BMW 3.0 CSA Coupe

6th June 2011 – The Beginning

We have been looking for a BMW 3.0 CS to sell for a long time now, but as anyone who has more than a passing interest in these German super coupe’s knows it is very difficult to find one that has not rusted away beyond economical restoration.  This example is an unfinished restoration and has cost its previous owner a huge amount to time and money to get this far.  It is a 7 keeper vehicle with the last owner starting the restoration in August 2008.

According to the vendor the car was stripped and the body work taken to bare metal with the front wings, door skins and back panel replaced with new items.  With this done the shell was prepared and then repainted in Fjord Blue. Underneath the sub frames were removed, shot blasted, powder coated and new bushes fitted.  Handling will be improved with Bilstein suspension all round.  Whilst the shell was in preparation the calipers were reconditioned, new brake and fuel lines run and with the engine removed.  New core plugs were fitted before it was painted and refitted to the engine bay.  The majority of the engine ancillaries are either new in the case of the expansion tank, hoses, HT leads, plugs, filters, manifold or reconditioned such as the alternator, starter motor and radiator.

It is not just the rot that is the problem, because of their short production numbers a great deal of the trim and metal work are now in very short supply so hours of searching is required to find missing components.  Our very first job is to assess this Meccano set and work out what we have and what we don’t!

8th June 2011  -  Parts Audit and Jobs List!

Wow!  It took 3 of us a whole day to go through all the bits and pieces.  We have three major piles.  The first contains the parts that are easily identifiable and either need cleaning or refinishing to go back on the car.  The second contains parts that are surplus to requirements and the third contains loads of little bits that we will probably need, but no one knows what they are or where they go!  Time will help with these bits. We have now been able to create a basic list of the jobs to do before we can re-assemble the car.  They are as follows:

• Strip and re-chrome the rear bumper and over riders
• Rear light lenses require re-chroming and new lenses and reflectors putting in.
• Door locks (all)  - missing
• Front and rear screen seals are missing
• Front windscreen is damaged beyond repair
• Mid section and back box of exhaust is missing
• Manifold fouling steering column
• Boot lid trim missing
• Tools missing
• Recover rear parcel shelf
• Felt/rubber finishing strips for windows missing
• Door kick plates – o/s missing, n/s needs re-chroming
• Drivers side door card needs rebuilding
• Door card clips all missing
• O/S window winder missing
• N/S door seal missing
• O/S door card missing chrome trim
• Rear pillar badges missing
• Boot lid trim damaged – requires re-trim.
• Ariel missing
• Arm rest chrome pieces missing
• N/S sun visor missing
• O/S door stay missing
• 2 x air filters missing

I am sure there are plenty of CS nuts who have some or more of those missing bits in their collection so please do get in touch if you want to sell them.  E-mail details to enquiries@eclecticcars.co.uk with Project CSA in the title bar.  Many thanks!

We are not sure wether we like the front chin spoiler – perhaps someone knows its origin and we will have a bit of an email straw pole!

19th November 2011  -  Update!

We have been a little bit slack in keeping you all updated on the CSA. Progress has been slowed by moving into the new workshop, but whilst the actual rebuild hasn’t really progressed we have made a significant impact on re-trimming the interior and collecting together all of the parts that we will need to get her back together. 2 weeks ago we sent the CSA off to Doug, our welder and body shop to address two bits of rust that we had noticed. When we removed the spare wheel we noticed that the well was made out of fibre glass and that the rear suspension turrets had seen better days. Doug removed both of these and chased in new body panels supplied by Jaymic. When replacing the turrets it was necessary to cut into the rear bulkhead to get access to weld in the new metal, so you end up making a difficult job longer than strictly necessary. With this metal now replaced the areas effected will be rust proofed, primed and painted before the car is delivered back to us at the end of next week. We have 2 weeks booked next month so expect Martin and Jonny’s progress to be swift!

Fresh Metal