What to do with my Baur?

[Manitoba]

Wow!!! Beautiful car!

Greetz,
Walter.

[Bigmeat]

This brings us to the middle of last year.
The car was now back on the road, but still had a list of jobs.

Something that really rankled from the restoration and the 2 places it had been worked on, was the fact that there seemed to be little thought put into it. For instance after completely removing all rust, and any previous patched panels, they fitted the original carpets back in that smelled awful and were completely melted where the sills had been welded previously without removing the carpets. I'd said there was a limit to what I could spend, but if they noticed anything that needed doing, or would be better/easier to do while it was apart then to let me know. Surely a quick call to say 'Carpet is knackered, do you want to try to source one, or have us get a new one?'. Or me having to remove the quarterlights to paint the B-pillars because they'd been refitted with the black powder coating flaking off and showing the galvanised finish underneath.
They'd also had a completely new folding roof made, which is really excellent quality, but they didn't bother to refurbish the frame so it had flaking paint and rust.
Anyway, I've rectified some of these, others still need to be sorted out.

For part of summer 2024 the car was driving, and good fun. It was quick but really felt like it needed an extra gear, at 70mph it was revving quite high. - Fuel economy from the Twin Webers was shocking - around 18mpg.
- I didn't like the electric fuel pump that had been fitted with the engine swap.
- The car was still hard to start - ignition on, listen for the fuel pump note to change, 3 pumps of the throttle, and it would fire up, but die straight away. 2 pumps, fire up, die, then 3rd time it would fire and you could try to catch it, but it felt like the throttle response was a touch behind, so you had to try to catch up. Once you got it you could blip the throttle ok, and keep it running for a couple of minutes till it warmed up. Any variation of the starting procedure and it didn't want to know. However, once it was warmed up it would start straight away.
- The car was inaccessible to my wife, the clutch pedal was quite awkward for her to use with her disability.
- The suspension was way too soft for enjoying the car to it's potential. It dipped and wallowed in the bends.
- The gearbox was making a grinding noise until the clutch was pressed.

I was fortunate that my friends' son had started working at a Classic Car and Historic Racing specialist. He offered to come and have a look with his boss and another mechanic who is a big BMW fan.

They identified straight away the reasons for the poor starting and fuel economy and were happy to take the car in and get it sorted. We agreed on a plan of action and they asked if I was happy for them to point out other things that may need sorting out, or would be easier to do while the car was in pieces. You can guess my answer I think!

They discovered that the 4 speed needed a complete rebuild and sourced a 5 speed. It too needs a rebuild and we're struggling to find parts for it, so it's held up the work.
The car had BC Racing Coilovers and a complete set of Powerflex Heritage bushes.
While they were sorting the suspension and bushes they painted the petrol tanks and rear sub-frame.
They've done a lot of work to a high standard and I'm really happy with the what's been done.
I got a call last week saying they were still waiting on the 5 speed, and were concerned that we wouldn't get to enjoy the car this summer. So we agreed that they'd pop the original gearbox back in, get the new one refurbed over summer, and then take the car back in when the weather turns. Then they'll drop the engine and paint it up as it's really the only thing letting the outside appearance down now, and fit the 5 speed.

Then, hopefully, we can look to get the interior sorted.

20230913_183300 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
20230826_213141 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
Screenshot_20230826_213015_Gallery by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG-20250213-WA0001 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG-20250213-WA0000 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG-20250213-WA0003 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG-20250515-WA0012 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG-20250515-WA0010 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG-20250213-WA0002 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG_4738 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG-20250515-WA0011 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG-20250515-WA0014 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG-20250515-WA0013 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG_4735 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG_4737 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG_4736 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

This is as it sits now. Just about ready to pick up. They just wanted to know if I was happy with the height, or wanted more drop and camber.

IMG_4739 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr
IMG_4740 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

I do hope that's not too long and boring. I have no-one else to talk to about it. Most of my friends think I'm crackers and should either
- save my money,
- buy a modern sports car for my mid-life crisis
- get a 'proper' old BMW like an E30...
So, I'm sorry, you guys get the fallout...

[Jeroen]

Definitely not long and boring as we love to see these projects in full! It just is a pity that the previous business cut several corners, rest assured you're not alone, it happens more often, I guess businesses get fed up with a project, probably exceeding the estimated work hours and cost. But now things are moving in the right direction, sounds like it is ready for more fun than last year now!

So, fun times first, and the end is nigh! Gearbox and interior, and of course as it's an old car something will start to leak or rattle, don't let that ruin your day, you're almost there and there's no hurry!

Keep us updated and let us know if any issues or questions! Greets from a fellow Baur mate that still loves his Baur!

[uwbuurman]

Haha,this kind of fallout I can handle. Congrats on the project, very nice car!!