"Bruno," as the old German lady who owned him for the last 30 years called him, has been weathering out in a field for the last decade. Ingrid parked him in 2004 due to what she described as "death-wobble" in the front end whenever she'd hit a bump in the road. When I found him he was/is in pretty rough shape. It's unclear how much of the degradation occurred during dormancy, and how much was already there leading up to his 2004 mothballing.
He was sitting on 4 flat tires and stitched to the ground by spiderwebs too numerous to count. His corners are bashed and his soft parts are all hard and cracked. The good news is that he's virtually rust free, short of a little non-obtrusive surface rust. I had in mind to purchase Bruno with the intent of harvesting some of his nicer trim pieces for my convertible, than give him a quick "refresh" to make him a driver. I may practice my panel beating skills to straighten some of his dents, and strip out the shot interior.
But I'm getting ahead of myself...Today I am heading out to make him run again. I will flush the fuel system, rebuild the carb, change the points, condensor, cap and rotor, change the engine oil and filter, prime the oil pump, drop in a new battery, and voila!
When he's moving under his own power again, I'll tuck him away in the side yard for warmer days. With the completion of the convertible, my focus has once again shifted back to my beloved wife's BMW 2002, which I will be completing hopefully by this summer....But stay tuned, as Bruno here will be the subject of future posts.
