E30 M50 tear down kinda thing
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Okay guys, so I finally got around to uploading all of the pictures for my core support project so here's my little write-up on how to do this. I had already cut the entire middle section out while pulling my motor so that made it a bit easier. Id suggest doing this to clear up a whole bunch of room.
First things first: grinding the paint away on the upper parts to see the factory tack welds and drilling through them. Drill bit size isnt real important, just make sure its big enough to drill out the entire weld. (Each little dimple is a tack weld)
My car, being almost 30 years old, needed a bit of persuading to break free due to some rust
Here are the factory tack weld locations, which are identical for both driver and passenger side.
Top view (5 tack welds)
"Inside" view (Another 5)
So using the mallet and big flat head, I carefully pried between the edges and knocked it free.
For the lower parts Ill admit I cheated a little and used tools that might not be available to everyone. Since my stock core support was very rusty it was near impossible to see where the welds were, so I ended up using a hydraulic chisel to cut through any welds and break it free. You are also taking off the stock tow hooks. So heres after the lower pieces are taken off and most of the rust grinded down.
So now all of the stock core support has been removed
Next was to test fit the new core support, but I found these two little tabs right inside the bumper shock housings wouldnt let it slide into place
Easy fix!
And the new support being fitted
It was a tight fit and needed to be angled at a certain way to get in, but it fits. Keep in mind this is an ebay product, so fitment wont be absolutely perfect. I was able to get it very close with a little bit of pounding from a soft rubber mallet.So this is step 1, which I consider "getting the car ready for the new support". Step two will be the next post.
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Next was to make small "L" brackets, since the metal of both the car and the core support are fairly flimsy, I wanted to make sure it would be safe.
Checking fitment
Welded together. You will need to make two of these, one for each side.
Then just a square welded to the tabs for the lower section.
I kinda forgot to take a couple pictures for the next few steps because I was excited to get done, but theyre pretty straight forward. I used a 3/8" drill bit, and ran to napa to get nuts and bolts the fit snug in the drilled holes. With the holes drilled, I tightened them down as if I were actually putting the core support on, and welded the nut to the fender support (I guess is what you would call it?). Be very very careful doing this! The metal is super thin and its easy to melt right through it!
The next part was the trickiest. Remove you bumper shock if you havent already (13mm bolts), and tighten down your nut and bolt. Hopefully you will have fairly clean metal, which I was lucky enough to have. But you need to very carefully blind weld the nut inside the bumper shock housing. I took a lot of time to make sure I didnt get any metal on the bolt, because if you do, youre screwed lol. Here you can see both bolts screwed into the nuts with the core support removed.
You do that for both sides, and thats it! You have just made your new core support removable whenever you want!
Any questions/comments/concerns are welcome. This was a fun project and Im happy with the outcome
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Brian said:
Good write up! How fast/easily removable is the front core support? I'm thinking of doing one for my E28, but I'd do mine differently.
With nothing in the car at all how it is now, maybe 2 minutes to get it off. Getting it back in is a little tricky because it has to be lined up perfect. I wish I went with a bigger drill bit for the holes but oh well, it works. I can take it off and put it back in within 5 minutes total. Im already excited for the amount of time its going to save putting the motor back in or when it comes out next lol.
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Rowleym said:
How did you take it out in the first place? Just drill it out? I'm just about to take it out.
The old core support? I cut it right in half at first to pull my motor. The only thing holding the top sections in are the tack welds. Like I said in the post I'm not exactly sure where the tack welds are on the part that's around the bumper shock towers because mine was so rusted. But I know there's a couple thick welds on the outside of it. Feel free to text me in you want to send me pictures or have any questions! That way ill get it right away instead of checking here lol: 262-349-6277.
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how many bolts hold your core support on? how many welds held the original in place?
a small front end collision could end up smashing your motor instead of the intended bumper/core support if its not held on tightly.
Dan
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straight6pwr said:
how many bolts hold your core support on? how many welds held the original in place?
a small front end collision could end up smashing your motor instead of the intended bumper/core support if its not held on tightly.
A total of 4 bolts right now along with my welds on the brackets for support. Ill be adding 2 more bolts up top and 2 more on the bottom. Originally, there were 10 very small tack welds on top at each side, and I believe 2 welds on the lower bumper shock housing area.
After seeing how flimsy the oem metal of the old core support was, along with how flimsy the metal of the inner fender wall was, Im not convinced the stock support would have held up very well at all. You can pretty much use your hands to bend the entire from clip of the car in.
A front end collision would have to be hard enough to push the bumper shocks in, push the housings back at least 3 inches, and then hit the core support. I think it would have to be a pretty hard to to push the shock housings back that far, but who knows. I honestly feel much safer with the new set up compared to the old one.
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