I had this buried in a different thread but thought I would post this info in its own thread (Had a couple of folks say they never saw my earlier post, so - here we are all by itself).....
This is an edited version of what I had earlier....
-------------------------------------------------------
In 2008 I purchased a 1970 CS from Tony (Velocewest here on the E9 forum -if any of the oldtimers remember him).
It was a decent driver quality car - but that was all I was wanting. It was a fun car to have and turned heads everywhere I went.
But it had issues... Trans crunched... engine over heated... heater had to be bypassed as it leaked, there was an electical short in the dash... All sorts of fun stuff you have with a 50 year old car.
I had been visiting with SFDon a few times about what he could do and in 2016 finalized the plan.
The original 2.8L carb'd engine was toast, so I had Don put together an M90 with Megasquirt for me.
Tony provided me a Getrag 5-speed when I bought the car - so that would go in.
The AC as installed was non-functional, so I was going to have Don get that going....
And, I was also having the brakes updated to the later E9 setup. I had the trailing arms as well (also from Tony).
Basically - My intent was to keep the body and interior mostly 'as is' while jazzing up the running gear and taking care of the mechanical stuff.
Basically make it a bit of a hot rod.
The car goes down in October of 2017 and he gets started.
So what started out as the intent to have a hot rod with a 20 foot paint job (with nominal expense) became a 'full meal deal' restoration resulting in a car that will look as good as it goes.
The 6 year part of this is a combination of circumstances... on both ends (Don's and mine - and COVID) and in the end worked out as well for both of us.
Well, long story short... To fix the A/C, the dash had to be removed.
In so doing, rust was discovered. That and the other things the folks doing the restoration found that 'should' be fixed had me give the green light to a 'full meal deal' restoration (so to speak).
Those that know Don will smile (and know how this sounded) as I explain how the day unfolded when the rust was discovered.....
~10am - Don calls me to say that as they are removing the dash they found some rust. Concerning, but not crossed the line to having any other impacts.
~Noon - Don texts me that the dash is almost out and more rust found. Still not 'crossed the line'
~3pm - I get a two word text. "You're F*&^ED" LOL
So... Now instead of a 'below the radar' car with a bit of HP under the hood, it is a 100 point concourse worthy car that I will sweat like crazy every time I drive it - LOL....
Kind of like the Mustang I have in that regard. But drives a whole lot better. The rust was repaired and other minor body stuff fixed. The paint was redone in its original Baikal by a shop near Don that usually works on million dollar Ferrari's and Bugatti's - and as this was going on just when they had a bit less business working on those cars, so they were able to do my car without too much fuss. They did an awesome job. Yeah - I paid for it - but in the end, the body now matched the quality of the rest of the car.
While I did not intend to have a 'trailer queen' quality car - I am glad I did it. And more glad it is finally home.
On a side note, I had been collecting parts off and on since I got the car.
One of them is a new toolbox (that I got when BMW started making them again - several years ago).
One of the others is a new (to me) coolant expansion tank. I bought it from Murray Fowler (Bluemax) when he had a 'garage sale'. I had Don fix it up and install in place of the original one I had. I l love the brass polished look it gives the engine bay.
See pics below....
Don - Thanks for everything.
This is an edited version of what I had earlier....
-------------------------------------------------------
In 2008 I purchased a 1970 CS from Tony (Velocewest here on the E9 forum -if any of the oldtimers remember him).
It was a decent driver quality car - but that was all I was wanting. It was a fun car to have and turned heads everywhere I went.
But it had issues... Trans crunched... engine over heated... heater had to be bypassed as it leaked, there was an electical short in the dash... All sorts of fun stuff you have with a 50 year old car.
I had been visiting with SFDon a few times about what he could do and in 2016 finalized the plan.
The original 2.8L carb'd engine was toast, so I had Don put together an M90 with Megasquirt for me.
Tony provided me a Getrag 5-speed when I bought the car - so that would go in.
The AC as installed was non-functional, so I was going to have Don get that going....
And, I was also having the brakes updated to the later E9 setup. I had the trailing arms as well (also from Tony).
Basically - My intent was to keep the body and interior mostly 'as is' while jazzing up the running gear and taking care of the mechanical stuff.
Basically make it a bit of a hot rod.
The car goes down in October of 2017 and he gets started.
So what started out as the intent to have a hot rod with a 20 foot paint job (with nominal expense) became a 'full meal deal' restoration resulting in a car that will look as good as it goes.
The 6 year part of this is a combination of circumstances... on both ends (Don's and mine - and COVID) and in the end worked out as well for both of us.
Well, long story short... To fix the A/C, the dash had to be removed.
In so doing, rust was discovered. That and the other things the folks doing the restoration found that 'should' be fixed had me give the green light to a 'full meal deal' restoration (so to speak).
Those that know Don will smile (and know how this sounded) as I explain how the day unfolded when the rust was discovered.....
~10am - Don calls me to say that as they are removing the dash they found some rust. Concerning, but not crossed the line to having any other impacts.
~Noon - Don texts me that the dash is almost out and more rust found. Still not 'crossed the line'
~3pm - I get a two word text. "You're F*&^ED" LOL
So... Now instead of a 'below the radar' car with a bit of HP under the hood, it is a 100 point concourse worthy car that I will sweat like crazy every time I drive it - LOL....
Kind of like the Mustang I have in that regard. But drives a whole lot better. The rust was repaired and other minor body stuff fixed. The paint was redone in its original Baikal by a shop near Don that usually works on million dollar Ferrari's and Bugatti's - and as this was going on just when they had a bit less business working on those cars, so they were able to do my car without too much fuss. They did an awesome job. Yeah - I paid for it - but in the end, the body now matched the quality of the rest of the car.
While I did not intend to have a 'trailer queen' quality car - I am glad I did it. And more glad it is finally home.
On a side note, I had been collecting parts off and on since I got the car.
One of them is a new toolbox (that I got when BMW started making them again - several years ago).
One of the others is a new (to me) coolant expansion tank. I bought it from Murray Fowler (Bluemax) when he had a 'garage sale'. I had Don fix it up and install in place of the original one I had. I l love the brass polished look it gives the engine bay.
See pics below....
Don - Thanks for everything.
Attachments
Last edited:
