restoration advice for newbie

[staggerlee]

spending a lot of time searching threads...

i inherited my dad's bike, 67 R50 /2. has been sitting 32 years but is all complete. And i just retired, so...
- located in southern Indiana
- my dad acquired in in 68 so it is worth it to me.

i have it all apart and cant figure out next steps.

any advice is appreciated:

1. barrington books suggest sand blast and powder coat. yes?
2. i planned to replace all bearings, seals, clips, bolts, etc. But do i send engine to some machine shop or find someone who can do the engine and trans?
3. only 25k miles so should i send out trans?
4. plan on sending wheels to Buchannon in CA, right?

any suggestions on a shop? or therapist (haha)? i just dont want to put all this time into it and forget something or not do somethign correct.

thanks in advance for your thoughts and experience. these forums have helped so much.

ray

[Tinkertimejeff]

First question would be, Do you have a mechanical aptitude? Not to be insulting or question vendors and independent /2 techs but sometimes the most rewarding preservation or restoration comes from your own hands. The bike obviously has a sentimental value and history so it is important to make sure you don't get bad advice for a independent shop or tech. Learn and do as much as you can and take some time to learn about the bike and how it is built.

[staggerlee]

@tinkertimejeff, i dont have mechanical experience and i agree with your suggestion that doing as much as i can will produce most reward. following barrington, bought tons of tools, watching videos. just nervous that i might miss seeing something that an experienced person would see and know to take it to a machine shop. im thinking that i just replace all the seals, bearings, etc, and see if it runs okay and if it doesnt, then start over. does that sound crazy?

i think your reply "try to do it yourself" suggests that i am not in over my head.

so far, it has been an amazing experience learning about how smartly the machine is built.

[schrader7032]

For me, pulling the crank and camshafts along with replacing the slingers is not a job I would take on. When I needed that done for my R69S, I pulled everything off the outside and put the block in my car and drove it to Dave Clark's BMW shop in Pacific Missouri. I had free room and board from parents living in the area which helped with my decision.

[Tinkertimejeff]

I would second Kurt's view on servicing the lower end of the motor, it is not a job for the first timer. I did a few restorations where I sent the motor out for the crank shaft service, the transmission and final drive all to Vech. Expensive to ship but well worth the piece of mind it was done right. Meanwhile I spent a lot of time at a friends shop for airhead tech days and a few /2 slinger services.

[mcsherry1328]

Ray, First of all I am pleased that you are taking this restoration seriously and giving your fathers legacy the attention it deserves.
I’ve done several vintage restorations myself as a home hobbyist.
I have got pretty good mechanical aptitude and know when something is beyond my capability.
I have sent several wheels to Buchanan’s in California and have been pleased with their work. I replaced my spokes with polished stainless steel.
With that low of mileage I wouldn’t do anything with the gearbox. Possibly replace the seals if needed.
The engine slingers service is a must and like the others have said it needs to be done by someone capable.
The Barrington manual is a must of course and is the Bible for vintage BMW.
That said, I would just add that as wonderful as the manual is, in my opinion it also gets way too over detailed on procedural specifications. Much more than necessary, to the point of intimidating one from trying the next step.
If you have any interest, I have a Google drive of my R69S restoration that I can send you. PM me if interested.
All the best with your project and you will get lots of great advice and direction from this group. Michael

[niall4473]

I wouldn't restore it, do an M&E rebuild, just clean, polish and T.Cut the rest, you might be surprised, they are only original once, and there aren't many left now.

[VintageJim]

Ray, congratulations on deciding to take on your project! I have just completed a nut and bolt restoration of my R26 and every day it gives me joy because I know the story of every piece and the work I did was done well and what I sent out was also done well. As was mentioned, the key is using the Barrington Bible and knowing what you should send out.
Disassembly is a lot of work and something I only wanted to do once, so I replaced every seal in every part of the bike. I also made the decision to replace every bearing in my bike because it did not have the excellent history of your bike.
I ended up purchasing every tool made by Cycle Works to do the job correctly for wheel bearings, swing arm, steering column bearings, trans, rear, and engine. I also redid my own rims and spokes following the Barrington manual and was amazed at how well it went. I purchased a wheel balancing device from Harbor Freight and would recommend doing your own wheels to anyone doing their own restoration as another fun and rewarding project.
For outsourcing, I sent my head, cylinder, and crank assembly to Max BMW and they did an excellent job with complete rebuild including balancing the crank.
When I was stuck during my rebuild I got tremendous advice from this forum and Vech, so you do have the "village" here to help get it done!
Jim

[staggerlee]

I wouldn't restore it, do an M&E rebuild, just clean, polish and T.Cut the rest, you might be surprised, they are only original once, and there aren't many left now.

hmmm. ive been able to polish things up pretty well besides the handle bars. the restored bikes are so beautiful that maybe i have been seduced into making it look that way. thanks for this thought.

im not familiar with these terms:
M&E rebuild?
T.Cut?

[staggerlee]

Ray, First of all I am pleased that you are taking this restoration seriously and giving your fathers legacy the attention it deserves.
I’ve done several vintage restorations myself as a home hobbyist.
I have got pretty good mechanical aptitude and know when something is beyond my capability.
I have sent several wheels to Buchanan’s in California and have been pleased with their work. I replaced my spokes with polished stainless steel.
With that low of mileage I wouldn’t do anything with the gearbox. Possibly replace the seals if needed.
The engine slingers service is a must and like the others have said it needs to be done by someone capable.
The Barrington manual is a must of course and is the Bible for vintage BMW.
That said, I would just add that as wonderful as the manual is, in my opinion it also gets way too over detailed on procedural specifications. Much more than necessary, to the point of intimidating one from trying the next step.
If you have any interest, I have a Google drive of my R69S restoration that I can send you. PM me if interested.
All the best with your project and you will get lots of great advice and direction from this group. Michael

ok. your advice and others takes a lot of pressure off of me and ill have someone do the bottom end for sure (too much unknown for me). thank you.