E46 M3

[tea boy]

33 minutes ago, Ian Comerford said:

Great work.  Will you be fitting the strengthening brackets once your repairs are done to stop the flexing that caused much of this?  It could make it more saleable at some stage.

Cheers IC 1.

Yes, I have a full Weldtech kit including internal bracing.

[Ian Comerford]

9 hours ago, tea boy said:

Cheers IC 1.

Yes, I have a full Weldtech kit including internal bracing.

Proper job!

[tea boy]

After the colossal disappointment last night of not of being able to bash that wiggly flange into a piece of tin I had to realise that I'm not good enough to make it like that.

First I have some pictures to better display how wiggly it is.

This is from the back.

This is the front.

 

As you can see it is particularly wiggly and ergo, quite difficult to reproduce with just a couple of hammers and a vice.

I decided that I should recognise my limitations and make it in two bits then weld them together.

First I made the wiggly bit which I could compare vis-a-vis the original.

I didn't even need a hammer to do this.

I formed the wiggly bits by manipulating it over the T dollies and the sharp(ish) folds for the flat sections (where the spot/plug welds go) were made by bending it on the back of the vice, again by hand.

The flat sections for the spot welds all need to be at the same level because they fit to a flat panel.

The wiggles were starting to look reasonable so then I thought about how I was going to join it to the next piece.

I really didn't want to weld it on the corner as it would be difficult to tidy up and make it look nice.

I decided to bend a shallow flange on it which I did with a pair of pliers working a bit at a time.

I cut slots in it where there were conflicts of direction.

This had the effect of slightly straightening out the wiggles and curving the whole piece.

To deal with this I used the stretcher on the flange where required.

This didn't turn out too bad.

I decided to leave it there for tonight because I didn't want to get carried away jumping on the pedal on the stretcher and muck the job up.

I'll hopefully get chance to look at it again tomorrow and do any necessary tweaks before I start to make the next part.

Right, I'm off to the shop because the lovely Doctor needs some ingredients to make a carrot cake.

Cheers.
 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by tea boy

[tea boy]

Right then, this is the time where I have to come up with excuses as to why I haven't got much done. 

Saturday started off with the usual routine; ignore the alarm clock for a while, creamy bun shop and leisurely breakfast (more like brunch actually) then have a go at the general knowledge crossword with the Doctor whilst Fat Al eats the sausages I brought back from the cafe for him.

Going later for breakfast works out well for Alan because they save any sausages that break up in the pan for him.

The lovely Doctor did get up early on Saturday to work on the carrot cake.

Meanwhile, back in the shed, I had this wiggly thing.

When I turned the flange on it with the pliers it gave me quite a sharp bend but what I really wanted was a nice radius of about 8mm.

Normally I would tap it up on the smaller of my T dollies but this was not possible because of all those wiggles.

I knocked up a shorter version to tap it over by using the unthreaded shank of an m8 bolt and a strip of scrap from that old security screen I dismantled a while ago. (I knew it would come in handy)

This did what I needed.

I then started to make the next bit, that is the piece that the wiggly bit is going to be welded to.

It looks a very simple piece but it is, as I have come to expect, a bit more complicated due to various curvey bits and different angled flanges etc.

I got that involved that I didn't take any pictures whilst making it but it now looks like this.

Compared to the original.

I always leave things a bit oversized whilst making them to give me a bit of a margin incase things move of shrink whilst I am forming them. It is much easier to cut it down to size when it is done than it ending up too small.

Next job is to weld the two pieces together then add the extra details to it.

I didn't get the chance to do that in Saturday because it turns out that the doc has finished making the carrot cake and we have to take it with us to a birthday party.

Sunday was spent laying out reclaimed building materials like a massive lego set for the lovely Doctor's remodelled patio area, I have to keep her happy.

Once we have worked out what is what I can cut them up to suit.

No shed time this evening as we are watching the formula one.

Cheers.
 

[tea boy]

I've welded the wiggly bit to the slightly curvy bit tonight.

I haven't gone to check if it fits on the car because it is raining and I do not want to get soaked walking to the tent and back.

It is roughly the same shape as the original but frilly bit.

I still need to add the extra lumpy details in to it but that is a job for another day.

I think I need to do the extra lumpy bits before I try to finesse the shape so it fits because bashing those bits in are bound to make things move.

I hope it doesn't move too much because I would be terribly disappointed if I fked it up at the last step.

Cheers.
 

[tea boy]

Well I've just spent a completely disproportionate length of time hammering a lumpy bit in a piece of metal that when it is installed is never going to be seen by anyone.

Even if I ran you over you would be hard pushed to find it.

It looks very straightforward to do but it isn't exactly as it seems.

The sticky up lumpy bit is flat along its length but the panel it is part of has a very subtle curve to it.

I used anything I could lay my hands on to do it, such as T dollies, a toe dollie clamped in the vice, bits of scrap metal well, like I said, anything to hand that was suitable.

When I started to put the lumpy bit in it started to straighten out the curve on the panel so I did a bit of lumpy bit then a bit of curvy bit etc until the lumpy bit was lumpy enough.

It is a bit ill defined to be honest and not particularly straight edged so I might go at it again to fettle it up a bit more.

Then again I might not, refer to the opening sentence...

Cheers.

[PeterK]

I’m loving the detailed technical talk - ‘ the lumpy bit’, ‘the curvy bit’, etc 🤣.  Makes it so much easier to follow - keep it up 👏👏

[GaryH]

21 hours ago, tea boy said:

Well I've just spent a completely disproportionate length of time hammering a lumpy bit in a piece of metal that when it is installed is never going to be seen by anyone.

Oil tank - just sayin'

[tea boy]

On 16/11/2022 at 08:08, PeterK said:

I’m loving the detailed technical talk - ‘ the lumpy bit’, ‘the curvy bit’, etc 🤣.  Makes it so much easier to follow - keep it up 👏👏

 

I'm glad you managed to understand me.

I was worried that I might be using too much technical jargon and risking losing the audience. 

 

On 16/11/2022 at 18:39, GaryH said:

Oil tank - just sayin'

Don't mention the war! 🤐

 

I didn't have the chance to do anything last night because it was quiz night.

We finished third, which is terribly disappointing.

I'm blaming the result on the fact that the Lovely Doctor was absent due to her being on a secret mission somewhere in Caledonia.

As she is still up there I thought that I could make up for lost time tonight.

It has been issing down all day and when I opened the tent I found it was totally flooded.

I had to go and get my water wings before I dare go in.

I started to sweep it all out but it just filled straight back up. 

After half an hour of sweeping I gave in.

I thought that you wouldn't believe me how much water there was, so I took a picture.

I told you you wouldn't believe me, the picture makes it look like it was just a bit damp when it was really about half an inch deep, even  after all my sweeping.

The next job is to take my new bit underneath to mark out where the downward lumpy bit needs to go but I'm not getting under there without an aqualung.

Try again tomorrow.

Cheers.
 

[tea boy]

Well I didn't get into the shed last night, mainly due to the vagaries of the British rail network.

I had to collect the Doc from a railway station.

It wasn't the railway station from which she departed so I then had to take her to pick up her car from another railway station.

I won't bore you with any more details because I don't want to re live the experience.

Today was much better.

An old friend of mine from Ponty Carlo met up with me at Ten Acres for breakfast which was lovely and Fat Al got some free sausages so he was delighted too.

That was the entire morning taken care of.

Back to business, I swept the lake out of the tent then started thinking about making the downward square lumpy bit on my current repair piece.

I decided that a hammer form template would be best so I cut one out of 1.2mm steel.

This is it offered up on the original piece to check if it is any good.

I just stuck it into position on the new bit with some masking tape.

I put a rough outline on the other side in order to have a bit of a target to aim at.

I tapped it down with that little 8mm radius thing I made the other day.

I didn't go too mad with it because I can square it up when it comes time to weld it in.

It is not too far away though.

I cant weld it in yet because I need to sort out the heel panel first.

This is a much simpler piece to make, he said hopefully...

But first I need to clean off some more of that horrible tar board anti-drumming stuff on the inside.

This was part way through.

I took it off all the way to the transmission tunnel and it took ages.

By then my back was killing me from leaning into the cab so I called it a day and came inside for a lovely cuppa.

Cheers.

[Beaky]

53 minutes ago, tea boy said:

so I called it a day and came inside for a lovely cuppa.

And cake I hope!

[tea boy]

On 19/11/2022 at 19:27, Beaky said:

And cake I hope!

You will ruin my figure!  

 

Now that this bit is just about ready.

I need to look at this bit.

The best way to look at it is to cut it out, so I did.

I will be able to sort out the back edge of the floor now.

That sticky out bit is where I put a new piece into the floor but didn't weld the last bit because it was under the flange of the bit that has now gone.

That left hand corner was a bit fiddly to release because I did not want to hack up the metal that was behind it, so it came out as a big bit and a little corner bit.

It also took a bit of a battering on its way out.

I hammered it back into shape and roughly welded the two bits back together.

I have offered it back into position and tweaked it a bit so it fits properly so now I have something I can copy.

The rotten fuel tank bracket was getting in my way, so that came off.

I've got a piece of 1mm steel and folded the lower flange over.

Next thing is to put those two channels in that run either side of the tank bracket but that is a job for another day.

Cheers.
 

[Phill]

Fabulous work Mr Tea Doctor. That wiggly bit is a work of art 

[tea boy]

17 hours ago, Phill said:

Fabulous work Mr Tea Doctor. That wiggly bit is a work of art 

Thanks Dude.

 

The Doc is away tonight and she has taken Fat Al with her so The plan was to get on and finish making the heel panel.

I picked up a tub of fibreglass paste on the way home because I decided that a hammer form would be the best way to make sure that the two flutes are in the correct orientation and with the right sized gap between them.

This is reasonably important because the fuel tank bracket fits between them and the previous piece I made is also shaped to clear them.

First job was to cover the old bit with parcel tape.

The cunning plan was to cover it in fibreglass, which I did, then to nip into town to fuel up the van for tomorrow and possibly grab some supplies.

As I got to the house an Amazon delivery man appeared.

I didn't hear his car pull up and, as it transpired, this was because his car was up the road with a flat tyre caused by a huge pothole.

No problem, I'll get my trolley jack and put the spare on for you.

Except he had had a puncture the other day and his spare was already on the car and the other wheel was at the garage where he had left it for repair.

He had called the breakdown people but his phone was nearly out of charge so I invited him in, made him a drink and let him charge his phone.

It was nine o'clock when he left then I could go to fuel up.

Except when I got there the petrol station had no diesel... 

Anyway, when I eventually got back into the shed to pull the fibreglass off it had a couple of voids in it so I had to fill those then sand it back after it set.

This was not ideal but I couldn't be bothered to start again so It will have to do.

I clamped it to my piece of tin and marked roughly where the flutes went.

I made a start knocking them in with my small T dollie.

By this time it was very late and I was Hank Marvin so I shut up shop and went in.

In more positive news, I won the lotto!

Cash money, tax free!

Cheers.

[Beaky]

This is so much better than watching Bake Off when it comes to entertainment and cakes

[tea boy]

13 hours ago, Beaky said:

This is so much better than watching Bake Off when it comes to entertainment and cakes

Cakes is life, anything before or after is just waiting...   

 

An evening in the shed tonight without having to perform any good Samaritan duties as the Amazon delivery was already here when I got home. 

It was lent up against the coal shed door, totally sodden because of the monsoon.

Why he/she couldn't open the door and shove it inside I don't know...

Anyway, I was working on the flutey bits.

I'd just given them a quick bash last night because I wanted to feel like I'd done something but tonight I decided to use a bit of wood to bash it with because it is a bit kinder to the metal.

Yesterday I used the hammer form to get them started in the correct positions but tonight I went freehand by opening the vice jaws the right amount then bashing it down between the jaws with the wood.

I got a bit carried away with myself and took them slightly too low down towards the flange at the bottom.

It will have to do because I CBA to start again.

Knocking them in made the surrounding metal move about a bit, the flange on the bottom developed a curve in it which I had to straighten out.

More annoyingly the edge of the piece moved inwards, shortening the piece.

Actually, it is easier to see from the other side.

It was always going move that way but I'm annoyed with myself for not leaving enough metal at that side of the piece because it was a big enough lump of tin that I started with.

I should have knocked the flutes in 10mmfurther away from the edge.

It means I will have a bit of a gap to sort out when I weld it to the car.

To take my mind off that unforced error I started the other end.

The bottom flange kicks up a bit and there is another tab to fold over.

I need to try it in the car now to see what adjustments are needed but it was at this point that the Lovely Doctor told me that she had ordered pizza...

...and that I needed to go to fetch it.

Cheers.

[Ian Comerford]

Great hand skills TB

[tea boy]

On 24/11/2022 at 08:01, Ian Comerford said:

Great hand skills TB

Cheers IC.

 

Do you remember my dodgy tooth and gum infection from a few weeks ago?

Well, yesterday was D-Day for having it removed at the specialist tooth man.

He must have been special because he had two dental nurses on hand, you don't get that on the NHS.

It was quite a job for him to remove and having a bloke hanging out of your mouth with a pair of mole grips isn't particularly nice but I never felt a thing and the procedure went as well as could be expected.

A few hours later when the anaesthesia wore off was another story altogether.

Obviously I was in no mood to think about tin bashing.

Today was much the same, still thoroughly unpleasant.

I am only allowed to drink my tea when it has gone lukewarm.

In order to do something to help the project I had a run out to the place that sells these.

I have been looking for a decent used one for a while but have not been able to come up with anything so I bit the bullet.

Obviously I didn't bite the bullet too hard with my dodgy teeth...

Anyway, I got it home and into the shed.

I didn't assemble and test it though because I just don't have the enthusiasm.

Hopefully the pain will have subsided a bit more by tomorrow and I can get on with something.

Cheers.
 

[World Citizen]

Top Black Friday shopping TB  hope your toof doesn't interrupt your cake eating

Really want a TIG welder so I can weld stuff, I'd cut holes in my car just for an excuse to use it

[tea boy]

1 minute ago, World Citizen said:

Top Black Friday shopping TB  hope your toof doesn't interrupt your cake eating

I'm quite concerned about the viability of my Saturday morning fry up at Ten Acres Cafe...  

[World Citizen]

Ask them to blend it into Full Fry Up smoothie and suck it through a straw

[tea boy]

Well that was a thoroughly unpleasant weekend.

At least from a my mouth hurts and I can't sleep through because of the pain point of view.

It was nice that I got to see my eldest daughter and granddaughter as they had been at an event up this way so we went over to see them before they went back 'darn sarf'.

I had absolutely no energy or enthusiasm for going in the shed.

I was back to work on Monday so I thought I would get back to it in the shed when I got home but I was totally exhausted and couldn't do it.

Today I'm feeling quite a bit better, the swelling has gone down a lot and the pain has reduced considerably too so I'm hoping that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The lovely Doctor is working late(ish) tonight and she wants to watch the football so I have set it up to record.

She wants me to watch it with her.

I don't follow the game at all but it is an important thing apparently, so...

As I had a little bit of time before she got home I thought I would do a couple of little jobs to ease myself back into the routine.

This bit with the two flutes in it.

Which ended up being a fraction too short, due to an unforced error on my part got a bit of an extension.

It wasn't the neatest of jobs when I had finished but it will be covered up when installed so it will have to do.

Also, that part had a bit of a bow in it and the piece that goes on top of it didn't fit at all well.

I ran the flange through the shrinker until it flattened it out and I had touchdown on the bits where I need to plug weld it on.

That was as far as I got in the shed.

I had a quick look in the tent and it is totally waterlogged again.

I've bought some sandbags to build a dam to divert the water past it, I just need to get some sand to fill them with now.

No shed time tomorrow as it is quiz night but hopefully I'll be back on Thursday.

I had better get myself organised now because I need to make the fire for when the Doc gets home.

Cheers.

[sladey]

Nice work Mark - loved the updates

[tea boy]

On 30/11/2022 at 13:23, sladey said:

Nice work Mark - loved the updates

Thanks Mark.

 

Well, I am sad to report that we lost the quiz.

On a tie breaker which was, 'how many watchtowers were there on the Berlin Wall?'

Answers on a postcard...

Back to the job in hand, the two bits I made previously are almost ready to fit.

But the bit where they need to go needs a bit of prep, the back end of the floor.

As you can see there are a few things to sort; a bit of rust, a part finished repair section and some bits where I got giddy with the spot weld drill.

I have decided to just replace it, like this.

That's all I did because I couldn't be bothered to drag the welder down from the shed.

It's dark, dank and foggy and I don't have the energy.

I know it doesn't look like I've done much but by the time I've opened up the tent and the shed and run the extension leads etc then all the walking back and forth between the two it was a two hour job.

I'm hopefully going to borrow a nice lightweight inverter welding set at the weekend which will be easier to carry down to tent.

Right, I'm Hank Marvin, see you next time.

Cheers.

[GaryH]

23 hours ago, tea boy said:

On a tie breaker which was, 'how many watchtowers were there on the Berlin Wall?'

Well, that very much depends on how many Jehovah's Witnesses had visited recently surely ? 🤔