So, why is someone with a join date in 2010 in the new member introductions? Because I’ve been away for about six years. Here’s how it happened.
In the spring of 2010, I bought my ‘73 CS on eBay in New Mexico (to try to get a car with minimal rust) and had it shipped to my home in Maine. I knew it was going to be a total restoration and paid accordingly. I immediately replaced the automatic with a 5-speed and drove it one tank of gas before stripping it to a bare shell. The shell was in the body shop in early 2011 and I expected to have it back in a couple of months. Unfortunately the body shop guy kept getting distracted by insurance/collision work and it took 22 months to get it back; interior, trunk, under hood in Fiord but the outside still in primer. The body guy wanted me to get it on wheels and the engine back in before he finished the outside, fearing I would scratch the paint while doing this work. I did that and it went back to the body shop where it spent another few months before it came back with instructions to get it running and front and rear glass installed. This long delay gave me time to buy vintage Formula Ford in need of restoration. Figuring that I wasn’t getting any younger, I should fix the Ford and race it, which I’ve done since 2014. Maintaining and campaigning a vintage race car takes 100% of my time, so the coupe project stalled. I intended to race two events in 2018, sell the Ford, and come back to the coupe. That plan went astray when my car trailer caught fire (cheap Harbor Freight winch) destroying trailer, race car, a lifetime collection of tools, and all my race gear. I liked the Ford too much to scrap it so spent all of 2018 rebuilding it, with the frame being the only part salvageable. I managed to make five events in 2019 with mixed results because of reliability issues associated with having an essentially new car. By now I was so far underwater on the race car, besides being attached to it, I decided to keep it.
But, I’m skipping the 2020 race season to do other things, one of which will be to get the coupe project back on track. The plan is to have it well along by fall and the spent the winter on final assembly so it can go on the road in the spring of 2021. I hope Andrew, friend and e9 forum member, will show me how to attach photos so I can start a build thread.
Finally, this is my fourth, and last, BMW. I’ve purchased new a 2002, 320i, and R100RS. Well, maybe I’d buy another R100RS, but the coupe is the one I always wanted so time to get it done.
In the spring of 2010, I bought my ‘73 CS on eBay in New Mexico (to try to get a car with minimal rust) and had it shipped to my home in Maine. I knew it was going to be a total restoration and paid accordingly. I immediately replaced the automatic with a 5-speed and drove it one tank of gas before stripping it to a bare shell. The shell was in the body shop in early 2011 and I expected to have it back in a couple of months. Unfortunately the body shop guy kept getting distracted by insurance/collision work and it took 22 months to get it back; interior, trunk, under hood in Fiord but the outside still in primer. The body guy wanted me to get it on wheels and the engine back in before he finished the outside, fearing I would scratch the paint while doing this work. I did that and it went back to the body shop where it spent another few months before it came back with instructions to get it running and front and rear glass installed. This long delay gave me time to buy vintage Formula Ford in need of restoration. Figuring that I wasn’t getting any younger, I should fix the Ford and race it, which I’ve done since 2014. Maintaining and campaigning a vintage race car takes 100% of my time, so the coupe project stalled. I intended to race two events in 2018, sell the Ford, and come back to the coupe. That plan went astray when my car trailer caught fire (cheap Harbor Freight winch) destroying trailer, race car, a lifetime collection of tools, and all my race gear. I liked the Ford too much to scrap it so spent all of 2018 rebuilding it, with the frame being the only part salvageable. I managed to make five events in 2019 with mixed results because of reliability issues associated with having an essentially new car. By now I was so far underwater on the race car, besides being attached to it, I decided to keep it.
But, I’m skipping the 2020 race season to do other things, one of which will be to get the coupe project back on track. The plan is to have it well along by fall and the spent the winter on final assembly so it can go on the road in the spring of 2021. I hope Andrew, friend and e9 forum member, will show me how to attach photos so I can start a build thread.
Finally, this is my fourth, and last, BMW. I’ve purchased new a 2002, 320i, and R100RS. Well, maybe I’d buy another R100RS, but the coupe is the one I always wanted so time to get it done.
