However, on the drive back from Lime Rock for the ALMS race, we began noticing a knocking from the right front wheel. I figured it was a ball joint or something stupid, until I was able to get the car up and have a look. This is what I found.....
The sway had broken the mount and was knocking a hole in my rusty frame rail. If you look at the upper control arm mount in that picture, you can see that it is basically being held in place by some type of magic. I don't have any pictures of the floors, but both the driver's and passenger side footwells had baseball sized rust holes that were filled with foam by the previous owner.
So with all the other rust issues with the car, I decided it would be best to buy a rust-free shell (as rust free as possible for the northeast) and just transfer all my parts over.....Yea...... easier said than done. So on a trip over to the local yard, I found this gem of an auto cirrus/black 528e hidden in the weeds where it had been for the last few years.
As rough as it looks, it actually was pretty sound. All the spots on my car that were rusted were in great shape on this one. It had a straight body, a clean title, and the price was right....plus it was an 88, so it came with a free harness for when I get around to that b35 swap. In addition to the harness, it was filled with a few million of these guys.
Every inch of cloth, carpet, foam, or something that resembles fabric was filled with these little bastards. I have honestly never seen so many ants in one place.
I was able to pull the motor and trans at the yard and have the car towed to my house a few miles away. After getting the car to my house, I got to stripping. Everything that was not metal came out, and the engine and interior got a treatment of POR15 and brush-on rustoleum "aluminum" colored paint.
As of tonight, rear subframe/suspension has been installed in the new shell, as well as 90% of the front suspension (bilsteins, eibachs, st sway bars). Fenders have also been swapped since the cirrus fenders were in sad shape. I still need to swap pedal boxes, pull the motor from the black car and put it in the multicolored car, deal with the power steering lines/brake setup since the 528s had the vacuum boosted brake setup. The doors are also going to be swapped, as is the hood and trunk lid.
Im pretty sure this is going to end up a very minimalist car (with my minimalist wallet). Very sparse interior (seats, steering wheel, shift knob....thats it), no AC, simple stereo setup. I basically just want a car that I can keep driving daily, won't have to worry about control arms rotting free during spirited driving, but will still be fun to drive (like it was). I'm also probably going to end up in North Philly for my last 2(ish) years of school, so I'm undecided as to how to finish the outside. I could leave the multicolored setup as a sort-of anti-theft finish, or might end up doing some sort of satin color.
More updates as they come........
