Just In Time For Summer - 1971 Bmw 1600

[danco_]

Originally posted on 1/19/2014:

 

 

Last week's 02 flavor of the month happened to find me through a friend. I get a text a few nights ago about a BMW 1600 for sale locally. The seller put up the worst photos and knew nothing about the car (it belonged to his father) and posted the ad in California, while living in Phoenix. The car was located right here in Southern California though. 

 

I wrote the seller an email, and get another friend (also a FAQ'r) of mine to write one to, giving us more exposure to the potential purchase. Seller ends up calling my buddy and we set up a meeting.

 

This thing has been sitting in a garage for the last 12 years, and hasn't been regularly driven in almost 20. It was buried under 6 feet of boxes, but we were determined to roll it out of the garage to get a better visual on this thing. We were shocked at what we found.

 

After we rolled it out:

 

Original 1971 Atlantik Blue 1600. This is one of the last 1600s to make it stateside. This car was titled as a 1971 car while being "manufactured" in late February of 1971. BMW AG confirmed this.

 

I agreed to pay asking price and had it towed the next day to Doctor Detail in Costa Mesa, Ca. Doctor Detail provides a unique service where they put the car on a lift and give the undercarriage and engine bay a deep steam clean. They did an excellent job. I didn't have any before photos of the engine bay or undercarriage unfortunately.

This is immediately after Doctor Detail 

 

 

I had the car delivered to a secret location and put together a to do list. At the top of my priorities was to get the car running. We put a little oil in the spark plug holes and a little seafoam through the a vacuum hose. We cranked it over but it wasn't starting! We ran a few simple tests and determined that we weren't getting any spark. The next door neighbor then stops by and switches two wires around (putting power to the coil) and the car fired right up! She was a hot mess with how much smoke was coming out but we didn't mind (the engine has to burn the Marvel oil and the seafoam). 

 

Super stoked at this point, so we switched gears for a minute. We started washing the car inside and out and began putting together a plan of attack on how to bring the paint back. 

 

 

 

 

She's a mess. I really wish the primer wasn't on the driver's side. I love the patina that this car as accrued over it's lifetime and now I have to do something about that primer section on the rear quarter panel. Still debating if I want to go full paint and bodywork (I'd rather paint over the primer, then try to blend in, create a synthetic patina that matches the rest of the car, if possible).

 

This will be my surf car now. Might as well make her look the part.

 

We got the windows nice and clean, and began sorting out the interior. The dash is cracked, both front seats are destroyed, and pieces of carpet is missing and worn completely through. Not to worry, surf car.

 

Pretty windows, all original glass:

 

Almost no rust. (Rust in the spare tire well is only surface. No holes.

 

Interior BEFORE shots:

 

 

Continue Cleaning:

 

Those surf racks I originally was looking for: 

 

 

 

 

 

I left a few parts out. Mainly that this car belonged to a mayor's brother in an Orange County city and the bullet hole. Yes, a bullet hole. It entered through the hood, put a nice big hole through the firewall, and even through the front cowl directly below the front windshield. Must have been a big bullet. 

 

Previous owner said that it happened while in Compton, Ca. Go figure. 

 

 

 

 

After a little bit of cleaning and playing with rubbing compounds (not really), we go from this:

 

to this:

 

 

 

I'll have more pictures in the coming days. I created this thread to help me keep track of what I've done. 

 

This car came with an original 1.6l m10 engine. That's like 85hp. STOKED.

 

To be continued! 

 

Sorry about the poor story telling. I surfed all day. If anyone keeps track, there is a huge swell hitting the west coast right now. Waves were 6-8 feet all day today and will be bigger in the next few days. If you've ever been destroyed by an 8 foot wave (heavy heavy), you'd take the next few hours very slowly too.

 

PS: This post was written almost a month ago. I am transferring all my posts from one forum to this one. You guys would appreciate it more anyways. 

Edited February 28, 2014 by Danc02

[danco_]

Originally posted on 1/20/14:

 

 

 

A few updates! 

 

 

Surf was insane again, bare with me.

 

 

 

 

So I got back to the hobby shop this morning. We pulled the car out, made another list of what we wanted to get done, and got started. About 15 minutes into the day, we both took a step back and asked ourselves what we really wanted to do. Both our answers were "We want to drive this thing". So there it was, our goal.

 

 

First thing is first: check fluids/replace as needed. We first checked the diff fluid level. We pulled off the rear tire (we needed to change it anyways) and had better access to the differential. Upon further investigation, we noticed that this was a rare short-neck 4.10 differential that 02 guys are always after. I remove the lower diff bolt and stick my finger in nice and deep-like. No fluid. Dry. 

 

So we fill er up. Here is a shot of the diff marking. Notice the 41. That's mucho importante in 02 world.

 

 

 

Remember how I mentioned the Doctor Detail place in Costa Mesa? Well this is the result of his steam clean pressure wash of the undercarriage. That there is original 43 year old paint. The price seems steep at $325.00 but it's night and day how much better working on cars is when parts are actually clean. 100% worth it.

 

 

After we got the diff sorted out, we checked for oil and coolant. Both seemed ok for now, so we started her up and pulled outside. 

 

We topped off the tires and went off for a test drive.

 

 

BLUE SMOKE EVERYWHERE. And lots of it. Is this engine FUBAR? We'll find out in the coming days. 

 

Spoke to a few 02 gurus who have brought cars back from the dead and told me to change the oil using 20w50 partial synthetic, an oil additive called Restore (V8 edition), add 5 gallons of new gas and throw in a "Guaranteed to Pass" fuel additive. These things will help clean out the system and if the valves aren't seating properly, they will after I drive the car around for a bit. They say it works, but there is always the chance of a bad engine. I'm already preparing a contingency plan.

 

Here is a photo of the engine bay coming back together.

 

 

The thing that boggles me is that this car starts right up so easily. It's almost an instantaneous start up once you turn the ignition. That has to be a good indication of some sort. I'm crossing my fingers that this engine sorts out and gives me years of being passed by newer Honda Civics. 

 

I got side tracked a few times today with other odds and ends. I tried cleaning up the old trunk panels. One is clean, the other is still dirty. Should clean up ok though. They definitely match the patina of the car.

 

 

Also, I tried my hand at cleaning up the super shitty front grilles. 

 

 

to this:

 

 

From this:

 

 

to this

 

 

 

My buuddy had an extra set of early tii seats that will stay in for now. Not technically correct (02 guys are insane when it comes to details and correctness of parts) but don't care, surf car. 

 

 

 

We eventually drove the car down the street a few more times and things seem to be looking up. Still a fair amount of blue fumes, but that can still be the seafoam and Marvel oil we put in yesterday. I'll try to put a few miles on her in the coming week and see what I come up with.

 

 

Here is a closing shot to end the post: 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, a great day. It's good to have resources around every corner and on every shelf. I'll probably end up keeping this car forever, and take my time on the s14 powered 2002 build I have going on.

 

 

Stoked.

[danco_]

Originally posted 1/24/14:

 

Update! 

 

Remember this photo?

 

 

This photo really pisses me off. The primer spot that covers 1/3 of the driver's side really rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't touch the car yesterday, instead I meditated and surfed. There has to be a solution to get rid of this primer and see what is underneath, if anything good at all.

 

I turned to the internet. I called upon the old school BMW and VW Bus gods for help (VW Bus will be my next project) and they pointed me to this link:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=76072&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

 

It basically explains the horrors of PO's backyard paint jobs, primer removal techniques, and getting back to the original paint layer. 

 

I searched the site for a few hours and came to the conclusion that I should try "Graffiti Remover" that Home Depot sells. So I got off the couch, hopped in the m3, grabbed a Chipotle burrito, and off to Home Depot I went. 

 

The next morning I woke up an hour earlier than usual (I was excited and stuff) and headed to the warehouse. I immediately started playing with the Graffiti Remover and much to my surprise, it was working! 

 

After about 20 minutes, I had this:

 

 

I was freaking out, man.

 

Kept at it and eventually got to this: 

 

 

At this point, I was convinced that I no longer want to paint the car. This works for me. I keep the original patina, I get to keep the bullet hole (I'm convinced it was a 45 slug of some kind), and I get to chase waves and chase babes, exactly how I intended. 

 

Here is the money shot:

 

 

I'm happy with the outcome so far.

 

 

I hooked up with some hard hitting 02 and coupe guys and we're going to dial this car in the coming week or two. 

 

I'm so beyond happy at the way things turned out today.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Danc02

[danco_]

Originally posted on 1/31/14:

 

Small Updates:

 

I'm not taking classes this semester. This is partly due to procrastination of choosing classes, rebellion against the current education system, and because school blows. That being said, I am running the business and playing with cars a lot now.

 

I did an impulse trip to Sacramento where I met with Igor at CaTuned and a few others. I picked up an extra set of 2002 suspension, some tii parts, a good running m10 engine, and a bunch of other new parts.

 

I've decided that I'm going to have the m10 engine rebuilt into a fun "hot rod" motor for the Polaris car (only because the engine is numbers matching to the car itself). This means that I won't be doing the s14 swap in that one. Maybe this blue one? No idea yet. Still have to figure out the Blue car's engine. I'll probably have an answer in the next week. 

 

No photos of the full truck or parts, but I will have some juicy engine build pictures in the coming weeks. 

 

I also spent a little bit of time assessing the BBS RM wheels I bought a while back. I'm collaborating with Paul Ehrlich at E Wheel Works  to finally finish these damn wheels. The centers will be Nogaro Silver with polished lips in square 15x7" et25 specs. Should look good. Still don't know if I will run them or not. I change my mind too often.

 

Here are photos of wheels/test fitting/playing with paint:

 

 

 

 

I drove back down to Huntington Beach starting at 5 am and arrive at 12pm. 

I came home to a package from Bluntastic Voyage, MN.

 

They look like a fresh set of Coco Mats and those stupid little clips that keep the sun visors from flapping and hanging all over the place. Thanks Steve and Brandon @Blunttech! 

 

 

 

Still figuring out the 1600 motor. If anyone has any suggestions or leads on known good 1.6l m10 from the 1600, shoot em my way! I'd love to keep this thing 4 speed with a 4.10 rear end (pretty rare combo).

 

Til next time,

 

Ryan

[danco_]

Originally posted 02/02/14:

 

Still looking for a good 1.6l. Andrew at IE mentioned that he might have one and I am very hopeful. If things don't pan out, I have a contingency plan.

 

I bought this engine on #Instagram last night:

 

 

 It's never a bad thing to have a few engines to choose from. This should be shipping out from Atlanta early Tuesday morning if things go as planned.

 

Andrew! Let's talk 1.6l.

 

 

I also went ahead and ordered some paint rehab supplies. I'm going to try to use exclusively Meguiar's stuff because I know the guys and I get a nice discount. I'll have some good update photos this week. 

 

 

 

 

On another note, I accepted a Director of Marketing position for a company, so between that and the shipping container business, I'll be plenty busy. Stay tuned, things are getting good. 

 

Congratulations Seahawks. I wasn't rooting for you, but the Broncos never showed up tonight. Excellent defense.

Originally posted 02/03/14:

 

Some updates:

 

I cleaned the hell out of a complete set of 02 suspension today. Everything below (except for the e21 320iS diff & tii rear trailing arms) is from the Polaris 73 2002. I have to build up two sets of suspension, so I wanted the 73 car to be the practice run. It doesn't make much sense considering I'll be driving the blue car much more and much sooner, but I don't care. I don't do things that "make sense".

 

I conveniently loaded everything onto a forklift and drove to our "washing area". All washing was done using a massive hot-water pressure washer. I burned myself. It was cool.

 

Photos of things that are dirty:

 

 

 

 

 

Then things started getting cleaner:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then I cleaned up the 320iS diff from my late car. She'll never stop giving.

 

 

 

Then I got all the parts back in the shop. I stepped on the forklift's brakes a bit hard and the rear setup fell. I damaged the rear brakes nice and good. Go me! 

 

Photos of damaged brakes. Guess this means I'm going bigger brakes. Damn.

 

 

 

 

Enough of that, here are a few more:

 

 

 

Here is a nice, clean rear subframe assembly. Pretty rusty (only surface rust). Looks like I'm going to have these powder coated or something. 

 

 

 

I got everything tucked away until tomorrow. I pulled out another box and finally went through its contents for the first time. I bought all this stuff at the beginning of last year, thinking that I would build up the original engine for the Polaris 73 car. This was before I bought the s14, and before I decided I knew what I was doing. I still don't really know what I'm doing most of the time.

 

 

 

 

 

I bought that other engine last night and after some deep meditation over a Chipotle burrito, I kind of want to put it in the blue car. The blue car is awesome and I want to keep it awesome.

 

 

 

Here are some parts I've purchased over the last two years through various sources on this forum and others. They will all find a home on either the blue car or the Polaris car. I'll probably turn this thread into a simultaneous build of both cars. Mostly because I'm lazy.

 

 

 

 

 

And then I bought this thing a few months ago. It seems too nice for the blue car, so I'll probably keep it safe until the christening of the Polaris car. 

 

 

 

 

That's all I have for today.

-Ryan

[danco_]

Originally Posted 02/10/14

 

A few updates worth mentioning: 

 

I haven't been working very much these past few days. Mostly just ordering parts, looking for things (cars) to buy, and playing in my local environment.

 

I went ahead and started on the paint restoration. This isn't one of those attempts at bringing the paint back to perfection, because that will never happen. This is more of a preservation of the current patina, while giving the paint much needed nutrients, allowing for a longer life-span in its current condition.

 

My Meguiar's buddy recommended using old school methods to bring the paint back. He suggested starting with Meguiar's No. 7 

 

 

I was instructed to hand polish the paint, essentially feeding the dry paint with fresh oils. I will have to massage the car three separate times over the next three days. Once I am satisfied with this first step, I will likely touch up a few of the larger chips in the paint, then wax and seal in the current Patina. This is and will all be done by hand. No machines, no orbitals polishers.

 

Here are a few photos of the first coat. This stuff isn't easy to work with. And whatever you do, DON'T let this product dry. Super hard to remove once dry.

 

 

Oh yeah, before using No. 7, I had to wash the car and get it clean. Obligatory ass shot. I like ass so much.

 

 

Now for the first go-around with the No. 7:

 

 

 

 

 

The right side of the trunk lid was "polished". It doesn't look like much of a difference, but again, my goal is the "feed" oil to the dry paint. I'll do this two more times.

 

 

 

Obligatory butt shot: I only managed to massage the left cheek before I had to leave for a meeting. 

 

 

 

 

That's pretty much all I have for today. I still need to take the suspension apart and sand blasted. Deciding on whether I want to Powder Coat or not. 

 

I believe the engine finally went out today, but will confirm with the seller.

 

 

 

-Ryan

Originally posted on 02/12/14:

 

Minor updates today:

 

I am balls deep in the planning stage of this car's suspension build, engine swap, and general cosmetic rehab. For suspension, I plan on running a custom coilover set from Catuned designed specifically for my car. Should be pretty cool. Pretty much everything underneath the car will be refreshed. 

 

 

I watched a video last night on aluminum trim restoration. In the video, the guy used this stuff called Hair and Grease Remover (can be found at Home Depot). This product strips the anodization off aluminum trim. If you are looking to remove the anodization, chances are that you trim's finish is FUBAR, like mine. After the chemical strips the anodization, you are left with a raw aluminum. I then used Mother's Mag Wheel Polish to achieve a finish that I thought was comparable to the rest of the Patina of the car. I like the results.

 

Here are a few photos to show what I'm talking about. 

 

I removed the aluminum trim piece that connects the two tail light bezels:

 

 

I got to work:

 

 

After Mother's Mag Wheel Polish:

 

 

Another Angle:

 

 

Reinstalled:

 

 

I am satisfied with this piece of trim, but it will require a clear coat. POR-15 sells a nice clear coat meant for "polished metals" such as polished aluminum and chrome. I'll order some and try it out.

 

 

I switched gears for a second and started working on the carpet. If you recall from an earlier photo, I received the car missing the driver's side carpet that covers the floor. My buddy Mike had a few extra pieces from parts cars and gave some. I cut it up to fit, and used an adhesive to bond it to the metal floorboards. Then I threw the new Coco Mats down. Much better. 

 

Before photo of how I purchased the car: 

 

 

With that original carpet piece installed:

 

 

With new Coco Mats:

 

 

Rears (Sorry for Potato quality):

 

 

 

 

Then I switched gears again and was playing with the Polishing compound I mentioned before. This time, I used a polishing machine. This was the result:

 

 

I don't like it. The paint is too far gone with deep scratches, rock chips, overspray from who knows what to try to rehab it and make it shine. I'll likely try to even out the paint and then coat it with wax once I'm happy with the matte appearance of the patina.

 

I think I'll work on disassembling the suspension tomorrow. 

[danco_]

Valentine's Day Post:

 

Progress Update: 

 

I had the urge to spend more money today.

 

Went to a friend's secret underground lair where he offered me a set of wheels at a good price. I had to pick between these:

 

 

I was originally looking for 13x6 Minilite wheels in 2002 offset. These are the wheels in the top left location. I really like the 13x6 Alpina-looking wheels to the right, but they are e21 offset. They won't work so well with 2002s, especially if lowered, so those were out. I like mesh but I wanted some lippage. 

 

I ended up going with the Minilite Specials

 

 

 

 

I managed to polish and mount the lower rocker trim. They look nice. Car is looking better and better. 

 

 

Then I started playing with the front suspension from the Polaris Car. I hate rusty nuts and bolts. I used PB Blaster on everything. I still hate it.

My intentions were to have these refinished with all OEM rubber bushings and fasteners, and swap-n-slap them on the blue car.

 

 

 

This was hell for me. I'll pay someone good money to rebuild this all for me. 

 

I managed to start separating things, but then I lost interest so I set them aside for later.

 

 

 

I went ahead and threw the car on the lift to see what was going on underneath. This is the first time I've done this. I have no idea what it looks like under there. I do expect it to be clean though. I didn't pay Dr. Detail to steam clean for nothing. 

 

Let's start with the front half:

 

Do you see the stripes on the front spring there? This is how BMW would mark their springs for identification. 43 years old and they still look good. Bravo BMW, bravo.

 

Passenger Side:

 

Rear shot of tranny. Mounts look new. Tranny is new (1993 that is). Doubt the car has been driven much since then.

 

 

This is where things get a bit funky. The factory new tranny that was replaced in 93 (of which I have receipts for) is the early style tranny with Porsche synchros and a mechanical clutch. This is wrong for a 1971 BMW 1600. They stopped using the Mechanical Clutch system back in 69 sometime. Oh well. It shifts great, looks great, and has no issues. I'll likely leave it in.

 

 

 

And now let's move on to the rear end.

 

 

Very clean. I'm impressed actually. Everything looks amazing for such an old car. 

 

 

 

 

So there it is. I'm surprised more and more every day. 

 

As a Valentine's Day gift to myself, I bought a set of these. Toyo Proxes RA1s in 205/60/R13

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: Upon further investigation on realoem.com, using the VIN and build date of this car, it looks like the mechanical clutch is correct for this car. I thought BMW ceased production of 02s with mechanical clutch systems back in 1969 sometime. Can someone confirm this?

Edited February 28, 2014 by Danc02

[danco_]

Originally posted on 02/20/14:

 

Did some stuff today. 

 

 

Decided to remove the windshield in favor of a new and supple rubber gasket. The current gasket has become plastic and is proving to be quite a nightmare to remove. Oh, and thank you PO. I'd be surprised if he could get another cc of silicon under the old gasket. 

 

Pictures:

 

 

 

Inside shot, low light, flash:

 

 

 

 

 

This stuff sucks. I'm going to try a heat gun and adhesive remover of sorts. That, or gasoline. I want this stuff gone without destroying the already destroyed paint. 

 

Switched gears because I was getting angry. I sat inside the car to think for a second.

 

 

Then I impulse drove out to Top End Performance in Hollywood, Ca to pick up a few things.

 

 

And this box. This stupidly expensive box.

 

 

 

I'm still waiting on the motor to arrive (!) so I'll just have to wait to install all of this stuff. 

 

While writing an invoice for a customer, the UPS man showed up with two packages. Much excite.

 

 

They will be mounted on these probably tomorrow:

 

 

My buddy in Sacramento sent me a text of these. They look pretty good from here. These wheels are a "budget build". When I purchased them, I liked them a lot and had big plans for them and the ol 02, now I'm not so sure I want to run them. Don't even know if I want to slap lips on them. I could be swayed to sell them I suppose.

 

 

 

 

I did the math on what I have in this car (unassembled and uninstalled) and it just hit the 5 digit mark. I'm about 2/3rds of where I want it to be. Still excited!

Originally posted on 02-21-14:

 

Woke up late, then drove to Long Beach. Made the executive decision that because it's Friday, I wasn't going to do any real "work". 

 

So I bribed the mexican tire shop down the street to lube up my tires and slip them on the rim. It was a tight fit, but they got it in. Crafty Mexicans. I gave them each the tip.

 

 

 

Final Product. I likely won't mount them until I square away new coil over suspension with CaTuned. 

 

 

 

I think I'll chip away at the front windshield gasket for a while.

Original post on 02/25/14"

 

Windshield Update: I've learned that if you don't want to work with windshields for the rest of your life, you need to go to school and get a meaningful degree in a profession you can entertain for long periods of time. 

 

I hate windshield gaskets, but I managed to get most everything off the frame. The frame is absolutely rust free, very atypical for these old 02s. I had to remove the metal 'teeth' frame that held the headliner in place. Apparently, this is an early 2002 thing and the windshield gasket that was designed with this provision in mind is no longer available, so off it came. I'll save it because like most parts of these old cars, they become ridiculously valuable when no one has any left.

 

Photos: 

 

 

I managed to wrestle the new windshield gasket onto the glass. I may install tomorrow or thursday depending on a few things. 

 

I also raided the office for those little black clips. Very handy if you need to redo and reglue a headliner.

 

 

 

Hopefully the next time I post, the windshield will be in. I hate windshields, but I understand their importance. 

 

 

 

 

I was browsing ebay, looking for a cool, period-correct MOMO steering wheel to go on this car. My parameters were that it has to be cool, and bigger than 350mm. I don't know how I got to searching for Ferrari steering wheels, but this one caught my eye. It's 370mm, and belongs on a 1990 Ferrari Testarossa. It's a NOS unit from 4/89 and I had to have it. The seller was asking some ridiculous price, but I messaged him and made a deal outside of ebay. The wheel is being shipping to my second address as we speak. I think it'll look good on this car. 

 

 

 

That's all I have for today. Still waiting on the engine to show. It's almost been a month now.

Originally posted yesterday, 02/27/14:

 

Yesterday's windshield install adventure proved unsuccessful. 

 

 

Bummer. So I called around and found a good deal on a new Pilkington windshield and install for $200. I let the professionals take this one.

 

 

Here is the end result of a fresh windshield installation. I hate cracking windshields.

 

 

 

 

Ended up going for a 20 minute drive. She actually runs pretty good despite the blue smoke. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Killing time at this point. Waiting for the engine to arrive. Then the party starts.

 

 

Have some other things on the sidelines that I've decided will be for this car. Things like IE's 13" BBK. I'm hoping these will fit behind the Minilite reps.

 

 

I bought these seats last year. They look like old school Corbeau seats. I'll probably have them redone. May run them, may not. Haven't decided yet. They might take away from the surf car feel.

 

 

The birth of a Petri Steering wheel. This steering wheel is tough to find, and really cool in an 02. They were actually a BMW option for 2002s back in the 70s.

 

 

I have a fresh set of Euro turn signals that will go on this car. They will look great compared to the US "bubble" turn signals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kind of a side project, but I'm designing and building a surfboard. This will be a super fun 5'8" long, 21" wide, wide nose and wide tail thruster. Should be fun in knee to head-high surf. It's going on the surf car! 

 

 

 

Hopefully I have good updates next week. I hate waiting.

[danco_]

Haven't done much in the last week. Waiting for parts to arrive, including the damn engine that I purchased over 6 weeks ago. Frustration is beginning to occur. 

 

But here are a few parts that started showing up. Many showed up today actually. 

 

 

 

In the photo below: Spax adjustable dampening shocks and struts. These dampeners are part of their 50mm lowering kit. These were purchased through Moosehead Engineering, and the springs were purchased through Spax direct from the UK. Note. Don't buy things from the UK; post from the there to here is ridiculous. I also grabbed a new set of upper strut mount bearings, and purchased a set of rear shock rubber mount bushings. I didn't know that the Spax shocks would come with their own set. And then a can of ATE brake fluid. Still waiting on a few things (including the motor), then I'll tear into her like virgin husband on his wedding night. 

 

[danco_]

Engine Update:

 

Engine showed up at the warehouse on Friday. I didn't go to work for a few days due to a minor cold and a new surfboard. I spent a lot of time in the water, with a few three surf-session days. 

 

Anyways, I finally got to peek at what came in. I've never purchased an engine from the other side of the country, so I don't know how they should be packaged/shipped. This looks to be ok, though I wish there was more padding. Either way,things look fine from a preliminary search.

 

 

So I cut all the straps, unwrapped the condom (get it, because it was wrapped around the head), and muscled it into a spare tire I had laying around. Don't judge me. 

 

 

After a quick assessment, everything looks to be new and rebuilt. I still don't know much about the alternator, it may be of a higher Amperage unit. Engine came with arms and new motor mounts. That was nice of the seller to include. The valve cover is a pretty rare super early m10 valve cover. Nice touch. 

 

I took a closer look at the stud holes in the head and noticed one had been repaired and helicoiled. This was not in the description.

 

Not a huge deal, especially if repaired properly. 

 

Then I started fitting the rerouted coolant hoses and metal pieces. This is because I won't be running the standard downdraft carb/manifold system. The new set up will be much simpler in design and flow air/fuel better.

 

 

Next came all the cool stuff. I test fit the intake manifold a few times and every time I had to do a little grinding to gain clearance for the nuts going on the studs. But in the end, I prevailed. 

Here she is, closer and closer to completion. 

 

 

 

The exhaust header is from a local So Cal company Top End Performance in North Hollywood. It's a mild steel manifold that I will change out soon enough. I have a much cooler manifold on the way now. 

 

So yeah, I'm pretty excited. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forgot to post this, but I also installed IE's fixed camber plates. I haven't thought this all the way through it seems. The car will be roughly 50mm lower than stock, so there will be a natural occurrence of negative camber. Then when I install these fixed camber plates, I will increase camber even more. I just might have too much neg. camber for a primarily street driven car. And I haven't even thought about the back. The last thing I want is to destroy the RA1s in less than a year.  Andrew, do you have any insight on this?

 

 

Completed: 

 

 

And here is a quick shot of what my and by buddies have in the warehouse. All cars belong to one of us. E28 m5, E34 m5, E39 m5, E30 m3, 1600, and a few others not pictured.

 

 

Stay tuned.

[danco_]

I've been out of town the last few weeks, so not much progress on the car.

 

Today I finally put her on the lift and began tearing her apart. I figured it would be easier to lower the engine and tranny from below, along with the front subframe. This way I can change out any suspension bushings I see fit, and get into all of those hard-to-reach places. And also because I was lazy.

 

Anyways, Here are a few photos of what I was able to get done today:

 

Hood removed and positioned on the lift:

 

Before shots of engine bay, one last look at the 1.6l:

 

Things are coming apart and almost ready to drop the engine:

 

A few minutes later and I have this view. There is no turning back now. Good thing I have a very competent mechanic friend.

 

 

 

I also managed to swap in a set of 1976 output shafts into the e21 320iS lsd unit. 3.91 and a 4 speed is going to be really fun, but not very practical. I should find a 5 speed soon.

 

 

 

I should have more photos tomorrow. In the meantime, my competent mechanic friend put together this cool engine stand. He rebuilt the engine from our Mercedes Pagoda project and ran it on the stand. Everything works as it should. He's good at what he does.

 

 

 

 

Scope creep is really setting in. For the sake of wanting to drive this thing, I'll likely grab a dizzy and a few other things. This will at least let me drive it and iron out all the kinks while I put the Megajolt system together. 

 

More photos to follow tomorrow! 

 

Everything driveline and suspension related will be new and improved somehow. 

[Mikepelly]

Great project Ryan. Keep the posts coming.You may want to consider painting the engine bay now. DeAngelo's in Costa Mesa can mix up a spray can of paint for you.

[danco_]

Great project Ryan. Keep the posts coming.You may want to consider painting the engine bay now. DeAngelo's in Costa Mesa can mix up a spray can of paint for you.

 Too late! I got to the warehouse and the engine was already in and bolted down. I was happy and mad at the same time. If paint and body work happens down the road (we both know that it will), I don't mind removing the entire front subframe to do so. Seems like the easiest way.

 

 

 

 

 

Update!

 

 

 

 

 

Well, some more progress happened today.

 

 

I forgot the keys to the m3 in the ex-gf's rental last night, so I was car-less for the first half of the day. I did manage to make it to the warehouse but the guys were busy at work doing all the cool stuff I was hoping to document. Bummer for me.

 

This is what I arrive to this morning:

 

 

 

The old engine is sitting in the middle of the warehouse, and my mechanic friend is replacing things and attaching things to other things. I wasn't able to get shots of the engine being inserted from the bottom, but it happened.

 

Proof: 

 

I was hoping I'd have a few hours to deep clean everything in the engine bay, but I kind of blew that with the misplacing of the keys. Girls, man. Either way, the bay was very clean to begin with and I can still take my time and tidy it up the right way.

 

As we removed the ball joints, it was evident that this car never had it's ball joints replaced (or control arm bushings for that matter). We actually had to grind out the rivets from the original ball joints, just to be able to separate them from the CA. Notice the deep gray color of the control arms and suspension components. BMW would alternate between black powder coating and this gray powder coating. I'm not really sure what the cut-off month/year was when BMW switched to full black powder coating. I really like the gray over black but I don't know why. Maybe because it's less common, I don't know.

 

 

We pop out the old gear and get the new joints installed. We installed one of the ball joints incorrectly, but wasn't aware of this until I was at Coupeking's location. Jesus over there does great work and easily identified a few important things with my old (and bent) control arms. Jesus and Erik fixed me up with a new set of Control Arms with fresh bushings. This really simplified things for me. I am very grateful for their help.

 

Our replaced parts pile is starting to grow.

 

 

Here are the replaced ball joints: 

 

 

I sat them alongside a new set of control arms sans ball joints. Notice the color difference. I had to pick up a new set of control arms because the original ones were shaped like bananas aka they were bent once or twice throughout their long, miserable lives.

 

 

Look at that bend: 

 

 

 

 

A year or two ago, I bought a bunch of 02 parts from Blunt aka Steve Peterson. I bought his suspension-overhaul package which consisted of every important bushing underneath the car; basically every rubber bushing needed to completely re-up your 02's suspension. I was actually saving all of this for the silver car, but I had all the parts ready to go. I caught myself saying "Might as well if I'm in there already" more than once today. Scope creep got a hold of me in a bad way. I don't mind it though; If I'm going to partially restore a car, I should probably make it safe and driveable. 

 

A few more replacement parts: Old vs. New:

 

 

Had an extra set of poly rear subframe bushing inserts from Ireland Engineering. 5 minutes later and they were inserted into their new homes. This will stiffen up the rear subframe bushing a bit. BMW doesn't make them as solid as they used to, so unfortunately these are somewhat necessary.

 

 

Another Ireland Engineering piece. One of their high-flow aluminum radiators that replace the stock units. Some people hate them, some people like them. I still have no opinion on these radiators. I'll let you guys know if it breaks or overheats the engine. I'll also let you know if they work as they should with no problems. I did notice that the mounting holes don't line up very well. I will have to drill a few extra holes in the radiator mounting plates. Not too stoked about that but it has to be done. 

 

 

Oh yeah, I also replaced the front bumper with another unit I had laying around. The previous bumper was bent in on the bottom... probably from a minor fender bender in the past. It's good to have a few extra parts. And it's not too nice that it was make the rest of the car look like shit. It's just the right amount of wear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow is another big day. I'm hoping to have all new shocks, struts, springs, camber plates, lsd, rear bbk, and whatever else I have laying around for this car. 

 

I'm hoping to have more parts arrive in the mail soon, too. Whatever my original budget was, I passed it about 8 times now. I should have bought a new car. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding.

[danco_]

Updates today.

 

 

Today was a rather important day for me and this car. I realized yesterday that this 1600 had no front or rear swaybars. Swaybars were options on the 1600 and seeing as this was the most basic model, it basically had no options at all. The good news was that it has the right provisions to allow the addition of swaybars with no modification to the front or rear subframes. 

 

Where to start.... I got to the shop today and the guys were busy on the car. We removed the driveshaft and differential, in preparation for the lsd unit. We needed to change out the driveshaft's center support bearing but didn't have the right tools. I figured a driveline shop can do this for under $100 but then I remembered I have a rebuilt unit from La Jolla Independent somewhere in the warehouse. I got pretty lucky when I found it. 

 

Lets see here, picture time. 

 

I had to swap out the rear plates from the 1600 diff onto the e21 diff if I want to mount it, so I snapped a shot of the e21 lsd unit (on top) and the 1600 non-lsd 4.10 short neck diff.

 

 

Naturally, I didn't have a gasket so I called my friend Erik from Coupeking again. He had a few things that I needed so I headed his way to pick them up. Little did I know that he was on his way to my place to drop them off. We miscommunicated and ended up at eachother's shops. We suck. He also dropped off these little pins that I needed to make the 320iS brakes work in the rear. He's a super guy. He saved me 5 times already. Bless that man.

 

Pictures of the new gasket on lsd and 1600 rear cover: 

 

 

See where the screwdriver is pointing to? I was missing four pins that hold the shoes to the backing plate. I can't believe the kit I bought didn't come with them. 

 

 

Why go for the 320i drum upgrade in the rear? Well for starters, the 1600 rear drum brakes measure 200mm diameter. That's as big as my head, or a small pizza...a really small pizza. And besides, just look at the picture below:

 

 

 

 

 

Remember that pile of replaced parts that I started yesterday? It's starting to grow:

 

 

 

 

 

Time to play with the front suspension and install the new Spax struts, springs, and new upper strut bearings with IE fixed camber plates. But first, look at how clean the inner front fender is. I love this car. Almost zero rust. 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't know it, but we had a fancy spring compressor designed my make my life simple. This tool is so nice to use for a project such as this. This is a photo of the original strut housings, original springs and mounts. All coming apart for the new gear:

 

 

 

 

 

And here it is, all the new stuff installed and going back together. I would have taken my time to clean better and paint, but I had friends helping for a very limited time. Next time I suppose. Don't judge me.

 

 

 

 

 

Parts pile is still growing! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rear Springs and shocks are in, along with a look at the fresh IE rear subframe inserts. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that you can flip the rear subframe mounts to gain camber correction for lower 2002s. I'll look into this. I have a feeling that I'll be pretty low with this new suspension. 

 

 

 

We took the rear brakes apart in an effort to modify a piece internally. The e-brake cable isn't long enough to accommodate the new brakes, so modifications must be made. I have a new set of cables, Will snap some photos tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Here is the clutch system on the 1600. That pressure plate looks archaic and alien to me. Well, all mechanical car parts look pretty alien to me. I've come to the conclusion that without help from others, I'd be stuck 20-30 times per day.

 

 

 

Front suspension is all bolted together and swaybar is installed. I can't believe this car didn't come with swaybars. Blows my mind. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is how I left the car today:

 

 

I'm beat for the day. I almost didn't want to type all of this, but I do have some strength to see this through. 

 

 

 

More to come tomorrow. Waiting on parts in the mail. Hoping to drive this thing next week.

 

 

 

 

Oh, I have a really nice 13" Wilwood BBK from IE, purchased a year or so ago. It's sitting 450 miles north in CaTuned's shop in Sacramento. Hoping to run up there around Easter and install it soon after.

[danco_]

These have been a project on hold for over a year now. Still don't know what I want to do with them, but they sure do look pretty. Polished lips would be standard, but what about a light grey color for the lips? That might be interesting.