Classic Bimmers

June 2002,  Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  This was the first Formula 1 race I attended back in 2002.  The sound of the v-10 engines at nearly 20,000 RPM was incredible.  The sound penetrated your entire body.  Not for the faint of heart.  The sheer speed, and the F1 cars’ ability to shed it, simply cannot be fully appreciated unless witnessed live.

Juan Pablo Montoya secured pole position in the BMW powered Williams FW-21….

….but Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari quickly gained the lead and never looked back….

Live look, with TV footage on the big screen….

Jacques Villeneuve, Montreal native and son of legendary F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve.

The Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello….

VIN 1567900.  This 02 was found in northern New Jersey.  When I found it it was a horrid mid 90’s era Nissan green.  We immediately addressed the situation by painting it a proper Colorado Orange!  This is the car Dan and Jon are painting  in the photo on the ‘About’ page.

Cibie H4 headlights.  Visible under car is the e21 5-speed transmission to replace the original 4-speed unit.  With a rear ratio of 4.11:1 the 1573cc motor would not have any problems pushing this setup.

I sourced a correct color code sticker and mounted it above the vin plate.

Bilstein sport shocks and ST springs.

While the engine was out I decided to do a light cleaning and freshening of the long block.  Compression was good, so I dropped the oil pan….

….and replaced the pan gasket.

Notice early style clutch assembly.  I also added a sender in place of the oil pressure switch so I could add a set of gauges later.

Closeup of oil pressure sending unit.  Also visible is the yellow urethane motor mount.

New water pump.

Wiring up the engine compartment.

Parts ready to go….

On it’s way to a new home….

VIN 2330341.  Here’s a 1972 e9 coupe I found in North Carolina.  I drove it home to New Jersey, and it performed without a hiccup, a testament to the stout m30 3-liter engine.  I filled the empty space beneath the heater control with a modern radio head unit and VDO gauges for oil pressure, oil temp, and voltage.  Linda especially loved this car, with its blue velour seats.  I especially loved the rasp of the slant six engine as it ran up through the rev range!       

Visible in the above photo is the european fog light I installed.  It is mounted in the factory location to the left of the registration plate. 

Drivers side view of the B-pillarless design.  With front and rear windows rolled down the entire opening made for an exhilarating motoring experience!

Side view showing period authentic Alpina aftermarket wheels.

Center console.  Real wood trim made for a very organic, yet Germanly teutonic interior experience.

This is a 1984 633csi I had for a short time.  I installed a VDO oil pressure gauge in place of the original system check panel.

Heres the original sales receipt for Ellie.

Here is the story of Ellie, the 1971 BMW 2002.   Built May 19, 1971,  VIN 2574026, original color Malaga, this car was purchased new by our father Charles Pecsok on July 6, 1971 at Ridgefield European Motors in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Here is the condition of the nose as i purchased it:

Started this weekend repairing the pushed in nose panel.  After removing the front bumper and grills, I banged the nose out with a hammer from the backside, got it as good as i could.  grinded out paint from the infected areas, primed the bare metal with 2k epoxy primer then started body filler.   blocked out all out with a longboard to my satisfation then recoated again with epoxy primer then a more sandable nomal 2k primer.  happy with the results!

A good day today! Finally got the car running and registered in 1 day.  Got Colorado Collectors plates that are valid for 5 years.

Heres the previous title:

original title from 1986

3 months of aggravation, and my bmw 1600 finally runs ( on its own!).  After  3 fuel pumps, 2 fuel senders, various parts of the fuel line, it finally sucks fuel on its own.  No more bottle feeding!  Now to unstick that clutch and maybe i can run it around the block (for the 1st time!) Then i can move on to the cooling system, the brakes, the body , paint, interior, the….

Im gonna keep the original steel wheels and bottlecap hubcaps on my 1600 restoration.  Wheels look to have never been touched in 40 years.  The bottlecaps have the “frosty” look to them that has over time partly faded off.  Put the front end up on jack stands and pulled off the 2 front wheels of the 1600 and grabbed the spare out of the trunk.  After removing the tires I started sanding down on the wheels with 80 grit on the DA.  Had to hand sand all the nooks and crannies which made it a little tedious.  Finished it off with some 150 grit and gave it the once over with the burgandy scotch brite pad and coated all sides with 2k primer.   After the primer catylized, sanded again with 240 and sprayed basecoat (ppg nexa autocolour (straight up P425-985 HS Fine Aluminum)) and applyed a a few coats of clear.  Turned out pretty well.  Only thing I’ll probaly change doing the last 2 wheels is that i’ll use epoxy primer.

As far as the bottle caps go, I soaked the nuts outa them with laquer thinner then buffed them out using a fairly aggressive compound.  Chased that with a polish and they are pretty sparkly!  Not perfect, but what is?

Here are some before pics on the wheels and hubcaps:

After pics soon to come!