engine and drivetrain '72 Baikal Tii Progress Pix: The Marriage Approaches!

[COOP]

Hi Guys,

 

Keeping y'all in the loop...Engine is done and now we're getting the engine compartment dialed in and ready for the big coming together.  Suspension is fully painted & reassembled with the proper zinc-plated hardware wherever appropriate and we're rebuilding the pedal box now. 

 

Given that this is a quite original (with exception of color change from Sahara to Baikal when the car was bare-shell rotisserie restored), 54K mile car (documented right back to '72), I'm really trying to go the extra mile wherever possible.  Everthing is getting properly plated/painted and I'm excited by the progress.  I'm getting Michelin XAS tires from Coker, just for that somewhat goofy original stance.

 

Do feel free to point out anything that looks hokey or molested and I will get it taken care of! I value your input...

 

COOP

[M3M3]

looks nice.  you should have all these progress updates in a build thread.

[jrkoupe]

this looks good.

Its hi end $$ restos like this that raiSE the bar.....and increase the wow factor of said car/collectible. Once more and more of these builds get done the values of the cars in general usually increase. i think thats good........and bad..lol

I love the color......and thanx for doing it...and keeping us posted. I know it takes tonsa time..love and cash....

Im not sure I could drive such a pristine car.......

looky here:

http://www.sportscardigest.com/cars-for-sale/featured-listing-1973-bmw-2002-tii/

Edited January 24, 2015 by jrkoupe

[COOP]

A few more pix...To refresh, this car underwent a $55K restoration (body only) in 1998-99 at Vantage in Stamford, CT.  Since then, it has only been driven 4K miles.  While it was always garaged & covered, it wasn't kept in a climatised garage...I guess moisture will just come up through the floor in a nasty, cold, East Coast garage!  Consequently, when I got the car several months ago, pretty much everything under the hood and under the car showed some surface corrosion or nastiness, not to mention leaks galore from the engine, transmission, differential, wheel cylinders, etc.  No rust whatsoever on the body but just all the components, hardware, etc...So we're now restoring all of that at an equally high level so that everything is on a par with the cosmetic restoration.

 

Again, any observations or suggestions are always appreciated...Don't hesitate to show your snobby, purist personality because that's the quality I'm going for here lol!

 

COOP

[jgerock]

I would never sleep knowing I had spent $ 55K on a tii body restoration and left it to sit like that, then to have most of the work redone years later. 

 

Who had $ 55K back then to spend on a tii?  Guess you got an expensive "barn find".  

 

ps:  Griot's Rubber Cleaner works very well on old rubber parts like the rear bump stops, spring spacers, hoses, etc.

Edited January 24, 2015 by jgerock

[COOP]

I would never sleep knowing I had spent $ 55K on a tii body restoration and left it to sit like that, then to have most of the work redone years later. 

 

Who had $ 55K back then to spend on a tii?  Guess you got an expensive "barn find".  

 

ps:  Griot's Rubber Cleaner works very well on old rubber parts like the rear bump stops, spring spacers, hoses, etc.

Lol, I'm totally with you on that one jgerock! The reality is that the individual who paid for the restoration (which I managed for him at the time) was no car guy, more of a guy who acted on a whim that quickly became very expensive. As described in an earlier post, I found this tii in a NYC parking garage in 1998 where the original owner had left it for many years. He vanished, leaving thousands in unpaid parking bills and so the garage owned the car. I was lucky enough to stumble on it one day and bought it from the garage. Less than a year later, my friend and boss convinced me to sell it to him and help him get it restored which took a year. I just bought it back from him in the last six months...so luck has seemed to follow me with this tii.

The good news is that the work we are doing now is not so much of a redo because the mechanicals were not a part of the original restoration. Sure, we have to redo all of the suspension, braking, hardware, etc, etc due to the car having sat in that cold garage, but the engine, trans, diff, etc were basically untouched (just belts, hoses, etc) back in 1999. The body is still pretty much as it left the restoration shop and the quality of the bodywork and paint is extraordinary.

I'm really looking forward to driving the car when it's completed and hope to bring it to the Brisbane show in May...

COOP

[jgerock]

 The body is still pretty much as it left the restoration shop and the quality of the bodywork and paint is extraordinary.

I'm really looking forward to driving the car when it's completed and hope to bring it to the Brisbane show in May...

COOP

Now we're talking 02 Goodness!  If the car sat in a NYC garage for that long and the paint looking that good now is amazing.  Sounds like the body was finished then the old parts bolted back on to get it out of the shop.  Thank you for saving another 2002.

[COOP]

Now we're talking 02 Goodness!  If the car sat in a NYC garage for that long and the paint looking that good now is amazing.  Sounds like the body was finished then the old parts bolted back on to get it out of the shop.  Thank you for saving another 2002.

 

Actually, the parking garage where I originally found the car was in NYC and it was unrestored and a bit rough, although an extremely original Sahara Beige car...I think one reason why it wasn't a lot rustier was because it was up in the air on a lift, above another vehicle. It had sat there for about five years and it had some rust, although nothing structural.  When Vantage Motors (http://www.vantagemotorsports.com/) restored it, the restoration was extremely comprehensive (as one would hope for $55K in 1999 dollars!).  AFTER it was restored by my friend/then boss, it was kept in his private, unheated garage in NJ and driven only sparingly (about 4K miles between 1999 and 2014).  It was always covered but the garage floor was concrete and cracked.  JP (A1) and Delia tell me that if the garage was climatised, or if the car had been parked on plywood, our current job of cleaning, bead-blasting, painting, plating, re-sealing, re-bushing, etc would be a fraction of the effort and expense that it is.  Oh well, it's a labor of love to see it come together and we would have had to do the engine/trans/diff anyways as they were all leaking like a sieve.

 

I feel like less of a savior and more like someone saved.  I never should have sold the car but the reality is that I would have never spent that kind of money to restore the body...and now it's back in my possesion so I guess all's well that ends well...

 

So to recap, the chronology goes like this:

 

-1972: Original owner buys car in NY

-1993: Original owner vanishes, leaving car in NYC parking garage. Garage assumes ownership after failing to reach owner.

-1998: I find the car in the garage and buy it from them

-1998: I sell the car to my then boss/friend who lives in NJ

-1999: Car is bare-tub/rotisserie restored by Vantage Motorsports in Stamford, CT at an enormous cost (sheetmetal, chrome, glass, rubber, etc). Drivetrain basically untouched during resto.

-2000-2014: My friend drives the car a whopping 4K miles.  He garages/covers it but the garage is unheated and so everything under the car/hood gets surface corrosion

-2014: I buy it back and have it shipped to me here in the Bay Area.

-Current:  My friend and superb tech JP Cadoux (A1) and my friend Delia are bringing everything on the car to the standards of the restoration done by Vantage.  Virtually everything that can be removed from under the hood and under the car is being restored to the highest standard.

 

 

COOP

Edited January 24, 2015 by COOP

[JsnPpp]

Beautiful car!  Great to see that one more is saved.

 

$55K body only restoration in 1999 is serious coin indeed.  Would love to see before and after photos, must have been pretty rusty to command that sort of attention.

 

Glad to know it's in good hands now.

 

~Jason

[jgerock]

 

-2014: I buy it back and have it shipped to me here in the Bay Area.

-Current:  My friend and superb tech JP Cadoux (A1) and my friend Delia are bringing everything on the car to the standards of the restoration done by Vantage.  Virtually everything that can be removed from under the hood and under the car is being restored to the highest standard.

 

 

COOP

This is all that matters now.  As the Allstate Insurance TV ads go "you're in good hands".  

 

Please post up some old pics of your car.

Here are mine courtesy of (2) previous owners.

[COOP]

This is all that matters now.  As the Allstate Insurance TV ads go "you're in good hands".  

 

Please post up some old pics of your car.

Here are mine courtesy of (2) previous owners.

Thanks for sharing and beautiful car! I promise, I'll scan some "before" pix as well as some from the restoration...

COOP

[JohnS]

I will definitely look forward to seeing your gem at Brisbane this year (hopefully) or next.  Thanks for sharing the pics,

John

[COOP]

I will definitely look forward to seeing your gem at Brisbane this year (hopefully) or next.  Thanks for sharing the pics,

John

 

Hi John...It will definitely be at Brisbane and I'll keep the pictures coming!

 

COOP