'73 Sahara Bavaria Restoration

Rear calipers are different than the front.
II got my caliper rebuild kits from RockAuto
If the spare MC is unused, I'd just disassemble and inspect and put in a kit. A simple DIY.
RockAuto has all the hoses for $6-8 each.

Great, I've found both caliper rebuild kits on RockAuto.

I'm now leaning towards buying the adapters to accommodate the E9 slotted front rotors

Has anyone used these Dynamic Friction rotors for rear replacements? RockAuto calls them a fit

This may be a moot point; a local shop I trust has the tooling to turn rotors. Just need to measure where they're currently at.
 
The car is now at Eastgate Motors in Red Hook, NY. They conveniently have a lift and a wide selection of tools.

Here are some shots from some parts discovery/organization and transport on Wednesday.

Along with about 10 headlights, a drawer full of coolant hosing, and one, if not two wiring harnesses, I came across two front calipers* that look like they are barely used, with new pads inserted.

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*edit: calipers, not rotors
 
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Nice project!

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Is it the original BMW sticker on the silencer?

I like the colors on this photo.

It was! Although I'm not sure it survived the flat bed trip (in the rain, unfortunately). Good news there is that I only found one small leak along the inside of the drivers-side rocker after an hour in the elements and under motion.
 
The car also came with a separate/spare bosal midpipe setup .. anyone ever run one of these?
 
I think your front bumperettes are on upside down (either that or mine are :) ). Your rear bumperettes look a little strange. I don't think they are upside down, but the face should be flat. Maybe the bumper itself is tweaked some? Odd that the front side reflectors have been shaved, but not the rear marker lights. A good thing that they are gone, however.

It is great to get all those spares with the car. What you can't use will be good trading material. The front turn signal/marker lens and the tail lights are getting to be unobtanium. Parts that also fit an E9 are gold...like the front grills, headlight buckets, Engine parts.

A great looking Bav! It will be a fun and rewarding project.
 
I also had a booster restored at Ireland Eng. I believe they sent it out
They did a good but not super job, the paint, they painted over a sticker
Just had mine rebuilt from ireland engineering. They painted over rust. Poor paint job. Will redo before installing.
 
Recently rebuilt front and rear brake calipers. In search of the front cs/csi front caliper pins. I installed the cs/csi spacers in calipers that allow me to run vented rotors. Now the hardware kit I have doesn't work because the pins are to short. So far I can't find the correct kit. Anyone know where to source these???
 

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Just had mine rebuilt from ireland engineering. They painted over rust. Poor paint job. Will redo before installing.
Rebuild versus restore. Might be better for customers to request "do not paint" since it doesn't make it better.
 
Another one for the Negative Column for Ireland. Seems like mixed results dealing with them these days. I remember something about a new owner. Not sure.

One of my Bavarias was your color. It grows on you, or at least it did on me. My first coupe was Sahara. Those light colors show off the lines and overall design of the body better than the darker colors. However my current Bavaria, 72, is Agave and I love it.

Yes, again, these are great, under valued, under rated, 4 door sedans that handle as well as a 3.0CS Coupe with two doors, weigh almost 200 lbs less and have a more advanced rear suspension. And if you are a slave to air conditioning there are extra ducts left and right sides of the dash that help keep you cooler while the planet warms faster. They are missing on the Coupe and 2002.

Looking forward to your latest chapter.

Steve
 
Recently rebuilt front and rear brake calipers. In search of the front cs/csi front caliper pins. I installed the cs/csi spacers in calipers that allow me to run vented rotors. Now the hardware kit I have doesn't work because the pins are to short. So far I can't find the correct kit. Anyone know where to source these???
In the end, I actually found a set of OEM solid rotors on Ebay from Greece -- Ireland has my calipers now for a rebuild (they don't list front caliper rebuild on their site, but I spoke with them and was able to spec 2002/tii rebuild service for the same).
 
Another one for the Negative Column for Ireland. Seems like mixed results dealing with them these days. I remember something about a new owner. Not sure.

One of my Bavarias was your color. It grows on you, or at least it did on me. My first coupe was Sahara. Those light colors show off the lines and overall design of the body better than the darker colors. However my current Bavaria, 72, is Agave and I love it.

Yes, again, these are great, under valued, under rated, 4 door sedans that handle as well as a 3.0CS Coupe with two doors, weigh almost 200 lbs less and have a more advanced rear suspension. And if you are a slave to air conditioning there are extra ducts left and right sides of the dash that help keep you cooler while the planet warms faster. They are missing on the Coupe and 2002.

Looking forward to your latest chapter.

Steve

I've just followed up with Ireland over email about the caliper rebuilds, will share my experience.

Thanks for the support! Agave is my all time favorite color for E3/E9s .. but I'm quite happy with Sahara, especially with the deep brown/coffee interior.

The car hasn't been washed in 30 years, I'm looking forward to seeing how it cleans up with a good buff/wax/polish. Given there is some surface rust at the welds on the rear end, as well as evidence of interior rust on the rear doors, I'll likely be taking it to a local shop that I trust, to see what can be done .. Sadly, I imagine I'll need a respray if I want to get much further than a "10 footer", and will lose the original patina that is quite nice, on most of the panels. The front Right fender has been replaced at some point / isn't an exact color match, so, perhaps respray will be for the best, anyway..

Did you say that the E3s are 200lbs lighter than the coupe? Is this because of reinforcements needed for the no-B-pillar design? Never would have guessed. Also would love more info on the rear suspension differences, if you have a source. Thanks!
 
suspension differences
The E3 rear axle has suspension struts instead of separate springs and dampers as on the E9. Results in improved roadholding. Interestingly the banana subframes are different, too, although they look almost identical. A friend once accidentally used an E3 subframe under an E9 and was not happy with the odd position of the wheels. Only after a lot of head-scratching he found out what had gone wrong.
 
Brief update

* A brand new fuel tank from a forum member in Poland has made it's trek across the pond and through customs
* Ireland has completed the caliper rebuild, and shipped the calipers along with new rear discs
* Assembly has begun; I expect the car to be registered and road going within a month!
 
September Update!

My "registered and road going" in one month prediction died a quick but painless death. But, progress is progress:
  • Fuel tank installed + custom metal bracket to cover empty space left by use of early model fuel tank in late(r) model E3.
  • Brand new rotors, rebuilt calipers, pads, and braided lines installed.
  • Coolant system being addressed -- had ordered incorrect radiator; sourcing a radiator with transmission cooler.
Once coolant system is wrapped up, a mechanic far more skilled than I will address the engine. It turns over and runs, but hasn't seen any real duty in 30 years.

A Q for those who've been though this -- how do you replace the door seals? Are these NLA? The car is unfortunately being stored outside right now, and I've noticed some dampness in the passenger footwell beneath the carpets. Is it possibly some other source?
 
Replacing the door seals is a tall order. They are still available, but they don’t always fit. I spent over a month dealing with these things and ended up with a hybrid.
The pieces that fit in the frame are generally good, but when you get to the sides and underneath I used a product from Steele and cut and pasted.
Getting the old glue off is not for the faint of heart. make no mistake, This is a lot of work. If you’re taking it down to metal and repainting, the old glue is not a problem as you can grind it with a sanding wheel. But if you’re trying to preserve the paint that’s tough. The orange stuff works, but it takes a long time and many applications.
I believe I spelled some of it out in my restoration thread. But I never want to go back there.
 
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