Georgian Bay: Part 2...

I finally decided to post my trip to Georgian Bay and get some of the pics onto the blog from going there and back. I have to say that driving in the 323i for these trips made them that much memorable. No breakdowns or anything like that. The only issue was the apparent over-heating of the engine, but other than that it was fun.

These pics are of my meeting with the development owner of Cedar Ridge and with the owner of Cedar Coast Homes, the builder of future homes in this area. It is just spectacular to see this place. I'd love to have a second home here and enjoy the atmosphere.

These shots are of the drive back. I just loved the open roads with single yellow line, just like in europe.

An earlier post showed the trip up to Georgian Bay. These pics show the actual visit to the Cedar Ridge site and some of the trip back. I really need to take more pics or have a dash cam to get the shots I've been regretting I missed. One shot I didn't take was of an E24 in the parking lot just north of Toronto. The last pic shows some funny place names, like "Palm Beach Road" what, are we back in Florida? The Township of Tiny was also a nice touch.

Can't wait to get back up there!

Getting Trixie Running....

Well, I made a deal with one of my clients that is about as cash poor as I am. I will do his architectural work for car repair, namely towing out Trixie from in back of the office and fixing the fuel line issues and brakes. Once those are done, I can get her home under her own power and continue the work on the body at home. He owns a repair shop in town and has been caught up in all the bureaucratic garbage of planning and zoning approvals. Regular everyday business owner just don't have time for this, so I'll help him and he'll help me.

This should be happening over the next week. Hoping that January is the month of "gettin her done". That car is just suffering sitting back here and it's impossible to do anything to it in this weather.

Everyone keep your fingers crossed! The goal is to get here to Watkins this Spring.

Getting things sorted in the free M20

After arriving home and unloading the engine I started to assemble all the other tools I have to move and work on it. The engine hoist is going to need some new casters and upon raising the engine I remembered that you need a set of longer bolts to actually use the stand! Quick trip to the hardware store to get heavy chain, S hooks and some good bolts....

The engine came with a old ANSA header (BW 1781?) for the 323i. It's still solid except for the very end where it attached to the center pipes/ resonator. That can be fixed. Fan clutch is good, but only for my '80 not the '82. The alternator appears fried since it's not able to be spun, but maybe salvagable. Plug wires appear to be the BavAuto set. Not a bad haul and it has some potential. The oil pan took a good solid hit at some point.

Road trip to MA for the Baby 6

Finally worked out the details of retrieving that M20 engine with the injection system and headers from ToddK via Bookman, both fellow Legionnares. It's a drive, but that's what the night is for, right? 5+ hour drive one way. Thanks to my wife for understanding that this insanity is all part of having an E21. Although she did ask me to never do this again. "But honey, it's free." is flying this time.... probably not next time.

Photos to arrive soon. Wow, that was fast!

One step closer....

I spent about 16 hours clearing out the garage and getting things all set up for the arrival of "Trixie", my 1980 323i. It took a great deal of effort from me and my better half but it was completed at about 12:30 am on Sunday.

I also managed to grab about 100 ceiling tiles for installing on the garage ceiling and also bought a 3 TON engine hoist for $75. Yeah, that's for the M20 engine I'm getting for free this week. Wahoo!

Getting Ready for Trixie's Homecoming....

The garage has been undergoing some modifications to provide enough room inside to bring the '80 323i home. Before I started redoing the garage, I took care of the rust issues on the '82, namely the rear wheel area where someone did a botched bondo job. Here are pics of the work done on Pixies rear end....

Georgian Bay? No, Gettysburg.

I've postponed by Georgian Bay Part 2 post for a great road trip I made with my #1 son, Alex. We decided that this trip would be a great time to take it easy, have some fun and just relax. We had a family gathering in Baltimore, so it was a good chance to take off and enjoy ourselves a bit and see if a family trip could be made with zero stress.

Alex was the photographer on this trip. He's got an early shot of the E21 shadow on the 17 downstate NYS. He also got a shot of the old man driving through the PA countryside. I managed to swipe the camera and get a shot of the photographer! Ha! Eating a giant cookine no less.

I can tell you, there's nothing like making the drive part of the trip. It is so much better not rushing and taking in all that the road puts in front of you. We had a blast in the E21.

We made our way down Route 15 and stopped at Perkins (happened to park next to a red E30 convertible!) to have breakfast before the last stretch to Gettysburg.

These shots are of the time we spent at the new museum and the battlefield. More later. Along with the part 2 of the Georgian Bay trip....