Embedded Files
This is a true Barn Find story. While restoring the 1929 Model A pickup truck I was asked by the owner to go and look at a few body parts for his restoration project at a property in Candia, NH. While scouting the property of old classic and vintage cars, which included a couple of 1940's Cadillacs and 1930'sLaSalle along with a few 1950's Metropolitans and several Model A Fords, I discovered my 1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet sitting in a shed. My greatest weakness is for orphaned cars left behind because nobody in their right mind would ever conceive of bringing them back to life and this prewar BMW was no exception. I inquired about the car and found that it was owned by another person who lived in MA and so the acquisition was afoot. I immediately contacted the owner and negotiated a very reasonable price. Now this type of restoration was way beyond anything I had ever attempted in the past. It was clearly evident once I began disassembling the car that there were lots of parts that were missing, deteriorated or broken that all needed to be replaced. The greatest hurdle was the body since replacement parts are not available. Being self-taught for most of the skills I have, I knew that if I persisted I could make all of the components that are not available. I began collecting as much literature and information on sheet metal fabrication, shaping and forming to be able to manipulate flat sheets of 19-gauge steel into complex compound curves. Once I had acquired the basic knowledge I bought an English Wheeling machine, a Pullmax P-3, a shrinker & stretcher, a Ram planishing hammer and built a Power hammer. I also already had a fairly extensive set of Pexto body hammer & dollies. I originally thought that it would be somewhat easy to master, but I was wrong, I generated a lot of scrap before getting the parts exactly the way they were supposed to be. Being a perfectionist has its benefits as well as its drawbacks.
The body on all pre-war BMW's are supported by an internal structural wooden frame being made of either ash or maple. Due to the extent of body deterioration, moisture rotted away much of this wood, but left enough that I could use the individual pieces as patterns. Some of the pieces are very complicated and detailed with compound shapes which necessitated the need to build a 3-D router carver. Even with the aid of the carver, it takes about 2-weeks to make all of the wooden pieces. I have made complete sets of structural wood for six pre-war BMW's of which most have been shipped to Europe.
I also needed to make cast aluminum and rubber parts, also skills that I never had before. I taught myself how to make patterns and built a furnace and copes & drags to cast aluminum parts using Petrobond oil-based sand. Rubber parts like the weather shields/boots for the rear springs, bumper bracket cushions, pluming line cushions and emergency brake bellows all need to be made. Silicon rubber molds were cast from patterns I made based on deteriorated original parts. Silicon rubber was also used to make the mold to reproduce the cast in-place white windshield opening knobs. Luckily I had a good original knob to use as a pattern for the mold.
1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet as found-Right Side
1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet as found-Left Side
1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet as found-Front
1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet as found-Rear
1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet as found - Rear
1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet as found-Right Front
1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet
1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet Interior
1938 BMW 327 Cabriolet
1938 BMW 327 - Chassis Restoration-Boxing frame
1938 BMW 327 - Chassis Restoration-Boxing frame
1938 BMW 327 - Chassis Restoration-Boxing frame
1938 BMW 327 - Newly fabricated fender wells-left side
1938 BMW 327 - Newly fabricated fender wells-right side
1938 BMW 327 - Newly fabricated trunk floor on right and original on left
1938 BMW 327 - Newly fabricated trunk floor middle section with bulls-eye dimples
Bulls-eye stamping die set for use in Pullmax machine
1938 BMW 327 - Newly fabricated trunk floor middle section with bulls-eye dimples
1938 BMW 327 - The entire floor has been replaced with all new panels
1938 BMW 327 - New floor shown from underside
1938 BMW 327 - New floor shown from back
1938 BMW 327 - New floor shown from back
1938 BMW 327 - New rear seat section of floor pan
1938 BMW 327 - New rear seat section of floor pan
1938 BMW 327 - Original gas tank
1938 BMW 327 - New gas tank fabrication - end cap
1938 BMW 327 - New gas tank fabrication
1938 BMW 327 - New gas tank being used to accurately locate filler neck
1938 BMW 327 - New gas tank fabrication completed
1938 BMW 327 - New gas tank fabrication completed
1938 BMW 327 - New door jambs being fabricated
1938 BMW 327 - New door jambs being fabricated
1938 BMW 327 - New door jamb
1938 BMW 327 - New door jamb, and new rear quarters being fitted
1938 BMW 327 - New rear quarter panel matched to new inner fender well
1938 BMW 327 - New rear quarter panel fitted with door installed
1938 BMW 327 - New rear deck being fabricated
1938 BMW 327 - New rear deck being fabricated
1938 BMW 327 - New rear deck being fabricated
1938 BMW 327 - New rear deck being fabricated
1938 BMW 327 - New rear deck being fabricated
1938 BMW 327 - Rear deck wire form pattern f
1938 BMW 327 - New Front cowl side panels
1938 BMW 327 - New front cowl side panel
My Pullmax P-3 reciprocating machine I use for forming sheet metal
1938 BMW 327 Structural wood
1938 BMW 327 Structural Wood
1938 BMW 327 Structural Wood that I made from Ash
1938 BMW 327 New cowl that I fabricated, but I decided to keep and use the original
1938 BMW 327 Original firewall that had been altered and destroyed
1938 BMW 327 Firewall removed prior to installing new one
1938 BMW 327 New firewall being fabricated
1938 BMW 327 New firewall being fitted
1938 BMW 327 New firewall being fitted
1938 BMW 327 Original nose after sandblasting
1938 BMW 327 Nose with new side panels installed
1938 BMW 327 New shock absorber cover plate fabricated
1938 BMW 327 Original shock absorber cover plate and pattern
1938 BMW 327 Original and new lower front door jamb piece
1938 BMW 327 Original and new front door jamb piece
1938 BMW 327 Original dash, which has been butchered
1938 BMW 327 Original dash after restoration
1938 BMW 327 Body finished and in primer and lower paint
1938 BMW 327 Primer and lower paint
1938 BMW 327 Front view
1938 BMW 327 Original engine fully machined for oversized pistons
1938 BMW 327 Camshaft with bronze bushings
1938 BMW 327 New pistons, rings and modified connecting rods to accept new oversized Alfa main bearings
1938 BMW 327 Engine
1938 BMW 327 New timing chain installed
1938 BMW 327 Timing cover modified to accept a new style lip seal
1938 BMW 327 Distributor is fully rebuilt
1938 BMW 327 New freeze plugs fabricated and installed
1938 BMW 327 New fuel pump repair kit installed
1938 BMW 327 My car was missing the Gauge surround so I borrowed one to make a new one
1938 BMW 327 Original gauge surround being used for a pattern in Petrobond sand
1938 BMW 327 New gauge surround and the original that I used to cast the new one
1938 BMW 327 First two failed attempts
1938 BMW 327 New radio blanking plate
1938 BMW 327 New pieces fitted to dash
1938 BMW 327 New rubber spring boots that I made using urethane rubber
1938 BMW 327 Rear spring rubber boot mold
1938 BMW 327 New rubber parts I made for the chassis lubrication & fuel lines, and e-brake seal
1938 BMW 327 Rear shock absorber disassembled and cleaned
1938 BMW 327 Rear shocks reassembled
1938 BMW 327 Rear shocks
1938 BMW 327 Brake and clutch pedal assembly before restoration
1938 BMW 327 Brake and clutch pedal assembly after restoration
1938 BMW 327 New Emergency brake cable assembly
1938 BMW 327 Wiring Harness building board that I made from an original wiring harness
1938 BMW 327 New headlight switch
1938 BMW 327 New taillights
1938 BMW 327 This is a rear license plate housing, which I still need to replicate
1938 BMW 327 New starter button switch
1938 BMW 327 Professionally rebuilt generator and regulator
1938 BMW 327 Refurbished rear shock bushings using urethane to replace the rubber
1938 BMW 327 Fully rebuilt rack & pinion steering system
1938 BMW 327 Hurth transmission disassembled and fully rebuilt
1938 BMW 327 Original brake wheel cylinders refurbished with new seals
1938 BMW 327 Fully rebuilt wheel cylinders
1938 BMW 327 New linings were installed on the original brake shoes
1938 BMW 327 Newly cast large wing-nut used to secure the jack in place with original used as a pattern
1938 BMW 327 Newly fabricated jack mounting bracket with wing-nut
1938 BMW 327 This is a new dome light that I copied from an original. The original base is stamped, but I cast this out of aluminum. The new lens is cast out of clear resin and frosted
1938 BMW 327 Original semaphore
1938 BMW 327 New semaphore lens that I copied from the original
1938 BMW 327 New rubber bumper pads
1938 BMW 327 Fully rebuilt clutch and flywheel
1938 BMW 327 Front shock absorber being disassembled
1938 BMW 327 Front shock absorber fully disassembled
1938 BMW 327 Paper pattern for making a new front fender repair piece
1938 BMW 327 Sheet metal blank
1938 BMW 327 fabricated front fender patch panel
1938 BMW 327 fender patch panel fit
1938 BMW 327 Aligning new patch panel
1938 BMW 327 Patch panel welded in place
1938 BMW 327 Rear differential disassembly
1938 BMW 327 Rear differential disassembly
1938 BMW 327 Rear differential disassembly
1938 BMW 327 Custom made rear axle puller
1938 BMW 327 Rear differential cleaned and painted
1938 BMW 327 Rear differential housing / chuck
1938 BMW 327 Rear bearings and seals
1938 BMW 327 Rear brakes fully rebuilt
1938 BMW 327 New rear brake shoe linings
1938 BMW 327 Parts ready to head out to get chrome plated
1938 BMW 327 More parts for chrome platting
1938 BMW 327 New radiator vent handle / mechanism
1938 BMW 327 Restored front lower seat spring units
1938 BMW 327 Me making new seat springs on the lathe
1938 BMW 327 Original next to a new seat spring
1938 BMW 327 My Consew sewing machine that I used for making the Marshall Units
1938 BMW 327 New springs with cloth Marshal Unit covers
1938 BMW 327 One completed row for the Marshall Unit
1938 BMW 327 Complete Marshall Unit
1938 BMW 327 Original deteriorated Marshall Unit
1938 BMW 327 New spring metal seat frames
1938 BMW 327 Coil of hardened spring steel stock that I used to make the new seat frames
1938 BMW 327 Bending the new spring steel to the correct shape
1938 BMW 327 New jack
1938 BMW 327 New tools and tool box
1938 BMW 327 Newly rechromed bumpers
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse