Restore or Part out

[vanak60]

I had a discussion with Carl Nelson yesterday, as many of you know he's pretty much an expert on the coupes. This is the image that I sent him, Carl's suggestion was to part out the car as it is beyond being restored. Wanted to see what everybody's opinion is... I've also posted some pictures on the restoration link: http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2598

Many of you have been in this situation and I value your opinions before deciding what to do with the car. I still somewhat have fate in my care being restored.

Thanks,
Alex

 

[Honolulu]

Owch!

If this shot typifies the car, PLEASE put it out of its misery ASAP.

If you think this shot does not typify the car, you have undeserved faith in some higher power, or you been hitting the hash pipe far too frequently.

It is generally considered that you can see, at best, not more than a quarter of the rust that is actually present. Collaterally, if you get into it, any budget you have will be too small by an arbitrarily large factor.

Just saw a supposed quote for one fender... 2000 clams. Windshield, 800. Prices like these, plus the necessary expertise to dismantle and reassemble a car which has gone as far as yours, scream for returning dust to dust.

Sorry. You can get a bit for parts, but it looks like few or none of them will be body parts, and that's where the return might have been.

 

[vanak60]

So I had a bodyshop look at the car, so the Good News is that none of the shock towers are rusted, bad news my fenders are in pretty bad shape and will need to be replaced. I'm still at a cross road of leaving this car out to dust and buying another CS or restoring this car. The engine on the car has only 65K original miles on it and I've verified that it has not turned over yet.

What do I do????

 

[jmackro]

vanak60:

It's your money, and I will not be offended if you ignore my advice (as well as Carl Nelson's and other board members). However, I predict that you are heading for a deep deep money pit - one far deeper than the cost of a less rusted car.

But, if you really want to charge ahead, then I would suggest that you ask this bodyshop for an absolute, guaranteed, not-to-exceed quote for repairing the rust damage to your car to some specific structural and aesthetic standard. If they are willing to provide a binding, written proposal, and you can accept that figure, then the risk passes to them. If they won't, it will tell you something.

 

[Malc]

OOOh That looks familiar.

If you are willing to learn how to do it yourself then anything can be done otherwise I have to agree that it all depends on the depth of your wallet.
Malc

 

[Ed G]

I am into 5th year of do it yourself on a car requiring much less work. I've got two years to go at the pace I'm running. I can't imagine how bad your rockers and and other structural parts are. Run away fast! For the thousandth time, Pay as much as you can upfront for the best shape ride you can afford.

 

[velocewest]

My brother,
An M30 engine with 120,000 miles is fundamentally identical to one with 65,000 miles -- they are strong like bull. Likewise, no part of the drive train will cost you more than 5 minutes in the company of Elliot Spitzer's favorite elbow decoration.

The front clip on an e9 is assembled from about 75 pieces of steel, of which about 5 were painted and minimally protected from the elements. None of them bolt on -- it's all welded. To rebuild an e9 from the windshield forward can consume $5,000 easily if you have a reputable, experienced shop do the work. That doesn't include paint. And of course, if the front clip needs rebuilding, then the rest of the car is in similar need.

The front clip in those pictures is toast.

The cardinal rules of kOoPe buying --

1. Rust never sleeps. It doesn't even nod off.
2. Buy the best shell you can find -- mechanicals are CHEAP.

 

[blumax]

Your Coupe is terminal

Trust Carl N. as he has nothing to gain for "giving" you sound advice.

More free advice--
Strip the crusher candidate for whatever is sound , find the best minimal rust example that you can afford and transplant that 65,000 mile drive train.

blumax

 

[vanak60]

E9 Project

E9 Users! Thank you for all of your advises. I just got the coupe back from the shop after a year. No more rust!!!! Floor panels, Rockers and etc. all been replaced and the car was just painted with its original color. Now the real work begins (Putting back the interior).

http://photobucket.com/vanak60

 

[CSteve]

So we wend our way through an 8 year old post with one photo at the start(the restoration pics don't open). The photo shows a terminal fender and advice from Carl to terminate.
So tell us Vanak what did it cost to restore to the photos in your last post? Honestly! We won't tell your wife or significant other. It looks great.

 

[CSteve]

That's actually a four(4)year old post.

 

[vanak60]

Ha Ha! Thanks! the body shop was an old friend! took about a year and he worked on it when the shop wasn't busy! the overall cost came about to be about $5K, it would have been a $10K job if I wanted a quick turnaround, so it was worth the wait!

 

[gkb]

Congrats

For saving another e9.

 

[Nicad]

Congratulations, enjoy the ride. That must have been a few spools of welding wire.

 

[CSteve]

If you had not had a friend doing it do you think it could have been $20K? Another coupe saved from the crusher.

 

[vanak60]

So! After many years and mucho $ Spent! I'm 99% done. I wanted to thank all you guys out there who helped out and guided me to get this project to completion. Glad it's finished.

 

[Ohmess]

Looks nice. I suggest you now post a bunch more "before" pictures.