Build Process Picture Set

The Don

Well-Known Member
Messages
98
Reaction score
5
Location
Solihull, UK
Top job.

Lots of hard work, but well worth it.

Looking at your 3 orange paint swatches, are they all Inka or have you had a custom colour made?

Just wondering as mine will be reverting back to Orange from Polaris and your car colour really stands out.
 

rb1971

Well-Known Member
Messages
531
Reaction score
1
Location
Bay Area, USA
Looking at your 3 orange paint swatches, are they all Inka or have you had a custom colour made?

All Inka, with different types of clear coat so that I could see the finished look. Unfortunately since I am in CA my options for paint are pretty limited, but DuPont was able to provide a Inka match that I was pretty happy with at the end of the day.
 

Peter Coomaraswamy

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $$
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
896
Location
Austin, TX
Another new owner

Hi All:

I hope I'm putting this in the right spot. I recently purchased a 3.0 CS with an automatic (Borg Warner). I plan on doing a full restoration. My restoration experience is pretty much limited to older mustangs so this is a new one for me. I worked for an independent BMW repair shop in CT in my high school/college years and I have always wanted one of these coupes. I think I lucked out in that there is virtually no rust on this car and all the pieces are there except the seats were really bad. I have been reading allot on this forum and people seem to be fond of putting newer running gear in these cars and as I dismantle this thing I am wondering if anyone has any opinion on an idea I have of putting a new ford V8 in this car. The Coyote motor is all aluminum and puts out about twice the HP of what most people are putting in these cars.

Also, everyone I have come in contact with regarding parts (BMW stuff) has been great.
I will also try to put up a picture.

Thanks for letting me join!
Peter C
 

Attachments

  • 1974bmw1.jpg
    1974bmw1.jpg
    7.9 KB · Views: 235

HB Chris

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $$
Messages
19,418
Reaction score
8,757
Location
Huntington Beach, CA
Peter

When in the Discussion Forum, use the New Thread button at top left to start a new topic.

Lots of info here on engine mods and swaps so search away. As for a Ford V8, my personal opinion is you have the wrong car if that is your goal, sorry to be so blunt. Others may disagree.

Chris
 

Peter Coomaraswamy

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $$
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
896
Location
Austin, TX
Be Blunt- No problem

Thanks, I guess it's just the mustang guy in me coming through. I had a visitor today who said the same thing-keep it BMW, so here would be my question: it has the 3.0 engine but the tranny is really weak. I'm not really a fan of automatics so what would be the best manual transmission to put in a 74 CSa. I have located a set of pedals and the proper shift insert for the interior. I may start a new thread for this if you think that is the right direction to go-

Again, thanks for your comments

Peter C
 

Stevehose

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $$
Messages
12,934
Reaction score
5,598
Location
Sarasota, FL
Do a search on 5 speed conversion - plenty of threads. If you then need specific questions answered, start a thread. Welcome to the forum - lots of knowledge here.


Thanks, I guess it's just the mustang guy in me coming through. I had a visitor today who said the same thing-keep it BMW, so here would be my question: it has the 3.0 engine but the tranny is really weak. I'm not really a fan of automatics so what would be the best manual transmission to put in a 74 CSa. I have located a set of pedals and the proper shift insert for the interior. I may start a new thread for this if you think that is the right direction to go-

Again, thanks for your comments

Peter C
 

WALTER

Well-Known Member
Site Donor
Messages
603
Reaction score
162
Location
WASHINGTON, D. C.
+2 on keeping it BMW. My personal opinion is that the 3.0 is happier as a grand touring car than a red light to red light racer. Higher HP exposes chassis weaknesses which requires stiffening as well as suspension and brake upgrades to cope. I currently have an ongoing project that will have a larger engine (BMW), FI, cam, MSII, ITBs, etc. I hope to get somewhere between 225 and 250hp out of it, which is plenty of power in a 40 year old, small car...for me at least. That being said, there are guys running turbo e9's that are said to have in excess of 400hp. A turbo may be an alternative for you to use a BMW engine but gain power.

-Walt
 

Peter Coomaraswamy

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $$
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
896
Location
Austin, TX
Thanks folks

I'm currently disassembling the coupe so it can be media blasted, bagging and tagging allot of stuff. I will start a new thread when I get to the more technical engine related stuff. In the meanwhile, since the company I plan on using to remove all the paint, etc. offers different types of media blasting (glass/walnut shells/etc.) is there a preferred media that you can suggest.

Thanks,
 

Nicad

Well-Known Member
Site Donor
Messages
3,503
Reaction score
536
Location
Toronto
On the Lancaster project I have been involved with, we Blast parts with Plastic Media if there is no corrosion and Glass Bead if there is. The Plastic removes paint very quickly and leaves the surface in great shape otherwise. It will not remove any corrosion or plating on delicate parts.
 

d-ace

Well-Known Member
Messages
142
Reaction score
1
Location
Santa Barbara CA.
Most are well aware a media blaster even a soda blast will only clean what you can point the gun at….. That leaves numerous places (to many to list) on a CS coupe that never even get seen now rusting after 40-years since manufactured.

Since you are a mussel car guy “Peter Coomaraswamy” you may understand there is another simple way to remove all paint, rust, super clean it to bare metal in all seams and closed compartments and then seal it too>>> http://www.metaldipping.com/process.php?PHPSESSID=c9ed7b50018dcc05f3c41200de755fd8
 
Last edited:

Nicad

Well-Known Member
Site Donor
Messages
3,503
Reaction score
536
Location
Toronto
If I was re doing a car that wasn't straightforward, I'd go that route just for the fact that it is done in one shot and you go from there. I don't know if I will ever take a car apart that much though. Might lose focus and never get it back together.
 

d-ace

Well-Known Member
Messages
142
Reaction score
1
Location
Santa Barbara CA.
That is the illusion that many buy into even me at one time years ago. Although as I ask myself and now many other need to >> what could be straightforward about a car that was not sealed property 40-years ago and how many pounds of rust could really be in there?

Also I have seen many go much further than just stripping a coupe before. These coupes the way they flex in the turns need good metal to do it. We never did patch work it makes it stiff like how they over strengthen these coupes racing, sometimes one of the front tires wasn’t even touching the ground in the turns they were so stiff. We always remove and replace even lightly rust body parts with OEM parts set in place with a Lincoln spot welder.

When I was young someone said to me once, a full ground up restoration on any car is like a rebuild on a motor. Why would one just do valves, gaskets, seals, timing chain and not replace major components like pistons, rods, bearings, oil pump or not surface the head correctly or not check the cam and crank?

I had a friend that had a 2800cs once we worked on he bought for low-cost that show low rust on the outside. After stripped we had shoveled over 100 pounds of rust off the shop floor. A Junker bought most of it, motor, trans other things even the roof, he got his money back. Although the low body we cut it up with cutting torches just to see what was really there and the mistakes “Karmen” made when manufacturing. Everywhere it was spot-welded inside the seams especially in the closed compartments is where the rust started from then went from the inside out rocker panels and sub-frame #1. There is more than one reason one does work like this outside of looks, mostly metal restored to a clean surface then sealed so it will last for decades to come and to completely stop the cancer.
 

BMW3.0CSi

Well-Known Member
Site Donor
Messages
95
Reaction score
63
Location
The Netherlands
For a while I have been promising (threatening?) to do a complete write-up of my car restoration. It was a ton of work, and we did a lot of small things and a couple of big things that I think will be interesting to the group.

Unfortunately life finds a way of intervening, and I don't see any way to do justice to the project at least until the end of the year, but I thought folks might be interested in a link to flickr that has a lot of the pics from the entirety of the build process.

It was great fun to be involved in doing this, the people that I've worked with could not have been better, and I can't say how much I have appreciated all the help from people on the board and folks like Dan (CoupeGuy) and Carl and Ben down at La Jolla.

I also owe some folks info about various things on the build - please feel free to shoot me another PM or ask here and I will do my best to answer. I know for example someone asked about our air intake system - there should be some pics of that setup in here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25295657@N00/sets/72157627708348117/

Hi, while an old topic, but very usefull because of the pictures you provided. I've checked your album, but do you have some pictures from the engine mounts you used? Or can you explain what combination of brackets/mounts you used? Started working on my S38 swap today and cannot find a clear answers/pictures on the engine mounts. Is it right that it fits with the original mounts in combination with the KMS bracket?
 
Last edited:

Candia4441

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $
Site Donor $$
Messages
911
Reaction score
310
Location
California
Added a bunch more pics that I thought were already in the photo stream, as well as a few pics today now that the car has had its spoiler added and painted.
Hello, It is very nice E9 greater new paint the best color on E9 but better than all it is your spoiler will you tell me where I can buy that kind of spoiler
 

HB Chris

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $$
Messages
19,418
Reaction score
8,757
Location
Huntington Beach, CA
John’s last post here was six years ago so I doubt he will be checking in and see these posts. You can always send members a Conversation though.
 
Top