My Coupe Project

I sourced the leather from Veteran's in Los Angeles. It does not come embossed that is something I had to have done. The leather did not come that way.
 
It has been some time since I last posted. Lots has happened and progress has been made! I am not exactly sure where to begin so here it goes:

The engine needed some breaking in and some additional tuning, as well as a tank of gas so I took the obligatory run around the block as often as I could. Took care of a couple of leaks including the replacement of the freeze plug that sits behind the starter. I apparently did not do a good job of seating it when we built the motor.

The windows still had to go in and I had to re-assemble the wind wings. This was not as easy as it seemed and I was warned of the challenges. Fortunately it went together and with some minor adjusting needed after the plating process. Unfortunately I can't find the pictures of the assembly or install. I will update the thread when I find the pictures.

I had the bumpers, all the chrome trim for the doors and windows re-chromed. I also had the interior bits re-chromed or bright-dipped. The exterior aluminum bits were polished then clear coated by our man Dan at Speedway. Dan also did the Alpina wheels including the Alpina that went in to the trunk (which fits). More on that later. I also had the Petri wheel plated and brushed. After Juan recovered it in leather the Petri now looks like a new wheel.

Juan had been working diligently on the dashboard, binnacle, and lower pieces. He removed as much material as he could from the dash and filled in the cracks with epoxy, he then added a dense thin foam to the dash which he then shaped prior to wrapping the whole thing in vinyl. He followed the same steps on the glove box, fuse box door, and kick panel. Juan added the french stitching on the binnacle per my request. I like seeing the detail and it was a reminder of Juan's hard work. Once Juan was finished with the glove box and other bits he handed them over to me so that I could flock them.

The beltline trim was a bit of a bitch to install correctly. The polishing process caused the trim to get warped so we had to rework the pieces so they would lay flat against the body. All this had to be done before the windows and doorcards and delaying this would then delay Juan since he needed to move forward with the doorcards once the waistline trim/wood was installed.

Once that was installed we could move forward with the rest of the interior including the install of the dash and gauges.

For the radio I decided to go with a German Blaupunkt to match the rest of the theme of the car. I had opted early on to go with a full euro look which included a speedo in KPH and the heater panel in German. None of the graphics are in English. I sourced a 4x6 speaker for the front grill then had Juan perforate the leather on the kick panels and the hat shelf for speakers for the 4" speakers and the 6x9s which are run by an independent amplifier that plugs in to my iphone/ipad. I am not an audiophile but I do like to listen to music.

Ashtrays after plating the inserts. I also had the ashtrays for the 3.3li plated at the same time.








Here is the aluminum trim for the windows after it came back from polishing at Speedway.


The dash after Juan filled the cracks, knocked down the old material and covered it in foam.


Everything after it was re-covered. All the chrome trim was re-plated.








The glovebox before and after I flocked it.



The binnacle.




Installing the dash.
 
Installing the dash.




Newly cut trunk pieces.




The install.







I couldn't find a nice set of wheel arch covers and being that the original ones are made of potato chips and the new ones don't look all that great we opted with covering the arches with the elephant skin. I also asked Juan to cover the towers in the elephant skin to complete the look.
















Here is the start of the interior. Door cards, waist rails and wood. The window felt is NLA, luckily I purchased more than enough of the front window felt so that we could use what was left to make the felt for the inside and for the rear windows.




As you can see the wind wings are also in.




A shot of Juan trying out his own work.


This is the spare tire. It is an Alpina 16" wheel. I did not modify the trunk to make it fit in any way.







As you can see the tire/wheel fit under the floorboard.




Moving back to the interior, here is Juan wrapping the Petri in leather. We used the same leather as on the tops of the doors and the gator/shifter boot. The wheel was re-plated at the same time as the bumpers.




Juan doesn't have the machine to do this and it takes him all day. His complaint is that his hands hurt due to all the pulling and stretching plus pushing the needle through the thick leather.




Here is the interior/dash completely installed. Juan did an outstanding job. I have to say it really was a pleasure working alongside of him at his shop. He's a real artist and a wonderful person.




A better shot of the Petri.




Exterior shot with the Alpinas.




There was a lot of pressure to finish the car for the Monterey car week and for the 100th anniversary celebration of BMW. We often worked 'till 1 or 2 in the morning with the occasional 4:00am push. I was fortunate to have some help from a few BMW friends. I really owe Chris Macha a huge thank you for his last minute push to get the car finished. I also owe Jeff Brown, Doug Park, Mike Pelly, SF Don, Vern Okbaok, and the illustrious Andy Wong a big thank you for their support. Not to mention the physical, technical, and cheer leading support from Paul Cain and a few other mischief's that answered to the cries for help. Their help and experience was key to finishing the project. Also Juan Ortiz was truly amazing, he is one talented individual and a very kind human being.
 
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The final push was when Paul invited the east Coast Kids to his house to see the coupe for the first time. Paul had just finished a garage remodel and felt it would be a great place for a gathering. He was right! I barely got the Petri on the car when Juan and I had to hop in and head over to Paul's for a little bubbly.

















The next day JP Logistics picked up the coupe to ship it to Monterey for the BIG week! Legends of the Autobahn on Friday and the Pirelli Oktoberfest on the following Wednesday.




The car was then taken to their depot so they could load it on to an enclosed carrier.


I made friends with a local shop in Monterey a few years ago and they graciously agreed to let me use their hoist to do some last minute undercarriage detailing the night before Legends. The car was undoubtedly clean but this was a good opportunity to have a last look and final wipe down of all the undercarriage.




 
Legends is one of my favorite BMW events. The cars are amazing, the region is fantastic, the people are great, and the competition is fierce!!! Where else do you get to see 56 Coupes in one event?! Of those I believe that 14 were judged in the Coupe Concours category. All were incredibly nice examples and the owners were great! This was the first time I had ever shown my coupe at an event and what better place? Everyone was some complimentary and supportive, it was a real treat to be there among friends. Towels down was at 9:30am and the judges were coming around the corner. At the end there were 3 coupes and I was happy to be the owner of one of them. Sven's car is an absolute beauty and the other Nachtblau coupe was also a stunner. Unfortunately I cannot remember the owners name but he had just completed his restoration as well. Needless to say we were all in good company.




That's my blue 3.3li in the background next to GolfBavaria's Golf Bavaria.


And us crossing the finish line!




I can't stop thanking everyone who helped and also everyone who provided mental support. This was 4 long years in the making and at the end it was well worth it. I regret not being able to get to know the East Coast Coupe guys a little better; but I am happy I had a chance to meet everyone.


Congratulations to Peter Gleason and Chris Auty and their well deserved wins at Pebble and Quail respectively!!!


Here are some random pics that I will update when I find the ones I lost.

Refreshed speedo. I had it calibrated so that it would read accurately. Also had it returned to zero since the driveline was completely refreshed.




Some pieces I had re-chromed.




Flocking.









Flocking in a box.




Virgin flocking.




Dash install.




Bumper after assembly and install.




Tuning and some chaos.




Front bumper assembly.




I was missing one of the front window regulator stops so I had one made.




Glass installed. The locking strips are brand new and they do not fit correctly, actually they suck and they are NLA. I paid $700.00 to get the last set and I am not sure it was entirely worth it.




 
Thank you for your kind comments. The last 3 months were a blur especially the 3 weeks prior to completion. Many long hours, several set backs, and lots of blood sweat and tears.

Sorry for the scattered images. I should have kept posting the progress as it occurred.

Random shots.
Gauge cluster install.


Waistrail install.



At the alignment shop.


Kick panel with speaker perforations.


Alpinas after refinishing and mounting new Michelines PSII


Kidney ready to install.


The original kidney after it snagged the buffing wheel, hit the wall, then his the operator.
 
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C'mon Mike, you couldn't bring something a little nicer to Legends? What gives? :)

...Truly though your car is the object of desire of all coupe owners! Congrats on your win- It was great meeting you and being a part of the unveiling.
 
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