'73 CS Barn Find Restoration - Start to Finish

rockminster

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I'm new to the board and found the experience and knowledge of the members incredibly helpful in my E9 education and car seach. I wanted to find a restored car and after about two months of looking found what I believe is a great car with a nice story.

I thought I'd share the story and pictures of the car as it went from a basket case to what it looks like today. There are a lot of pictures, so I'll post them over the next week or so. Hopefully the man who restored the car in his garage on nights and weekends will join the thread and add details that I just can't know about the hundreds of hours that went into the restoration.

In terms of the back story, the car I bought had an engine failure in 1981 and was acquired by an owner in Colorado who intended to turn the car into a race car. As happens w many projects, he started work, got distracted, and then the next thing he knew, 25 years had passed. In 2006 he decided to sell the car and placed an ad in his local BMWCCA newsletter.

The man I bought the car from, call him Mr. Fenster, saw the ad and had been looking for his next restoration project. He'd restored, as a hobby, a number of cars over time and was intrigued by the E9. He went to see the car and while it was in dreadful condition, it was a complete car and hadn't suffered any major damage. He bought the car and trailered it home, ready to start the project.

Here is what the car looked like in 2006 when the project started:

In the barn...
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Ready for the makeover to start...
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More details and pictures to come....
 

rockminster

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I bought the car already restored and I assume that the person who restored the car paid very little for it in its unrestored form.

Here are pictures of the car as the onion was unpeeled....

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rockminster

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The owner knew that the engine didn't run and once he got it open he found out why...

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Engine out on the stand
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Head is off and we see why it was parked in in 1981...
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Corrosion in the head as well...
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bmw art car

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thank you very

for posting these photo's. it's great to see what's under things like the
dashboard and such.
and i save them for later (if you don't mind) for when i do some more work on my 2800cs.
 

bmw art car

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Your car actually looks better than mine did (except for the engine) when I started.

Most of your under-fender parts that have rust perforations are still available. There is a thread here: http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6971 that discusses what is available and how to replace the parts.

awesome info
i believe it would be great on this forum to have a designated sticky thread with these tips as far as rust places is concerned
 
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G

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Fixing the hole in the floor is easy. Walloth & Nesch has a solid replacement part for the floor. http://www.wallothnesch.com/e/frameoffer.htm Jaymic has the replacement floor, http://www.jaymic.com/shop/parts_CS_products.asp?grp=CSBDR&page=3 and just a solid part that is a replacement for the plug and the surrounding floor. http://www.jaymic.com/shop/parts_CS_products.asp?grp=CSBDR&page=2

I "think " the poster is showing the photos of what the car looked like before it was restored.
 

Bwana

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Outstanding post!!
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We need more picture intensive threads around here, they sure can explain a lot of procedures with more clairity.

Is that the stock aux A/C fan and brackets?
 

rockminster

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For the engine, the original block was in rough shape, as you saw in the prior pictures. The restoration goal was to keep the car close to stock in appearance, so while the replacement engine is a rebuilt 1982 M30 Euro spec 3.5L, it is still carbed. This engine is mated to a 1982 Getrag 265 5-speed and a 3:73 LSD rear end.

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