Ahh...the 68 1600 gets a facelift

[azee]

Amazing what new(er) grills + bumper, and a coupla driving lights does for the front end. She's starting to look a whole lot better! Just thought I'd share!

I've got a looooong road ahead of me. Found out from Mobile Tradition that my 1600 was born on April 16, 1968, so I plan on getting her back on the road looking decently nice by her 40th b-day. Unfirtunately no time/money for a full on concourse type resto, but I'd be very happy with just a nice, clean daily driver type.

I need to start a project blog already...

Alan

[Mars]

sexy... very nice indeed!

[PSloan]

Huge difference! Bet the wife is happy now!

[Mike Self]

(nt)

[oz_tom]

Love the all chrome grills! Any shots of the rest of the car?

[jerry]

Found out from Mobile Tradition that my 1600 was born on April 16, 1968, so I plan on getting her back on the road looking decently nice by her 40th b-day.

I need to start a project blog already...

Alan

hey, your's is close to my 1602. i got the following from MT

"The BMW 1600 US VIN 1564726 was manufactured on April 9th, 1968 and

delivered on April 19th, 1968 to the BMW importer Hoffman Motors Corp. in

New York City. The original colour was Turf, paint code 073."

what's your VIN? they may have gone down the assembly line together.

mine spent a large portion of its life in Oakland, btw. it's gonna be my spoiled 1600ti-clone someday.

[azee]

Thanks for the kind feedback guys! It's nice to see some before and after pictures to get a small sense of accomplishment. Like I said before, I've got a loooong way to go. I guess the grills and bumper are kinda the easy part. The interior is pretty thrashed, the Malaga re-paint is chipped and faded, the list goes on and on. The wife stays pretty clear of the garage (for my benefit and her own sanity, I would assume), so I don't think she has any idea what I've been up to with the car.

No other picts of the car, at least, none that are worth sharing! I'll post up a bunch when I do the project blog. Honestly, the car is *very* rough. Probably looks much better in that shot I posted than it does in real life.

Mike, believe it or not those driving lights are from....JC Whitney (don't flame me too bad!). $33, 5-1/2" diameter, 2" deep, chrome housings, and 100W H3 bulbs. I haven't hooked 'em up (I'll be using a relay) or anything yet, just mounted them for a quick test fit to see how they looked. For the price, I'm pleased.

[azee]

Hi Jerry,

Looks like BMW pumped about almost 100 1600's in 7 days....mine is 1564823. The limited previous owner history I've got on mine shows it lived its life in the Bay area as well. I'm tempted to drive by the P.O's house when she's a runner again just for it to say "hey...remember me?"

Would love to see picts of your 1600 as well!

[Mike Self]

the driving lights?

mike

[grmnclassic]

Azee,

She is a thing of beauty. I am sure everyone including yourself is proud to see her in all her glory again. Nice bright smile:)

Best wishes to you!

Alonso

[RayC911]

Wow, very nice! Big difference!

[NickVyse]

chalk and cheese as we say over here. Looks lovely - the kind of inspirational improvement that gets you to work on all the difficult greasy bits.

I took my 1600 to get a controle technique yesterday - it's a French cerificate of road worthiness. 2kms before the test station the exhuast started blowing, by the time i got there the sweet m10 sounded more tractor like. Bloody typical!

Good luck with your car.

[Biscuit3]

Yee, what is it with the previous owners painting the chrome on the early grilles black to make it look like the later ones? This car my boyfriend at the time picked up off ebay looked the exact same until I sat down and scrubbed it all off! Sure makes a big difference!

I'm tempted to drive by the P.O's house when she's a runner again just for it to say "hey...remember me?"

I love that feeling! Karl's previous owner showed up at this year's Show & Shine which Karl was put in for judging. I told him Karl was parked with the other 02's and coyly asked if he knew if they had been judged yet. He said he didn't see Karl there, well, that is, until I pointed him out for him. I mean come on, there were only four 2002's at the show! What a meatball!!!

[azee]

Hey Mike,

Oops, I forgot to include a link last time.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2003727/p-2003727/N-111+10201+600010204/c-10101

They are made by a company called "Eagle Eye", website is http://www.eagleeyelights.com/