The BMW 507 Ultimate Build Thread!!!

[A12pilot]

Glad you guys are enjoying the progress! I’m ecstatic. Can’t sleep, can’t think of anything except this build. OK, well I can think of a few other things and fortunately things I need to think about like eating, breathing, and such are autonomous so it doesn’t take up brain capacity.

I fabricated the firewall over the last few days and will move onto the kick panels and footwell/toe boards next. There will be a hidden crossmember across this area that also will include the door pillars for hung mounting. I was this area rigid so no flex. I positioned it based on my measurements from a real one and it fits like a glove. I should probably stop there while I’m ahead! Nah, nothing ventured nothing gained. So how did I figure out where this gets positioned exactly? Welp, glad you asked? I took reference points on the firewall from spot welds that I replicated on mine, then measured from those forward and marked the fenders. These are all off a real 507. If you can believe this too, they are also off an unbuilt 1/24th scale model I have of the 507 that’s about 30yrs old I bought for reference. Scary how accurate it is. Everything is fitting so far!

So with all of this and frame welding coming up, let’s talk motor and transmission. What’s the plan? I had several and they ranged from everything: small block Chevy, Ford, big block Mopar, and even BMW V8 power or straight six. I scraped all of those after really thinking of the car and what I wanted out of it. Putting a BMW in a BMW is a no brainer. But not only do I not know much about the aftermarket for those, I really didn’t want to buy a donor E30 or so just for the motor. Plus, the newer BMW V8s are too electro/techno for what I’m after. Ford and Chevy were just too run-of-the-mill, so what to use. EV? Pffllpp….no. I wanted something true to the real car that aesthetically matched it as best as I could. Stock power was an all aluminum small block V8 with dual Solex carburetors that had a distributor at about the 11 O’clock position when looking into the engine bay. So after hours of researching I came up with a perfect donor engine for it: (chime the Dan Vasic music….). The Buick 215 coupled to a T-5 transmission. A perfect combo!!! The 215 is the exact same size as the original V8, it’s all aluminum, has a distributor offset at an angle, separated exhaust manifold ports, and the ability to use a 2x2 intake. DONE!!!!!! So next week I’m headed up to Kansas City to visit with a guy who has tons of NOS 215 parts, a couple engines, NOS blocks, as well as a prototype 2x2 intake. D&D Performance makes a bellhousing that adapts for the T5 as well. I made a mock up based on dimensions for the motor/trans and figured out based on shifter position I’ll need the S10 version.

Suspension x-member coming today, so more frame follies forthcoming! So let's see, BMW: BuickMustangWhatelse? That about sums it up!

More pics to come over the weekend with fascinating frame fabrication!

Cheers
Dave

[Steve Shauger]

Dave, love the firewall, it came out fantastic and the Buick 215 selection is a no brainer /autonomous