[07lilredwagon]

Originally Posted by DUI Elite

love that you're being systematic about this. Makes projects like this actually happen.

Seen so many people plan big, but then cut corners and give up halfway because they didn't start it right.

awesome progress so far!

You dont know how much I appreciate that thought!

I have personally done just that with a past project or two with predictable results!.........but its just like painting the house....break it down into parts and its not so bad....little goals!

JP

[07lilredwagon]

A bit more done.....

without the rear diff and driveshafts:
Question: (I think I know the answer....which lower control arm is the bent one?)


Welding progress: needed to cut out another couple of rotted sections that grinding revealed....



Battery tray piece prepped a bit:



Started cleaning up the suspension pieces...got some paint on the (trailing?) arm...looks good...Going to paint the inside of the drive shaft spline housing with rust preventative paint and undercoating...should hold it a while....


more later...

thanks for looking

JP

[07lilredwagon]

Some more progress at lunch today!....

The lower control arm on the drivers side had a pretty bad bend in it on the front side. I ended up taking the whole thing out and clamping it in my vice. I added some heat and kept adding pressure on the vice until the part was straight again...hey, it was worth a shot and it worked!



I got the driveshafts out but it was not pretty. I used a nice combination of correct procedure and all out cutting, bashing and wrenching.....lol...in the end, the correct procedure wins out every time! Here is the back of the outer drive shaft housing...which used to contain the CV joint, ball bearings and was covered by the CV boot.



Got the sway bar out, too...one of the links was broken, so Im glad I took the whole thing out...here are the center bushing brackets with a coat of copper metallic paint....eventually they will be body color "barrique red"



Sway bar with its first coat of oxide primer....its in rough shape...but sound.



welding progress:

One or two blow through spots...the metal gets really thin wherever it had rusted, or split....I turned the welder down a bit more and found I had just a bit more time to form the weld spot.....



you can just make out the shape of the metal patch.....I have been wanting to try matching a profile like this one....there was an indented ridge in the trunk floor that came back through this spot so I shaped the metal to match....it worked well....

welding skills getting better, but its still very slow going....such a noob!

thanks for checking in!

JP

[mkPOTO]

very cool!

[positiveions]

Poor car. Oh well.
There was a guy that was selling an E30 trailer on E30 forum.

[s2kroma]

cant wait to see the final project

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Why not go with an Audi A4 rear clip instead? BMW towing an Audi - get it?

HA HA HA!

[Frosty]

fantastic project :-)

[07lilredwagon]

Originally Posted by positiveions

Poor car. Oh well.
There was a guy that was selling an E30 trailer on E30 forum.

was that the guy in California?.....yeah, there have been a couple of them built over the years.....building mine to "spec"...like putting in a special order from the factory, then going to work at the factory!...

col (crying out loud!)




JP

[07lilredwagon]

Originally Posted by Frosty

fantastic project :-)

Thanks, Frosty!

JP

[Jay-K]

hardcore transformation, two thumbs up.


respect.

[shivaswrath]

What are you transporting In this?

[remmib]

Cool project.

[positiveions]

Originally Posted by 07lilredwagon

was that the guy in California?....

JP

yep, that's him.

[07lilredwagon]

Originally Posted by shivaswrath

What are you transporting In this?

mountain bike, camping gear, couple of suitcases...its really just as much for show as it is for go!....

thanks for the comments, guys!....

heres some more progress from this afternoon:

Finally got the trailer flipped on its back....



I have found out that the top of the trailer tongue will be the right height for the hitch if I mount it to the diff cradle in back, and from brackets I make in the floor up front.....



Its really kinda bizarre having it on its back like this.....looks like a capsized turtle or something!

The welding is going better and better.....Im finally just starting to get the hang of it....long ways to go yet, but I managed to get the first set of panels nearly finished up...



I know it doesnt look like much yet....but I only have three blow throughs to deal with now, and the rest is really solid now.....

below I used a string tied to the wheels to determine approximate floor height for the trailer tongue.....Ill cross reference this with the specs from the owners manual if possible.....



thanks for looking!

JP

[hipvspec]

Awesome project. I am curious about how much this trailer weights

[07lilredwagon]

Originally Posted by hipvspec

Awesome project. I am curious about how much this trailer weights

me too!...Im guessing 400-500 lbs gross weight...Im going to shave as much off as possible......

Its an evolution, thats for sure!....I took out more than 100 lbs with the rear diff and drive shafts, etc....but will be putting a bit back in with the tongue.

JP

[shivaswrath]

Originally Posted by 07lilredwagon

mountain bike, camping gear, couple of suitcases...its really just as much for show as it is for go!....


JP

Ohhhh ok. It looks awesome, labor of love for sure - keep up the good work!

[NGEE]

I like the string trick - looks like the kind of thing I might do since I'm always working by myself and inventing all kinds of jigs and rigs to imitate a "helper". Curious though, if the string represents ground-level, won't the measurement be different with the full weight of the trailer riding on the suspension?

[pkimM3r]

Are you going to keep the boot lid opening separately from the toneau cover?

[07lilredwagon]

Originally Posted by edrive90

I like the string trick - looks like the kind of thing I might do since I'm always working by myself and inventing all kinds of jigs and rigs to imitate a "helper". Curious though, if the string represents ground-level, won't the measurement be different with the full weight of the trailer riding on the suspension?

Yes....spot on!...I am building adjust-ability in the way I connect the hitch coupler...I can make it higher or lower depending on what type of shims I use....I measured the beast before I cut it up...and though there was nothing "in" it, it still had the roof, rear diff and body attached.....thats how I came up with the initial measurement of 12" to the bottom of the hitch ball....that should be enough.....gotta be careful here and there like on steep driveways and such.....but should be fine everywhere else....

keep the comments and concerns coming!....Im sure Ive missed a whole bunch of stuff!....there are so many options with any given thing you focus on....wheels, tonneau material, opening doors, trailer tongue.....ect!


JP

[07lilredwagon]

So I learned how to weld this afternoon, apparently!

Maybe not completely "learned", but I put a few things together that I had been struggling with and started to run some nice welds...Got the setting just right, wire speed good....thick and thin metal, much less of a problem.

Im am pretty stoked!

heres the larger panel that needed to be welded in place where the battery was. It took a lot of dry fitting and shaping, but I just kept at it until I liked the way it looked.




another angle:
the hole towards the top of the panel is a drain hole



Got the front edge marked with a straight line and began cutting. I found some angle iron that will be great for that spot. It really needs tying together for strength...its pretty flimsy up there...



Just to keep me honest, my buddy gave me a magnetic calendar...that way I can count down the days till we head out of Dodge for the Summer and the trailer has to be done!.......



Getting that steel is next.....

JP