More Baurs and Baurspotting in the Media

Check out the September/October edition of Die Zeitung, the bi-monthly magazine of the Connecticut Valley Chapter BMWCCA.  They were very generous in their coverage of our recent efforts to have a Baur presence here in the Northeast.

http://issuu.com/ctvalley/docs/ct_valley_sept-oct_2012?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage

http://issuu.com/ctvalley/docs/ct_valley_sept-oct_2012?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage
In the President's Letter, Lance Johnson was very kind to recognize our successful efforts to have a large Baur presence at the Saratoga Vintage Show in July 2012.  What a great show that was..... kudos to Frank Greppo et al for putting it all together!  The Saratoga Automobile Museum was a beautiful venue, and we had a great showing of E21 Baurs and Ed P's beautiful TC2 Baur, the largest showing of Baurs ever in the US.

http://issuu.com/ctvalley/docs/ct_valley_sept-oct_2012?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage
Here are some pics from th June Ice Cream Social held at Misquamicut Beach in Westerly, Rhode Island, in conjunction with the Boston Chapter.  Misquamicut Beach was devastated by Hurricane Sandy, btw, and they are undergoing a long process of recovery. Our thoughts go out to them.  you can see a pic of the new I M series, and..... the first public showing of the reverse of the Baurs In Da Haus t-shirt!  ;)  4 Cars in One!


http://issuu.com/ctvalley/docs/ct_valley_sept-oct_2012?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage
This was the CT Valley Chapter Show and Shine held in July in Manchester Ct.  You can see Afonso's Polaris Baur #00048, along with a pic of Tom and Afonso modeling our "Baurs In Da Haus' t-shirts!

http://issuu.com/ctvalley/docs/ct_valley_sept-oct_2012?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage  Here is a pic of the Baurspotting Baur along with THEPOOLEMAN'S white TC2 Baur at Saratoga vintage last July.  Great show!

The Great Baur Awakening Continues!

Happy Thanksgiving To All From Baurspotting!

This is a repost from a week or so ago.... but I love this pic, so here it is again!  Happy Turkey Day, folks!


Thanks again to Baur owner BruceH for posting this in Facebook last week!


Happy Thanksgiving To All From Baurspotting!

Car Guy Plan For A Safe, Deep-Fried Thanksgiving Turkey

Mr. Natural Says:  Get the right tool for the job!

How To Deep Fry A Turkey With An Engine Hoist

Fried turkey, the official food of Thanksgiving hoons, only gets better when prepared with an engine hoist. Here's Mike Bumbeck's holiday classic on how to dunk your bird in boiling oil properly. — Ed.

http://jalopnik.com/5698493/happy-thanksgiving-and-enjoy-your-engine-hoist-turkey-deep-fry/gallery/1

Happy Thanksgiving from Jalopnik: Engine Hoist Turkey Deep Fry

Those of you who have not yet deep-fried a turkey and enjoyed its crispy yet still juicy goodness are indeed missing out on the turkey day experience. This deep-frying exercise is not to be taken lightly. Hooking a propane tank up to a flimsy stand upon which five gallons of hot oil and a big 'ole turkey sit bubbling is a recipe for one heck of a grease fire. Even lowering the big bird into the bubbling oil is an exercise in danger. Jalopnik is here to show you how to deep-fry even a monster bird with relative safety and amusement.

Each year the warnings hit the news about the dangers of deep-frying a turkey. Some folks compete for the Darwin award and try to pull this off inside. This is a very bad idea. Please do not attempt to deep-fry turkeys in the house. Also don't try to pull this off on a dried out wooden deck attached to the house. That being said, the second great problem is lowering the giant bird into the hot oil without getting burned. Years ago we stumbled upon this procedure over at Big Nate's house at a holiday-related function. A 17-pound bird on sale for six bucks at Ralph's and an engine hoist sitting in the garage got us thinking it was a procedure worth revisiting.

What You'll Need:
· Turkey Fryer Setup
· Engine Hoist
· 5-gallons Peanut Oil
· Propane and Propane Accessories
· Service Cart or Similar
· Turkey
· Bailing Wire
· Hand Tools

Prepare the fryer setup. Place bird in fryer pot. Cover with water. Remove bird. Mark or note water level. This is how much oil you'll need. Dry the pot and add the same amount of oil.

Wash and dry the bird inside and out. Prepare the bird. No stuffing! We kept it simple and used our sekrit spice rub for additional flavor.

Light the burner and heat peanut oil to 325 degrees. Don't set the world on fire. Don't go play video games and leave the pot unattended.

While the oil is heating up affix the bird and holder to the engine hoist. Bailing wire is your friend.

Position the turkey and hoist for lowering. Beware not to knock the fryer setup over with hasty or ham-fisted hoist movements!

Release hydraulic pressure on the engine hoist to SLOWLY lower the bird into the oil. Watch for spattering. That oil is wicked hot. Cook turkey about 3 1/2 minutes per pound.

Success! Raise cooked turkey from oil. This 17-pounder was cooked to crispy perfection in under an hour. Allow bird to drain and cool over grease pot.

Use hoist to lower the bird onto a service cart or similar. Unhook the bird. Relocate bird from garage to house. Carve and enjoy! – Mike Bumbeck

http://jalopnik.com/216725/happy-thanksgiving-from-jalopnik-engine-hoist-turkey-deep-fry

Primitive Google Map: Known Baur Targa Locations in the US

I have started a Primitive Google Map of the known Baur Targa locations in the US.


Operative words:  primitive.  Work in progress.

This is not intended to be a complete amp of all the Baur Targas in the US.  That is our goal, but we are not even close to that yet.  For this, I beg your indulgence.  We are working on it.... but these things are a lot of work, and my time is limited.  if your Baur Targa is not included.... and if I have your info.... I will include it soon.  Send me a note to let me know.... I have tons of info on file, and sometimes things can get misfiled.  I am only human.... and I am not a professional at this stuff.  And I am a one-man operation here.   This is a labor of love, so any assistance is gratefully, and humbly, appreciated.  :)

 This is only intended as a start, to give an idea of the spread of the known Baur Targas in the US at this time.  This is a work in progress, and it is my intention to add to the map as more information is discerned, and as time allows.

It is my further intention to create a similar map for all the 1600 and 2002 voll Cabrios in the US.  This is an ambitious, and daunting, project, and requires a significant investment of time.  We will get to it.

We have already created similar maps of the locations of the known E21 Baurs and the known E30 Baurs in the US. You can find links to those maps in the sidebar of my blog.... just scroll down until you see them under "Links'.  Eventually we will have maps of EVERY Baur in the US!  That is our goal!

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212684510055146301929.0004cf0b88f4599334c83&msa=0

Two New TC2 Baurs!

Two new TC2 Baur finds to add to the roster:


We have known about this Baur for some time, although it wasn't until today that I realized that it is actually an E30 TC2.  The owner, bam2002 from bimmerforums, has been in touch with us before as the owner of TC1 Baur #296, which he sold years ago to a guy in Texas.  We are still trying to track that one down.  Without ever looking very carefully at this pic, I just always assumed that this pic was Baur #296, never suspecting that bam2002 owned TWO Baurs!  I do not have the Baur number on it yet, but we are working on it.  He autocrosses it, incidentally.

This all came about today when bam2002 posted info in another forum about his 1600 Cabrio (with a pic).... which is also a Baur, of course!  He does still own the Cabrio and the TC2 Baur above.

The second TC2 of the day was posted by fellow Baur owner HarryPR in Facebook today.

It is located in Puerto Rico, and it was recently purchased by his friend, Frederick Miranda.  Again, I don't have the Baur number yet, but Our Man HarryPR is ON THE CASE!  I am sure he will have it for us before very long!

Thanks, Harry!

Bringin' It On Home...To My Driveway!

If you saw my post from November 16, 2012, you are already aware that I have made an addition to the fleet.  I bought an example of the car that, for me and for many others, I suspect, represents our first experience of the BMW marque, and the first time we ever fell in love with a car.  The iconic 2002.

In my case, many years ago one of my college roommates purchased a brand new 1974 BMW 2002.  He absolutely loved that car, and we went for frequent rides around the DC area.  What a blast!  After three months, and about 9,000 miles, he got 'walked' by a 2002tii on Rte 50 heading out toward Manassas.  That was it.  The very next week, he traded in his 2002 for a new 2002tii, taking a beating on the trade-in..... but he didn't care.  He had to have that tii!  I drove that car many times, and I was always fascinated by it.

Fast forward 38 years.... This is now my 11th BMW, and my first 2002.  It is a 1973 roundie, and it is a Project.  With a Capital P.  My role with this car is that of Preservationist:  stabilize it, get it running again, and preserve it for the future.    I have saved it from the boneyard, where it would have been picked apart by vultures.  It is not running presently, but the engine does spin freely and will fire a bit.  It just won't stay running.  The body looks pretty sad with lots of surface rust showing in the white paint.   Probably lots more rust under the surface.  I have found some rust holes in the floor pans and in the spare tire well.  The rockers and shock towers appear to be solid, at least at first glance.

The driver's seat is an E30 Recaro that looks like it's most recent occupant was a grizzly bear, and there is no back seat at all.  The passenger seat is also from an E30, I am told.

There is a box of miscellaneous parts, including, apparently, the driver's side window seals, which were removed for some reason.  Perhaps the owner was assessing the rust around the windows, I don't know. There are three or four extra tires and rims, some of which appear usable.

Here is the bottom line:  none of those problems matter to me.  What DOES matter is that the car is in my driveway, and I believe that there is nothing that can't be fixed.  I just got a welder for my birthday last month, and, if worse comes to worst, I have a variety of drive train combinations that can go right in this car, with minimal adaptation, I believe.  I even have a nearly complete interior from my E21 parts car for it!  So, damn the torpedoes!  Full steam ahead!

;)

Here are the original pics from the eBay ad:

Interior.  I am told those are E30 front seats, including what is left of the driver's Recaro.  

Engine compartment with an empty battery tray.  Notice that the paint under the hood is different  from the exterior of the car.  Hmmm.  

Apparently solid rocker driver's side.

Appears to be a solid rocker on the passenger side also.

Rear view.  White.  More or less.

The pics above appeared in the original ebay ad.  I had contacted the seller during the auction with some questions, but, although I watched the auction end, I did not participate in the bidding.  I decided that I had enough cars for the moment, and I needed to let this one pass, painful as that was.  Especially since it went for $620.  Shoot.  The car sold in the ebay auction.  Or so I thought.

A few days later, I get an email from the seller, stating that his buyer was unable to complete the sale.  He asked if I still had any interest in the car.

Day um. 

Just when I thought I was in the clear.  It was hard enough resisting the temptation to bid in the auction, now he's got to dangle it right in front of my nose!  Sheesh!

"I can resist anything..... except temptation."   ----Oscar Wilde.  With whom I share a birthday, btw.

Needless to say, I said yes.  Now I am in trouble.  I have to figure out a way to 'finesse' it past You-Know-Who!  This will be BMW #8, and even I have to acknowledge that this is getting a little out of hand.  :)  Try hiding 8 BMWs in a one car garage!  It ain't easy, trust me on that!  

Anyway, after a few days of cogitating on it,---- OK it was a week---- I finally just blurted it out to her one day before work.  I made a preemptive promise to reduce the fleet by three, so that she would not even be aware of this new one.  I'm IN!  ;)

 

First look.  Sad, isn't it?

Looking it over

Tom (with Eric, the seller) installing a battery to try to get it started.  

The engine compartment.  The car appears white, more or less, but the engine compartment reveals a secret:  it is Malaga!

VIN 2587821

Rear view.

Checking the trunk for rust.  Surprise!   We found some.  Not as bad as expected though, in the spare tire well.   Shock towers appear solid.  Another surprise!  

A set of E21 turbines thrown in to the deal, with a couple of new Yokohomas.

In our effort to push it up on the trailer, we narrowly averted a minor disaster.  We thought we had it going on pretty straight, but the wheels turned slightly as it went on, so that both left wheels ended up riding the very edge of ramp, as you can see in the pic above!  Yikes!  We had to very gingerly guide it back from the edge, then we pushed hard from the right side to slide it back into the middle.  Whew!  Another inch or so, and the left wheels would have dropped between the ramps!  What a disaster THAT would have been!!  Dodged a bullet on that one!   

Now it is back on the ramps properly.

You can see how we shoved  it to the left away from the right hand edge.  Compare this to the problem pic above.

Safe at home in the driveway, in all its two-tone glory.

Under Cover Lover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRGRKMWEe-c

See Also New Blog page chronicling this project:

http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-page-1973-2002-project-journal.html

1974 2002 Targa Cabriolet project For Sale

I found this today:

1974 2002 Targa Cabriolet project

Polaris (was Inka)/brown-&-white checkered fabric on black interior, black top, all complete, running well;
needs cosmetic work in & out and mechanical updating as car has been sitting a long time. $9500. 

http://www.2002ad.com/pages/carsforsale.cfm

From their website:
"Our extensive inventory of classic BMW parts for your BMW 2002 and other models is second to none. Browse our selection of new and used 2002 parts when it’s convenient for you or email us about parts for other models. Can’t find what you are looking for? Simply call us toll-free at 800-420-0223 or e-mail us a request at bmwsales@2002ad.com."

Friday Quiz: New Addition To My Driveway Today

There is a new addition to the fleet in my driveway as of this afternoon.  My son, Brian, and I took a little road trip to neighboring Rhode Island today with a UHaul truck and car trailer.  

Can you spot the new addition in the driveway?

And what could it be?

;)

Answer later, stay tuned!

;)