Week 3 Welding!

Good news, bad news. First the good news: I can weld! It isn't pretty, but I can get two pieces of steel to stick together. Now the bad news, for safety reasons the girls did not help with the welding so no comments from them this week.

Last Friday I stopped at Le Painter Auto, which is owned by my friend Craig. His daughter, Sara, pictured above, is now managing the business and she asked one of her employees to teach me welding basics. Kia spent 30 minutes showing me how to set up a Mig welder and a couple of simple welds. On Saturday, Conrad, a guy I met through flying model airplanes, came over to help. He taught me more welding skills, how to make a template and helped patch the driver's side foot well. I was able to get both foot wells repaired before I ran out of gas. I have both trunk wells and a spot on the frame to finish next weekend.

Welding was fun. It is something I have wanted to learn how to do for a long time. Thanks Kia and Conrad.

Week Two!

Thanks so much for all your kind comments and emails. We are thrilled that people are reading our blog!

We worked on the car on Friday the 11th. Only it felt like Friday the 13th. Our goal was to remove the carpeting and assess the rust damage to the floor. Removing remaining trim was tedious and I broke both door sill plates and the accelerator pedal. Elsa and Greta did a great job holding the flashlight, handing me tools and helping remove trim. Ingrid was a good coach and companion. Carpet removal revealed extensive rust in the driver's foot well, while the rest of the floor was clean. On Saturday the girls were busy with 4-H. I spent my "alone time" cutting the rust out of the floor and preparing for welding.

Today was great. I had posted a link to the blog on the E30tech.com project forum earlier in the week. One of the forum members, ejohnson, contacted me to see if I wanted to buy parts off a 325i he is parting out. I picked up a driver's side mirror, floor mats, 3 spoke sport steering wheel, cd player, and most important of all-door sills! Also, ejohnson generously donated a rusty trunk lid for welding practice.

Finally, the name. We decided on Brigita Martha Whopper, Brigita for short.

Elsa: The work was tedious, indeed. We needed to take out the console on Brigita, and navigate around pedals to remove the carpet. Holding the flashlight was fun, but sometimes it was difficult to get a proper angle in the foot well. To sum it up, last Friday went not so well and with any luck there will be much improvement next week.

Greta: On Friday I helped Dad with holding the flashlight. Dad broke the black door sill. I watched Dad cut the carpet, instead of doing it the official way. I hope we have better luck not breaking any pieces.

Ingrid: I liked taking stuff out. You know what, Brigita says "Hello!"


Hi, this is Steve again. I just had to say something after reading Elsa's post. It was not that BAD!!! A couple of broken door sills is nothing compared some of my more extravagant failures. Perhaps she would have a better sense of perspective if she had lit a minivan on fire (it went out) or driven a Volvo off the end of the ramps. I am well aware that by the end of the project she will look back on last Friday as a good day.

Start of the daddy-daughter project car!

Hi,

My name is Steve and I live in Minnesota with my lovely wife Deb and my three adorable daughters: Elsa, Greta, and Ingrid. Last summer I purchased a 1989 BMW 325i coupe off of Craigslist for $200 including the tow. The previous owner sold it because it had a shot clutch and she was sick of dealing with the repairs needed by every 18 year old car. I replaced the clutch master cylinder and drove it for a month. I then parked until yesterday, when my daughters and I started fixing it up. My goals are to have a fun daddy/daughter project, introduce my girls to automotive repair and to restore the 325i to daily driver status.

Our first step will be to fix the body. The front fenders each have dents that will need to be repaired. The hood needs repainting. There is a rust hole under the clutch pedal, another in the valence under the tow hook and small rust spots in the trunk and battery/jack wells. A friend has loaned me his Lincoln MIG welder for the winter and a couple of other friends have volunteered to teach me to weld. Yesterday we removed the seats and trunk lining and next we will remove the carpeting and start cutting.

We currently have a Dodge Caravan named Van Go and an old Volvo wagon called The Duck. My girls want the BMW to have a girl's name. I am hoping for Leisl. I will let my daughters introduce themselves and argue for their favorite names.

Elsa: I am eleven years old and I am the oldest. I aided in removing seats, sound ending material, and holding the flashlight. I especially enjoyed sitting in the BMW once the seats were removed. I agree with my dad that the car's name should be Liesel (?), but if it is not that, I think it should start with either a "B", "M", or a "W". Perhaps "Maria"? Liesel is still my favorite, though.

Greta: My name is Greta. I am nine years old and in the middle. I like working on the project car because I get to spend time with Dad. We took out the seats yesterday. I never knew you could take out the back seats out. I think the cars name should be called Bergeta Martha Woper.

Ingrid: My name is Ingrid, and I am five years old. My birthday is November tenth. I helped take the seat out and carry stuff and take out stuff. My favorite part was taking pictures and sitting in the car. I love doing this, we should have fun. I think the car should be named Annabelle Sweetheart Eelana. Have a great time. Happy New Year!