Inner Wheel Arch Repair Panel Welding Guide | Rusty BMW E30 Project Car Restoration | 019

Inner Wheel Arch Repair Panel Welding Guide | Rusty BMW E30 Project Car Restoration | 019

In this shorter than usual episode of the BMW E30 build project, I set about finishing what I started on the driver's side rear wheel arch by welding in an inner arch repair panel.

Here are the repair panels I use in this video:
BMW E30 Inner Arch Repair Panel Drivers Side: https://ebay.us/yb78NQ
BMW E30 Inner Arch Repair Panel Passenger Side: https://ebay.us/erNpUO

And here are some other useful things I used, like a welder:
Clarke Weld MIG 150 TE Turbo: https://ebay.us/jbdfE8 (this is the newer version)
Cheap but good welding mask: https://ebay.us/ivPhUY
0.8 Welding Wire: https://ebay.us/eQWqWx
Argon/CO2 Welding Gas & Regulator: https://ebay.us/7BOngD
Angle Grinder Wire Brushes: https://ebay.us/sSJjtM
Dewalt Angle Grinder: https://ebay.us/CmsNuW
Safety Goggles: https://ebay.us/2Dvt5C

Having already gone through the pain of welding in the rear wheel arch outer skin, and doing the rear jacking point repair without even having a repair panel, I went into this job feeling pretty confident.

Besides, this repair is inside the wheel arch, and will eventually be totally hidden by a thick underseal coating, so it didn't even need to look that pretty!

Still though, I wanted it to be solid and not obvious, even with the wheel off.

Now it's time for a little confession. I actually purchased the BMW E30 inner arch repair panel I use in this video for the passenger side, which might explain why I needed to do a fair amount of hammering to get it into shape. Nevertheless, I'm confident even the correct side would have needed plenty of manipulation to get it where I wanted it.

With plenty of hammering, on and off the workbench, I ended up where the repair panel was cut down to size and fit pretty well. With this, I drilled holes in the lip of the rear wheel arch and plug welded this inner repair panel in place. Then I worked my way around welding it up on the inside which involved some pressing into place before welding.

I ended up pretty pleased with the inner wheel arch panel, and the repair was good, but the panel was unfortunately just a little smaller than the hole I'd cut. so I had to add in an extra patch to close it up completely.

With that, ground down the welds with an angle grinder and a flap disc. My welds were quite ugly on this one, but grinding them down smooth never fails to make them look passable.

Coming next will be the other rear wheel arch, the one on the passenger side. That one only has issues with the inner wheel arch and surprisingly no rust on the external panels, which poses a bit of a tricky situation where I'm unsure how to cut the rust out of the inner arch without damaging the outer arch. We'll have to see how that goes, and if it's of interest I'll do my next video about it.

For more helpful how-to guides and restoration project logs, visit our blog: https://www.spannerrash.com/

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