Quote:
Originally Posted by IcewaterPete
That looks to be in amazing condition! Care to share the story on it?!
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I'll be happy to
This was a rescue, purchased from one of my customers who had brought his e36 M3 to us on a few occasions for maintenance and repairs. He told me that he had this car, and had "just quit driving it since he got the M3", about 9 years prior. The car sat in his backyard under a Magnolia tree and looked like absolute hell when it arrived on the flatbed. It was covered in black mold, and had to be dragged off the flatbed as the brakes were locked up. The interior was moldy, and the fuel system was toast. It needed pretty much everything mechanically and a lot of cosmetic work.
His request was to get it running and back on the road again, but after inspecting the car thoroughly, and running numbers on the bare essentials, I stopped at about $14k (In 2006/2007 money) and called him. This was to address the essentials, as he asked, and did not include other upcoming needs like timing chain, gears and rails etc. At the time, a "good" M635Csi was worth about what my initial estimate came to, so he decided to pass on fixing it. He told me to make an offer, which I did, and he accepted it.
With title in hand, I began acquiring parts for the car, while it sat under a cover in the corner of my shop.
After a couple of years, I found the time to start on the project. Mechanicals first. Pulled the engine and transmission , and found the head had been off previously and not so professionally reassembled. Decided to do it right and shipped it off to my favorite race shop (Now out of business, unfortunately). Custom stroker crank, Scat Rods, CP pistons, a little cylinder head work and their expertise, and I had a solid starting point. Another very good friend, one of the premier tuners in the country, set up the Megasquirt MS3Pro after making and installing the custom wiring harness for the motor.
New clutch, ALL new rubber suspension components, Synchro Design Works thrust arms, BMW Motorsports Big Red springs (NLA), Koni adjustable front struts and Bilstein HD rears, US e28 M5 front sway bar and Racing Dynamics rear bar and my suspension setup was complete.
Did the steering box reinforcement and new tie rods and drag link. Reman driveshaft and all mounts.
Brakes were upgraded to e32 750iL front, and e34 540i rear.
Complete cooling system, radiator, hoses, heater valve and core,waterpump etc.
I left no stone unturned as I wanted this to be a turnkey retromod that could take me anywhere I wanted to go. I could go on and on with the mechanicals but I don't want to bore you.
Paint and interior was another adventure. After pressure washing the outside with a diluted bleach mixture to kill and remove the mold, I discovered what appeared to be a previous Maaco quality repaint. It was a good 20 footer at that point. (More later on that).
I found a good used dash in Oregon and had it shipped, and while it was out, I replaced the heater core, cleaned the evaporator, and replaced both blower motors- all were still available at that time. New A/C compressor from BMW was also installed. Seats were removed and re-dyed and carpet was shampooed and dyed. Did not find any rust which was a very pleasant surprise, as the car had clearly been damp inside given the mold and rusty tools etc.
After re-assembly, I gave the car to my detail specialist to see if he could do anything with the paint. he had it for 6 weeks, working on it as time allowed. Lots of wet sanding, buffing, and a final ceramic coat yielded the results you see in the photos.
So, that's pretty much it in a nutshell, there's a lot more to it as far as what is new and what was done to the car, but it was truly a (very expensive) labor of love. Worth every penny, and every minute spent, and I honestly can't think of another car that I would rather have, unless it's a real 3.0Csl, or a pristine e26, one of which is currently in my shop