So I started looking at the 635CSi as I've always liked the classic shark nose shape.
Through chance the only 1987 example on eBay was only 20 minutes away from me so I went to go and take a look. It was the first time I've looked at one in the flesh in real detail and it was nice, especially with the nice shine in the metallic grey paintwork. This one was an auto, had almost 200k on the clock and had no service history at all. It drove nicely though, it pulled well and the gearbox was smooth. But it was going to need a fair bit of welding and the engine was a bit tappety in the top end. This wasn't the car for me but I knew now this was the car I wanted.
It was then that I was pointed towards a car on Car and Classic by a member on here in my previous thread. At first I was put off a little as I'm not a big fan of red cars but it was a factory manual car and the advert seemed honest.
It had a big list of things that were working or work that had been done:
- All electrics work including the dashboard, gauges, mirrors and windows
- Factory manual car
- Staggered 8 series split rim BBS wheels in good condition with new tyres
- Reupholstered cream leather interior
- Huge history folder
- Stormforce car cover
- Sills and floors have been fully repaired with full photographic documentation of the restoration
- Front and rear suspension fully serviced with new bushes and control arms
- New stainless exhaust system including manifolds from Fritz Bitz – probably the best thing done to this car
- Fritz Bitz AFM tune which has smoothed out the drive significantly over standard
- 4 new Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres
- Top end rebuild and head gasket change
- Serviced fuel injectors
So what was left to do was a bit of rust repair on the outer passenger rear arch and the tailgate. Also the gear shift is very worn but a rebuild kit was included. And some scrote broke into the car previously and put the lock through into the door and stole the facsia to the stereo. There is a new barrel for the car which just needs to be set (you can adjust the tumblers to match the key) and swapped over.
After speaking to the guy he clearly cared a lot for the car and even had a restoration thread on Retro Rides ( http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/167124/1987...) detailing everything he's done to date.
So I booked a train ticket down to see it and wasn't disappointing. The red appealed to me more in the flesh so that was a relief. Next the condition of the interior was fantastic. The seats had been re-trimmed but not in quite the same shade as the plastic trim, but then again maybe thats how it was OEM. On the test drive I admit I was more caught up in the noise the straight six with that exhaust made than looking for faults.
So I decided it was the car for me and did the deal. In the end he was reluctant to sell as he still loved the car but he wanted the money for a house purchase. I couldn't get too much off as he was going to not sell it at all and live on beans on toast instead!
So now I have the car home. After a 3 hour drive I've developed a a small list of jobs to do. Luckily my dad has taken an interest and has already started tackling the rust repairs. I've decided to get a short shift kit which is on its way over from the US now to replace the sloppy shifting.
Also the first job I did was fit a new stereo which then highlighted the poor speakers so thats my next job smile
Here are a couple of photos from the advert:
