scestes
Well-Known Member
These chronicles of Chimera, my 2800CS dedicated track car build.
The Car:
I've always been a fan of both the 2002 and the CS. I have owned my 2002 for almost 2 years now, and my CS even longer. The CS was stripped down most of the way by my buddy who owned it before me as he was going to make it a track car. I believe (need to double check with mobile tradition) that it's a 1971 2800cs. It was born as a Malaga Automatic (I already have the pedals and hydraulics to turn it into a stick). I've wanted to build up this car for years, but always found other things to do. My girlfriend finally convinced me to get my butt in gear and do something with the car. In Nov/Dec/Jan, I finished stripping the car down to the bare shell, and began work. I built a dolly for the rear of the car, and borrowed a dolly from a friend for the front.
The end goal:
As I said before, this is going to be a purpose built track car that will never see city streets again. I'm looking to have coilovers at all 4 points, a full cage welded into the car, and to power it, I'm looking at either picking up an M90 from a euro spec 635csi or an M30B35 from 6 or 5 series. I'm going to run the car with EFI/Motronic. I realize that this will exclude me from vintage classes, but I'm really looking for the best power out of a reliable engine configuration that I'm not going to have to refresh every year or two. The reality of the situation is that I look at craigslist for several areas of California and ebay every day. If a deal presents itself, I may jump on it long before I'm even close to ready to drop the engine/transmission in the car, and which engine/transmission package goes in is going to depend on what presents itself between now and then.
The vision:
Having an early coupe, I'd really like to try and keep the car looking close to it's age for a race car. I really like all the boxy flares that are on most coupes, but I'm going to go for something a bit different. I've decided to pick up a set of these bubble flares for my build. I wish I had more pictures of cars with them on, but this is the only one I could find.
[Broken External Image]:http://gallery.xfiler.com/albums/BMWCS/jpoldpeltgray.jpg
I would like to keep the car it's original color, but have thought about adding some other color to the paint scheme. I don't want to get TOO crazy though. I don't think that when it comes to the paint that I'm going to want to spend days wet sanding to blend in a bunch of spots where two colors meet.
The Build:
I've already explained the plans for the power plant, let me touch a bit on the build up of the car itself. I'm stripping the engine bay, undercarriage, the cockpit, and the trunk to bare metal. The battery tray and other unneeded brackets are being removed from the car. The spare tire well will be cut out and a new frame built int the trunk to support a fuel cell. The roll cage will be tied into the rear shock towers, and I will build a strut tower brace between the rear strut towers. I will be painting everything but the exterior of the car with Por15 (I know there are other cheaper products, but I know this stuff, and I already have a good deal of it) rust preventative paint once it's been stripped to bare metal. I will then be painting over the top of the Por15 with their Hard Nose 2 part paint product in a light Gray. The suspension components will all also be painted in Por15 rust preventative paint, but they will be painted in a darker gray.
The Name:
Chimera - [ki-meer-uh]
Noun - Genetics. an organism composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues
I chose this name simply because I'm combining two distinctly different era BMW technologies. Sure the CS came with an M30, but the M30 and M90 engine options I'm thinking of using are worlds apart from the original M30 2.8L engine that came in my car. I am really hoping to take around a year to build Chimera. My goal would be to have it ready to race in Jan of 2010. I think it's a reachable goal, but there is a lot to do, and a large number of dollars in between here and there.
Re-enforcement:
There are a couple of spots on the car that are having issues with rust (I know, WOW! Big surprise right?). I'm looking to cut out the cancerous areas and beef them up with a bit of re-enforcement. The two front shock towers will both be re-enforced with extra steel, as well as the carrier mounts in the rear of the car where the rear subframe mounts to. I'll also be looking to strengthen the diff mount under the trunk with some additional steel.
Options:
Here are some things I will be adding to the car that are not stock (well, for a street car they're not stock)
Dry Cell battery mounted in the cockpit
Accusump
Fuel Cell
Fire Supression system
VDO gauges
Auto Gauge shift light system
Oil Cooler
Diff Oil Cooler (already have this)
Manual Steering box
custom made dash
Let's get started:
Last weekend and a few days this week I have taken a wire wheel to the engine bay in an effort to remove all the paint and undercoating. As I said, I'll be prepping the metal with Por15 Marine Clean and then Metal Ready before I put on the rust preventative paint. I finished the cleaning up of the engine bay this afternoon and am looking to get a coat of paint on it tomorrow afternoon.
To remove paint/primer/undercoating, I'm using a 3 pronged approach. For the large flat areas I'm taking an angle grinder with a wire wheel on it to the surface. For areas that have bends, I have a drill with two different sized wire brushes (lower RPMs are a LOT easier to handle as the wheel hits grooves and grabs), and then for areas that I can't get to with either of these tools, I use a sand blaster with a medium abrasive media. It takes a bit, but the metal doesn't get hot with this abrasive so it doesn't warp.
[Broken External Image]:http://gallery.xfiler.com/albums/2800cs-EngineBay-FinshedPaintRemoval/IMG_0995.sized.jpg
[Broken External Image]:http://gallery.xfiler.com/albums/2800cs-EngineBay-FinshedPaintRemoval/IMG_0996.sized.jpg
[Broken External Image]:http://gallery.xfiler.com/albums/2800cs-EngineBay-FinshedPaintRemoval/IMG_0997.sized.jpg
The Car:
I've always been a fan of both the 2002 and the CS. I have owned my 2002 for almost 2 years now, and my CS even longer. The CS was stripped down most of the way by my buddy who owned it before me as he was going to make it a track car. I believe (need to double check with mobile tradition) that it's a 1971 2800cs. It was born as a Malaga Automatic (I already have the pedals and hydraulics to turn it into a stick). I've wanted to build up this car for years, but always found other things to do. My girlfriend finally convinced me to get my butt in gear and do something with the car. In Nov/Dec/Jan, I finished stripping the car down to the bare shell, and began work. I built a dolly for the rear of the car, and borrowed a dolly from a friend for the front.
The end goal:
As I said before, this is going to be a purpose built track car that will never see city streets again. I'm looking to have coilovers at all 4 points, a full cage welded into the car, and to power it, I'm looking at either picking up an M90 from a euro spec 635csi or an M30B35 from 6 or 5 series. I'm going to run the car with EFI/Motronic. I realize that this will exclude me from vintage classes, but I'm really looking for the best power out of a reliable engine configuration that I'm not going to have to refresh every year or two. The reality of the situation is that I look at craigslist for several areas of California and ebay every day. If a deal presents itself, I may jump on it long before I'm even close to ready to drop the engine/transmission in the car, and which engine/transmission package goes in is going to depend on what presents itself between now and then.
The vision:
Having an early coupe, I'd really like to try and keep the car looking close to it's age for a race car. I really like all the boxy flares that are on most coupes, but I'm going to go for something a bit different. I've decided to pick up a set of these bubble flares for my build. I wish I had more pictures of cars with them on, but this is the only one I could find.
[Broken External Image]:http://gallery.xfiler.com/albums/BMWCS/jpoldpeltgray.jpg
I would like to keep the car it's original color, but have thought about adding some other color to the paint scheme. I don't want to get TOO crazy though. I don't think that when it comes to the paint that I'm going to want to spend days wet sanding to blend in a bunch of spots where two colors meet.
The Build:
I've already explained the plans for the power plant, let me touch a bit on the build up of the car itself. I'm stripping the engine bay, undercarriage, the cockpit, and the trunk to bare metal. The battery tray and other unneeded brackets are being removed from the car. The spare tire well will be cut out and a new frame built int the trunk to support a fuel cell. The roll cage will be tied into the rear shock towers, and I will build a strut tower brace between the rear strut towers. I will be painting everything but the exterior of the car with Por15 (I know there are other cheaper products, but I know this stuff, and I already have a good deal of it) rust preventative paint once it's been stripped to bare metal. I will then be painting over the top of the Por15 with their Hard Nose 2 part paint product in a light Gray. The suspension components will all also be painted in Por15 rust preventative paint, but they will be painted in a darker gray.
The Name:
Chimera - [ki-meer-uh]
Noun - Genetics. an organism composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues
I chose this name simply because I'm combining two distinctly different era BMW technologies. Sure the CS came with an M30, but the M30 and M90 engine options I'm thinking of using are worlds apart from the original M30 2.8L engine that came in my car. I am really hoping to take around a year to build Chimera. My goal would be to have it ready to race in Jan of 2010. I think it's a reachable goal, but there is a lot to do, and a large number of dollars in between here and there.
Re-enforcement:
There are a couple of spots on the car that are having issues with rust (I know, WOW! Big surprise right?). I'm looking to cut out the cancerous areas and beef them up with a bit of re-enforcement. The two front shock towers will both be re-enforced with extra steel, as well as the carrier mounts in the rear of the car where the rear subframe mounts to. I'll also be looking to strengthen the diff mount under the trunk with some additional steel.
Options:
Here are some things I will be adding to the car that are not stock (well, for a street car they're not stock)
Dry Cell battery mounted in the cockpit
Accusump
Fuel Cell
Fire Supression system
VDO gauges
Auto Gauge shift light system
Oil Cooler
Diff Oil Cooler (already have this)
Manual Steering box
custom made dash
Let's get started:
Last weekend and a few days this week I have taken a wire wheel to the engine bay in an effort to remove all the paint and undercoating. As I said, I'll be prepping the metal with Por15 Marine Clean and then Metal Ready before I put on the rust preventative paint. I finished the cleaning up of the engine bay this afternoon and am looking to get a coat of paint on it tomorrow afternoon.
To remove paint/primer/undercoating, I'm using a 3 pronged approach. For the large flat areas I'm taking an angle grinder with a wire wheel on it to the surface. For areas that have bends, I have a drill with two different sized wire brushes (lower RPMs are a LOT easier to handle as the wheel hits grooves and grabs), and then for areas that I can't get to with either of these tools, I use a sand blaster with a medium abrasive media. It takes a bit, but the metal doesn't get hot with this abrasive so it doesn't warp.
[Broken External Image]:http://gallery.xfiler.com/albums/2800cs-EngineBay-FinshedPaintRemoval/IMG_0995.sized.jpg
[Broken External Image]:http://gallery.xfiler.com/albums/2800cs-EngineBay-FinshedPaintRemoval/IMG_0996.sized.jpg
[Broken External Image]:http://gallery.xfiler.com/albums/2800cs-EngineBay-FinshedPaintRemoval/IMG_0997.sized.jpg
