My E9 2800cs restoration journal

[Mani59]

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

Huge update but the photos are going to be boring.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Picked up a new shifty boy. It obviously needs a clean up, not sure why its covered in great stuff. We have the bell housing, so we just need to gather a few other parts, and put new input and output bearings and seals in it. I am so excited, this car with a 5 speed will be amazing.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

No photos are ever boring on your amazing work! Look forward to further updates and more photos!

[MPOWER5266]

Its been a while so I figured Id do a small update. A few weeks ago I had an Oktoberfest party at my house, and I wanted to have my 02 and the e9 parked near my Biergarten. So I grabbed the car and drove it for the first time since early September. It ran like crap but I got it cleaned back up from the vintage trip.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


I took the car back to my parents shop and looked it over. We found that one of the carb mounting bolts was loose, and one thing lead to another.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


One of the carbs was hanging open occasionally so we were going to work on the linkage. Once we had them out we noticed how dirty they were and decided to rebuild them.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Once cleaned, my dad started rebuilding them. He made a float gauge, I hope it worked.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


And how it sits currently.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


We are installing a "boost pump" to help it start after sitting a while, its apparently a common mod for these cars. Hopefully it will start today and I will be able to take it on a short drive this weekend.


The 5 speed we bought need a rebuild, and the guy we were going to have work on it broke his foot so its going to be a couple months. The 4 speed is noisy and my dad is nervous about driving it. We are going to try Swepco in the 4 speed in the hopes that it will quiet the trans down long enough to get the 5 speed going.

[LaVitaEBella]

You're doing a great job with this build. This classic car is slowly getting back to life.

[MPOWER5266]

Finally some progress. We have been having issues getting the carbs to sync and after a few weeks we finally tracked it down to the throttle shaft nut being too tight and causing the throttle to hang open slightly. This has been our view for weeks.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Once we figured that out, it was simple to get them sync'd and its idling buttery smooth. We also put the swepco in and the transmission was noticeably quieter. Yesterday we buttoned it all up and sent my son out for a test drive.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

He came back with a pretty good report. The transmission is definitely quieter and actually shifts smoother. There is a slight stumble between 2500-3000 rpm and its loading up when cruising around 60mph. Its likely a timing issue that we will chase down this week, worst case a jetting issue. It was nice to finally have this view again.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[Mani59]

Keep up the great work!

[Randy22]

beautiful car and the great work, upload a video later

[MPOWER5266]

I spent a few hours in the shop on Christmas eve fine tuning the carbs and taking it for a drive. There is a still a slight miss around 2500-3000 rpm but its much better. We are going to play with the jets a little more, 52 seemed too small but 60 too rich. It is running 55's now, so maybe a 57 or 58 if available? Its close. We also worked on my 02 a little bit.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I picked it up yesterday and took it on a long cruise. I am going to keep it at my house to work on the hood a little bit this week. It was the last panel I wet sanded and there are still some sanding marks that I missed.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[racerbruce]

Oh....the timeless lines of the E9; the pointed hood @ center; the dual and round headlights are exceptional; the kidney grilles represent the peak of BMW kidney grille design; the side ventilators @ the A pillar; the absence of the B pillar (absence is actually a plus); the rounded section of the C pillar where it connects to the side panels.

I'm running out of adjectives to describe a timeless BMW time capsule.

[MPOWER5266]

My only "resolution" this year, is to stop putting off projects and just knock them out. I started the year off knocking off a small one, although after working on it in a hunched position for hours, my back didn't see it as small. I finally got around to fixing the sanding marks in the e9's hood. I resanded with 3000grit, then compounded with megs 101 twice, jescar correction compound, and polished with Sonax perfect finish.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Its looking pretty good. There are a couple other spots that I want to touch up and I may coat it. But that's a little ways down the road. Saturday night before the bad weather moved in, I gave it a bath.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Up next will be the 5 speed swap, hopefully before The Vintage in May.

[racerbruce]

Such a beautiful car....well done.

[AR_Motorwerkz]

Handsome E9 lookin there! Gotta say these cars are too underrated!

[Wreckedmyx5m]

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this post, or if any one is interested but I'm bored at work so why not.

A few months ago one of my dreams cars popped up on a local facebook page, a 1971 BMW E9. Its a 2800cs to be specific, not quite the 3.0csi of my dreams but pretty damn close!!! The photos in the ad looked promising, especially for the price.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I found myself looking at what appeared to a pretty straight and complete E9, and in budget. I immediately messaged the seller and asked for pics of the curious looking spot on the passenger front... The seller sent a few more photos and it was clear it was going to need some love.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We chatted some more, and I got some pics of the interior which had the dash pulled apart and the ac and heater box removed.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I was assured all the parts were there and the seats and door cards actually looked pretty decent.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We exchanged a few more messages and photos, and the engine looked dirty but complete.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I tried to find a good time to make the hour drive up to look at it but sadly life got in the way and I wasn't going to be able to make it for a week or so. I thanked the seller, and said I was sure I was going to miss out on it but I said I would try to make it up. About a week or so later, I happened to check the facebook ad and to my surprise it was still up and available. I made the arraignments to go take a look.

When my dad and I arrived I had some mixed feelings. It had a lot more dings and dents than what was visible in the photos and the rats nest of interior wiring from the AC removal looked to be a mess. We inspected the car and found very little rust, and a trunk full of parts. It was all there except for a bumper. I hoped in the drivers seat, turned on the key, and the temp gauge showed cold. I always check that to make sure they didn't warm it up before our arrival. I floored the gas pedal to set the choke, turned the key, and it roared to life. It actually sounded pretty good. I made arraignments to purchase the car. Sadly I had a trip planned the next weekend so my dad had to go pick it up that weekend alone.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

My dad and I partner on cars, and split a lot of the work and expense, we agreed the car would sit until our J-10 and Xj Wagoneer Jeeps were sold. Well I guess he got a little excited, while I was on my trip I received this photo of the E9 off the trailer and in the shop. The 02 was on the lift being prepped for the vintage trip and he couldn't resist the photo.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

It was supposed to go to our hanger to be stored until we were ready to start but when I showed up that following Monday, it was still there. I guess I couldn't resist the photo opportunity either.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We decided that with the vintage coming up, we would need to put together a list of parts we were looking for so rather than wait, we started on the car. I took it for a very short drive as seen in the video here.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Then we put it on the lift.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

A little oily but very little rust, which in these cars can be a killer. The front bushings were pretty bad, so we made a note to order them. The fresh Bilstein HD's were a pleasant surprise. We then turned our attention to putting the A/C, heat box, and dash back together. This may sound like an odd starting point but these parts take up a large hole in the firewall, with out them you can almost see the engine. My dad, a former A/C technician in the 80's tested the heater core and AC condenser, and they appeared to be ok. Then his attention turned to the blower motor for the AC and reassembly. Using our trusty 77 Jeep Wagoneer, we tested the Air con blower motor in the video below.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

The heater box fan sadly was dead, so we started searching for that. Since the suspension bushings arrived, I gave the under side of the car a good degreasing.... its going to need a lot more but this made the suspension work less miserable.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We dug into the suspension.

by Nick Wood, on Flickr

With the new poly bushings(I couldn't find another color) installed we buttoned everything up.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

While we did end up with a killer deal on a front bumper at the Vintage, that's all we found. We may have found a source for most of the other missing parts, but we didnt want to wait any longer on the heater fan so I dug through my 02 spares. I have several 02 heater boxes and fans, and while its a different part, they actually are close to the same size. I found one that was free spinning and my dad tested it.

The 02 heater box.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We had to change the fan and modify the mounting a little, but the motor worked in the E9's box, which we resealed and is ready to install.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

While the car was on the lift we inspected the accident damage on the front corner, and it doesn't look too bad. My parent's neighbor owns a body shop and hes fairly certain we can pull it out.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

The next step is to pull the driveshaft and trans, reseal the trans and diff, new guibo and csb on the shaft, and put in a new clutch and bearings.

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this post, or if any one is interested but I'm bored at work so why not.

A few months ago one of my dreams cars popped up on a local facebook page, a 1971 BMW E9. Its a 2800cs to be specific, not quite the 3.0csi of my dreams but pretty damn close!!! The photos in the ad looked promising, especially for the price.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...685db350_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...45c5ba24_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I found myself looking at what appeared to a pretty straight and complete E9, and in budget. I immediately messaged the seller and asked for pics of the curious looking spot on the passenger front... The seller sent a few more photos and it was clear it was going to need some love.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...60cb635f_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...39ce2619_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We chatted some more, and I got some pics of the interior which had the dash pulled apart and the ac and heater box removed.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c4991fbb_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I was assured all the parts were there and the seats and door cards actually looked pretty decent.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d781a15a_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...66173c7f_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We exchanged a few more messages and photos, and the engine looked dirty but complete.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8a879cec_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fe256e76_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I tried to find a good time to make the hour drive up to look at it but sadly life got in the way and I wasn't going to be able to make it for a week or so. I thanked the seller, and said I was sure I was going to miss out on it but I said I would try to make it up. About a week or so later, I happened to check the facebook ad and to my surprise it was still up and available. I made the arraignments to go take a look.

When my dad and I arrived I had some mixed feelings. It had a lot more dings and dents than what was visible in the photos and the rats nest of interior wiring from the AC removal looked to be a mess. We inspected the car and found very little rust, and a trunk full of parts. It was all there except for a bumper. I hoped in the drivers seat, turned on the key, and the temp gauge showed cold. I always check that to make sure they didn't warm it up before our arrival. I floored the gas pedal to set the choke, turned the key, and it roared to life. It actually sounded pretty good. I made arraignments to purchase the car. Sadly I had a trip planned the next weekend so my dad had to go pick it up that weekend alone.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0d98dcec_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2fb32079_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

My dad and I partner on cars, and split a lot of the work and expense, we agreed the car would sit until our J-10 and Xj Wagoneer Jeeps were sold. Well I guess he got a little excited, while I was on my trip I received this photo of the E9 off the trailer and in the shop. The 02 was on the lift being prepped for the vintage trip and he couldn't resist the photo.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4fcc5f81_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

It was supposed to go to our hanger to be stored until we were ready to start but when I showed up that following Monday, it was still there. I guess I couldn't resist the photo opportunity either.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3866fa6b_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We decided that with the vintage coming up, we would need to put together a list of parts we were looking for so rather than wait, we started on the car. I took it for a very short drive as seen in the video here.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/...e9383372_z.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Then we put it on the lift.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...937c84c7_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ca0bc9f7_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d3dab80a_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

A little oily but very little rust, which in these cars can be a killer. The front bushings were pretty bad, so we made a note to order them. The fresh Bilstein HD's were a pleasant surprise. We then turned our attention to putting the A/C, heat box, and dash back together. This may sound like an odd starting point but these parts take up a large hole in the firewall, with out them you can almost see the engine. My dad, a former A/C technician in the 80's tested the heater core and AC condenser, and they appeared to be ok. Then his attention turned to the blower motor for the AC and reassembly. Using our trusty 77 Jeep Wagoneer, we tested the Air con blower motor in the video below.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/...c6aec38d_z.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

The heater box fan sadly was dead, so we started searching for that. Since the suspension bushings arrived, I gave the under side of the car a good degreasing.... its going to need a lot more but this made the suspension work less miserable.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...accf80b9_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We dug into the suspension.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...281352dd_b.jpg[/img] by Nick Wood, on Flickr

With the new poly bushings(I couldn't find another color) installed we buttoned everything up.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1e7f603d_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

While we did end up with a killer deal on a front bumper at the Vintage, that's all we found. We may have found a source for most of the other missing parts, but we didnt want to wait any longer on the heater fan so I dug through my 02 spares. I have several 02 heater boxes and fans, and while its a different part, they actually are close to the same size. I found one that was free spinning and my dad tested it.

The 02 heater box.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4a6dc734_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We had to change the fan and modify the mounting a little, but the motor worked in the E9's box, which we resealed and is ready to install.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...aebddf80_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

While the car was on the lift we inspected the accident damage on the front corner, and it doesn't look too bad. My parent's neighbor owns a body shop and hes fairly certain we can pull it out.

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...230dd46d_b.jpg[/img]Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

The next step is to pull the driveshaft and trans, reseal the trans and diff, new guibo and csb on the shaft, and put in a new clutch and bearings.

Great

[G03RT2]

What a great journal. Total time sink for me and went through all 11 pages lol

[MPOWER5266]

Long time, no chat. The e9 has been great, it has been out to some local cars and coffee runs and the occasional drive to work on a nice day. With the 4 speed trans acting up, I haven't wanted to take it much further. It seems like the days and weeks have been flying by and the The Vintage will be here before you know it, it seemed like a good time to get the 5 speed installed.

On Saturday, the e9 went up on the lift.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And after about an hour, I was looking at the clutch for what seems like the 5th time since installing it. Hopefully the last time for a while.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Yesterday while I was at work, my dad got the bell housing installed and then the 5 speed.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And buttoned it up with the shift platform and cross member.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And installed the z3 shifter.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Hopefully we can get the driveshaft out this week to be shortened and maybe get the car back on the road in the next week or so. I will be out of town for almost 2 weeks at the beginning of April so hopefully I can drive it a little before then.

[wdb]

Is that brace in the last picture temporary? Looks like it cuts across the line where the driveshaft would go.

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by wdb

Is that brace in the last picture temporary? Looks like it cuts across the line where the driveshaft would go.

No, its part of the Coupe King cross member kit. Its off set a little so it wont interfere. Many e3/e9s are running this set up.

https://shop.coupeking.com/products/...sion-mount-kit

[MPOWER5266]

Last week, my dad buttoned up the e9. He got the interior back together, and installed the new shift knob. Thankfully we found one that was identical to the old one that had the correct mounting for the z3 shifter.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Friday, he picked up the shortened driveshaft and installed it. He also installed the new exhaust hanger set up, and the exhaust.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Saturday I got it out for a drive and confirmed that there is indeed a 5th gear in there.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Now I am just driving it and looking for issues. I took it to work today, and had enough time to stop for a little photo shoot.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


I am leaving Thursday to go work an airshow so I will be gone for almost 2 weeks. After I get home it will kinda be crunch time for the vintage.

[P1]

One hell of a thread. Well done.

[Matt@EuroJerks]

I sold my car log ago and only log in for this thread. Always Great!!

[Almuliman]

Stunning. *Love* this thread.

[MPOWER5266]

Small update, but I have been driving the hell out of the car and its good. Like really really good. The 5 speed completely changes it, much smoother and quieter. It also isnt leaking anything.... and I filled all the fluids so I know its not empty. I think its good to go for the vintage next month. Yesterday, I treated to to a quick bath and interior wipe down, it got covered in pollen last time I drove it.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[tracer bullet]

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

Small update, but I have been driving the hell out of the car and its good. Like really really good. The 5 speed completely changes it, much smoother and quieter. It also isnt leaking anything.... and I filled all the fluids so I know its not empty. I think its good to go for the vintage next month. Yesterday, I treated to to a quick bath and interior wipe down, it got covered in pollen last time I drove it.

Congrats! Well deserved results from a long project. Thanks for sharing it!

And feel free to continue updates if you have them or even just random pictures