The BMW 507 Ultimate Build Thread!!!

[TimG]

That is beautiful, what an art to form panels on a wooden buck. My neighbor brought over his 2000 Z8 two days ago. I didn't know much about them, but it was a beautiful car and he educated me on the Z8 ties to the 507.

[olredalert]

Originally Posted by TimG

That is beautiful, what an art to form panels on a wooden buck. My neighbor brought over his 2000 Z8 two days ago. I didn't know much about them, but it was a beautiful car and he educated me on the Z8 ties to the 507.

----Tim,,, Did your friend buy the Z8 at Amelia Island last weekend? RM had one in their auction...….Bill S

[markinnaples]

As Tim said, those bucks are definitely artwork themselves, not to mention the resulting panel. Beautiful artworks to me.
And I also agree with Tim about the Z8; beautiful cars that I was really hoping the depreciation bug would have hit and brought them down into the real-world of pricing so the average Joe could afford one, but negative. I remember a new Z8 in the showroom around 2005 when I was shopping for a new 3 series. Stunning, and they've aged extremely well in my opinion.

[A12pilot]

Yes, agreed, guys! I'd give up my Cuda, 911, and new 2500 Ram for a straight up trade! That car when it came out was the "dream" for me. Sat in one at Mecum in DFW when I sold the Mustang there and it was pretty sweet. I owned several Z3s and always dreamed of the Z8. And like you, wish they weren't holding their values!

Maybe after I get done with the 507 I need to jamb it down to Tim's house for a photo shoot with your neighbor's-8!?

Let the fun begin!

Cheers
Dave

[mssl72]

Boy you guys are right!! That fender buck looks like a piece of furniture!

[TimG]

Bill, my neighbor bought his in 2005, he paid sticker price at that time. It's a 13,000 mile car. It was really stunning. I started looking at them on line and they are not cheap to buy.

[A12pilot]

Now that I'm back home and Crusty is down for the count with a bad main harness, I turned my attention to the 507 and getting the buck fabricated up. The buck frame consists of 4x4 posts and after a few hours, voila! A gurney! Wait, that's not exactly PC right now. There's 15 stations and all are exactly 10" on center. I marked them all and as you can see with the drill marks provided by the 3D scanning company, there's a corresponding number to indicate the position. It slipped right in! Woohoo!

I should have this built today...two weeks until paint! More to come!!

Cheers
Dave

[A12pilot]

So with every panel being 10" on center, I laid that all out but still wanted to verify everything before I started assembling the buck. Using one of the longitudinal stations, I double checked the 10" marks. Also, once positioned I checked to make sure the stations were square. They are tight on the frame so they hold in position well. If that didn't happen I think I'd be chasing a set of very large Dominos!

Cheers
Dave

[A12pilot]

I started in the center and built outwards. Seems to be the best balance on the gurney, er.. body dolly .

Once the stations were lined up I used the 1.5" stringers to hold them together while I installed the longitude stations. Some banging and taping here and there, but they all interlocked pretty easily! I'm just so pleased with this design!

Cheers
Dave

[A12pilot]

The parts came came together so precisely that there's maybe 1/16th of a gap on the front and back sections. I mean, if that's not adhering to BMW exacting standards, I don't know what is!

The initial stage of the buck is complete but there is some detail work that needs to be done now. Where the stations come together the angle is sharp and needs to be sanded flush. You can see this in my photos of before and after. This will need to be done all around the car. After that, I'll use some stringers and outline the interior, wheel wells, and then the front and back of the body will be formed from solid wood.

More to come as the detail work continues!

Cheers
Dave