Hi all! Joined a while ago but the resto was put on hold in favour of other
stuff. Ready to roll now so here are the "before" pics.
At the mo the seats, carpets, headlining and other bits and bobs are out ready for welding. Not a lot required, in face the only rot not shown is one sill. The car has been parked outside since I parked it in '98 but it started and sort of ran about 18 months ago.
Was "ziebarted" (remember that!) from new and I'm the third owner having known the second owner who had it since it was 4 years old. He had a work van and the car was garaged some of the time he had it.
Thanks cobbler! Its my first resto so I expect to make LOTS of mistakes along the way but, hey, isn't that how you learn?!
Loved the car when I ran it for a few years, used to get some great attention, so much more attractive than the euroboxes that were around at the time!
Bunk.
"A woman drove me to drink......My only regret was not thanking her....."
dude, why not start with a good foundation. The time, effort and money you are going to spend on this rusty E21, you could get a decent example. Nothing against you here and perhaps someone can put me right, but i can never understand why people spend so much time and effort on rusty cars when you can pick them for for not much more money with hardly any rust.
cobbler2u wrote:What you going to do .Bring it back to original or mods
I'd love an original Alpina of an designation but I've got a 318! I'm not into concourse or all the work involved but I would like to keep most of the originality but with period upgrades like the weber conversion and bmw wheels such as the turbines or the alpinas. maybe lowered to alpina spec but not too far cos I dont want to mess with the ride and handling too much (beyond what bmw would have expected/carried out) Its like the wheels, I like the look of mims on an e21 but on the whole I think some cars just look their best with factory extras rather than aftermarket 3 spokes! Heresy to some maybe but each to their own and it could all change!......
sorry if i'm rambling, the stella must be kicking in!
"A woman drove me to drink......My only regret was not thanking her....."
Mobster wrote:dude, why not start with a good foundation. The time, effort and money you are going to spend on this rusty E21, you could get a decent example. Nothing against you here and perhaps someone can put me right, but i can never understand why people spend so much time and effort on rusty cars when you can pick them for for not much more money with hardly any rust.
I'm open to being enlightened here.
Hi! Ive given it some consideration and if anyone has a solid e21 for a few hundred quid I'll have it but they are pretty thin on the ground round here and mine only need a bit of welding. For what it will cost to weld up and for me to put it all back together should still cost me less than to buy a car, collect, and then have to do any work repaired. Ive had a few people look at mine and they have told me it shouldn't be too much work to get it through the mot especially if i or friends do the work. At any rate I can do the work over time rather than try and find the £1000 plus you seem to need to pick up a running, mot'd, original example.
I see your'e point and everyone has their own opinion. thats how it should be!
"A woman drove me to drink......My only regret was not thanking her....."
nas80 wrote:if you need any body panels then let me know.. you can cut them off my spare shell with your angle grinder!
i have a good headlining too if you dont have a sunroof!
good luck with it though!
Hey nas, that sound great! Drjim has a bonnet and boot and some other bits for me but there are other bits I need! The headlining could be a blessing if I can rescue the panel in my sunroof (another headache). As far as the shell bits, I need to get fabricated/get hold of some panels for the bits of rot under the rear window below the boot lid. As the car was outside for years all the rust is from rainwater rather than salty road . the resultant rot is from water settling. when I ran the car the glovebox used to fill with water as did the boot so once the repairs are done I can clean out the drain holes and replace the sunroof, boot and windscreen seals. that should sort it.
bunk.
"A woman drove me to drink......My only regret was not thanking her....."
hi mate, welcome n good luck with the resto. theres a few guys near you in manchester so if you need i'm theres always a helping hand ready.
keep us updated with how the resto goes & dont forget the pics
......ayds
All Men Truly Die, But Not All Men Have Truly Lived
