I've documented the process off and on, but I need to get better about keeping up with things other than on the 'gram.
About a year ago, Feb 2020 for when I come back to this later on, my father and I went to a large plot of land a buddy of his owned to look at the slew of relatively decent condition "ran when parked" kind of cars.
There was an '00s Tacoma that immediately caught my attention, but it wasn't for sale. After a little poking around, we learned it could be for sale as a parts car, but the history of why that was a fact was probably best left as unknown. There was a Subaru Brat, rear facing seats and all! I My eyes lit up when I saw the Brat through the weeds growing tall around it. That light was quickly extinguished when I saw the Brat had more holes than swiss cheese. Rust had almost nearly consumed the poor thing. My dad spotted a 1982 Corvette with the beloved crossfire injection engine. It was in surprisingly okay shape, interior was aged, exterior wasn't beat, the tires even had air in them still. We came for a $500 range car and this would probably be more than that, but I always had a crush on Corvettes growing up and my dad is a hotrod kind of guy, so this fit the bill! Except the bill was a ridiculous number comfortably in the crack pipe category.
Quick background, at this time I'd recently-ish acquired a BMW 340i and was researching older BMWs just to learn. I knew the naming e36, f30, and so on but I was still learning what era that actually associated with. I always enjoyed my old Audi, but thought it would be fun to find an older BMW at some point to play with. That is when I saw it, a red convertible BMW sitting in the field covered by an older camper awning.
It was rough. Both doors had dents, the top was missing the rear window. The interior was moldy with front seats from a '00s era GM product. All four tires were flat and I had no idea when it was running last. Yet I wanted it!
We didn't talk numbers as it was starting to rain, so we went to my dad's favorite watering hole to BS around for bit. The owner finally roles in and we starting talking. He's a hard headed dude who has over valued almost everything we asked about so I wasn't holding on to much hope. We offered $300 and it was a firm hell no as soon as the words left our mouth. He said it's clearly a $600 car. We let this rest for a little bit and bought the guy a beer for letting us poke around for as long as we did. Maybe an hour and a couple drinks later, we came back to the topic. We settled on a dollar per model level, $325.
A day or so later we had AAA pull my new car, a 1990 BMW 325i 5 speed convertible, the Krusty Krab, home and so started the project! However that was also the end of a big part of my life. Shortly after, my father passed away. It's been a rough year getting through, but I've been able to spend a little time on the Krusty Krab and it helps me feel connected to him. Cars in general help me feel connected to my father still as he inspired my passion and taught me how to wheel and deal.
Fast forward a bit, I've pulled the interior, done some rust prevention, bought a few parts, spent some rainy days in junkyards, swapped in a new-to-me gas tank and a new fuel pump, did some clean up and plopped in a new battery. The pivotal moment on if the Krab is cooked or ready to keep fightin'. I turned the key and she sprang to life!! Loudly I might add, as we had to cut the exhaust off before the cat since it was rusted to bits.
She lives! Which means it's time for more work to happen. A day or so later I met with a local BMW mechanic for a couple hours. Turns out he's a real talkative dude who really knows his stuff! I am a half decent shade tree kind of person. I don't mind doing the work myself, but I know my limits and my time constraints. So taking the car to someone who knows what they're doing and can help make it reliable for me is what I think is best. He's already waste deep in to replacing the timing belt and water pump, with more parts to come!
Circling back to that gram thing from the beginning, in true Hype Boi fashion - big things coming bruh, keep the eyes open!
Once she ran, there was still one very important question - does the Krusty Krab drive? I wanted to be safe and tow the car out of the shop up to wait for AAA again to take the car to the mechanic...but I couldn't help myself. I put the Krab in gear and eased off the clutch. MOVEMENT! Reversed out, put it in first and without hesitation I was up the hill to wait for the tow truck driver. My mom understands why this car matters to me and came out laughing at how ridiculous I looked in this beat old BMW. She said stand there and let me get your picture. She immediately texted it to my why saying "boys and their toys."
I'm excited to hear how things go with the Mechanic and will give some more picture filled updates in the future
TL/DR: I bought a project car I'm now emotionally attached to. Surprisingly, it runs and drives.
(note the cardboard. Expected droppings, but surprisingly minimal. Confirmed it's full of oil)
Cant decide if I'm keeping this sticker on the driver's door or not. It means little to me, but it's kinda neat.
(potato)
