1971 3.0CS Euro Model Restoration by drewbaker

31 minute(s) of a 67 minute read

1971 3.0CS Euro Model Restoration

Compliments of drewbaker @ www.bimmerfest.com

By Peter Baker from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia

PART 1/3

NOTE: I plan on posting a similar thread over at e9coupe.com, but so far they limit the amount of images you can link to at 4 (even if I am hosting them - the 25 limit here sucks too, that's why this is 3 posts). So until they change this (and the post limit to 15K characters) I'm posting my project here.

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Hey Guys,

In 2008 my Dad brought and old 1971 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet and together with my brother and I (and the extensive help of Sasha at Deluxe in Melbourne, Australia) fully restored it.

Dad's 1971 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet

So now it's 2009 and business is going well for Dad, so it is time for a new project. He wanted something with a story, and I had seen a few 3.0's around town (I live in Los Angeles now). The racing history and the relation to the M series cars wasn't enough for Dad, but then he found out that the 3.0 coupe was built in the Karmann factory. He was sold. After some extensive pre-purchase research, we figured out we may have bitten off more than we could chew. There are certainly many horror stories going around about the cost of a 3.0 coupe restoration, but it was too late to turn back now. I had Dad committed to the idea, and I didn't want to be the one putting the breaks on. 

Our plan was to find a car with all the parts and minimal rust. We plan on stripping the car back to the frame and doing a complete panel restore, a complete interior re-trim and then a new paint job in it's original color scheme (Polaris Silver with navy interior). 

Thanks to the classifieds on e9coupe.com, we tracked down a potential car in Oregon (see my wanted add here).

The reply to my wanted add read:

"I may have a match for you 71 euro have al docs back to germany.Car has had recent suspension and brake work including lowering springs from Carl Nelson and new struts and rear brake calipers front calipers rebuilt.Also new front tie rods.I purchased car for project but just dont have the time.I have a rebuilt dogleg five speed and euro 635 block including a b35 head ready for rebuild with all new parts including a Shrick cam.I have all gasket sets and new bearings, rings etc.This is a tru euro no ac no sunroof Body is in good shape although doors are in need of some work.Inside fenderwells and rockers were replaced by po with corect bmw parts in the 80s.This is a cs but I have a early motronic set up with lambda pick up.Car is clean and would be a great start for your project.Car has origanal alpina front spoiler and front sway bar.Car also has orig break in sticker still on winshield and build sheet behind rear seat 97,500 orig miles. Car is located in southern Ore. "

So we arranged a flight up to Oregon to see what would become our Polaris Silver 1971 BMW 3.0CS.

The adventure begins with a smooth landing in a small prop plane at Midford Airport, Oregon. 

Notice the hood sits up funny. Scared me half to death that it was a bent panel, but turns out that it's only a bent hood-latch. Easy fix.

The front fog lights give this coupe a mean front end. It also has a factory Alpina air dam in the original color. It's cracked on both corners, but a good friend of ours repairs surfboards for a living (Paul Trigger of Trigger Brothers fame) so it should be an easy fix. Although Dad and I are thinking of deleting it, we think they look better without it. 

It's missing both running boards. Any ideas on replacement parts?

As seems to be common with the CS and CSi models, the doors sag a bit with age. We had this on the Karmann too. The passenger side is worst than the driver side, which I thought was strange.

The inside hinge of the passenger side door. 

Both door hinges seemed to be bent (the passenger door more so), but the surrounding metal seemed fine. We are planing on replacing the hinges, or perhaps fabricating stronger ones ourselves. The bottom door panels were also a little chipped because of the sagging, but it that's some easy body work. Have you guys had any experience with this problem? 

The drivers side door has a weird dent/scratch in it. I couldn't really figure out what it was, but it seemed like a minor scratch that someone had tried to repair and then messed it up with glue. The was also some minor rust along the door-stripe trim (what do you call that part?).

We will need to get all new rubber seals for the entire car. Strangely enough, these seals seem to be the most expensive part. Why is that? Does anyone have a secret place to get these from at a responsible price?

PART 2/3

The trunk (or boot if your Australian like me) panel was fine other than this little chip.

This seemed to be the worst of the dents on the hood (or bonnet for us Australians).

The air dam had chips and cracks on either corner. As I mentioned above, I'm not sure we are going to keep this anyway. The repair's would be easier as a good friend of ours repairs surfboards for a living (Paul Trigger of Trigger Brothers fame) so it should be an easy fix. 

The front right headlight cover was rusted, but only the cover, not the surrounding bodywork.

The front shock towers seemed good to me, with some rust on the drivers side. It was solid metal though, and was not brittle at all. Note the VIN number places this car as a 1971 3.0 CS.

The hood grills will need to be re-chromed.

The Valance had some rust beginning to bubble. As we plan to strip this car and then repaint it, we should be able to fix this stuff up real nice.

The wheel well's had been replaced in the 80's, but they seem solid to me, with no real rust issues I could see. Once we get the wheels off we might want to spruce up the rusted shock parts.

I was told to look in behind the glovebox by someone. Apparently water can pool above the metal there and rust through. I tried poking holes through with my flashlight, but it was rock solid. The photos show what looks to be rust, but it actually seemed to be some odd colored grease stuff, although the dodgy silicone job might mean some sub-par repair work has gone on in there. Then again, it could just be the way the made it back in '71.

This is the drivers side floor panel. It had a bunch of surface rust, but it wasn't brittle in anyway. Still, will be interesting to see how well we can fix that up once the car is striped. What do you guys think? Is this super bad?

This is the underside of the fender behind the air dam. Shouldn't be too hard for Sasha at Deluxe to fix up once it's taken apart. The guy is a true pro.

The underside of the car. Note the rust on the rocker edges, but everything else was solid.

PART 3/3

There was this little scratch on the back corner. Easy for Sasha. The fender looks kinked in this photo for some reason, but that's how it is supposed to be.

The elephant skin in the trunk was OK, other than this one cut with a bad repair job. We are not sure what to do about this. Any ideas? Is it possible to get a good repair or is replacement the only option?

The spare-tire well. As far as I could tell, this rust was mostly from the jack. I could scrape it off with my fingernail.

I wasn't too concerned with the interior, as long as all the parts where there. We are going to completely restore every part. All the wood needs replacing, but we found a guy who will make us new ones. Surprising the door panels were still real nice (except for any plastic chrome bits) minus one puncture. I love the cross-hatched leather mid-sections. The dash need repairing, we found a guy who is supposed to be good. What do you guys think? Is it possible to get a good dash repair or replace the best way to go?

Is there a way to re-chrome the plastic bits in a better way than originally done? They seem to be a silver sticker, rather than a good chrome paint treatment like nowadays. I imagine it would be hard to replace every bit, so I was thinking about some top quality model paint or something. It would have to be better than the ****ty sticker option.

The original factory windshield break in sticker! Haven't seen this many times before.

This is apparently an original option steering wheel that the the guy had tracked down for it (it didn't come with this specific car originally, but was offered). I think it looks terrible. We are going to track down something like this one. Any ideas where? The aftermarket gear stick should be classified as a war-crime. So bad! Any ideas on a replacement? Also, what does an original ignition look like? Am I missing any parts or was it this basic?

Nice place for a test drive! She idled terribly, but drove great. Maybe a carburetor problem? Steering was tight (thanks Alpina sway bar!). Breaking was excellent (and so it should be thanks to the recent brake rebuild).

I have never liked the stock rims on this car (even the Alpina turbines - too eighties), and I think this is one of the few places we will deviate away from stock. I really like some of the rims from BBS, particularly these ones here. Any ideas on where I might track those bad boys down?

Talk about a paper trail! He had everything back to the booklet the car shipped to the dealer with! The car's back story goes that it was purchased by a US Air Force officer in '71 (spying on the Russian's much?) and then shipped back to America after his tour ended. To avoid emissions trouble, the engine was swapped out for a US spec one and driven for 70K miles before the original euro model was put back in (which is the one currently in it). The car was sold for $1 to the Air Force pilots son in 1998, who then in 2008 sold it to the guy I brought it off.

Bonus parts. He had all the parts required to convert this CS into a CSi. These came with the car! Not sure exactly what we are going to do here. We would like to turn this into a CSi, but is that cheating? What do you guys think? Is it wrong to try and pass a CS off as a CSi? Would you care if you brought this off us one day in the future (not that we ever plan to sell this beauty)?

Final price? What do you think it's worth? We paid $8,000. The seller had a 5-speed dogleg transmission for it too, but Dad felt it would be too complicated for Mum to drive, so we passed on it. Thanks Mum...

So the car is on it's way back to Australia now. It's probably sitting in a warehouse somewhere in Longbeach right now, as I'm still waiting on the title from the Oregon DMV before we can export it. We are shipping it with Al Montana's company (Phone: 310-965-9788). He seems like a great guy and if it arrives safely I'd recommend him.

Anything I left out?

I'll post back once my Dad takes over back in Australia.

-Drew

P.S: My twin brother is restoring a 1977 (he thinks) Honda CB-400-4 and is documenting his nightmare over at caferacer.net (see his thread here) if you're interested.

3/29/2010

Hi Guys,

So it's been a few months. We finally got the car back to Australia in December 2009 using a company called called Montana Exports (www.montanaexports.com) and I have to say the guy was a pro. We were pretty nervous giving the car to a stranger, but Al Montana knows his stuff. Didn't charge us any money till we had the car in our hands in Melbourne. 

We ended up shipping the car on a truck from it's former home in Oregon to Montana's warehouse in Los Angeles. This cost us about $600 but was really the only option as we didn't trust the engine to last the long drive on its own.

Montana offers a few options for shipping, with the cheapest being for us to wait until he had another 2 cars to put in a container with ours. It was about 4 weeks or so until he found the other cars, which worked out well as it gave us some time to track down spare parts to put in the trunk and save on shipping.

If we did it again, we'd be much more relaxed about it. We were constantly called Al Montana and asking about the progress, but in the end we should have just left it in his capable hands.

We had the car shipped to Williamstown near Melbourne, and strangely Montana never charged us any money until the car had landed in Melbourne which was nice. It worked out to be about $5000 for shipping, tax, duty after all was said and done.

Sorry for the bad photos, I forgot my camera so I had to use my phone.

The car sitting in the Williamstown warehouse. Service was terrible, they made us put on high-vis jackets and just stand around for 30mins. We eventually got sick of this and asked a forklift driver if we could just take the car. He said we could, so we did.

Some unknown had imported this sweet Laverda motorbike. How nice is the orange cowling!

As you can see, the car was running a bit rough. We took it to the local mechanic the next week for an engine tune up. It was there for all of 3 hours before it came out running like a dream.

Here is a site you don't see everyday. A 3.0CS stuffed to the gills with spare parts going over the Westgate Bridge.

We took it straight to Sasha at Deluxe for an inspection. Unfortunately he couldn't take the car right away because he was working on this...

Sasha's own Alfa Romero GTV. The car was absolutely perfect. I think this might be next on the list.

So the 3.0 has had to wait in our driveway for the last couple of months until last week when Sasha was ready for it. The car is at Deluxe right now getting pulled apart, so drop by and check it out if you're in the area.

While we were waiting for Sasha, we used the time to hunt for spare parts and make various aesthetic decisions. We have decided to keep it the original Polaris with Navy interior (or course!). 

As for the rims, I think we are going to for for an early 90's BMW 5-series wheel like the one pictured here: 

We really like the BBS rims shown here, but wanted something a little more classy and BMW branded.

Other than the rims, we are going to keep it stock. My Dad is in love with Sean Penn's old 3.0, so if it's on Sean, he wants it. We will be removing the Alpina front air dam, so if anyone is interested let me know. We will probably repair it and repaint it with the car just in case.

Thanks to some fellow board members, we tracked down a nice wood Nardi steering wheel to replace the Formel wheel that is in there now. I'm just waiting on him to make a decision about these gear knob and brake handles now.

Mechanically the engine seems to run perfect, we were both surprised at how powerful the car is. It's hard to believe that it was made in the same factory in the same year as the Karmann Ghia. The Ghia is as basic as they come, and the BMW is a true sports car.

There are some issues with the brakes, and the electric windows don't work. The wiring is all good, but it's something to do with the switch's and fuse setup.

Otherwise, we are anxious to see what Sasha comes up with once he starts pulling the car apart. As I live in Los Angeles, I'm relying on Dad to send photos of the car's progress, I'll do my best.

-Drew

5/16/2010

Hey Guys,

So we now have the CS in the shop getting taken apart. 

The plan is to just spot attack the bits that need work. We will bear metal stripe the roof as it has moisture blisters in the paint work but the rest is pretty good. We will remove any traces of bog and repair/weld anything that needs it. We will then fully sand the whole body, hi-fill and repaint. 

Sasha at Deluxe has removed all the trims numbering and labeling every piece and should go back on with out a hitch. He has also finished straightening the doors and squared up the boot and bonnet so now everything closes perfectly. Sasha believes the drivers side front panel has been welded on at some point. It has a poor weld repair at the front window pillar and front corner above the headlight. The gaps are uneven around the bonnet but by the time the rubbers are put back it shouldn't be that noticeable. I think we will ditch the front driving lights, Alpina front air dam and the rear side panel reflectors. 

The interior seats and piece between the rear seats are now at the trimmers and will be re-upholstered whilst we are doing the body, at the same time we will re-veneer all the wood trims. What color/wood should they be? Is it "European Walnut"?

We will send the dashboard off to the dash doctor for repair should come back as good as new. I've got a new Nardi steering wheel and gear knob and handbrake handle. 

I think we will soda blast one of the rims and see what that looks like, if they come up good we may stick with that. Up for debate and change depending on the look. 

So far the parts I know we need are:

A passenger side rear window motor.

All the badges as they are looking worse for wear.

Little plastic knob closer for the tool kit in the trunk.

We will then re-do all the seals in those wells that attract the rust. I should have a more detaile dlist sometime next week.

7/13/2012

So the car has now been stripped and is now being readied for painting. As you can see, everything is looking nice and smooth!

8/5/2010

Got some photos back from the upholstery guys. Seats looking great!

8/15/2010

Hey Guys,

So we are going shopping! We are now looking for the following parts. If anyone has any suggestions, we would love to hear them. So far we have got a pretty good quote from wallothnesch.com but they don't have everything we need.

2 x Foam taillight seals - (Can't find actual part number, but it should be in this photo. According to Walloth & Nesch it's 63211811001, but I can't find that anywhere.)

1 right hand door pull plastic (Navy Blue).

Left Upper Arm Rest - 51411815235 x 1

Left Arm Rest Base - 51411821365 x 1

Left Arm Rest Cap - 51411815255 x 1

Right Upper Arm Rest - 51411815236 x 1

Right Arm Rest Base - 51411821366 x 1

Right Arm Rest Cap - 51411815256 x 1

1 Complete rear trunk badge.

Trunk Lid Badge - 51141813833 x 1 - Walloth & Nesch listed the superseded part number as 51145480181.

Trunk emblem base - 51145780172 x 1

Trunk emblem base - 51145780171 x 1

Grommet - 51141807495 x 2

1 Complete front badge.

Grommet - 51141807495 x 2

Front emblem Base - 51145780170 x 1

Front hood BMW emblem - 51145081747 x 1

2 Complete C-Pillar badges.

C-Pillar badge - 51141828851 x 2

C-Pillar badge base - 51146040110 x 2

C-Pillar badge base - 51145580146 x 2

50 Door Bushings

Bushings - 51411802258 x 50

1 Trunk tool box catch and lid

Screw Plug - 71111117440 x 1

Trunk Toolbox lid - (Can't find actual part number, it should be in this diagram) x 1

4 electric window switch covers

Switch Support - 51167780049 x 4

5 hubcap badges

Badge - 36131181105 x 5 (W&N Updated Part Number)

Door seals:

Lower gasket - 51216740185 x 2

Left door weather strip - 51716754282 x 1

Right door weather strip - 51716754283 x 1

Left vertical gasket - 51216740180 x 1

Right vertical gasket - 51216740181 x 1

Left rear window gasket - 51367740105 x 1

Right rear window gasket - 51367740106 x 1

Door lock distance rubber - 51216742120 x 4

2 rocker panel trim pieces:

Rocker molding (left or right) - 51131810559 x 2

2 complete side grilles

Left chrome side grille - 51131827283 x 1

Left and Right grille bases - 51131811149 x 1 - Walloth & Nesch listed the superseded part number as 51131827285 (It comes in a set of two, for both left and right).

Right chrome side grille - 51131827284 x 1

Fillister head screw - 07119906410 x 8

Grommet - 51131831395 x 8 - Walloth & Nesch listed the superseded part number as 51131400012.

2 complete hood grilles

Left Chrome Hood Grille - 51131827281 x 1

Right Chrome Hood Grille - 51131827282 x 1

Fillister head self-tapping screw - 07119906706 x 8

Bushing - 51131812021 x 12

Door locking parts

Door lock button - 51211805643 x 2 

Button grommet - 51416440264 x 2 - - Walloth & Nesch listed the superseded part number as 51131400012.

Bump stop - 51211823487 x 2

Dash Trim

Right side dash metal trim - 51451810946 x 1

2 complete window winders

Conical Spring - 51321870460 x 2

Stop disk - 51321819852 x 2

Window winder - 51321809764 x 2

Window crank cover - 51321875839 x 2

Window crank screw - (Can't find actual part number, it's shown as part #8 in this diagram, but isn't listed) x 2

Switch up to 73 for electrical window - 61311355415 x 4

2 door handle covers

Handle covering left - 51211803751 x 1

Handle covering right - 51211803752 x 1

Conical Screw - 51211800790 x 2

Gearbox linkage parts

Bushing for gearshift linkage - 23411466120 x 2

Bushing for gearshift stick - 23411466110 x 2

Bushing for gearshift support - 25111202842 x 2

Support rubber gearbox - 23711102692 x 1

-Drew

9/12/2010

Hey Guys,

Got the wood for the dash back from the wood guy (Mal Otto in Somers, Victoria). Looks great. It's darker than what it was (which was very worn out, so I'm not sure how dark it's supposed to be). But it matches the Nardi steering wheel perfectly, and with the Navy interior I think this is going to look amazing!

9/17/2010

Hey Guys,

I got a photo from my Dad via text message today. The dash is being installed! It's a ****ty photo from his phone, but I'm excited so I thought I'd post it.

9/24/2010

Got another crappy cell phone photo for you guys. Just got the rims back from the hydro blaster. Just going to put a nice clear coat on them now.

I personally hate these rims, I'm trying to find a set of old 5-series wheels like these:

Does anyone have any leads on a set like this in the Melbourne area? What are your thoughts on non-stock rims?

1/19/2011

Hey Guys,

Sorry to lag on posting these. 

These things are always a work in progress, but we now have "finished" the car and have been driving it around for almost 6 months now. So happy with it!

It's not a show car, but the idea was to get it to the point that it looked like a very well looked after driver. I think we did a good job.

The Nardi steering wheel and Becker radio (with AUX line in!).

This is how we ended up doing the seat belts. Still ugly, but the best option I think.