After a long hiatus from BMW stuff, some random Mercedes/ VW stuff and also moving several states away I've finally got the itch (and shop space!) for another old BMW project. Well, Ikinda forced my girlfriend to be interested in one I guess! She wanted an R107 SL but after looking at countless ones, all with their own issues (rust, mechanical, etc) I said why don't you just look for an E30 since I know the cars pretty well and they aren't nearly as delicate or finicky as old Mercedes tend to be. As luck would have it we found a running 5 speed 87 about a half hour from the house. The title was supposedly with the previous owner so for the asking price we weren't too concerned with actually getting it however the body of this car ended up being more of a mess than it appeared. I'll post some gore shots later but basically the right rear corner had been clipped at some point and basically lap welded back in plus all the usual rust in all the usual places. It is pretty mechanically sound though so I know the wiring and mechanical components are good for the most part.
We get this thing home and make a list of some things, someone has been messing with the cooling system with what appears to be temu parts but despite the old fuel it runs pretty well and very smooth.
So in keeping with tradition we needed a parts car. A guy up in georgia sends me an email that he has a parts car available, it's an 89 vert and it's been of the road since about 2012. Has a title, cool. These are the photos I get, cool looks like a parts car.
We get there and I quickly realize we have found the car we will build instead of a parts car, lol. It's filthy but is practically rust free, aside from the passenger rear body floor plug area where water and filth was accumulating. I ask how much, $200. With a title. Sold.
He throws in an extra sport 3 spoke wheel, it's hot as hell
so we load up and get out of there.
I was telling my girlfriend this felt like the old days, wheeling and dealing, looking at something on the trailer you got a good deal on and can't wait to dig in when you get home. That's what got me into this 20+ years ago.
Here's where we are as of last night, the front was pretty beat up on this vert probably from the cattle rubbing up against it so all of that came off. What remains is a really straight tub that will make a great candidate for fresh paint. The front end, drivetrain and interior from the red car will go in this car once it's back from paint. I'll sort the rest of the mechanicals from there. Can't wait to pull the drivetrain on this and get it pressure washed inside and out!
We get this thing home and make a list of some things, someone has been messing with the cooling system with what appears to be temu parts but despite the old fuel it runs pretty well and very smooth.
So in keeping with tradition we needed a parts car. A guy up in georgia sends me an email that he has a parts car available, it's an 89 vert and it's been of the road since about 2012. Has a title, cool. These are the photos I get, cool looks like a parts car.
We get there and I quickly realize we have found the car we will build instead of a parts car, lol. It's filthy but is practically rust free, aside from the passenger rear body floor plug area where water and filth was accumulating. I ask how much, $200. With a title. Sold.
He throws in an extra sport 3 spoke wheel, it's hot as hell
so we load up and get out of there.
I was telling my girlfriend this felt like the old days, wheeling and dealing, looking at something on the trailer you got a good deal on and can't wait to dig in when you get home. That's what got me into this 20+ years ago.
Here's where we are as of last night, the front was pretty beat up on this vert probably from the cattle rubbing up against it so all of that came off. What remains is a really straight tub that will make a great candidate for fresh paint. The front end, drivetrain and interior from the red car will go in this car once it's back from paint. I'll sort the rest of the mechanicals from there. Can't wait to pull the drivetrain on this and get it pressure washed inside and out!
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