'71 2800 CS Budget Resto

Stevehose said:
Have you drained and flushed the coolant?

The VIN number on the engine is on a pad above the starter. Should match the one on the passenger firewall and top of steering column if it's the original engine.

I'd replace all rubber fuel hoses, in the engine compartment and the trunk.
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I really have done nothing so far. My time is very limited, and I won't be driving the car for quite some time.

is there a pic of the firewall location? I can't find the VIN on the firewall. The car is clearly original, with matching paint and an original VIN tag. I don't see the firewall stamp though.
 
It's located right in front of passenger on the firewall.

You must mean 2240650? The early heads cracked, coolant passages plugged, etc. 1981 might be the improved head though.
 
Look just inward of the passenger side hood latch. Not the engine side of the firewall, the windshield side.



Markos said:
I really have done nothing so far. My time is very limited, and I won't be driving the car for quite some time.

is there a pic of the firewall location? I can't find the VIN on the firewall. The car is clearly original, with matching paint and an original VIN tag. I don't see the firewall stamp though.
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HB Chris said:
It's located right in front of passenger on the firewall.

You must mean 2240650? The early heads cracked, coolant passages plugged, etc. 1981 might be the improved head though.
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No, it's 2204650. That aligns with the euro VIN range on e9driven. Also, the response back from Germany corresponds appropriately. I see a spot where it makes sense for the vin, but it isn't clearly visible.

http://www.firstfives.org/faq/cylinder_head/cylinder_head_faq.htm
The approximate casting dates are, thru 78 will be the early head, 79-80 the intermediate one, and 81 and later the late one.
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Originally painted grey, now probably sprayed body color, it is stamped into the metal, should be clearly visible.
 
Small update.

Firstly, I found the VIN on the firewall. It's a match. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

My plans to dry out the car are coming along. A big source of moisture was the rear parcel tray. You've seen the underside, with multiple speakers mounted. The top side was a custom speaker cover was what appeared to be 3/4" particle board, swollen to a thickness of about 1.5". The entire parcel tray was a giant sponge, and it is now gone. I now have a sad view of the hacked up sheet metal. I will likely fill these holes.

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The rear subframe mounts have a lot of surface rust on the top side. I don't think it's structural.

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I will likely weld on some reinforcement plates, something like this:
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From a 4x4 fabrication supplier that has every laser cut suspension part you could need:
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com

I took my seats out to dry:
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I found this under the seat. I wish the finish on my '71 had held up as well.
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Not much progress. I'm just letting the car dry out. I cleaned the garage so I now have a place to move it inside. Now that the rear shelf is removed, I can clearly see how much water makes its way in from the bad rear seal (quite a bit). Fortunately it's just pooling on the metal for now. I'm going to cover the car with a tarp while I work on cleaning the fuel system.

I visited a fellow forum member and bought some interior bits. I now have another set of panels and wood. Between both sets of wood, I should be able to create one good set, which will still require new veneer (which I intend to do myself). My door panels wouldn't look half bad if cleaned and sprayed black, but they have speaker cutouts that I do not want. The windows cranks interfere with them, which speaks to the terrible choice of the speaker location. In addition to being wet from a bad windshield seal, my kick panels have perforated speaker holes in them. Unlike the rest of the speakers mods, they did a halfway decent job on this. A stereo is priority Z for me. All speakers will be removed.

Total spend to date: $3,200

My existing door panels
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New parts, $200
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Yeah, I remember the days when a thumping stereo was the top priority with any car I bought. Now, I just plan to listen to the beautiful sound my car makes as I cruise on down the road.

Next year I'll replace the stereo.
 
Ohmess said:
Yeah, I remember the days when a thumping stereo was the top priority with any car I bought. Now, I just plan to listen to the beautiful sound my car makes as I cruise on down the road.

Next year I'll replace the stereo.
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When the time comes, I'm thinking about hard wiring a small Bluetooth speaker behind the OEM dash speaker grill, and just hooking up my phone. That gives me radio, music, etc. Also, by the time I get to worrying about music, Bluetooth speaker tech will be highly advanced. :D
 
Slow and steady wins this race. Still drying out the inside. Sitting outside in 70 degree weather with the windows down helps! My BMW fund is tied up in Paypal, so I've been buying parts via Ebay. Sears is supposed to accept PayPal but the service is down.

Total Spend: $3,431

I ordered this from JEGS (ebay) for $54.
$_12.JPG


Marine Terminals (ebay) for $7.70
$_57.JPG


Picked this up from Sears for $170
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A minor thread jack here, does Interstate make Die Hard batteries? I've always been a big fan of Die Hards but I strongly suspect Sears doesn't make their own batteries (sort of like Michelen in the '70's for "Roadhandlers")
 
Bwana said:
A minor thread jack here, does Interstate make Die Hard batteries? I've always been a big fan of Die Hards but I strongly suspect Sears doesn't make their own batteries (sort of like Michelen in the '70's for "Roadhandlers")
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Sears never really made their own stuff. Kenmore appliances are made by GE, LG, Samsung, you name it. It's always been the same for craftsman power tools, compressors, etc.

I like Die Hard because of the warranty. I had an AGM battery fail that I bought from Batteries plus, and they didn't honor the warranty. They are banned for life!

Johnson Controls has a 40% market share and makes Die Hard, Interstate, Duralast, Bosch, Optima, Ever start, and a bunch of OEM batteries.

Back on subject, I got my passenger door open! Pliers to the lock pull and a few hard tugs on the door did the trick. Tomorrow I will try to clean the headliner. I also.want to dismount the old rubber from my slotted alloys.
 
I much preferred an AGM battery. Also, I am erring on the side of convenience. Sears stores are everywhere, and they are open on Sunday's. The exile battery seems like a great option for aesthetics and price. Thanks for the part number. I couldn't find it when I searched.
 
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This should be the last of my priorities. What can I say, I have significantly more time available in front of a computer than in the garage. I'm not sure if I like the thickness of the wood compared to a Nardi or OEM wood wheel. I will likely darken the finish as well. I'm also not sure if the hub will fit. It looks like hubs are going for $80, so $100 for any wheel seems pretty fair. Also, no hunting for a horn button with this purchase.

Total Spend: $3,601

Vintage Momo Wheel & Hub: $170
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That steering wheel does look too thick, it also has a 2002 hub since it has the brass pin in the hub. E9 hubs have a brass horn ring with pin on the steering column.
 
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