BMW 635CSi Restomod

[gazzol]

So I thought I'd introduce you to my new project.........635CSi, dog leg manual and LSD...... yummy, also lots of rust......not so yummy.
I'm the third owner of the car this year as two other people bought the car, got scared and passed it on. Fortunately for the car I'm far to dumb to get scared so I guess I'll just have to crack on and save it
The aim is to create a stripped out no nonsense back road blaster. The car is going to be as light as possible but there will be a small amount of trim like door cards and maybe even a carpet.

[Dinoboy]

Looks like a good project, I've had a few of these and once sorted they drive really nice.

[Mr Tidy]

They are great looking cars, and a manual one with an LSD must be quite a rarity!

Good luck getting your project done, and I'll enjoy the updates.

[gazzol]

Before any body repairs can be done I need to strip the car to a bare shell. This started at work because the first job was to take the engine and gearbox out which is much easier on a ramp than it is at home lying on the floor.

Edited by gazzol on Tuesday 7th November 22:26

[Escort3500]

Interesting project

I really fancied buying one of these a few years ago - always loved the shape - but their reputation for tin worm put me off.

Keep the updates coming!

[gazzol]

Got the car home and started taking it to bits, found a few extra bits of rust. The inner wings are normally really bad on these cars but this one is surprisingly good in these areas but shockingly bad in others like the inner sills which had steel sections glued on instead of welded this method "repair" is not only illegal but really really unsafe and I'd really like to meet the person who did this, I'd shove all the repair sections (which I pulled off by hand) one by one up their @rse. My step son was a huge help and started removing all the sound deadening for me so we could see how bad the floors are.......... they're bad.







[URL]|https://thumbsnap.com/MQfrAAMs[/ur[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/SMfHqW6k[/url]

[TheDoggingFather]

Interesting project.

Any thoughts as to what you're going to have powering it?

[gazzol]

TheDoggingFather said:

Interesting project.

Any thoughts as to what you're going to have powering it?

Hi mate , the engine I'm using is a BMW M30 unit which was what was fitted originally. I have the engine out of my last car which I am going to fit for now but I have a much higher spec head to go on it. I'm going to stay NA as I love the induction noise and ultimate power isn't my goal, close to 300 brake is more than enough for the North Pennines where I go to relieve the stress.
Have a listen/look at this, the noise alone has got to be worth more than the extra power that a turbo would give.

https://youtu.be/WA9kg-Uut4U?si=t4-5eDzO2oJxXWQk

[Court_S]

I that’s going to be very cool when it’s done. I assume manuals are fairly rare?

What’s the availability of parts like? I assume a fair amount of fabrication will be needed to sort the rust rather than new panels.

[GrahamPM]

Have a look on YouTube - Yorkshire Car Restoration. They’ve taken on the project for another YouTuber Mat Armstrong.
The amount of rust that’s been cut out & reworked is incredible - the guy has the patience of a saint!!
Enjoy
Graham

[Pflanzgarten]

Aren’t these things meant to be really difficult to drive at the limit?

[shalmaneser]

Such a lovely shape, shame they really seem to rust!

[helix402]

Pflanzgarten said:

Aren’t these things meant to be really difficult to drive at the limit?

No.

[gazzol]

Court_S said:

I that’s going to be very cool when it’s done. I assume manuals are fairly rare?

What’s the availability of parts like? I assume a fair amount of fabrication will be needed to sort the rust rather than new panels.

I've managed to buy 4 footwells and a pair of outer sills the patch panels I will make myself. The car is going to be as light as possible with the exception of a little trim with that in mind I'm going to get new from wings, bonnet, front and rear bumpers in GRP. I'd also like a GRP boot lid and door skins but these aren't available to buy so if I go that far I'll have to make those myself.

[gazzol]

Pflanzgarten said:

Aren’t these things meant to be really difficult to drive at the limit?

If they are anything like my last car (BMW E9) which they are an evolution of then I would say definitely not.

[Dinoboy]

The only time they were unruly was on old Metric tyres.

[JJJ.]

Great project. Bookmarked.

As for the comment about these being unruly to drive, not in the dry but I clearly found these difficult in the wet, back end was rather too loose for my average 'skills'.
Possibly some rear ballast and modern tyres could be a game changer?

[CKY]

helix402 said:

Pflanzgarten said:

Aren’t these things meant to be really difficult to drive at the limit?

No.

Agreed, had one with a dogleg manual and an LSD back in the mid-80s, great fun on the tyres back then - so progressive to slide. Even more fun in the wet!

[LastPoster]

A young lad I used to work with bought one of these from a couple of dodgy traders. Unfortunately they turned a naive kid over and it was absolutely full of bodged up rust. This was about 30 years ago, they did love to rust, like most cars of the era. He took me out in it, a lovely bit of kit although nerve wracking in the hands of 19 year old kid

[Escort3500]

Despite their well-earned tin-worm reputation it’s still one of the best looking BMWs ever.

Compare it to most of the horrors that they’re currently producing.