69coronet440

HI guys, sorry for the delayed response. Not much progress has been made other than working lots of hours to get some money together. I did get a quote from a well known engine builder that seemed reasonable so my plan is to start there after the holidays. The car and its parts are in dry storage so at least its better off than it was.

Thanks for the contact. There about 3 hours from me so that's workable. My biggest fear is giving the motor to someone and having them mess something up that's beyond repair. I have dealt with a few shops before and never had good luck. I agree that the engine should be done by a professional but I need to know there going to take the same care in it I would.

The motor is pretty much completely tore down. I worked on cleaning up the cylinder bores for a few hours yesterday, still not sure if it’s going to need boring. I need to work on them more before I make that call. It looks like the bores and rod journals were coated in grease when the engine was stored so that may be my savior. I added a few more pictures, any suggestions based on the pictures? A lot of what looks like rust is actually congealed grease that is very difficult to get out. The #1 bore looks like it may have some pitting but it’s possible low enough in the bore to not be an issue.

Will it hurt anything to soak the engine block in kerosene to try and remove all the gunk and rust? Is there anything that would work better?

Just got this email back from info.grouparchiv@bmwgroup.com: The BMW 1800 TI VIN xxxxxxx was manufactured on October 30th, 1965 and delivered on November 11th, 1965 to Bovensiepen in Kaufbeuren. The original colour was Granada, paint code 023. We hope this information is helpful for you.

Thanks for the pictures of the TISA pistons. From what I can tell they look identical to the ones I have. How are these different from the standard 1800 TI pistons? I looked at the cam where the sprocket attaches but couldn’t find any numbers, there is a line that I assume is a timing mark but that’s it. There is a cast number between two cam lobes on the shaft that reads R118 061 00 03.2 and another casting AE between two other lobes. The numbers on the underside of the valve cover read 118 026 00 069

As of right now I would like to keep the original paint on the car. There are a few areas of rust that need attention, there not bad, mostly surface. What would be the best solution to at least stop the rust from spreading? Is there something I can put on the rust that won’t change the look of that particular area? I know the correct way to do it is remove the rust and primer/paint that area but then I will have a spotty car. I live about 8 miles from the coast and I know things tend to rust faster in the coastal air. The car is in a garage that’s not climate controlled but does have good air flow. The motor and all its parts are in climate controlled storage so I’m not as concerned with them but I would like to prep the parts. Is there something I could put on the block, cylinder bores, and crank that will facilitate rust removal when I get to that point? Thanks, Marty

The cam is still in the head. I’ll see if the numbers are readable.

Added a few more pictures. There is a stamp on the head near the 118 but I cant make it out. Numbers on the block and piston are hard to read, with a little cleaning it shouldnt be a problem though.

After a LONG weekend the car is finally at her new home. The good condition of the body and undercarriage really surprised me. When the car was stored, plastic was laid under it so that may have been its saving grace. The motor will definitely need some work. The pistons and oil pan were removed years ago so the bores will need at minimum a honing, possible boring. The crank is still in but will need to be cleaned up, rod journals may need to be turned also. The pistons, rods, head, cam, rockers, and carburetors were all wrapped in oily news paper in the trunk so there in remarkably good condition. There were loads of extra parts in the trunk, gasket kits, carb rebuild kits, points, condensers, brake pads, air cleaners, bulbs, fuses, and some other things I’m not familiar with. The trunk floor looks amazing, spare tire with a perfect rim and even the jack and tire iron in its original location. I think with a little buffing the body will clean up nice, there are a few small dents here and there and a few areas of rust that will need attention but it’s not bad. The front passenger door handle was broken during shipping years ago but it looks like an easy fix. I didn’t have time to photo everything this weekend but that is my next step. Here are a few pics when she got home, motor, and a few parts.

Email sent.

Just a recap on my first post: My wife’s grandfather was stationed in Germany in the 60’s and purchased a 1966 BMW 1800TI in 1965. As soon as the car was purchased it was taken to Burkard Bovensiepen of Alpina where the engine was disassembled. The pistons, rods, and crank were balanced, head work was done to bump up the compression and flow. Burkard also replaced the Solex carburetors with Webbers and the 4 speed transmission with a 5 speed which was also disassembled to remove any burrs from the gears. I think some suspension work and brake work was also done by Alpina. The car was raced in Germany by my wife’s grandfather for a few years then brought back to the US. The car had blown a head gasket before coming to the US. A US, BMW "specialist" milled the head but this made to much compression and the problem was never resolved. His plan was to race the car in the US but couldn’t get it class certified because of the low production numbers. At this point (Late 60’s, early 70’s) the car was stored. It was moved a few times but now sits in an open sided covered shed at my mother-in-law's house. The motor and transmission were never put back in the car after the head work was done. They are stored in a crate in the garage. I saw the car about a year ago, there is some surface rust but the entire car is intact, (other than the engine being in the garage). My mother-in-law has all the documentation for the car, her father was very good about keeping records. He was visiting last week and all this information was him telling me about the history of the car. My mother-in-law had been keeping the car because she knew it meant a lot to her father but he recently told her to sell it/get rid of it so she has offered to sign the title over to my wife and I. My wife talked with her mother again today to confirm she was okay with us taking over the car, she is ecstatic about us bringing this car back to life. Her plan was always to have the car restored but years went by and she never had the opportunity to do so. All that being said I will be going to pick the car up this weekend. Once I get it home I will remove everything from the trunk, inventory, and photo document all parts and paperwork. I have been told there is additional Alpina documentation I haven’t seen. I will also make copies of all the paperwork. We are planning a trip to visit her grandfather; I want to document all the history of the car that he can tell me. He has trophies and photos from his racing days in Germany that would be a great addition to the history of the car. I will get more photos up this weekend but here are a few of the ones I posted earlier.

Thanks so much for the link and the article. I see Google translator and I are going to become good friends. I am going to continue this post in the NK section. http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/p,924261/#924261

Any idea where I could find this? It's February, 1965

I would never expect anyone on this board to take malicious actions. I have been a car guy for a long time and know how passionate, thoughtful, and helpful fellow car lovers can be. The fact is anyone can find anything on the internet and that’s what gives me uneasy feelings. I assure everyone here this was not an elaborate hoax. In fact, my wife and I are planning a trip to visit her grandfather in the next few months. I want to document everything he knows about the car and hopefully get some pictures from back in the day.

Thanks to everyone for their kind words, suggestions, and offers for help. I had no idea this car was such a find. Knowing this now, it makes me a little nervous having posted a bunch of pictures of the car. I decided to take them down until the car is in a more secure location. If any of you have saved the pictures I ask that you please don’t pass them on to anyone. I know this may seem overly cautious but I don’t need some crazy car guy terrorizing the current owner. I assure everyone that when the car is in a safer location I will document everything and start a new thread. I’m not sure if I can move this thread to the correct section, that may be something the moderator handles. It may be a few months, but I will definitely keep everyone updated on the progress of this car.

(nt)

I can assure you that this car will not be molested. I like big hp muscle cars but the history and provenance of this car sounds like it needs to stay all original. I am a car guy and love turning wrenches, I would love to just clean it up and get it functional again but if for some reason I can’t, I’ll make sure it gets into the hands of someone who can. A few other things he mentioned was that Burkard Bovensiepen completely disassembled the engine to balance the pistons, rods, and crank. He said with the head off you could spin the flywheel with one finger. He also did some head work to bump up the compression. Burkard also replaced the Solex carburetors with Webbers and the 4 speed transmission with a 5 speed which was also disassembled to remove any burrs from the gears. I think some suspension work and brake work was also done by Alpina. He told me about Burkard calling him and asking if he wanted to be there when they dyno’d the engine. He was there for the dyno test but he couldn’t recall the numbers. He said the night he went to pick up the car from Alpina there was a terrible rain storm, I said “that’s to bad, you couldn’t test the car out”. He said “oh yes I did, that thing was like driving on rails”. I asked her to get some pictures of the engine but it is crated up in the garage so that may not be possible. Hopefully in the next month or so I can get up there myself and look everything over.

(nt)

Thanks for the quick replies. I should have some pictures in the next few days. My wife is going to her moms this weekend to see her grandfather off. I asked he to take a bunch of pictures and have her grandfather point out the unique features of the car.

Hi, I am brand new to the forum and new to BMW’s in general. I’ve been into classic American muscle cars for years but have recently been given an opportunity to own a classic BMW. My wife’s grandfather was stationed in Germany in the 60’s and purchased a 1966 BMW 1800TI in 1965. As soon as the car was purchased it was taken to Burkard Bovensiepen of Alpina where it was disassembled and given all the parts the TISA would have came with and “badged” with the Alpina logo. The car was raced in Germany by my wife’s grandfather for a few years then brought back to the US. The car had blown a head gasket before coming to the US. He had a BMW specialist mill the head but this made to much compression and the problem was never resolved. His plan was to race the car in the US but couldn’t get it class certified because of the low production numbers. At this point (Late 70’s, early 80’s) the car was stored in an open sided covered shed at my mother-in- law’s house where it still sits today. The motor and transmission were never put back in the car after the head work was done. They are stored in a crate in the garage. The car had around 35K miles when stored. I saw the car about a year ago, there is a lot of surface rust but the entire car is intact, other than the engine being in the garage. My mother-in-law has all the documentation for the car, her father was very good about keeping records. He has been visiting for the past few days. All this information was him telling about the history of the car. My mother-in-law had been keeping the car because she knew it meant a lot to her father but he recently told her to sell it/get rid of it so she has offered to sign the title over to my wife and I. I know it would be a huge undertaking to restore this car so I guess my question is, is it worth doing? The car has a good history and good documentation but is it worth putting the large amount of time & money into it for restoration?