Bmw e9 Fjord Blue Australia

[Simon_D]

Thought I would start documenting the restoration here. I purchased my e9 in August 2020.

The BMW 3.0 CS Automatic rhd VIN 4330196 was manufactured on May 02nd, 1974 and delivered on June 10th, 1974 to Australia. The original colour was Fjord metallic, paint code 037.

The previous owner had owned the car for over 25 years and had kept the car registered the entire time as an occasional driver.

The car was in fantastic condition mechanically, however there was an engine swap a number of years ago. The owner kept the original engine and supplied that to me as well.

The car was a survivor. Unrestored and physically tired and she had also suffered accident damage to one side. Rust wise coming from dry Adelaide and being kept undercover was relatively not bad.

The great hope is to restore her to her former glory and give her another 50 years of life.

Here are some before photos. My next post will include stripping down and body prep.

 

[Bmachine]

I have to say, and I am usually in the minority on this, but I really like the cloth seats far better than leather. So much more comfortable both in hot and cold temps, plus you don't slide around so much. And these appear to be in remarkable condition!

Lovely car overall.

 

[Simon_D]

Thanks Bmachine,

The cloth seats were protected by thick lambswool seatcovers, but even still are worn from age and will need to be reupholstered.

 

[Simon_D]

Stripping down- this took a decent amount of time and yes still more to take out. Now I have a garage full of parts that will test my labeling and stocktake skills whenever this car needs to be re-assembled!

Last photo being towed away to let the experts at it. Next stop the panel shop.

 

[Simon_D]

Front fender repair

Fully aware of a poor repair on the front fender, however once stripped down it was a real mess. We decided that replacement was better than repair, but quality fenders don’t grow on trees.

Through scouring the internet I found myself from Australia on a Finland based website talking to a lovely lady Marianne selling one from Norway. A few conversations later using google translate we were able to get the fender to Australia.

Mark at Edwardstown Body Repairs was able to perform the necessary wizardry to replace the offending fender.

Onto the next section!

 

[Simon_D]

Rear quarter repair

An amazingly terrible ‘repair’ was revealed on the rear quarter. The decision was made to replace the damage rather than trying to repair. As everyone knows that’s tried to find these panels is that they are few and far between.

Thankfully forum member sfdon came to my rescue and posted one to Australia.

Mark did his amazing surgical work again installing the replacement and completing another piece of the puzzle. Slowly but surely it’s taking shape. Before and after photos attached.

 

[Bmachine]

Excellent work. Remember to strengthen or replace the top of the rear shock towers while you are at this stage.

 

[Simon_D]

Quick progress report- onto the doors, rather than repairing I’m going the re-skin option- the skins from w/n look nice and not wanting any future surprises.

More interior coming out- the dash heading off for restoration. Dash removal for the most part was ok, however the air conditioning unit had to be removed to access to the inside cluster screws which wasn’t on the agenda at this point!

 

[Simon_D]

Toolkit- as happens over time the tools seem to walk. Really close to having the full set again ( once I receive a package from @Bert Poliakoff it’s almost there, thanks Bert). @Ian C was kind enough to send a spark plug cover, thanks Ian- really appreciated. Anthony Bolic the superstar sending me some Allen keys and Daniel Groot for a number of items.

 

[Simon_D]

Another piece of the puzzle! Dashboard beautifully refurbished by Dash Dr in Melbourne. It’s come up a treat looks stunning.

 

[Simon_D]

One door carcass - almost ready for some minor repairs and a new skin.

 

[Simon_D]

More door prep work- ready for the new skin to go on. Other door being dismantled then prepped as well.

 

[Simon_D]

Newly repaired and re skinned door hanging and gaps sorted. Pretty much all the hard work done for this side of the car thanks to Mark for his hard work getting this far. Moving onto some repairs at the rear of the car where the under rider attaches but looks like the worst sections are overcome.

 

[Simon_D]

Haven’t posted here in a while but plenty going on with the rebuild. The second door skin has been replaced and most repairs carried out on the right hand side of the car. Little more tidying up to go then it’s boot, bonnet and roof to finish. After that it’s off to ck paint and panel for a fresh respray.

 

[Simon_D]

More work on the e9! Bonnet/ hood cleaned up and torsion bar re-sleeved and installed, nicely working again. Boot/trunk skin removed for repairs- didn’t look like much rust but wanted to be sure everything underneath was sound, which it was. That’s all the rust we can find, just about something on every panel to correct despite looking in really good shape when we started. only being touched once this car!

 

[Simon_D]

So after nearly two years it’s come to this. Appreciation post for all those that have assisted getting to this point but really the work of mark from edwardstown body repairs metal finishing this car and the hundreds of hours involved is nothing short of amazing. This car has been turned absolutely inside out.

Final prep from Chris and the team at C.k paint and panel. It’s tempting to just clear over this stunning bodywork and leave it as is! Photos don’t do it justice.

 

[GRKOALA]

Amazing job! I popped past the shop yesterday, the body work and metal finish looks fantastic .

 

[Simon_D]

The e9 is in epoxy, I feel like this is a pretty big milestone to get to. Heaps of work to go but really nice to seal off that fresh metalwork.

Great work Chris from ck!

 

[Simon_D]

Whilst the epoxy cures it’s off to the workshop to strip the mechanicals. Engine is out, parts sourced to rebuild subframes, steering, bushes, new springs and shocks, new brakes incl rotors, engine gasket set, and many more jobs. Then back to the panel shop to clean up strip and preps the engine bay.

 

[Simon_D]

Little bit going on with the rebuild. The engine bay and boot have some color, hard to tell in the photos but really happy with the result