Thank you for the reply...

I know Les is keeping a database of cars by VIN. Make sure he knows your VIN and the information associated with it.

I purchased the car through a rather strange process.

It was originally advertised on Craigslist here in Orange County CA. A few people asked me to go look at it since it was about 5 miles from my work.

The car was sitting in a strip shopping mall in Mission Viejo (near Rancho Santa Margarita) in front of a repair shop. By the time we saw the ad, it had been sitting in the lot for almost a year. The car had a transmission problem and the owner was asking $1400 for it.

The owner didn't show up for my 1st appointment. But, I got into it and looked around. The engine bay was covered in fresh oil, the seats had covers hiding a disaster in damage to the vinyl, the nose was damaged, and the folks at the shop said they haven't seen it run in a long time. I told the people interested in it that I thought it was worth $5-700 and not to waste their time.

The owner called me up really angry because he recieved 3 phone calls based on my recommendation and all three offered him about $600 for it. I explained to him my observations based on his failure to appear and no proof the car even ran.

About 3 weeks later, he called me to say he reconsidered and wanted to sell. He said we could meet to look at it and he would get it started to prove to me it ran well despite the transmission problems. Again - no show.

A week after this, he called me and said he had to get rid of it. I called the people I knew interested in the car and all of them had moved on. I emailed people looking for a car - but, they are all looking for round taillight cars (sad... very sad). Out of desperation, he said I could have it for $500 if I got it out of there today. I went there again and this time he showed up. It took him forever to get it started. It was blowing smoke from somewhere on the header side (oil-based... it was blue), it ran poorly, and the transmission was definitely dead. I hesitated since I really didn't want or need the car. But, in the end, I decided I didn't want to see it end up at Ecology and bought it.

I called AAA and had them tow it to Eurotech in Mission Viejo.

The smoke and poor running was coming from a loose distributor (how it started in the first place is an amazing testament to the engine design).
The valves were too tight... so we set them properly and gave it a tune-up.
We went through the cooling system.
The transmission was scrap metal - so we put a freshly rebuilt one in and took care of everything else while we were there.
The brakes and suspension were already in excellent condition.
The AC already blew ice cold... we didn't have to touch it (although I did locate and install a replacement face plate thanks to someone here on the FAQ).
The original steel wheels were donated to someone on the FAQ after I bought the BWA wheels (again, from someone on the FAQ) and had new tires installed.
Someone I knew needed the headrests from the front seats... and because the rest of the seats were so bad, I gave them away and installed the Alpina's. The 73 '02 interior was given to me by another FAQer. If the car doesn't sell soon, then I am having this interior upholstered and installed in this car.
I also replaced the driver's side window regulator since the gears in the original were stripped.
Lastly, I had a body shop guy do a decent repair to the nose over the 4th of July weekend because the look without the grills was turning people off to the charms of the rest of the car.

Basically... the car is sorted out with only minor issues. The most annoying issues are the broken door brake on the passenger door and the broken emergency brake handle. It runs and drives great.

If someone is looking for a daily driver, then this would be the car for them. It's not a showpiece... but it will give them many, many years and miles of driving enjoyment.

Brian

Thanks for the background story. How do I contact Les? I just washed my '02 today and got more grime off of the front panels and license plate. My son & I had recently gone around the car w/polishing compound cleaning up grimy spots. Looking good now. BTW, Dieter was owned by at least 3 diff. owners in Alabama before purchased in June of 2003. It took me longer to get to the point where you are now w/2365606, that's for sure. {75's can be very nice cars despite the bias against them....}
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1975 Sahara 2002 ('Dieter')

Nice car, wish I had a home for another 02.
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73 Schwarz Tii (resto)
08 WRX STI

Jim_75Sahara wrote:

Thanks for the background story. How do I contact Les? I just washed my '02 today and got more grime off of the front panels and license plate. My son & I had recently gone around the car w/polishing compound cleaning up grimy spots. Looking good now. BTW, Dieter was owned by at least 3 diff. owners in Alabama before purchased in June of 2003. It took me longer to get to the point where you are now w/2365606, that's for sure. {75's can be very nice cars despite the bias against them....}

Hi Jim,
I already have yours on my spreadsheet.

lescartwright at juno dot com
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Les
'74 '02 - Jade Touring (RHD)
'76 '02 - Delk's "Da Beater"
'76 '02 - Dark Met Blue (running project)
'76 '02 - Sienna (comatose project)
'76 '02 - Sahara (parts car)
'98 323i Conv - Black

Thanks Les. I forgot whose list my '02 was on, so it's good to be certain. I have asked my dad if he had any old records on his '72 Golf to see if we could find any trace of it, but he had no records. He said it was totalled by the new owner shortly after he sold it to her in '78. Sad.
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1975 Sahara 2002 ('Dieter')