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About this blog

A little background on my BMW love affair. I was 15 and looking for a car to buy and my older brother and I passed a 1987 BMW 325 2 door 5 speed for $700. Thought nothing of it and went to work. Later that night we were looking at cars on the interwebs and we stumbled upon a E30 forum (I don't remember the particular one). Read all the wonderful things people said about the balance, the feel, the reliability of the M20, etc. And decided to go and take a look at the car we passed earlier that day. Bought it, drove the dog shit out of it and it held up like a champ! She was indestructible! It flung deer, ditches, and fences off those diving boards like it was nothing. We went through burnt valves, broken spider gears, and a worn out clutch, every time she was back in action better than before. When I went to college someone rear-ended me and the insurance totaled it (bought it back for a future project). My current daily driver is a 91 325i S50 5 speed swap that I bought after ole faithful went down.

 

Now for the part about '02s. It all started about a year ago when a friend emailed me a Craigslist ad for a 74 BMW 2002 sitting under a shed for 10 years and had rusted out floor pans but still drove and ran. I thought to myself, "Damn, I always thought those cars were awesome!" Some more Craigslist searching in the area lead me to no results around me. Whew! Dodged a bullet. Fast forward 6 months later, and my brother texted me a picture of another BMW 2002 he saw in a parking lot. This one looked much better (see below). If someone is reading this in the Raleigh area and this is your car, F**K YOU! You are going to cost me a lot of money because I fell in love with this car! Once again, I thought to myself, "Damn, I always thought those cars were awesome! I should build one!" I looked around my local area on Craigslist to no avail again. Fast forward a couple months later, I was perusing the Craigslist ads and an early 71 BMW 2002 was up for sale. A complete shell with most of the other parts strung about an attic, a garage, and another attic. We came to a deal and I was the proud owner of a 71 BMW 2002!

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Entries in this blog

1 Step Forward 2 Steps Back

Been a while, figured it was time for a little update.   I have been chipping away at her for the past few months. I ended up redoing the mounts on the rear subframe because I wasn't happy with the wheel placement (this is the first step backwards). I just need to test fit it the next time I work on her. The cylinder head for the engine is with Bimmerheads in CA, so no new news on the engine. But I did start getting to some of the body issues... I noticed in the front foot-well corners

Blackwhiteandblue

Blackwhiteandblue

E30 Subframe and M20 Stroker

Been pretty busy the past few weeks, unfortunately not all on projects. I did manage to get a couple things done though.   Engine Updates!!! I now have the block clearance for the new crankshaft and connecting rods. I have my machine shop turning a custom piece for the crankshaft, so this is probably as far as it gets till that comes back. Crankshaft sitting in its new resting place. Any one able to guess the crankshaft??! Hint: it is a stock BMW crankshaft. Here i

Blackwhiteandblue

Blackwhiteandblue

Homecoming

This was bringing it home a month or so ago. The PO was nice enough to let me use the rollers he had made to transport the car until I built my own. Put all the parts in a conex for later sorting and figuring out what I will need/have. The body looks ok, I am going to pull of the front nose to work on that separate and not on my back. Also, I am going to redo a couple of patch panels that are near the rockers, the lines are a little off and I think I can do better. The doors will also need a low

Blackwhiteandblue

Blackwhiteandblue

M20 Swap/E30 Subframe Swap/Front Suspension

Purist beware! Here are some details of where I am going with the car. Lots of work to do. I also mounted my bench grinder on a little foldable table so I could grind my connecting rods down.    Front Suspension I am not a huge fan of the original clunky steering box and linkage setup. I have a BMW Z4 steering rack on my E30 and I absolutely love it! If you are unfamiliar with it, it is a 3.0 turns lock to lock manual steering rack (faster than the E36 racks, and maybe

Blackwhiteandblue

Blackwhiteandblue

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