Jump to content
Select Featured Photo
  • entries
    29
  • comments
    76
  • views
    17,362

About this blog

I decided that it was probably time to document some of the restoration work for my 1970 BMW 1600.  I bought this car after Danco posted some pictures of it on the FAQ.  It was part of Rey's inventory in San Juan Capistrano and was rumored to have been owned by one of Carl Nelson's mechanics at La Jolla Independent.  Danco delivered it to my house in Scripps Ranch and I started the process of tearing it down for paint. 

 

The car was very rust free.  The only real issues were the bottom of the rear quarter windows where water had pooled and rusted through and the hood had some bad spots.  Other than that, no apparent accident damage or rust could be found.  Whoever owned the car before me, spent some serious time and money to upgrade the suspension and brakes in preparation for a performance street build.  Most of the components were brand new when the work stopped and never made it to the road.  When I pulled the subframes, the car had Tii struts and brakes in front and 320i brakes in back, new ST Suspension springs and Bilstein HD shocks all around.

 

Originally I was planning on using this shell for my S14 swap, but I may change direction after the car comes out of paint.

 

Thanks for watching and stay tuned for new posts on my progress.

 

 

Mark92131

49380941196_8987ddac53_k.jpg

Entries in this blog

Fresh Nevada Paint

Fresh Nevada Paint

This car was delivered to Classic Auto Body and Collision in Ramona, CA on May 27, 2020.  I got it back yesterday on my birthday, November 17th, 2021, almost 18 months later.  Carlos the owner told me it was probably the last 2002 he would work on.  He was painted numerous cars for Bill Holmes at Bavarian Rennsport, he painted my Mintgrun 75, but will now concentrate on insurance work which is significantly more profitable.  Originally, we negotiated $4800 for a complete paint job with some mino
Mark92131

Mark92131 in Fresh Nevada Paint

11
DIY Yellow Chromate Zinc Plating

DIY Yellow Chromate Zinc Plating

I promised some details on my attempts to do my own Zinc Plating, figuring "How hard could it be?".  Well, if you have oodles of time like I do, (recently retired), it can be a fun and satisfying part of your restoration journey.  The hardest part is ordering all the supplies and pieces you will need to get the results you want.  I learned some things that should save you time and money if you decide that this process is for you.   Supplies There is a laundry list of things you wi
Front Subframe

Front Subframe Restoration

I took my rusty front subframe over to my brother's house and he welded in the IE subframe reinforcement plate.  The front subframe received the same powder coat treatment as the rear, RAL 7043.  I had both of them done at Anocote Powder Coating in Mira Mesa.  They also did the ST Sway bars and knocked the surface rust off of my rotors and drums for about $300 all in.  Assembly was pretty straight forward, new rubber stock bushings, new heavy duty IE control arms, new OEM Idler Arm bushings, DIY
Mark92131

Mark92131 in Front Subframe

1
Rear Subframe

Wrapping up the Rear Subframe

The car is getting closer to the paint booth, so I got busy finishing up the rear subframe.  I powder coated both subframes in RAL 7043, a nice grey green that should look great against the fresh Nevada tinted undercoating.  I also powder coated the ST Sway bars a black metallic for some additional contrast.  Everything went back together relatively easily with the exception of the trailing arms that I inadvertently pressed the bushing in too much and caused some issues aligning the bolts.  With
Mark92131

Mark92131 in Rear Subframe

4

  • Blog Statistics

    • Total Blogs
      461
    • Total Entries
      2,409
×
×
  • Create New...