Patricia A. Mayer's 3.0 CS / Paul Cain's Fjord project / The 300 mile Test Drive / VIII / Final Punch List

[JFENG]

we noticed it was, ever so slightly, too far to the right. By 4 or 5 mm. Many attempts with the vacuum handles and spanking the glass were not successful.

I always stop & check/adjust LR alignment at the 3/4 mark (before the top lip gets pulled into the body opening). I’m sure you did too. 4mm is pretty good.

Surprised to hear you couldn’t shift th glass at all with the suction handle.

Ratchet strap idea is a good one.

 

[paul cain]

It's 11 pm, about 10 hours into the test. Things seem to be slowing down. I've completed about 5 clicks to the ratcheting mechanism to keep the tension tight over these initial hours. I will gently keep ratcheting tomorrow. my guess: one of three outcomes:
-the car moves left
-the suction cups fail
-the glass moves another 3 mm

Riveting stuff this.

 

[boonies]

Paul, the updates are great, and as I struggle (still) with my glass am reading your account with interest & looking forward to the movement measurements.

I noticed that you have an a-pillar mounted antenna. Was that original or a change that you made? I really don't like my left front fender mounted antenna and am interested in yours which appears to be a Hirschmann.

 

[paul cain]

@boonies
As of 8am PST, we are at 3.51mm and another click of the ratcheting mechanism.

Antenna came on the 'A' pillar. During the body prep phase we did find a patched hole in the top of the left front fender, clearly done in the early days of the coupes life as the touched up paint had 'faded to match' the rest of the cracked (original) clear coat on the surrounding area. I ended up cutting out all of the poorly patched area and welding in a new rectangle.

My 'guess', is the car originally had the fender mounted antenna. Then Patricia installed the CB radio, this is when the antenna moved to the 'A' pillar and they patched the fender.

Chris Macha and I really tried to document the car on day one, as it came off the transporter -and well before I got my clammy little grubs on it- idea being to capture all tiny, quirky 'as delivered' features in the 200 + photos that we archived.

I missed getting a photo of this tip of the antenna but you can see a coil winding at the very tip. There may be some CB or HAM radio experts on the forum who can comment more expertly on what this is, I am assuming this as the antenna, as it was connected to that FINE CB RADIO THAT IS STILL FOR SALE

 

[mulberryworks]

@boonies
As of 8am PST, we are at 3.51mm and another click of the ratcheting mechanism.

Antenna came on the 'A' pillar. During the body prep phase we did find a patched hole in the top of the left front fender, clearly done in the early days of the coupes life as the touched up paint had 'faded to match' the rest of the cracked (original) clear coat on the surrounding area. I ended up cutting out all of the poorly patched area and welding in a new rectangle.

My 'guess', is the car originally had the fender mounted antenna. Then Patricia installed the CB radio, this is when the antenna moved to the 'A' pillar and they patched the fender.

Chris Macha and I really tried to document the car on day one, as it came off the transporter -and well before I got my clammy little grubs on it- idea being to capture all tiny, quirky 'as delivered' features in the 200 + photos that we archived.

I missed getting a photo of this tip of the antenna but you can see a coil winding at the very tip. There may be some CB or HAM radio experts on the forum who can comment more expertly on what this is, I am assuming this as the antenna, as it was connected to that FINE CB RADIO THAT IS STILL FOR SALE

Yep, that looks like a CB antenna. My fender has a hole that must have been for an antenna but is currently open. I've found a Hirschmann to install there when the time comes.

 

[paul cain]

Its been a productive day in the slow moving world of windscreens.
We are at 2.56mm as of 4 pm PST

 

[paul cain]

See test finished.3 below. The test is over due to a 'tool failure' sometime in the middle of the night. Final gap is 2.4mm to the antenna support bracket.

Yesterday at about 4 pm the main issue resolved itself. The top right corner magically dropped in place and I was able to wrap the inside of the weatherstripping lip around the headliner, into the correct and final position. This experiment was a success for windscreen placement. I just ordered a new double suction cup to give back to Henry. If you want to try this, this tool is: Equalizer® Two Super Size Vacuum Cups with P/N SSC209

 

[JMinPDX]

See test finished.3 below. The test is over due to a 'tool failure' sometime in the middle of the night. Final gap is 2.4mm to the antenna support bracket.

Yesterday at about 4 pm the main issue resolved itself. The top right corner magically dropped in place and I was able to wrap the inside of the weatherstripping lip around the headliner, into the correct and final position. This experiment was a success for windscreen placement. I just ordered a new double suction cup to give back to Henry. If you want to try this, this tool is: Equalizer® Two Super Size Vacuum Cups with P/N SSC209

No magic. Somewhere Mrs. Mayer has your back.

 

[paul cain]

Inching in on final assembly. Door panels are back on and trim installed. Blaupunkt in and working in scratchy Mono mode. I cut a larger access hole in the rear trunk wall panel to accommodate the new fog lamp. JB Weld to the rescue on the delaminated Glove compartment.

 

[paul cain]

Well. Its been an exciting 11 months. I purchased this car on September 12th, 2021. This thread started 30 days later.

The car is not quite done. However, it is fully assembled and mostly functioning. The next phase of the project is the hardest, its the final punch list.

I will share progress on this excruciating phase to get the car to its 'Goal State' - as close as possible to the new car delivery experience -the day Patricia Mayer took delivery on May 7th, 1974.

For now, here are the first photos of the car fully assembled. Taken this morning, August 6th 2022.

 

[Bmachine]

What a successful adventure… and in a really short amount of time considering all that was done!
Well done as usual, Paul!

 

[Gary Knox]

Looks fabulous in the pix Paul. I'm sure it is even better 'up close and personal'. Congrats on a fabulous and timely job.

Gary

 

[NFK]

12th September, my birthday ;-)
so far I have never posted a comment but I followed this thread with eyes wide opened
I pull my hat, very well done

Nik

 

[paul cain]

@NFK @Gary Knox @Bmachine Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I feel like that early June sensation when you have turned in your last final exam.........an immense burden lifted along with a sense of freedom and spare time. Wooo Hooo!

I had intended to post this earlier. The one modification to the body: Before, During and After.

 

[Bmachine]

Amazing attention to detail once again. Very impressive

 

[Tim M]

WOW Paul! That is so beautiful!!
The 74 bumpers sure take away a lot of the style from these cars. Patricia would approve the new look!

 

[DWMBMW]

I want to make E9 owners aware of a fine supplier. Drive Shaft Pros. I used the one in Garden Grove Calif. but they have 6 locations in So. Cal. Yes, they will ship.
The engineer that makes the tooling for them is a BMW enthusiast and he has retooled and remanufacture all of the yokes and splines for our vintage BMW's. The below driveshaft is made from all new parts. All BMW compatible. Their price to rebuild an original is around $690 including shortening for a 5 spd. A new driveshaft is $525.00. They can make any dimensional changes you want. Super cooperative. Armando runs the front desk in Garden Grove. They know what they are doing.

DriveshaftPro Garden Grove // Driveshaft Repair in Garden Grove, CA 92841

www.driveshaftpro.com

I took Paul’s advice and just had one of their new driveshafts installed. I’ve been chasing the annoying thumping at acceleration for awhile replacing the guibo, center bearing, engine/transmission mounts, rear sub frame and trailing arm bushings to no avail. The new driveshaft has it riding perfect now and less expensive than rebalancing the original driveshaft (which also would have required additional shipping and downtime).

 

[HB Chris]

I took Paul’s advice and just had one of their new driveshafts installed. I’ve been chasing the annoying thumping at acceleration for awhile replacing the guibo, center bearing, engine/transmission mounts, rear sub frame and trailing arm bushings to no avail. The new driveshaft has it riding perfect now and less expensive than rebalancing the original driveshaft (which also would have required additional shipping and downtime).

How much did they charge?

 

[DWMBMW]

$535

 

[paul cain]

I took Paul’s advice and just had one of their new driveshafts installed. I’ve been chasing the annoying thumping at acceleration for awhile replacing the guibo, center bearing, engine/transmission mounts, rear sub frame and trailing arm bushings to no avail. The new driveshaft has it riding perfect now and less expensive than rebalancing the original driveshaft (which also would have required additional shipping and downtime).

Elated to hear it killed the issue!