be used to fill those tiny pin holes, its not a body filler substitute. I'd sand back all of that putty and do it again with body filler.

Yes correct, the guide coat is showing low spots, in this instance the low spots are pin holes. I agree wetting the areas makes it more visible (but you can see it's there before you wet it as well lol). Once the panel is flat, the guide coat will be gone

I wouldn't do it outside, the contamination landing in the paint, the wind and a million other things will drive you crazy. That's a way too big of an area to use your single stage putty on. Pretend it's all filler and those pin holes appeared, you'd then use the putty on those pin holes. They are still pin holes, hmm I expect a few coats of high fill primer could deal with those.

Thanks for the photo, those are pinholes in your filler So yeah, guide coat is working as intended. If your going for a perfect finish, you'll want to fill those pin holes.

Oh god, you're doing all the hard work and none of the fun work do you have access to a garage you could paint it in?

100% invest in a compressor. How many panels were you planning to paint? High quality paint rattle cans are super expensive and coverage is always depressingly low. Cost will add up very quickly.... I'd rather put the money into a compressor/gun then thousands of dollars worth of rattle cans (may sound crazy but at $50ish a can, you'll get into the thousands very quickly). I'm keen to see a photo of what your talking about. Please do. Also try the dry guide coat and compressor, keen to see how much of an improvement that is for you too.

@silviaz Maybe have a play with dry guide coat and using the compressor liberally and report back if its working better for you.

$50 says no measurements where done post machine shop.

I'm confused, so your saying after blowing the area off, the guide coat is gone. But then when you wipe it down, the guide coat residue becomes visible again? This isn't a trick question like there is guide coat residue on the rag that your wiping the area down with? I cant see how once something is removed, it comes back when cleaning with wax and grease removed?

I'm a bit confused by this post, so I'll address the bit I understand lol. Use an air compressor and blow away the guide coat sanding residue. All the better if you have a moisture trap for your compressor. You'd want to do this a few times as you sand the area, you wouldn't for example sand the entire area till you think its perfect and then 'confirm' that is it by blowing away the guide coat residue. Sand the area, blow away the guide coat residue, inspect the panel, back to sanding... rinse and repeat.

This sounds like a perfect excuse to install a Haltech R3.

Do I think this is worth fixing properly? Nope. I'd use this project car to practice skills you want to learn. Once you're happy with your new skill set, I'd move the car on to the next owner. However if you think it is worth fixing, there is only one scenario I can think of that it makes sense.... I don't know this platform so I can only guess, lets assume the roof attaches like this - Where the red lines are, that is the frame/body of the car. When the car was manufactured, we'll assume they spot welded it to those points on the body. If this is the case, you could drill out the spot welds, then weld on a replacement roof. It is reasonable to assume that with enough practice, you could spot weld the roof back on. If the roof doesn't attach like this, say its all one piece... your back to the original plan of a cut and paste job. I wouldn't attempt it. Only you can answer that one. We already know what the previous owner thought lol. You'll have to decide how important it is to you.

I know you'd like to believe that it won't spread, but it will. Just pretend that it wont. Give the roof a little pat and say she'll be right.... She'll be right

Nice, saves me ranting about how painful it is painting a roof with rattle cans lol. Personally, I wouldn't chase the rust back any further. What happens if your 30cm deep into your roof and still going? This is why I was suggesting fiberglass, the holes are quite large but easy to patch with fibreglass. There will be a million youtube videos of people doing this shonky job you can check out for a visual. Once the holes are patched with fibreglass, you can rebuild the corner with body filler (like the last guy did). Indeed, its a shit go

Yeah this can't be overstated, this job is crazy hard even for a professional.