rickpbaker
Member
Hi everyone,
My name is Rick. I’m 35 and live in Los Angeles. Good job, no kids, no girlfriend. Now’s the time to get a restoration going! But before I get into that, the backstory…
Myself, my twin brother and my Dad bought a LHD euro spec 1971 3.0 CS back in 2008 from the 2nd owner in Oregon. It was shipped back to Melbourne, Australia, where we lived at the time, and restored to a ‘good’ degree. You can see my brothers thread that documents that process slightly here.
Full down to the metal repaint, new custom leather upholstery and numerous other restoration type work. I say it’s ‘good’ because neither my Dad or the guy restoring it and worked much on BMW coupes before so they were doing the best they could with the little information they had.
Anyway, Dad enjoyed it for a number of years but eventually all the brothers had moved to the US for work and the car wasn’t being driven as much, space became an issue as mum and dad downsized. Dad loves his 1971 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet so the BMW had to go.
Not bloody likely! I decided to have it shipped back to the US. It’s been with me in Los Angeles for a few years now. Now my parents have something to drive when they come and visit.
To that end I found Tom Colitt to help me with some of the mechanical issues. He lived 20 minutes from my house and we became good friends as he would come work on the car with me at my place. We replaced the cylinder head together (original developed a crack) and he corrected a lot of smaller issues like the missing sill trim, various trim bits, fitment of doors/hood, replacing radiators, pumps etc.
Tom was just a very knowledgeable and friendly guy who always helped me. Such a shame he passed away, the world is a sadder place for it.
So now that Tom isn’t here to help me, I’ve determined to continue working on it myself. I’ve restored a couple 70’s motorcycles and daily-drive a 1973 Datsun 620 pickup truck so I’m not scared to get greasy, I’m just a little overwhelmed with all the things I don’t know about E9's.
This is where this forum is invaluable, and I’d like your help in deciding how to tackle this rather daunting project. First thing first, where I’m at currently…
My name is Rick. I’m 35 and live in Los Angeles. Good job, no kids, no girlfriend. Now’s the time to get a restoration going! But before I get into that, the backstory…
Myself, my twin brother and my Dad bought a LHD euro spec 1971 3.0 CS back in 2008 from the 2nd owner in Oregon. It was shipped back to Melbourne, Australia, where we lived at the time, and restored to a ‘good’ degree. You can see my brothers thread that documents that process slightly here.
Full down to the metal repaint, new custom leather upholstery and numerous other restoration type work. I say it’s ‘good’ because neither my Dad or the guy restoring it and worked much on BMW coupes before so they were doing the best they could with the little information they had.
Anyway, Dad enjoyed it for a number of years but eventually all the brothers had moved to the US for work and the car wasn’t being driven as much, space became an issue as mum and dad downsized. Dad loves his 1971 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet so the BMW had to go.
Not bloody likely! I decided to have it shipped back to the US. It’s been with me in Los Angeles for a few years now. Now my parents have something to drive when they come and visit.
To that end I found Tom Colitt to help me with some of the mechanical issues. He lived 20 minutes from my house and we became good friends as he would come work on the car with me at my place. We replaced the cylinder head together (original developed a crack) and he corrected a lot of smaller issues like the missing sill trim, various trim bits, fitment of doors/hood, replacing radiators, pumps etc.
Tom was just a very knowledgeable and friendly guy who always helped me. Such a shame he passed away, the world is a sadder place for it.
So now that Tom isn’t here to help me, I’ve determined to continue working on it myself. I’ve restored a couple 70’s motorcycles and daily-drive a 1973 Datsun 620 pickup truck so I’m not scared to get greasy, I’m just a little overwhelmed with all the things I don’t know about E9's.
This is where this forum is invaluable, and I’d like your help in deciding how to tackle this rather daunting project. First thing first, where I’m at currently…