Work on the touring has begun!

Last weekend I took a short trip to Atlanta to see The Mitty vintage races at Road Atlanta, and to check out the work on the touring. It turns out that I spent most of the time moving my daughter's belongings to her new apartment, but that's another story for another blog.

I was able to spend a couple of hours at the race track and check out the cars. Didn't get to see any actual racing, though.

Pics can be seen here:




On the touring subject, it has been dismantled almost completely. Lots of hidden rust and much work to be done, but I am confident that it will turn out nice once all is said and done.

Here's how it looks now:



I will be traveling to Atlanta again on May 16 and will post pictures of how it has progressed then.

The sweet-running 320i

I made a 250 mile round trip in the 320i last Sunday 4/19 and returned amazed with the way it performed. No drama, no overheating and great fuel economy. Many people don't care much about E21's, but I love mine. They make great daily drivers.

This one is basically stock, except for Bilstein shocks and a Weber 32/36 carb, which replaced the troublesome fuel-injection system. This mod is a great way to solve the multiple problems that these cars get with their old FI systems.

The body is getting rusty and the paint job was never too good. The interior also needs work, but the mechanics are almost perfect. Definitely a keeper.

Here's a pic from last Sunday:

Head Problems.....

No, not me, but the Schwarz 2002....

I went to a drive/photoshoot yesterday with a group of BMW owners from the www.eurocrewpr.com website. All went well until the drive back home from Ponce.Since traffic on the expressway was very heavy, I decided to take the coastal route. It was smooth sailing until I ran into a congestion in the Patillas beach area. The gauge started to creep upwards until it got to the red zone. To make it even worse, there was no way I could stop, since the road is a narrow one and there were cars parked in both sides for about half a mile.

When I was finally able to check it out, it was missing about 3/4 of a gallon of coolant. I had topped it off in the morning, and there were no signs of leakage, so I suspect it's the cylinder head.

I had previously noticed that the temp gauge used to go up to about 3/4 when in stop and go traffic, so I installed a new thermostat and hoses last weekend. I also flushed and bled the system in anticipation for the drive. The water pump, belts and radiator are good, so I will have to bite the bullet and remove the cylinder head.

Too bad, because there are a few good events planned for the next few weeks, and I was planning to attend a few in the car. Oh well, guess I'll have to take the ratty E21....


Here's a few pics from yesterday's event (click on each one to see it full size):

Update (?) and some decisions to make

As of today I have no news to report on the touring. Jeff Chang, the gentleman whom Alex was going to contact regarding the body work for it, hasn't shown up to look at the car.

I guess that, if I can't get anyone in the Atlanta area to work on it soon, I might have to bite the bullet and bring it to Puerto Rico. That will not happen for at least two months, though. Opinions from readers (if any) of this blog are welcome.

I have been giving thoughts about selling the Schwarz '76 2002 to gather funds for the touring's resto. I have very mixed feelings about this, since it is like part of the family, having been with me for 18 years now. Any thoughts?

If I do keep the Schwarz car, the touring's resto will be at a much slower pace, which is not really a problem.

So, that's it for now. This Sunday, 4/12/09, I will most probably be attending a BMW photo shoot. Hopefully I'll get to have some nice pics of the Schwarz car. The following Sunday there is a meet similar to the recent one we had in Ponce. This time it will be in Hormigueros, which is at the opposite corner of the island, but I plan to make it anyway. I'll post pics and info if I do.

The Touring Project

Finally saw the touring!

Last weekend I took a trip to Atlanta to finally see it in the flesh (or rather, in the metal and rust). It IS quite rusty, but it IS a tii, and a touring to boot. So, after assessing its condition, I have determined that I'm gonna take a shot at restoring it. Plans are to make it a nice driver, not a concours beauty. It will probably be a long and arduous (and expensive!) process, but I am sure the end result will be well worth it. There is nothing like driving a tii, and I still miss the Chamonix '73 I sold over 20 years ago.

There is a possibility that the welding and bodywork can be done in Atlanta. Alex from Carma told me that he has a good friend, Jeff Chang, who is a great welder and might be able to take it on. I do heve new doors, left frond fender and nose panel which came from the car, but I will still need to get the right front fender and the uber-pricey quarter panels. It also will need rockers and quite a bit of welding in the floor area.

I will post updates as I progress in this journey.

The touring arrives in Atlanta!

After a few hits and misses, the touring finally arrived in Atlanta last Thursday (3/5). My son sent me some pics, but I will have to wait until I go there to evaluate its condition and decide what will I do with it. I would love to restore, but it all depends on the extent of the rust.

If I decide to restore it, I will probably bring it to Puerto Rico, since the restoration would be a lot less costly here, even taking into account the transportation costs and the darn Puerto Rico Excise Tax.

It's been almost a month!

OK, I admit it. I haven't paid much attention to this blog, with the last post being almost a month ago.

Anyway, during that time I got the E30's water pump installed, the E21 got new brake pads and clutch master/slave and I bought a new Weber 38/38 kit for the Baur. Quite a spendy month...

The touring should be on its way from Bentonville, AR to Atlanta this week, where it will be stored until I figure out what to do with it.

On a more positive note, I attended two events with the Schwarz '02. On 2/15 I went to the annual big old car show at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, and on 2/22 I went to Ponce for an informal meet with (mostly) old-skool BMW owners.

Here's a pic from the San Juan show:


The white 2002 above was for sale for (GULP!) $13K!! I would've walked home if anyone had given me $10K for mine.

Here's a pic from the gathering at La Guancha. About 40 cars assisted, including 13 '02's. It was good to see so many together, and we plan to continue meeting every six to eight weeks on different places throughout the island.



The Mintgrun car used to be mine and is now owned by Luis Carlos of Patillas, who did a great job bringing it back to a very nice condition. My '02 is the second one, and the third car (also Schwarz) is in pristine condition, and is owned by a gentleman from Mayaguez.


Well, that's it for now! I will try to update this more frequently, but can't promise anything. Thanks for reading my blog!