Jeff – Although the pictures that I have are not definitive, the block does not appear to be a service replacement block as we usually think of them, that is with the vertical cast lines between the oil pan and the bottom of the passenger-side head. Certainly the left door has been replaced, and perhaps the left inner fender apron, as the current owners have not been able to produce a pictures of the vin. I also advised them that if they found none there, to go to the passenger side and take off the fender in order to see the one there. So far I haven’t heard whether or not they’ve found a vin on either inner fender apron. Maybe they will respond through E9coupe to these questions.
Ouch! Those poor shock towers 
Still, a cool car. I say we fire it up and cruise around town in it, as is 
Too bad that isn’t the original color combo. Two tone orange GT-E would be neat to own. Where was the warehouse at that this GT-E was stored in? I see a lot of corrosion and pitting on the trim and chrome. A car stored in CA inside wouldn’t have that much chrome damage. Looks pretty rust free and clean on the underside like you see out of a CA car. Looks like some accident damage on the passenger-side as you can see bondo in the scrap on the rear of the p-side door. Also, look at the inner door jam on the p-side looks like it has had damage and been straighten. Maybe a quarter replaced on the p-side… hard to tell for sure what’s hiding under the orange paint. Doesn’t look like you would find lots of rust issues which is good. As Jim stated the driver door has been changed as well. Very low options on a XR7.
I don’t know Brian, what other options would you expect to see? Headrests maybe. It looks pretty typical to me.
What is that round button/key hole(?) thing on the driver’s fender?
Good luck with the auction… it seems to be off to a strong start.
Probably for an alarm. Dig the curb feeler! Haven’t seen one of those in a long while…
As far as the VIN’s on the aprons go, I suggested “strongly” that we pull the fender back and check for the VIN but they never got around to it. I’ll push for it again. I come from the old school BMW crowd and expected all the comments about the car here, every BMW E9 coupe that gets posted to my website or sold on ebay gets the once-over from the BMW coupe guys. 
We are not classic car guys here where I work but we will always disclose everything we know about any vehicle we sell. That’s something that the owner of the business requires. If you guys have anymore suggestions on what we should show or check out please don’t hesitate to speak up, we don’t want the buyer to get any surprises after purchase.
Dan
Interesting car. I see that it has had a right side mirror added. It also looks like a rear window defroster switch hanging below the ashtray.
Dan, I feel that verifing the VIN stampings on the inner fenders is very important to prove the car. Please do your best to find those numbers. It could save some headaches for both the buyer and seller in the future.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
The option that stands out the most that is missing is no “Tinted glass” on a California DSO Cougar.
Other option: Door edge guards, headrest, deluxe seat belts, rear defrogger come to mine.
They pulled the fender back and got a shot of the stamped VIN. We’ll be adding it to the auction today…
Dan
Dan,
That was me that messaged you about the car via Instagram 
Good luck with the auction. I’m watching with restraint, lol!
Dan, First off I would like to compliment you on the very good job that you have done to present the car. As presented, it is exactly the kind of car I look for: mostly complete, minimal visible rust, and a good selection of options. Add to that an attractive original color combination, and I think you have a great car. Since I already own a GT-E in nearly the same color combination, I won’t be bidding this time.
Given all of that, there are a few things that you can do that will add value to the presentation. Cougars don’t have as many hidden rust spots as the E9 coupes, but there are few places that are really important to know about. The cowl immediately in front of the windshield is prone to rust. This allows water to accumulate in the footwells and that rusts out the floors. Since the rust occurs from on top, it is hard to detect from the under side of the car. The thing to do is to pour water into the cowl opening and then watch for drips or dampness inside. If the car is solid here, and it may well be because of the inside storage, this will mean that a very difficult and expensive repair is not needed. You should also provide pictures of the torque boxes, the drop downs on the inside of the rear quarters and also the trunk floor on either side of the gas tank. The real way to find some hidden rust is with an ice pick and I fully understand why you would not want to do that… On a car like this, I think every problem you resolve just adds value. The real experts basically start out thinking that everything they can’t see is probably bad, and usually they are right.
We have a bunch of eagle-eyed folks here that can spot things that might not be apparent to others, we are not nit picking the car, just assessing the condition. I hope you are aware that this is a really nice car compared to most of the ones that get drug out of the barn.
Here are few things that I am seeing that may be helpful to both buyers and sellers.
From what I can see of the bottom corners of the rear window this area appears to be solid. When these are “fixed” the seam is usually filled with bondo.
The fuel line routing is going to the wrong side of the carb for it to be an original carb. It may be an original with different float bowls but this would be a long shot. A picture of the carb and intake would be a good idea.
The inner fender aprons appear to be solid, and this is a very very common rust spot even for Cali cars.
Most of the pieces of smog plumbing that are missing are there, the pump which is more common is not. I would check with who ever put the new alternator on to see if they “forgot” to put it back on.
The expensive fan and fan clutch are there, but the harder to find original shroud is not. The shroud is available as a reproduction. Replacement water pump.
Heater core is bypassed.
There are huge holes in the inner shock towers by that doesn’t matter because it appears this car was built with out the shock tower reinforcements anyway, and that is one thing that should be added if the car is to be driven.
The never present divider behind the rear seat is still there!
The aluminum trunk edge trim molding appears to be about as good as any I have ever seen, and these, in good shape, are scarce.
The multiple splices in the transmission cooler lines indicate it has been in and out, it would be good to verify that this is the original XPL C-6.
The passenger side front fender has been replaced. Note the trim mounting holes that are not present in original GT-E fenders. The fasteners up top also indicate a change. The passenger side appears to be original.
The towing damage to both front and rear valances is sad, but both are available.
Incorrect screws holding GT-E trim on passenger side and repair at inner door sill / latch location. White paint? under orange on passenger side door. Trim in incorrect location on door.
The right hand mirror appears to be a Mustang piece, note the orientation of the mirror head shape.
Parking brake handle broken off, rear window defog unplugged, but all of the tilt away stuff appears to be in place.
Brown screw in corner of dash is still there so dash most likely has never been out.
Gotta love the Automatic Radio 8 track. About $40 worth today and probably more than that in 1970. Curb feeler: priceless.
Interior door panels, pulls and end caps look very very good.
Who ever painted this should be shot… LOL!
Yeah tinted glass and deluxe seat belts I can see, didn’t think of those. I wouldn’t really expect to see rear defogger. And door edge guards, well that’s probably a bonus that they weren’t there.
C’mon Brian, you’re papered up and you need another project. Give me your used id and password and I’ll win it for you! 
I’ve got no desires to do that again…call me weird, haha!
As much as I love seeing a GT-E project, I shudder when seeing all the pieces that need work/purchase/refinishing. I think I was permanently damaged 
Ironically, an E9 BMW has always been on my “list”…I’m at the point where if I was gonna spend 40-50K again, I’d like one of those old BMW coupes…already done…they are sweet!
This auction is coming very close to where I paid for Gunner, BTW…It appears we might be “back” on the values of some cars. I paid 40K plus 2K shipping for Gunner back in 2005 and I don’t see any reason someone couldn’t buy this car at around that (my bet is plus/minus 5k of 40K), spend another 50K and sell it for a profit too.
It likely wont take them as much time either 
I just went over the list…yeah, it’s gonna take over 50large. Gulp…but for the right buyer, a great opportunity. Basically any of those other bidders for Gunner could have an XR-7 with a White vinyl roof instead and would want to buy this car the way it is, send it in or get going on their “own” restoration, and meet their goal of their perfect GT-E for 150K. That was the mark for a lot of bidders at Barrett Jackson.
They just have to do some logistical work instead of raising their hand and getting out the checkbook.
Um, isn’t that just a painted roof?? Not vinyl?
Oh yeah…woops.
The locking rear end is pretty nice, and fairly (1 of almost 4) rare. So there’s that. And a Console and FM stereo are always nice…
Ah…come on!! 
Peer pressure! Call it a Birthday present! You can do it in my shop, so you don’t have to trip over it all of the time in your shop.