New Year's Coupe
On Thursday the 30th of December, 2004 my CSL came home. It was a wet and windy day, not ideal for transporting a rare 30 year old automobile on a trailer, but everything ended up working out just fine. You're always concerned when towing a trailer, but as it turned out, getting the car in to the garage ended up being the biggest challenge. Pushing even a "lightweight" BMW Coupe uphill is a task that requires at least three grown men. Thank god for friends and neighbors.
Once she was inside the cozy confines of the Cowpoke Racing garage I dried the rain drops off her new paint and soon after Chela made this picture of us.
The car has been in a local body shop for the past few years getting new paint and having some body work completed. I chose Polaris Silver for her as I believe that this is the perfect color for German cars, especially CSLs. Here's what I know (or believe to be true) about her so far.
1973 BMW CSL
VIN 2275396
LHD Town-kit model which features
fuel-injected 3003 cc D-Jet engine
chrome bumpers
aluminum hood and rear deck lid
power steering
manual front windows
glass rear windows with electric motors
3:25 LSD rear end
As I begin to go through the car I'm discovering some interesting things about her. The engine appears to be a "crate" BMW unit as it is missing a serial number in the appropriate location (opposite the starter on the flat boss at the top of the block). Someone installed AC in the car at some point in its life, but it was crudely done and is far from proper. I may or may not try to install CS-specific AC at some point assuming I can get the right pieces together.
The interior needs to be completely restored although the headliner may be "save-able". It's in great condition but for the front and rear where it has pulled away from the roofline beneath the window gaskets. The wood on the dash is in decent condition and the dash itself looks pretty good but I have plans to restore both that will surely irritate some of the purists. I plan on installing a quality sound system which will include iPod compatibility and XM radio. There will be a subwoofer enclosure in the rear with a custom battery box and amp rack in the trunk.
The engine needs some attention but it should run. Running gear looks ok, but the car will get a 5spd upgrade and the suspension will get urethane wherever possible along with new shocks and springs.
Here are some pictures I made this afternoon.
