Picked up another new toy!

A customer came into the dealership last month planning on trading in this beauty. She's a 1986 BMW 325e. The car has been lowered front and rear, has coilovers in the back, front and rear swaybars, all new bushings in the front and rear suspension, racing buckets up front (with 4pt harness for the driver), and an immaculate engine compartment. The car was used to train drivers for autocross races. The battery is reloacted to the trunk, and the car also has front and rear strut tower braces. Body is rust free aside from around the driver's side tail light. The motor was misfiring a little when I got it, but that was easily fixed with a good tune-up (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil, and seafoam in the fuel). The car drives perfect! Tracks straight down the road and the tires wear evenly! The odometer shows 209,000 miles but the car has had the timing belt replaced at 185,000 miles. This thing is an aabsolute blast to drive! Very responsive. The dealership only offered $200 for the car so the guy wouldn't trade it in. I picked it up for $1200 and it included 2 extra sets of rims and tires (with one full stock set). Everything in the car works perfect, including the factory radio, clock, 6 disc cd changer in the trunk, windshield wipers, and all off the idiot lights.

I figure I'll drive it until I get bored, and flip it. I don't see any way that I wont make at least a little money on this gem!



~Will Courtier~

Yep! Inline 6 cylinder 2.7 liter mated to a 5sp manual trans in a rear wheel drive configuration. The car handles like it's on rails, and the motor is a torque monster. It loves to wind up to 5500rpm and gives most of it's power up on the top end. It drifts ridiculously well, and is very predictable. I never really liked these cars before, but this one grew on me (especially for the money). I wasn't really hunting for a toy, but this one just fell into my lap and was priced right. It even has a crank operated metal sunroof that not only opens, but also tilts up in the back to vent. Pretty cool setup, really. The car is insanely simple, yet everything is tight and feels like brand new!

~Will Courtier~

Nice score! I had a black 89 325 and it was my first ever head gasket job. Owner was a friend of a friend and he said "if you can put a head gasket in it, you can drive it home." 12 hours later (not counting machine shop time) I started her up. That car was a blast. Torque was great. HP not so much. E30<3

Nice toy.

Well, she has a new home. I had an opportunity pop up to buy a pretty nice 38 foot Chris Craft cabin cruiser boat. It's an older boat (1966), but is built insanely heavy and in great shape. She's powered by dual Chevrolet 454ci Crusaders, has an on board generator, Air Conditioning, a full kitchen, a full bathroom, and sleeps around 10. I've always wanted to play around on a bigger boat. I listed the BMW up for sale at $4500 and said the price was firm. I only had maybe $1800 wrapped up in it altogether. On the third day she sold. That money's being turned straight into the boat. So, I will ultimately have an $1800 total cash invested boat that's large enough to live on and take some good trips up and down the coast. Gonna go check her out tomorrow and see if she's worth the money. Should be fun!

~Will Courtier~

The happiest day of your life: when you buy your first boat
The second happiest day of your life: when you sell your first boat

Just car sales and the random flip from time to time. I would rather avoid the politics and pissing matches that are the norm in the nuclear field. I figured that if I can succeed doing something I enjoy, then why put myself through that crap?

~Will Courtier~

It's a 1966 Chris Craft Commander Sportfisher. The boat was originally powered by flathead 8-cylinder big block Chrysler motors. They were replaced just a few years ago with the 454 big blocks. I spent most of the day today down on the boat replacing raw water pump impellers. The Port engine was overheating, and I seen that there was no water flowing out the exhaust. So, I tore that engine's raw water pump apart and fixed it. Fired up that motor, and all was well. Then, we test fired the Starboard main engine. That engine started running warm. So, I pulled apart that raw water pump and the impeller shit the bed. Waiting on the new impeller to arrive this Friday so we can get everything working as it should. Then, we are motoring the boat to it's new home! I'm excited as hell. This is one heckuva good looking boat for the money!

~Will Courtier~

That boat will be awesome. Catch us some big fish Will.

All that time under the sea, are you sure you can manage on top of it?

I think I'll manage one way or another. lol We motored the new boat over to her new home at the marina 2 blocks from my house. The motors are old (1988), and I know that I will need to replace all soft components due to not being used or cared for much in the last few years. I just picked up new spark plugs, plug wires, distributer caps and rotors to tune up the motors and get them running as they should. I also need to clean and kit both carburetors. I already had to replace the thermostats in both motors, since they were replaced years ago with random thermostats that weren't the right size and had higher temperatures before they open. I have an exhaust hose that needs to be replaced, and also need to time the motors. While pulling her in, the shift cable for the Starboard main let go since it was routed right next to one of the exhaust manifolds. I just got that fixed a few days ago with a longer cable that I could route correctly. She's slowly but surely taking shape! A really good friend of mine and I bought the boat and are splitting costs 50/50 which is really making this dream a reality. I'm excited as hell about it!

~Will Courtier~

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?
I just got my toy completely ready for mud stump and snow season with the completion of my recovery system: new 12,000 lb. Amsteel winch rope, new lungs on the carb and a thumb throttle kit. Then there's all new unbreakable motor mounts, a rag joint eliminator and double tough u-joints for the really tough trails. This thing is ready! Hunting season starts on 8/1.

Awesome! I'm working feverishly to figure out everything on the boat. The old man that owned her for the last 25 years is 84 years old and his mind is not working much anymore. I had to scour wiring diagrams to figure out the shore power system. Next task is to figure out how to empty the black water tank. I am spending some money on her right now, trying to get her all back up to snuff. I'm planning on having my dad go through the Quadrajet carbs when he visits next month. We will have this old girl back to her heydays in no time at all!

~Will Courtier~

Took it out yesterday to probably some of the roughest country Oregon has:


this is Chrome Ridge Site of the 473,000 acre Biscuit Fire

I've been working hard on the boat the last few weeks. I replaced all broken glass with period correct laminated marine glass. I also cleaned up the battery cables and replaced both batteries with new 8D high capacity batteries. Had to install a few bus bars to clean up what was a rat's nest. Just sent out the carbs to be kitted and tuned. Changed out the oil in both main engines, and tuned them up. She should be stone cold reliable and be all kinds of fun.

My Captain started refinishing all of the external woodwork. She's taking shape!

~Will Courtier~

Sounds like a fun project. I'm jealous.