Jump to content
  • entries
    16
  • comments
    27
  • views
    4,807

About this blog

Saw this 76 2002 on ebay, looked nice, and on a whim, I placed a bid on it and ended up winning.

 

I soon learned a couple things:

1.  Shipping a car isn't cheap, especially if it's not running, and dealing with shippers/brokers is a pain

2.  Never buy a car site unseen.  I expected some rust, but there was a lot more than I thought with even more hiding behind bondo

Entries in this blog

The Ebay Ad

Here's the original ad text:  *Relisting* I am the third owner of this beauty. Bought her in 2013 but I had a motorcycle accident last year that left me handicapped and was not able to even start the car for some time. (She turns over, just fine and probably needs some cleaning of the carb) Now I can't even drive her or work on her sadly, so this is the reason for the sale. She was a daily driver, a runner, a friend. Never left me stranded nor did she lack the power, comfort, or reliability

xr4tic

xr4tic

Sooo....Where Was I? (2019/2020 Catch Up)

Welp, almost 2 years since my last blog post.  High-level overview of what's happened since then:   2019: Bought a property to build a new house (and more importantly, a bigger garage) Pulled the motor back out (couldn't get the 5-speed trans in no matter how much I cursed at it) Reinstalled motor/trans Fab'd a new trans mount Installed IE gas pedal Completely re-wired engine bay and fuse box Built battery holder and installed AntiGravity Lithium Batt

xr4tic

xr4tic in Catch Up

So....Where was I? (2016 Catch-up part 1)

Now that winter is over and the weather is nice again, it's time to do some more work on the '02.   But first, I'm long overdue for a catch-up post, so here it is.   With all the cooling hoses off, I pulled the heater box out.  The fan didn't work and the heater valve cable was broke.   Pulled the box:   The heater valve and broken cable:   Inside of the old valve:   Lots of WD-40 to break free up the lever/cable clamp

xr4tic

xr4tic

Pre/Post Delivery (April/May 2016)

What do you do after you've bought a car and are waiting for it to arrive?   Buy some rims for it of course!   Bought some BBS RS rims off ebay, 15x7 ET25, 4x108, and had them re-drilled to 4x100   Car finally arrived, had to push it two blocks to my house because the truck couldn't go down my street.   Rims installed:   Charged the battery up, gave it a couple shots of starting fluid, car started right up. Next time I trie

xr4tic

xr4tic

Let there be light! (June 2016)

Now that the car was running, driving, and looking good with a bumper tuck, it was time to tackle the lights.   The turn signals, parking lights, license plate lights, and one brake light didn't work.  I essentially had headlights and one brake light.   I started with the license plate lights, picked up a set of cheap LED license plate bolt lights:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/252359694688   They really suck to put in though.  If your current lights are in good sha

xr4tic

xr4tic

Initial Inspection / First Driving Attempt (May 2016)

Now that the car is running, it's time to check it out, see what I've got.   On initial inspection, I spot the following things: Weber 38 carb Eibach springs in the rear (stock in front?  can't tell) KYB rear shocks (can't tell in front) Aftermarket front and rear swaybars (ST Suspension) Mechanical advance distributor (no vacuum) Unknown brand header Full Ansa exhaust (that leaks) Trim rings on the gauges, were these stock? 3- gauge pod on

xr4tic

xr4tic

Front Bumper Tuck (May 2016)

Something had to be done about those bumpers and once I saw CAtuned's S2000 swap project thread, I knew that's the direction I was going.   Lots of pics in that thread, bumper tuck is about 2/3 way down:   I started by compressing the shocks as much as possible, I forget the measurements, but I think I needed to shorten the shocks by ~7" and the compression alone was only 3"   So I cut them apart, you know, for science.   Here's the what they l

xr4tic

xr4tic

Fix Up, Tune Up, and Clean Up (June 2016)

Shortly after I did the LEDs, I picked up some front Euro turn signals.  Spent WAY too much, but they're worth it.   First up, I replaced the brake fluid reservoir, master cylinder hoses and grommets, and bled the whole system.  Still have poor braking, but that should be fixed by replacing the power booster   Second up, replaced some of the shifter components, at least the ones I could reach while the trans was still in the car.  When I had it apart, I compared t

xr4tic

xr4tic

Engine Rebuild Progress

My engine is slowly coming together, here's how it sits right now:   And here's how the engine bay sits (taken before the snow fell this winter):   Anyways, onto the important stuff.   Engine Highlights: 9.5:1 CR forged pistons 144mm H-Beam Rods 284 Cam HD Valve Springs + Retainers Stock size stainless valves (originals were worn/bent) Full head rebuild with new stock components Stainless Shorty Header + Downpipe (IE)

xr4tic

xr4tic

Cooling System Hell - Refresh + Upgrade Part 1 (July 2016)

While I was cleaning the engine compartment up in the previous entry, I kept noticing some coolant puddles on the block by the starter.  I pushed on one of the hoses and some coolant leaked out.   OK, just some hoses, no big deal right?   Not so much.  When I started taking the hoses off, found the water divider coming off the head was completely corroded.  It was also the wrong one for the car, this was the E21 style that doesn't have the hose coming off the back, which is w

xr4tic

xr4tic

Chocolate Milk

In keeping with my timely blog updates, I'll now post something that happened several months ago.   Shortly after my last post, I took the car out for a spin.  The engine ran, the brakes worked, the clutch was funky, but it was driveable.   I got back after a very short spirited drive and checked to make sure the fluids were all still there.   Oil - chocolate milk Water - empty Cursing - lots of it   I put some water in the radiator, and it came

xr4tic

xr4tic

2018 Wrap Up / Tally Up

Figured I'd throw up a post with my car status as of the end of the year, list some high-level things on my to-do list this year, and an updated "how much I've spent" listing.   Wrap Up Shortly after I painted the engine bay, I cleared out the garage and pushed the '02 in, so I could work on it in the cold Michigan weather   I removed the wiring harness from the engine bay (wish I had done that before painting, was easier than I thought it would be), installed the IE piv

xr4tic

xr4tic

2018 Catchup #3 - Engine Bay Cleanup

After I pulled the engine last year, I started stripping the engine bay.   As usual, I went to the forum for advice: https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/topic/205378-engine-bay-rustpaintcleanup-questions-lots/   My original plan was to epoxy primer it all and then paint back to factory color.  Then it got too cold to paint, and the car sat over winter.   And then the engine bay rusted up...again.   How the engine bay looked after pulling the engine last

xr4tic

xr4tic

2018 Catchup #2 - Rust Repair

September rolled around, the car has been on jackstands for a year, and I knew if I didn't get the rust repair finished, I'd never get this car back together.   So what do you do when you have no welding experience and have lots of questions?  Post to the forum!   Lots of good advice here and some inspiration pictures from other members: https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/topic/225875-floorpan-frame-rail-replacement-questions/   Armed with knowledge, time to get

xr4tic

xr4tic

2018 Catchup #1 - Front End Rebuild

I pulled the engine out of my car in the fall of 2017.  Shortly after I started stripping the engine bay, pulled the subframe and suspension, planning to paint everything.   Fast forward a year later to September, the engine bay is still not painted, the floorpan/frame rail is still not repaired, and the car has been on jackstands for a year.   However, during the summer, I did rebuild the front suspension: IE Engine Mount Brace welded in Subframe powdercoated

xr4tic

xr4tic

2016 Catch-up Part 2

In addition to rebuilding the carb, I also installed an electric fuel pump and regulator.  The Weber carbs are picky when it comes to fuel pressure and the mechanical pump was providing too much pressure.   I started a post about trying to use a regulator with a mechanical pump, and it just wasn't feasible without having to run fuel hose all over the engine bay.  It also details some of the part I bought Carb reinstalled with fuel pump block off plate and new inline filter (Mr. G

xr4tic

xr4tic

  • Blog Statistics

    • Total Blogs
      448
    • Total Entries
      2,348
×
×
  • Create New...