Hello fellow gluttons for punishment, I too (Along with Matt(FjordTempo)) picked up a one owner CA 3.0 Si that has been sitting in storage for longer than it's been actually on the road. It was originally bought in L.A. and used as a commuter to work car, and since his son, who got frustrated anytime he would ride with him at his dad's lack of manual transmission operating skills, decided to just store it once he retired. After 20 year of storage and his father passing, the son decided to resurrect the beast and start driving it. The head had a broken water passage that was at this point just broken through to the outside, so he took it upon himself to have the head repaired. I guess the damage was too extensive and it cracked again in a couple of hundred miles so he went ahead and replaced the head. While doing so, he also replaced a lot of little things like the fuel pump, water pump, and battery, and gave it a respray(color change) of Alpine Weis. Of course, he got busy with other things, and didn't put the engine back together right away, and it sat for a few months waiting for the fuel injection, etc to get put back on. One day while doing some home improvement work, specifically in the garage, he dropped a floor speaker from the rafters onto the front windshield and shattered it. That was five years ago.
It was then that he got so emotionally overwhelmed by the fact that he killed his dad's car, that he couldn't bring himself to finish it. Time passing and family requiring the garage space, he finally decided it was time and offered it for sale. A few people came by and made ridiculous offers, and he declined. I, being of unsound mind and really liking this body style, gave him a call and decided to have a look at it. What I saw was a dusty sedan, who had not seen the light of day in a while.
Circling the car many times, opening every door, looking under every piece of carpet, looking underneath every wheel arch and rocker panel, I saw a true time capsule, with no rust. One owner, CA Polaris 3.0 5 speed with red interior and low miles. Everything electrical works. Interior has no rips for cracks in the seats. Carpet is perfect. Dash is almost perfect. This car had no issues whatsoever that I could see, all original.
I drove my e28, with the same color combo as his, and seeing this, he immediately was talking about how he wished this 3.0 had the same care that was put into mine and was back on the road.
He could see that I was an enthusiast and not a car flipper, so we talked about the car's history easily, and he hoped that I could give it the life he wanted for it. Although I was sickened by the idea of painting over Polaris with white, we started talking dollars and sense. He didn't bring up the other offers he got, but that they weren't anywhere near his asking price. I realize buying a non running car is always a gamble, and he knew that, I offered what I thought was a fair, non insulting bid. He countered with a bid $100 less than mine. It was surreal, but I agreed.
AAA called to the rescue, and I took it home.
FjordTempo and I went in as equal partners, both buying replacement parts as needed, since we will either decide that one of us wants to keep it and will buy the other one out, or we finish it and decide to offer it to another enthusiast - after enjoying it for a while that is...
Besides deciding what to do about it being a '76er, and the smog equipment that, even in working order, probably wont pass smog, retrofitting earlier chrome bumpers, and the question of whether the investment in the possibility of taking to its former Polaris glory makes sense, I think it will be a fairly easy project to get back on the road and enjoy.
I think it has the potential to shine like Luis' green '76er, I don't see the kind of high level restoration he has undergone on his for this girl.
I only have one picture of it at the moment, in the street, waiting for the flatbed, in it's dusty coat.
Since I plan on leaving anything that is original and working alone, there wont be much to see in the process, but I'll take a few more before I get too much further into finishing her.
Thanks to Murray, owner of Blue Max, who lives local and had a few bits that I needed from the multitude of e3s and e9s he's owned and had left over.
Thanks for listening, and we'll keep ya posted.
It was then that he got so emotionally overwhelmed by the fact that he killed his dad's car, that he couldn't bring himself to finish it. Time passing and family requiring the garage space, he finally decided it was time and offered it for sale. A few people came by and made ridiculous offers, and he declined. I, being of unsound mind and really liking this body style, gave him a call and decided to have a look at it. What I saw was a dusty sedan, who had not seen the light of day in a while.
Circling the car many times, opening every door, looking under every piece of carpet, looking underneath every wheel arch and rocker panel, I saw a true time capsule, with no rust. One owner, CA Polaris 3.0 5 speed with red interior and low miles. Everything electrical works. Interior has no rips for cracks in the seats. Carpet is perfect. Dash is almost perfect. This car had no issues whatsoever that I could see, all original.
I drove my e28, with the same color combo as his, and seeing this, he immediately was talking about how he wished this 3.0 had the same care that was put into mine and was back on the road.
He could see that I was an enthusiast and not a car flipper, so we talked about the car's history easily, and he hoped that I could give it the life he wanted for it. Although I was sickened by the idea of painting over Polaris with white, we started talking dollars and sense. He didn't bring up the other offers he got, but that they weren't anywhere near his asking price. I realize buying a non running car is always a gamble, and he knew that, I offered what I thought was a fair, non insulting bid. He countered with a bid $100 less than mine. It was surreal, but I agreed.
AAA called to the rescue, and I took it home.
FjordTempo and I went in as equal partners, both buying replacement parts as needed, since we will either decide that one of us wants to keep it and will buy the other one out, or we finish it and decide to offer it to another enthusiast - after enjoying it for a while that is...
Besides deciding what to do about it being a '76er, and the smog equipment that, even in working order, probably wont pass smog, retrofitting earlier chrome bumpers, and the question of whether the investment in the possibility of taking to its former Polaris glory makes sense, I think it will be a fairly easy project to get back on the road and enjoy.
I think it has the potential to shine like Luis' green '76er, I don't see the kind of high level restoration he has undergone on his for this girl.
I only have one picture of it at the moment, in the street, waiting for the flatbed, in it's dusty coat.
Since I plan on leaving anything that is original and working alone, there wont be much to see in the process, but I'll take a few more before I get too much further into finishing her.
Thanks to Murray, owner of Blue Max, who lives local and had a few bits that I needed from the multitude of e3s and e9s he's owned and had left over.
Thanks for listening, and we'll keep ya posted.
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