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About this blog

Lets see how this turns out, shall we?

 

As I turn the key for the 1st time, it just....WAIT, WAIT, WAIT... lets back up a bit.

 

My 1st BMW drive was 20 years ago in a E21. I was hooked! But it wasn't until Hurricane Katrina that I realized that my SUV was sucking in too much gas and I should look for something a little more efficient. Plus I wanted a new project. I have always liked the E30 with a passion Ever since about 1990. So I purchased on completely stock  and brought it up to what I have always envisioned. I installed all the go fast bits and a M50 swap. It sure was fun

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That was a great car but while I had it, I lusted for a cabrio, so I went to find one and build it to my liking.

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Kinda thinking of something else and found this at a farm and brought it back to life.

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I sold the Coupe and the MT2 cabrio. I did complete write-ups on them on r3vlimited.

 

Enough of E30s. Ive been going to The Vintage for 12 years and have always lusted for a 02. Since my cabrio was were I liked it, I became bored as its was pretty much done and has been for several years. I have been on the fence on kicking it to the curb but I haven't been able to do it.

 

I happen to be driving downtown Raleigh when I spot this lil gal on the side of the road with a city sticker on it that read register it or it gets towed on it. As found...

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It just needed a good home. The owner was not living in the area but I was persistent in finding him. A few knocks on some doors lead me to someone that had his number. I called, we met, agreed on a price, and I towed her home.

 

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The facts as of then. Non running 1972 2002, 4 speed with a aftermarket sunroof, AC car. Sahara respray with only 2 holes, one on the passenger side door and spare wheel compartment. Came with small records, original tool kit, and a 32/36 carb in literally 100 pieces. The PO said it did not run good and he decided to tackle the carb rebuild himself. Im assuming he ran out of time and steam so it just sat there. Carbs are new to me but I was up for a challenge.

Once I got it home I powerwashed it and scrubbed as much as could to really she what Im working with. Plenty of potential!

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Time to start ordering parts.

Entries in this blog

BWA wheels restoring

As I mentioned in a different blog of mine, I bought some BWA Sportray wheels 13x6 et13. I happen to find a few pix of them with gold centers and I really dug them. So went to a light restoring of these. ready for paint removal. These wheels were in great condition and the paint did come off with ease for the most part. Ive done a set of euroweaves before and those were a PITA compared to these. The lips were machined and looked good cleaned up but it would take more time to get them f

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

brake time.

I was just taking the car off the stands when I noticed that the rear inside wheel was wet. The only thing, wheels cylinder. This spiraled into another round of parts.   cracking the drum reviled bad new. Everything was contaminated. even the cylinders are not even worth rebuilding. So new parts ordered. drums shoes, wheels cylinders, and since I was there I decided to new new flex brake lines all around. I also cleaned up the rotors.

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

New seat and new filter.

Danco_ was kind enough to send a very used E21 sport seat from the west cost to replace my e21 comfy seat. The condition was just above my current drivers seat so to me, it was perfect. before.... I found this lil gem under the seat. I remember using these back in my car audio days. after... .   I also replaced my fuel filter for the second time. you can see some rust on the bottom of the old filter.   new... Cheers!  

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

Why the gas smell in the cabin!?!?!

Ever since I got the car running, the gas smell has been way too much for me to handle. Its to the point that even a short drive around the block yields me straight to the showers! I removed the trunk panels to reveal what looks like a 71 tank. Is this a sign that something is up from a PO? Hmm...   My 1st tactic was to fix the obvious. Black electrical tape around the filler neck...this can not be good and a sure source of fumes. It was cracked badly. I can see w

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

Front suspension refresh

Ive been dreading doing the tension bushings because it looked like a serious task but it had to be done. I could move it with my hands and it was so very noticeable on the road. What was in it was some sort of poly bushings and they did not fit at all. Im not even sure they ever did when some PO installed them. It was very loose. New parts to install though (both sides of course)... Anyways, what I had to deal with.   The passenger side came out with breeze with

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

New electronic flasher.

Wassup! While trying to diagnose why my flasher was working very intermittently, I read that a electronic flasher was an upgrade. Sure, cheap enough to throw a part in it to see if this was a fix without checking other possibilities. So I ordered one.   I made a harness to attach onto the OEM connector and mounted it close to where the old one was. This worked very well. It has a nice sound. But, the front light were not working so I took a closer look. What I found was a he

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

A different take on license plate lights.

I just couldn't bring myself to spending $130 for 2 little light/housing to illuminate my license plate so I looked for other options. This is what I came up with.   I believe that these trailer lights are made by a few companies but I got the dimensions and they were off from the OEM by just a few mm. I decided for the price, Id give it a try. It just happen that my local Advanced Auto had one. So, I bought it for measurement and it was close enough to buy a pair. I found these online

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

Wheels and cleaning.

While I was waiting for the driveshaft, I decided to replace the transmission fluid as I have no history of its maintenance. So I popped the drain plug off....   I took the fill plug off to see at least it was full. It was a bit low.  Drain plug was doing its job though.   Cleaned...  And new fluids. Its nice to know that little things like this have been taken care of.   Mike Pugh has been a great resource of info! He had some lenses ar

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

Driveshaft and stuff

while driving around the block a few times, I experienced vibration under load so naturally I accused the guibo and maybe the CSB. So I ordered some more parts from Blunttech. Also in the pile is a new coolant hose, guibo bolts, and an accelerator pedal bearing.   While I was getting help from my new 2002 friend Mike Pugh, he noticed while replacing my CSB, that my ujoints were bad. But Mike had connections and was able to find me a good used condition driveshaft. The CSB was rep

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

Fixing the shifter slop.

When I bought the car, I had no idea that a shifter can feel so loose. Really, up down every which way with no gear selected. I bought the shifter rebuild kit from Blunttech and installed. I was a bit leery when Steve said this small kit will make it feel like new...but he was right...ish.   Still play but Im coming out of a re built E30 trans with short shifter and my daily has new 6 speed. I now can feel each gear tough. Not too bad of a job. I did not have to remove the drives

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

Exhaust me.

When I bought the car the muffler was in the trunk. The mid section looked pretty bad aswell and some sort of very non oem looking thing. So I ordered the Ansa midpipe and muffler with the hanging kit from Blunttech. The PO bought a new transmission mount that he left in a box of goodies that came with the car. So I bolted that up.

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

Time to start ordering parts

What I knew I needed. A carb. I was not about to rebuild something I have no idea what its all about. But which one? A call to Steve at Bluntech gave me an option for a slight upgrade from stock. Sure that 38/38 Outlaw has a nice ring to it! I take one of them. Then, it was off to see what I actually did buy. Since this a totally different animal than the E30, there learning curve would be a bit steep so I was just looking for plug and play. Well, that was not the case. I did receive the carb in

N2MY2002

N2MY2002

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