E46 windshield rust fixed!

"Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!" (eurylokhos)
11/15/2018 at 19:47 • Filed to: None

My work schedule doesn’t give me enough time to work on something like rust and paint, so a month after starting to deal with the rust on the windshield frame, it’s done. Mostly.

After sanding it a little bit to see what I was dealing with.

Passenger side with a tiny bit of sanding.

First step was pulling the windshield that needed to be replaced anyway. What I was left with was solid metal with no holes, but a couple gnarly patches of rust. Unfortunately I could see that the rust extended down under the fender.

So off with the fenders and everything that had to come off to remove those. Not too bad of a job, probably a dozen bolts per side and off they come. I was pleased to discover that the fender and under it was clean and the rust only extended a few inches under. My theory is that the rust on the windshield frame came from rock chips that were never repaired.

So much sanding later I had mostly clean metal . Still a bit rough with black spots down in the pits i couldn’t get out. Did some research and Rust Bullet kept coming up as a good product, so I got their prep spray that eats the rust and their coating that seals it and prevents it from coming back. It’s advertised as being able to be primed and painted over, so that’s what I got.

Here we are after some spot putty and primer. Sadly I’m a ridiculous perfectionist when it comes to things like this so I kept at it until it was flawlessly smooth and blended.

A few coats of black followed by clear and I’m pleased with the results. It has the orange peel expected from rattle cans, but I can wait for it to cure and wet sand and polish.

That’s immediately after the last coat of clear. I’ll call and schedule the new windshield for next week and get the front end back together over the next couple days.

Only problem is, I’ve kinda fallen in love with the old wagon. I’ve still only got about $1400 in it after the windshield. My lift is going in on December 3rd and I’ll get under it and do the few remaining little things to make it pass inspection.

DISCUSSION (2)

Kim Jong - Healthy > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
11/15/2018 at 23:40

with how little you’re into it, would an s54 swap be in the cards?

I know you have to swap the whole front ends for the e39 to fit the s62 , is that the same for e46 and s54 ?

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > Kim Jong - Healthy
11/16/2018 at 03:17

It’s fairly plug and play to swap the E46. Doubt I’d ever do that though with the prices of S54s. M54B30 perhaps, I’ve seen them as low as $400 on CL. Not a bad price for +40 HP/TQ.