M3 restoration (archive)

No engine (he sold its 2.5 to a friend), no tranny or diff. The car had a small engine bay fire due to electrical problems. He bought another main harness and... instead of installing it as a one piece, he... spliced the front end to the rest at the firewall. Then guess what? Yes, another fire, this time under the dash. This is when he sold the drivetrain and offered the car for sale.

John K from Chicago was interested but I was quicker. Drove from Montreal to Baltimore (10 hour trip) and inspected the car. Supposedly never accidented and coming with a replacement harness. Well, the harness was the one that burned. Duh. I asked again if it really was never accidented, the guy swore it was in perfect shape. I found some strange signs but... So anyway we rediscussed the price and because the car was strong with no apparent sign of fender bender, off I went with the M3 on the trailer.

A week later I strip the whole engine bay. There was a ripple under the fusebox, the rad support was bent but no rust and still pretty strong. That was last October in 2000.

Last week I took my car to a nice body shop recommended by one of my friend (the master tech who did the final inspection of the BLUE M3). The front end was pulled and put back to spec with a new rad support, stripped fenders, stripped rocker panel covers and stripped bumper. I spent 3 days putting all the stuff back in the engine bay (except the engine) with all new bolts or plastic brackets and attachments. Every plastic cover is now new as well as the fender liners. The engine bay now looks like, you guessed, a new car. Cool.

So. just to make sure everything is fine, I remove the rear carpet set to discover that the driver side rear corner was also hit and repaired with fiberglass. Arghhh... Another extension to the bill. The car needs to be pulled again. Apart from that, luckily the car is 100% rust-free. I am happy? Of course. Will I skip the last repair? Of course not. If I restore a car, no corner should be rounded or shortcut be taken. Unlike the previous owner, whose name will remain secret, I have respect for this M3 and will make the most I can to keep the breed alive...

Follow Ups:

Re: M3 restoration rob 22:49 9/14/2001 (1)
- Same guy Lee 07:11 9/15/2001 (0)
Nice before pic - how about an after :^) B. Wheaton 20:34 9/14/2001 (0)

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