Been lurking around on the board for a while now so thought i’d post up what eats up the majority of the time and money when I have either spare.
First up is my 1981 VW Golf GTi. Been in the family since 1991 had been sitting in the garage since 2000. Fond memories of it when I was growing up, but my dad purchased another golf (this time a mk2 16v), and being the car hoarder that he is, kept the golf in his old workshop. Exterior wise all that’s being altered from standard is the Zender rear spoiler, BBS RMs and some red/tinted late mk2 golf style rear light clusters. Engine wise a turbocharged 2.0 16V ABF engine is being installed as I got a great deal on some forged rods, pistons, turbo manifold and Garrett T3 turbo a while back. Power wise i’m aiming for around 250-300bhp.
A picture of how she currently sits, a more in-depth album is available here imgur.com/a/PcRGc#RASKuRJ
i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc281/nosbanger/654A6FC6-6E8D-4DEB-A613-22351E4EEFE0_zpshn2bcfvz.jpg
My other ongoing rolling resto/project is a 1986 Series 2 Escort RS Turbo. As with the golf, the exterior hasn’t been majorly altered. Just the facelift front bumper and a set of Compomotive MO5s. Fords love to rust, and the decision to use low quality Soviet steel and multiple strikes made 1986 European fords even more susceptible to rot. The car had spent about 10 years in the UK before being shipped to Cyprus in 1996. Usually head to Cyprus for about 10 weeks a year for summer and occasionally winter. Most of that time is spent wrenching on the Escort, fixing or replacing one part only to find it needs 2 more things…
Engine wise it’s had a few modifications, mostly to help with breathing and being able to reliably withstand twice the standard boost pressure on a larger turbo.
Currently running approximately 190bhp. Charge temps are really limiting me from going anything past that, in the winter it’s about 20 celcius cooler and the power increase is very noticeable. With the larger intercooler and the new cylinder head fitted I should be seeing a usable 230bhp which is pretty decent for a 1.6 8V designed in the late 70s. Image album is available here imgur.com/a/LFAAa
Finally, possibly the longest and most arduous restoration I will probably undertake, although possibly the most rewarding, is that of my 1973 BMW 3.0CSA, only 219 CSAs were produced in RHD form, with the VIN of this particular example being 00072. Manufactured December 21st 1973, and delivered to BMW Concessionaires GB Ltd. on February 8th 1974. It was then registered on the road late December 1974 and purchased by my father in 1987, used for a year and then laid up to rest in 1988. He began working on the bodywork but never got round to completing it. A few months ago I was lucky enough to sort out the documentation and became the proud owner of an E9. The CSL variant is one of my most loved cars, and easily the prettiest car BMW ever produced (in my books anyway). This CSA was converted from automatic to manual at some point, fitted with a higher compression CSi long block (although the twin carbs were retained) and had also been subject to multiple resprays. Put some fresh fuel down the carbs, topped up the engine with some fresh oil, cranked for about 20 seconds and burst into life, ran like the day it went into the garage 27 years ago!
It’s going to be a long project, but i’m sure the end result will pay off. I don’t plan on going too silly with this. But that horrible metallic brown will be changed, an overdrive 5 speed getrag unit from the E28 5 series installed, conversion to standalone fuel injection (with the possibility of a T4 or similar size turbo being strapped onto the side depending on how much the bodywork costs to sort) and a CSL front airdam.
As can be seen from the pictures, the car is in a pretty bad shape. E9’s are infamous for the incredible ability to turn sheet metal into rust, so this won’t be a quick or easy project, but i’ll keep everything updated!
Ahmet.