Brought the car home, and other than driving it around the block a few times, I ended up parking the car in my garage for the past year. An email response from Mobile Tradition indicating the car was manufactured April 16, 1968 inspired me to get some more work done on her, and to get her back up and running for her 40th birthday coming up 4/16/2008...just around the corner.

Shortly after I got the car, I met up with BarryA from the list, and was given a nice set of E21 non vented calipers, hardlines, and brake pads. Thanks Barry! Just need to actually put em on now....

Went on a few shopping sprees and picked up:

-Kamei style fiberglass front spoiler
-stock front and rear sway bars and hardware (1600 has none)
-side mirror (from Double 02)....still need the gasket if anyone has a spare?
-1600 Badge
-Rear License plate light
-Instrument cluster
-a few beltline trim pieces
-and a bunch of little misc. parts

Picked up a decent front bumper and center grill from a couple FAQers, some mix and match side grills from the Double 02 swap meet in 2005, and some spiffy new roundels from BavAuto. As for the side grills, I couldn't find any affordable all silver grills, but did manage to find a couple straight ones that were spray painted black and had the black anodized covers over part of the slats. A little paint remover took care of the spray paint, carefully prying out the dimple at the underside of the slats allowed me to remove the black slats, and then some adhesive remover and some elbow grease took care of the residue.

For the front bumper, I ended up using the later bumper mounts since my early ones were pretty badly dented. The nice thing about the later ones is that someone welded (or was it factory?) a cross bar on each mount for a place to mount some driving light. Picked up some cheapo 5-1/2" 100W all chrome beauties for $33 online. No worries folks, I'll be sure to run a relay when I actually hook em up! The later mounts proved impossible to mount using the carriage bolt setup used by the early years, so I broke down and ended up drilling thru the frame rail and adding some Cad plated bolts instead. For now I plan on running sans overriders. A couple before and after picts:
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Alan

68 1600
96 328i

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Met up with Jan down in San Jose....super nice guy! His cars are truly an inspiration, and it was good for the wife to see what a nice '02 actually looked like. Picked up a set of pretty beat up flares. I think it'll be a little while before I get to use those. Thanks again Jan!

Got some new wheels for the car. She came with 205/50R15's on 15x7 Enkie 92's...a little big, offset is waay off. I know the "new" setup is still not ideal, but at least it fits without having to worry about chewing things up while I get her running and shake the bugs out:
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Alan

68 1600
96 328i

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Picked up some VW Corrado seats and a used Stahl header. Both will require a little work before I can use em. The seats are going to be a challenge to figure out how to mount, and the header needs a little welding. Hopefully I can swing by my buddy's house sometime soon and fix it. Also nabbed a Redline Weber air filter, the cast aluminum type. Looks like I'm gonna need to figure out a way to mount the elbow so I can run the line back from the valve cover. This engine bay is dirty enough that I don't need to add to it by venting under the hood!

What's the next plan? Gotta get her back up and running by the end of the year (hopefully). This Christmas, I intend on:

-Swapping front calipers
-Add the tranny mount (it was never installed by P.O)
-Rebuild the shift lever
-Install side mirror
-Fabricate battery tie down
-New fluids and filters
-Temporarily repair some of the seriously iffy wiring...I see bare wires! :O
-Replace the worn out strut tower bearings
-Replace suspect hoses
-Replace air filter with Redline one, connect to valve cover

Sounds like it's gonna be a busy week....Stay tuned!

Comments, suggestions, and feedback appreciated!
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Alan

68 1600
96 328i

Good work so far, that front end just glistens now... Keep at it, I know its daunting, but one step at a time.

Good to see a 1600 getting a restoration, too.
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click signature above for my resto blog

nice rims!!!!!
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68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

Alan,
Looking great! It's good to see it all coming together. I'll shoot you an email later, I may have some mirrors and bits for you.

BRI..

I have some 14'' enkeis just like that in black. What did you do with your set?
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Patrick Sloan


67 1600
90 325is
04 Audi A4

Yeah wow, with flares those Enkeis would have been pretty sweet. Let me know if you want to get rid of them.
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'91 Mitsu Galant VR-4 #1439/2000 + '76 2002 Laguna Seca Blue-ish 4 speed. Hip to be square.