New member / acquisition - NE ohio - 2800cs project

[tdgray]

Hi all.

Long time lurker here. Finally have a reason to post.

Just bought a 1970 2800CS Project. You might have seen it on BAT.

Anyway, I had one years ago in college and unfortunately had to part with it due to mechanical issues and being broke. I have regretted it ever since. Finally after some years of looking I decided to take the plunge.

i will do most of the work myself. My current stable consists of my baby which is a 1960 MGA. A 1968 MGC GT and a 2005 Mercedes SLK55. I have restored both the MG’s and been mostly Through the SLK.

Looking forward to bugging you all with questions. Hopefully I remember some things from long ago when I used to work on one.

Here the new addition. I don’t have it yet obviously. It’s up in NY and I need to get some things arranged around here before I get it back here.

Todd

 

[dave v. in nc]

Welcome, Todd...where are you located? ....Folks in general, and people local to you might like to welcome you to the e9 coven...

 

[rsporsche]

Welcome Todd ... gotta love the MGC GT. what color?

congrats on your purchase - there is a lot of information on this forum to help you, as well as a lot of very knowledgeable and helpful people. i recommend that you dive into the FAQ section of the forum and do a lot of reading on things such as where to buy parts, paint info, wheel / tire options, the differences between model years, etc.

i know we all look forward to seeing pics and posts of returning your new malaga 2800cs back to its true glory. while most malaga coupes had tan interiors and a few with black, i have always wanted to see one with the light (warm) gray interior / black carpet. not sure BMW ever made one that way, but it would be a great look

 

[tdgray]

Yes, apologies. Should have posted my location. I’m just south of Akron Ohio.

The MGC is BRG of course… I’m actually the second owner. It’s a survivor that has been just given a refresh on the paint as the original would no longer take any kind of shine. The MGA is Iris blue and the fire breathing beast is black.

I will be honest that I am not totally in love with the color of the 2800. It does have a fairly nice black interior. I’m also just not that familiar with the color either. My old one was white with a blue interior.

 

[Ohmess]

Welcome. I think Malaga looks very nice when cleaned up. And it provides a nice contrast for the chrome.

 

[tdgray]

Yes, I have been looking at pictures of the color (seems to be a lot of 2002’s in that color).

Its a nice color when shiny and bright.

 

[rsporsche]

here is a pic of one of the greatest Malaga coupes. previously owned my @HB Chris ... color was magnificent, as is everything about the coupe. I will tell you that there are multiple variations of the color on cars, some lighter + bright, others browner and darker (i do not like those versions). so if you are going to repaint malaga - send a message to Chris and ask him what paint he used.

https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1973_bmw_3.0cs_TD006-06846-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C1373

 

[Ohmess]

Chris joined us for the Vintage in 2017 with his car. His car looked fantastic:

 

[Stevehose]

I had a Malaga back in the day and loved it.

 

[tdgray]

That’s a beauty for sure.

I will say. I have not seen an E9 of any sort around here for a very long time. I’m sure there are some. Would like to see if anyone is in my area. Have plenty of MG friends around ( including triumphs guys but I don’t hold that against most of em).

 

[bluecoupe30!]

Welcome. You have come to the right place! Lots of encouragement and experience here. Love those B GTs. Not many made, what 4500 or so? Same engine in my Healey BJ8. Nice old school mechanicals. Malaga on a BMW can look very nice for sure. I had a Malaga 2002, but it was so faded and worn, nothing could make it shine longer than a day. After you get your new acquisition all settled in, post some photos. Good luck with your project.

 

[tdgray]

Yes, very few C’s were made my GT was one of 520-ish imported in 68.

The car is wonderful in a straight line… just don’t go through a hard corner. The critics hated it and it was killed after only two years. But yes… same engine as the healeys.

 

[Christoph]

Todd, congratulations to your collection. Like the MGC GT very much, spotted one at a Nürburgring parking lot a few years ago. It was light grey, perfect colour to me. Malaga looks beautiful on the E9 and E3 as well, almost bordeaux/dark violet under certain lights. Several E3 Club members would like a Malaga car, unfortunately the colour was not very popular in most of Europe.

while most malaga coupes had tan interiors and a few with black, i have always wanted to see one with the light (warm) gray interior / black carpet. not sure BMW ever made one that way, but it would be a great look

They did. Light grey cloth was standard on Malaga, I guess, all the time from '69 to '76. The grey fabric is notorious for yellowing like hell and looking ugly from then on. But when it is new, it is great. Until 1974 there was no light grey vinyl, so they used either black (mostly) or brown, later beige vinyl instead. And BMW never offered grey leather for E3/E9, again you had to go with black, beige or brown.

 

[Oldbmwcoupes]

Todd,
Welcome! I’m not such a long time member myself. I watched your car‘s auction very very closely. Having lived in Cleveland while finishing high school, I got used to rust, copious amounts of it! I had several fiat 124 spyders- well know to rust worse than any salt and snow riddled e9. There are several types of rust to the deeply experienced rustophiles. This car had lots of surface rust but the structure looked very well in tact. I know that so-cal members, and others with deep pockets have luxuries of locale and funds which makes a car like this easy to bash about hidden rust. However, as the pool of rebuildable cars diminishes, yours is a pretty darn good one in my experiences. I sincerely hope that it proves to be as good as I believe it could be.

The other reason I was watching is because I have a 3.0 cs that I’m not going to have time to rebuild and I’m thinking of selling. It has different rust, some worse (bad around the rear window-sunroof) but great in all the other structural areas. Your car served as base line pricing for a complete car needing refurbishment like mine. I have extra drive trains like m90s and 265 transmissions should you decide to upgrade while you’re at it all. I’m excited to see your progress, appreciative to see a very save worthy car get refurbished, and excited to see any pics and updates. The very best of luck to you!

 

[tdgray]

I’ll know more when it arrives of course but talking to the seller (after the purchase so not playing it up) it is mostly surface rust. He said the truck pan is solid the floorboards are so so. The rockers are solid but the inner structure has rot.

Its gonna be a rotisserie restoration anyway so I’m not too worried but any less rot is a bonus and makes the job easier.

Cant wait to get started but she’s gonna have to wait until the new garage is finished.

 

[rsporsche]

once you get it and start work, my recommendation is to start your own thread in the E9 Projects and Restorations folder - that way keeping all the work / progress documented for future reference.

 

[tdgray]

Absolutely, thats one of the fun parts of a restoration.

 

[Ohmess]

Feel free to bug us with questions. And please update your location in your profile so we know were you are located. US is a pretty big place.