New Member Old E9. 1970 2800CS

[Marty]

Hi guys, Marty here! A dream of mine has always been to restore a car. Found a perfect candidate with this 2800CS. Needs a lot of work, didn't think I could get it running but had good luck and got it going with battery, spark plugs, fuel tank cleaning (plus leaky hole welding), new fuel line, and a new radiator, but just about able to get it on the road once I figure the brakes out.

Original plan was just to strip down to chassis and acid bath and start there, but with getting the car started, I thought what the heck, let's get her on the road! Going to see if I want to keep original zenith carbed engine or swap, otherwise mostly will be restoring. Want to get all rust out otherwise I don't think it's worth doing!

Will probably be asking lots of questions even with all the info already available!

 

[Krzysztof]

Welcome!

Is E9 your dream car or just it was a good offer for classic car to buy for the project? Any interesting history behind?

It sounds like a good idea to have fun (if possible) first with starting the car (fuel, ignition, brakes) and be able to drive first for some time before it will be turned into tiny pieces.

Would be interesting and also helping for you to share another steps with the "bring-up" as many experts can guide you how to make some repair correctly, avoiding errors wherever is possible.

I'm sure many of us would like to see some more pictures. It will be also an opportunity for you to learn about the car, it's history and completion/originality.

Hear you soon!

 

[eriknetherlands]

Hi there Marty!
Welcome in our group.

Great choice of wheels. Enjoy driving the car for a while, it will allow you to know and 'understand' the car a bit. And it will give you many moments of smiles, that you may need to memorize for those moment when you're deep into a garage full of parts
The engines are quite reliable and do well on regular usage. You'll learn what works well, what needs a check up and so on. Pulling the whole car apart, rust-fix it all, and in the meantime doing a revamp of all sub-systems is quite a big project to manage and a vast logistical task. But it will get you fully refreshed car in the shortest amount of time.
Another route is to drive your car, while tackling the subsytems one by one untill most of them are fresh & running fine. At point, tackling the rust is a more isolated job and you do not have that distraction from all those subsystems that are unbolted, and also cry for attention.

Rust remedy in itself can be a real chore compared to other unibody vehicles, as an E9 unibody is constructed in a quite complex way with in some corners even up to 7 layers of steel stacked on top of each other. What if the middle layer is the often heavily rusted sill/rocker? (it is...)

Whatever route you choose, we're here for all those questions like " I'd like to buy a new/used right door handle, who has one for sale"

Do have a good look around the forum, try the search function (it's remarkably good), and also have a look at the DIY section where more and more detailed how-to's are being added by valuable forum members. There's also a list of vendors that provide parts and respected services for our cars.
Enjoy!

 

[Stevehose]

Welcome, for your journey it will be helpful for you to put your location in your profile. You’ve come to the right place!

 

[Stan]

Welcome aboard! You have come to the right place for answers to many questions!

 

[Arde]

Welcome Marty! I like the plan of the acid bath, I read about it but not many direct experience posters on that.
Good luck!

 

[jmackro]

Original plan was just to strip down to chassis and acid bath and start there, but with getting the car started, I thought what the heck, let's get her on the road! Going to see if I want to keep original zenith carbed engine or swap, otherwise mostly will be restoring. Want to get all rust out otherwise I don't think it's worth doing!

Fairfield huh? I grew up in Monroe, and while I left New England 48 years ago, I still get back to Connecticut to visit relatives. Was in Fairfield a couple of weeks ago while we were back to see the fall colors. Lots of vintage car activity in your area.

So how severe is the rust on your 2800? Rust is the bugaboo of these cars. I've had my 2800CS since 1989 and although it has always been in California, I have done a lot of rust patching. Read up on acid bath versus media blasting; I've had two cars (not my CS) blasted, and am wary of dipping. But others endorse it. No sense in doing any interior work or paint until the rust has been excised.

On the other hand, now that you have the car running, putting it on the road (once you have the brakes sorted out) makes a lot of sense. You really should drive the car for at least a few thousand miles - maybe all next season - before deciding how you want to restore it. My advice is to keep it fairly original. The 2800 has plenty of power to keep up with modern traffic. I have a 5-speed in mine which is nice for freeway driving, but otherwise I've kept it fairly stock.

 

[Marty]

Hi all,

Yes both restoring a car is a dream and owning an E9 so excited for two birds one stone here. The other dream was an old 911, but those got too popular and now I like them less. A little more unattainable is a W113. Yeah I can post more as I troublehoot problems in different forums. Just drove the car half a block today for the first time, but my mechanical fuel pump might not be working properly. Had to IV bag a motor cycle temporary tank to the pump.

I actually have the right door handle, previous owner took it off as that door doesn't lock.

I have photos of this car getting restored in the 1980's, not much more history I know of other than this car was in cambridge, MA for a long time. Mileage around 139k. Changed spark plugs and battery and engine pretty much turned and kicked on for a few rotations. Rest of the car condition will be fun to deal with.

Yes, love the wheels, but wheels were not going to stop me buying this car. Happy I have the full size spare with matching rim. I have all 4 hub caps in good shape and most trunk tools.

All structural parts seem solid to a hammer tap. The front A-pillar joint needs to be sorted and the bottom of doors, sills, and wheels wells are bad. Trunk spare tire well is rotted through but already have that new panel. I actually think I have most parts (95%) so happy about that. Debating how orginal I want to restore and what I'm okay modernizing. I think I want the original engine. It's number matching and sounds good and does have good power, but driving it around will tell me what to do!

 

[Krzysztof]

Your car looks like a good base.

Box structures behind front fenders, wheels wells, inner sills or spare wheel compartment are typical for all E9s.

Non cracked upper dash panel might be a challenge to be found for good money, but they are still possible to be found.

You can check VIN with the E9 registry top page of the Forum to see if it was already registered here by previous owner. It has BMWCCA sticker, so probably it was seen by some Members here or might be some may know the history of that car more. Worth to check.

Originality is important as long you are happy with it. In the end it is Your dream car.

Some modifications are recommended by the Members from Webers, rear disc brakes (ventilated at front), A/C or electronic ignition but it all depends on You. At least you can check topics about each of the upgrades here to make your own decision.

Anyhow brakes or basic check will take some time and it will allow to look deeper in some places. Fortunately most of the common parts are available (see FAQ section for more details)

Good luck with Your E9 journey !

 

[Stan]

A good starting point!
When running, drive it up to Vintage Sports & Restoration in Bedford NH and have Mario look at it.
Love the steering wheel
Lose the plastic wind deflector
Love the rectangular under-bumper driving lights. Are they Bosch? Took me forever to find a set!

 

[autokunst]

Hello @Marty , welcome to the forum! It looks like you have a great start to a long and wonderful journey. As others have noted, this is the place to be, and there are so many knowledgeable members here that are happy to help.

I started very similar to you. When I found my car it was rough and not running. The first thing we did was getting it running, driving and stopping. But I then quickly stripped it down, dipped it, and embarked on chassis restoration. I'm still working on that aspect (and may be for years to come). But I do love knowing every centimeter of the car. It is a rewarding process, for sure.

I'm looking forward to following along with your project.

 

[Marty]

Your car looks like a good base.

Box structures behind front fenders, wheels wells, inner sills or spare wheel compartment are typical for all E9s.

Non cracked upper dash panel might be a challenge to be found for good money, but they are still possible to be found.

You can check VIN with the E9 registry top page of the Forum to see if it was already registered here by previous owner. It has BMWCCA sticker, so probably it was seen by some Members here or might be some may know the history of that car more. Worth to check.

Originality is important as long you are happy with it. In the end it is Your dream car.

Some modifications are recommended by the Members from Webers, rear disc brakes (ventilated at front), A/C or electronic ignition but it all depends on You. At least you can check topics about each of the upgrades here to make your own decision.

Anyhow brakes or basic check will take some time and it will allow to look deeper in some places. Fortunately most of the common parts are available (see FAQ section for more details)

Good luck with Your E9 journey !

I figured those were all typical. Dash we will see, not that important to me right now, but will always be on the lookout.

I think the previous owner right before me was on here, I'll have to check that out. I'll keep it pretty original right this second until I have a long term plan. Don't want to buy parts twice.

Are webers an upgrade? I thought they were less finicky w/o all the zenith gizmos. Right now my autochoke does heat up and work. The electric pre heat element I still haven't dived into, but regardless need to rebuild them. The car does sound very good with them.

A good starting point!
When running, drive it up to Vintage Sports & Restoration in Bedford NH and have Mario look at it.
Love the steering wheel
Lose the plastic wind deflector
Love the rectangular under-bumper driving lights. Are they Bosch? Took me forever to find a set!

When I was picking up the car in MA some guy was just window shopping the car and mentioned Mario. Said he's got PLENTY of parts up there. One day I'll make it that far. Yes Bosch and they are the original lights.

Hello @Marty , welcome to the forum! It looks like you have a great start to a long and wonderful journey. As others have noted, this is the place to be, and there are so many knowledgeable members here that are happy to help.

I started very similar to you. When I found my car it was rough and not running. The first thing we did was getting it running, driving and stopping. But I then quickly stripped it down, dipped it, and embarked on chassis restoration. I'm still working on that aspect (and may be for years to come). But I do love knowing every centimeter of the car. It is a rewarding process, for sure.

I'm looking forward to following along with your project.

Yeah I'm debating that or now a lot of talk of just driving it for a year is interesting. Would be easier to focus on one subsystem at time, thats for sure. We will see. On topic of dip vs sandblast, I do just want to dip as I heard there's a lot of deep inside rust that will be hidden and that will get most of that. We'll see what I do the day I strip to chassis, but that's not in the near future. I'd want to acid dip -> probably all body work -> heard maybe dip again but $$$ -> dip e-primer to get everything coated -> continue with restoration. Could be a dream. We will see.

 

[rsporsche]

Marty,

dash - you want to remove / replace when the front windshield is out. very difficult to do otherwise. you can fix cracked dash with padded dash filler - sand and paint with SEM color coat.

 

[jmackro]

Are webers an upgrade? I thought they were less finicky w/o all the zenith gizmos. Right now my autochoke does heat up and work. The electric pre heat element I still haven't dived into, but regardless need to rebuild them.

Are Webers an upgrade? Haw, that's a loaded question. Simple answer: depends on who you ask!

We're talking the downdraft DGV series Webers that bolt to the original BMW manifold; not the sidedraft DCOE's. Your perception that they are less finicky than the Zeniths is a good summary. Zenith advocates say than when properly set up, the Zeniths run smoother and use less fuel, which is probably true. Nonetheless, I have manual choke 32/36 DGV's on my 2800 and like them for their simplicity.

 

[craterface]

The original 2.8 is quite a nice engine, likes to Rev. Webers for simplicity. I'd restore to original and spend you money on the body. Get it driving and use it and enjoy for 6-24 mos before you take it off the road to do the body work.

 

[autokunst]

I'd want to acid dip -> probably all body work -> heard maybe dip again but $$$ -> dip e-primer to get everything coated

This is the sequence that I am working under. My plan is to finish the metal work, then the car would be dipped again and e-coated. Then bodywork and paint would commence.

 

[Krzysztof]

Our projects can eat up all the money - our dreams can make the project extremely expensive, especially with the spare and equipment prices going up and up.

Having own plan is the key.

As it was mentioned driving the car for some time should possibly clarify your plans and help to prioritize short and long term.

 

[boonies]

@Marty welcome to the fun.

Your 2800 looks like a great base to start from and as others have said, put some miles on it to better understand the needs as you make plans for either a full restoration or one that is more sector or sub-system based. Either way will keep you occupied and your wallet will feel...wanted!