Horn

The week before all the rain came to this part of the country I was able to spend a good amount of time cleaning the interior. The goal was to get as much of the mustiness removed as was reasonable and make it comfortable to work inside. Vinegar and lots of elbow grease helped. I experimented with different sponges and brushes but getting into the molded divots in the upholstery was challenging. I pulled the carpet out with the exception of the piece over the transmission tunnel and cleaned it as best as possible which allowed me to get to the fuel line so I could order parts for that part of the job coming up next. I removed an old towel I had sewn over the bottom of the driver's seat as a teenager and found some floor pan repair I had done during that same time period in the passenger's footwell that looks like I used white caulk and silicone. For the most part the interior is now about back to the condition it was in in about 1998 when I parked it for the last time. I'm not done yet but far enough that I can work comfortable inside it and pick away at the rest of the interior needs and work as time goes on after other things.

Earlier this week I was able to get back to things for the first time in a few months and should be able to pick away at it for the rest of the summer. Current storage is in our 1938 garage, narrow and with a very cracked and uneven floor. With the help of the winch on one of my other vehicles I was able to pull it out of the garage and into the light for the first time since it was brought out from my parents’ garage a few years ago. It rolls, just not easily. One person can move it a few inches at a time. More than one is needed to move it more than that. I picked up a cover so this summer I can move it in and out of the garage as needed. Probably be out for a bunch of days then back in as I move things around to work on. Right after getting it out my 30 year old daily beater and parts runner, in a desperate bid for attention, decided to start dragging its front brakes. Now that that project is on hold while I wait for parts I was able to start looking at the BMW once again. Still smarting from a brake job gone bad due to a boneheaded error on my part on the other one I started very slowly today. As tempting as it was to start looking all over at everything I always feel better giving things a good cleaning before starting any work on them. After giving the exterior one decent wash to get much of the grime off I started with the easiest place I could think of, the trunk. Everything came out, which didn’t amount to much. There was a box of a few random parts including a brake caliper, one of the hubcaps, and the expected amount of mouse droppings and years of sand and dirt. A couple of hours of cleaning and vacuuming got a lot of the loose detritus out. I removed 2 mouse nests, one from each side of the trunk and wiped down most of it taking note of a few things along the way. The wiring that is visible looks intact to the naked eye. I didn’t move it around much to check. The tank has a light dusting of rust around it. I’ll see what it really looks like when it comes out later. Both shock towers look like they have had work done before and both probably need it again. I didn’t do any hard poking. The driver’s side looks crustier to the eye. The bottom of the spare tire well has a soft spot and I’m sure there are some other spots as well. The trunk latch works after I gave it a little attention and lubrication to loosen it up. The trunk seal has probably needed replacement since I was driving it in high school. You can see on the inside of the trunk lid where exhaust has been getting in on the passenger’s side. Put everything back together and felt like I was off to a productive start. Next I’ll tackle under the hood, which mostly looks like I just need to remove oodles of mouse droppings, then on to the interior which will take more elbow grease and care to wrap up cleaning. I’m leaving getting a good look at the underside for the time when the wheels are off and it’s off the ground for the first time. Here are a few before and after cleaning pictures.

Good catch!

Thanks everyone, that gives me some direction.

I couldn’t find this answer by searching though it’s possibly it’s been beaten to death. I have go to vendors for my Jeeps and BMW motorcycle for general maintenance parts like bearings, bushings, seals, steering parts, electrical, hoses etc. I’m just at the beginning of assessing what I need for this summer’s project on my 1600 and I could use some direction narrowing down of the venders I’m coming across online. Are there a few that are fan favorites? I’m starting a list of wants and needs for the car and want to do some virtual shopping.

On August 1, 1969 My mom bought this 1600 from Hafkemeyer BMW Motors in Kansas City, Missouri. It was her first car and it was my uncle who convinced her to buy the BMW over a Volvo at the time. She paid $2,700. It was sold as a demonstrator and appears to have been slightly discounted. The black and white picture is of it in Nebraska shortly after purchase. She named it Rocinante after Don Quixote’s horse and it brought her on her move from Nebraska to Connecticut and served as her daily driver for years. When I was born in 1977 it was the car that transported me around. This is the car I cut my knee on climbing out of the back seat as a kid, leaving a scar I can see faintly to this day. The car I watched my Dad grind stuck lug nuts off in our driveway after I hammered tacks into one of the tires, something I’m sure seemed like a good idea at the time. Records from the 70’s and 80’s show the usual maintenance for a car in everyday use. Tune-ups, brake jobs, u-joint replacements, exhaust work, cooling system service, suspension parts, and in 1976 and 1981 it received transmission replacements. Both used. I know the story of driver error behind 1 transmission failure. I assume the second was just a result of an already used part wearing out. In 1986 my parents bought a Mazda and parked the BMW in the back corner of their garage where it was little-used each year. My Dad’s records for insurance show exactly how many miles it was driven in the years between 1986 and 1995. In 1995 I turned 18 and the keys were turned over to me and on my birthday I took it for its first drive. When I was almost back to the house a radiator hose split creating a cloud of steam and teenage moodiness. I limped it back to the house and soon began the job of putting the car back into daily use. In the years between 1995 and 1998 I cleaned it up, took care of a few things like replacing cracked hoses, having the radiator recored, some body work to the doors and fenders, a new clutch when it started to slip, and a timing chain when that started to slap. I have receipts for a few things that now I have no memory of and are not specific enough to know what I bought parts for. I had my senior high school picture taken with it in 1996. When I moved to a place with street only parking in college I bought a Honda and again parked the BMW in the back of my parents’ garage, never meaning to leave it for that long as I did. Life happened, times were busy, and again the car sat. Every once in a while when visiting I would sit in the driver’s seat remembering and think about getting it back on the road. With other irons in the fire and other vehicles to work on it was always easy to put it off until later. 3 years ago my wife and I bought our first house, and for the first time had a garage of our own to store the car in. A tow truck pulled it back into the light of day for the first time in over 20 years and moved from one garage to another. There it sat for the last 3 years, patiently waiting for me to give it the attention it deserves. I have my dad to thank for the records kept, years of free storage, and the fact that in all those years, even though it wasn’t being driven, insurance and registration never lapsed. The car has always been ready for the day when I could get back to it. A few weekends ago I cleaned the garage and got into it for the first time since it had been moved. The time sitting has taken its toll. It’s dirty and the interior is in need of a lot of elbow grease. The first step is going to be to get it out in the sun and cleaned up. After that I’ll start the process of assessing needs and picking away at things. The plan is to return it to drivable condition, more or less picking up where I left off in 1998. Once I get that far I’ll gradually work on everything not directly related to getting it to drive up the street safely under its own power. My vehicle working season runs mostly from the end of July to late August due to my work schedule. Between now and then I’ll do some armchair research on what I expect to need and generally familiarize myself again with the mechanical side of things. It feels good to be at the beginning of the next chapter in the 43 year relationship I’ve had with it. It’s time to give it the place it deserves in my small stable of vehicles.