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Wiring Harness for the ECUMaster Classic
Building the wiring harness was arguably the most difficult part of this project so far. I'm using a flying lead kit from ECUMaster which definitely made things easier since the wires are color coded and labeled.
Here's the shielded sensor wire termination & junction with the sensor ground.
Shielded wires made up the base, then I started twisting the first layer of other inputs, ground and 5v.
Coil and injector wires are the top layer.
I got eager with the Raychem shrink wrap and forgot to add service loops by the ECU 😑
This bus bar collects all the ground wires, then connects back to the chassis & negative battery cable from the trunk in a star point fashion.
Overview of the work in progress. Lots of clean up to do of the original wires & fuse box area.
Cam, CLT, IAT, Oil Pressure & Temp, Fuel pressure, ICV and a few others here.
02 sensor, coil wires and the factory oil pressure signal.
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Sensor Success and Fire Safety Fun.
So I am tidying things up in the trunk, and spent some time building out a bracket to hold my E85 sensor. I wanted it out of the elements, so I decided to mount it in the trunk to keep it dry. I got a PLA 3D printed mount and quickly realised that I needed to do a little better.
I built the bracket below, drilled and tapped it with my newly acquired metric tap set (amazon to the rescue). It turned out ok. The tab that says fuel I will replace with a metal one. It is sturdy now and once welded to the chassis, will provide a robust support for it.
Thinking of making things safer, I did decide to go with an onboard fire suppression system. I think it was @TobyB that recommended against it, as he has known them to go off by accident, which I am inclined to believe, and in a way expect. The shelf life of the canisters is 3-5 years, and after 10 they recommend that the entire system be replaced.
I have had one of my cars when I was young go up in flames... like "IN FLAMES". I have been running with a tiny haylon(or other analogs of haylon), fire extinguisher, but I wanted more oomph. The FIre Suppression system is not meant to put out fires, it is meant to suppress them so you can get out.
I have the entry level system, which also includes cockpit nozzles (which makes me feel ok) just in case. It is not a thick foam, it is an aerosol. I also got one of these things as it was a request of someone close that I get one .
Picks of the bracket and possible placement of the canister. I am going to try to get it under the back seat. It may be tight and require some adjustment of the seat or floor. They say to mount it within the cash structure. I am not sure that between the rear struts is inside the structure.
Enjoy!
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Disassembly
From 10' this does not look like a car in need of disassembly, blasting, and repainting. Looking back, I'm still questioning my sanity. With ~ 80% of the disassembly complete, I'm very glad that I'm doing it!
Feel free to comment or DM me if you have any questions. I'll be happy to share additional pictures and share anything I learned on the way.
Dec 16, 2023
Rolling the fenders
(and found some bondo on the right rear )
1/2/24
And not sure how I missed this one I bought the car (although having flown to Boston to drive it home, I'd prolly have still bought it) The passenger floor was replaced, but generally, the car still seems very solid)
Disassembly started. I'm really liking the QuickJacks
1/7/24
Debating filling in side markers
1/11/24
Beltline removal terrible, but not fun
1/11/2024
Interior removal started
1/11/24
1/12/24
Door cards bright covering of rain gutter (terrifying!)
1/21/24
2 week sidetrack (I needed the room in the garage) to assemble woody cap that my stepfather had created 20 years ago, but didn't complete before he left us. Amazing craftsmanship!
1/27/24
Did some hot laps in the cul-de-sac to make sure tires no longer rub:)2/3/24Hotlaps lead to brakefluid sprayed all over engine bay(?) This was my last time driving the car with current setup, so wiped it down and moved on.More interior coming out2/3/24Why 2 different sound deadeners (?)All the beltline trim is off. I think the knee trim is glue on. Gonna break out the heatgun to remove it. Later2/7/24Lots of progress (about 5 hrs effort; thank goodness for heated garage!)Removed drivers seat (Recaro; from pair I bought from @esty and upholstered, including heat (will do another post on that), turn signals, boot lid, boot lock (after this pic) rocker trim.2/10/24Coming down the home stretchRemoved quarter windows and trim (thanks @Mike Self for the pointers). Kinda stressful, but got it done. I taped the windows to keep them from falling out while I unscrewed them. Definitely enough rust lurking that I'm glad I'm taking it all apart for paint!Also removed speaker wires and most of the rest of the carpet.2/11/24Windshield, dash, and sunroof out2/12/24Put the old steelies on to avoid getting paint on the Rotas. Removed the passenger side window in the door - fought with the cotter pin for 1/2 hour only to realize I'd read Haynes wrong and didn't need to remove the cotter pinI was skeptical about Hayne's suggestion to use a wooden wedge to drive the exterior trim off the door but it worked!2/13/24Removed passenger vent window, door strap2/18/24Removed rear window, headliner, sunroof tracks, door handles, drivers side door parts. Swapped Momo for original school bus wheelHeadliner was no fun and took a lot longer than I thought. Roof is very rusty; lost of surface rust and a layer of scale:(2/19/24Pulled the wiring harness out of the trunk and up to dash. Removed the last of the carpet and the cardboard underlayment. Need to tackle the sound deadening now that I've decided to blast the whole car. Found some unwelcomed rust:(
2/22/24
Getting ready to take the engine out!
Removed the battery, headlights. Started on underhood wiring harness removal.
Unbolted exhaust manifold! Never easy. Never fun. 6 of 8 studs came out instead of nuts. I've had worse, but it was still an hour fight.
Also applied Citristrip Gel to the trunk and wrapped it in saran wrap. Fingers crossed
2/23/24
Drained the fluids, removed the intake, starter, and head.
I used my milwaukee shop vac in reverse to evacuate the radiator and block. That worked pretty well!
Citristrip seems to be doing its job. I scraped an area with a plastic paint scraper.
I'm so looking forward to a clean uniform color engine bay!
2/24/24
Engine is out
2/25/24
Removed front fenders, headlight buckets, heater box, hood latch rod and parts.
3/2/24
Engine disassembled (leaving crank in for machinist). #4's had a broken piston ring
Brake booster out
3/4/24
Corded impact wrench zipped that pulley nut right off!
Working my way through wiring harness removal
Removed pedal box
Quite the rodent nest on the frame rail next to the pedal box!
3/8/24
Finally got the wiring harness out of the car!
The trick was finagling the fuse box arrays through the hole into the passenger compartment and disconnecting the ignition wires and taking that bottom hole harness into the engine compartment.
Scraped off most of the firewall insulation
Removed the gas tank and found a big rust hole
Remove the driveshaft
Mostly removed the exhaust
Used Citristrip to remove paint from right rear quarter and found bondo. Was pleasantly suprised that @BLUNT stocked the rear quarter patch panel and shipped it the same day I found the issue!!
3/9/24
3/22
Used 2 ratchet straps and a couple pipe wrenches to pull apart the exhaust. It's fairly new. I'll prolly keep the resonator and get a less restrictive muffler.
Removed some of the last bits still on the car (trans brackets, trim clips, washer sprayer nozzles, A and C pillar foam
3/23
Boxed up most of the parts to store 'til post paint (will recondition a lot of them while waiting)
The rest of the paint on the trunk lid pretty much fell off. Leaving Citristrip on for almost 3 weeks didn't seem to bother the primer, but made the paint supersoft.
3/26
Started taking up the sound deadener with a multitool
Removed the battery try. Ground down the welds / near the welds with a cutoff wheel so pretty much took it off in one piece
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So jumping back into one of the many projects that goes into restoring our 2002. The heater box.
Last I posted, it was looking like this:
I got the kit from PRDesignsf....great kit. Wish it included the nuts/bolts to attach the heater valve to the box. But a trip to Ace fixes that.
It was in pretty rough shape but a quick vac and wash it was ready for plastic repair and paint.
I chose to paint the metal parts instead of plating them. Not sure if that was smart, but we'll see.
Also hit the body of the box with some paint after thoroughly cleaning it.
Reassembly was pretty strait forward. Getting the heater valve rebuilt was a little difficult. Mostly because of the corrosion of the screws holding it together.
I was afraid of breaking it while taking it apart!
It cleaned up well
The fan still works so I cleaned it up as best as I could and the new cables that came in the kit installed.
I'm still putting this together and should be done later today.
While I was at it, I also freshened up a Rock Island 571 vise a friend gifted me.
All it really needed was a good cleaning and paint. It's not perfect, for example there is a crack in the base, but it doesn't keep it from being useful.
But to be expected from a vise made during WW2.
I'll tear it down again one day and weld the crack. For now, a shot of John Deere tractor green will do.
I'd been without a vise since moving into the house. So this is a great addition to the shop.
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Samsonas 6-speed h pattern
As per title here’s some pics of mine. Bought it few years back with shifter. Had to modify shifter base to accomodate height to engage all gears. Connection rod needs to be parraller to gearbox in order to function properly. Also due space available i had to mount it backwards. Does not change function thou. Reverse gear lever needs to be pushed by palm but it’s not hard to get used to.
Asked what oil i need to use. Answer was ”oil”. ”But don’t use red line”. I quess it leaves internals b&€*s to clean up when it’s time for overhaul? So i went with Comma 85W-140. Have worked well with it. I had to fab up guide tube for throw out bearing - some lathe time sortetd that out and i needed to grind some room for Getrag clutch slave cylinder - no biggie.
Can be flat shifted w/out clutch although i tend use clutch and be gentle with it. Gear change? Eats from the hand. Very nice box. Heavy yes but should be strong.
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Time to fix the sunroof hole.
I’m not a fan of aftermarket sunroofs. I’ve been shopping for a roof skin, donor roof, literally any option to fix this without much luck. I didn’t want to spend carbon fiber roof skin money, but I didn’t see any other choice.
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Leaf Motor Stack Advances EV Conversion
These past months have been filled with planning and hunting for key components to move my EV conversion of the 1971 Roundie know as Phaedrus forward. I've been following auctions for wrecked Leafs to source both the electric motor and battery pack, with a focus on the 2018 or later models that feature the third generation ZE0 motor stack with a 110kwh inverter and 40-62kwh battery packs. This newest motor offers 147HP and 236 ft/lbs of torque across the entire power band, which would give the conversion substantially more oomph than the stock motor I've pulled.
I landed one from a salvage yard between Boston and Providence a couple of weeks ago and made the 10-hour roundtrip trek to haul it home to NJ.
I've also been busy organizing a new kind of cooperative group called electr0motiv to make classic car EV conversions faster, easier and more affordable by working together. We're also calling the collaborative approach an EV Builder Guild because part of the mission is to facilitate learning, training and knowledge sharing so that more people can develop skills to do EV conversions. The idea is that a network of regional cooperatives can help convert DIY into Do-It-Ourselves, and make the conversion process more social and fun. For now, we're functioning through a Facebook group -- which you all and anyone you know who may be interested are welcome to join.Meanwhile, with the stack back at home, I enlisted my college and high school age sons on XMas day to help me hoist it out of the Ford Flex and get it into the garage. I also broke the motor stack down, taking off the Powder Distribution Module on top, and the reduction gear box off the back of the motor.
That will make it a little easier to test fit the motor in the engine bay. The plan is to connect the motor directly to the four-speed manual transmission, via a frabricated coupler and an adapter plate. Utilizing the manual transmission will enable the right RPM range to the drive train -- otherwise I would require some other kind of reduction gearbox. The one I took off the stack is intended for the front wheel transverse configuration in the Leaf.
Procuring a battery pack with 40kwh or more of capacity is the next big challenge. Along with it is the work to fit that capacity into two battery boxes split between the trunk and the engine compartment to preserve the 2002's weight balance. While there is some weight reduction gains from the motor swap, exhaust and gas tank deletion, the batteries are likely to weigh between 600-800 lbs, so there may be some need to beef up the suspension with both the slightly greater gross weight and the significant power and torque gains.
Other big considerations are the Vehicle Control Unit and Battery Management System boxes needed to talk to the inverter to send power through the system and to manage the batteries and charging systems. I'll also need to find solutions for electric heating and a vacuum pump to replace the brake vacuum booster.
As always I welcome input, feedback, ideas and support on how to accomplish this conversion, on everything from figuring out how to mount the motor stack in the engine bay to leads on a battery pack or the other components needed to get this 2002tee back in the fast lane.
What's more, this new EV Builder Guild needs smart folks like those in this great community to grow the group and bring along their restoration expertise and technical gumption. Happy New Year!
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Installing Seatbelts in my 1970 BMW 1600
This subject has been covered a lot, but after searching through dozens of posts, some key questions never seen to get answered. My car originally had Klippan's installed front and back. I originally thought about finding a nice set of Klippan seat belts and installing them for the originality, but couldn't find a set that was nice enough and had all the original hardware, covers, hooks, etc. While searching the endless posts on Klippan seat belt installation, I determined that there is no roadmap for the combination of bolt lengths, bolt types (shoulder, full thread), washers, wave washers, bushings, covers, bolt caps, and hooks needed to install the Klippan seat belts, because the Klippan system isn't covered in RealOEM. So I needed to move on from that option, which takes me to my next issue.
Many have converted their Klippan system to the "no-weld" Peacock method by mounting the 3-point retractor under the back seat and using the 2 original Klippan mounting points (below the rear side window and on the rocker between the seat mount and the rear seat) to connect the other 2 belt mount points. I didn't go this direction because I felt the belt would sit too low for me (6'3") and the anchor connection on the rocker between the seat mount and the rear seat would interfere with access to the back seat.
So this leaves me with either a generic 3-point solution or something OEM like a Repa. Both will require adding anchors to the "B" pillar and on the rocker directly below the "B" pillar, but I am good to go on that front. I found some 7/16-20 fine thread spot weld nuts that I will weld directly to the "B" Pillar and rockers to provide anchors for the seat belts. I ended up drilling 13.5mm holes in the "B" pillars exactly 42mm above the bottom of the rear side window frame and 13.5mm holes in the rockers directly below the anchor point on the "B" pillar. I'll weld these anchors in next week. See test fit picture below.
Now here's where it gets confusing. Everyone references RealOEM for how the hardware is arranged for mounting seatbelts in the car. It does provide some details on this hardware, but not important aspects like the size of the NLA bushings and what material they are made of. The most perplexing issue with RealOEM, is it doesn't show where the retractor fits in the stack of 10 hardware pieces? Does it sit between #17 and #18 bushings in the RealOEM diagram? I have also found that some installations have a plate that keeps the retractor vertical to the "B" pillar anchor with tabs that fit in slots on the back of the retractor. Is there a part number for this plate?
I will probably be asking Santa to bring me a set of TRW / REPA seatbelts from Germany. I've been a pretty good boy this year,
Thanks,
Mark92131
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Latest Entry
VLOG: 1972 Resto Mod (Road Race) BMW 2002 Turbo
We will be documenting this build in pretty good detail. Our medium is VIDEO, so there will be videos about 8-20 minutes long posted to this blog every few weeks to few months (months if we get really busy with production work). We are not new to fabrication, but we are new to this chassis. Feel free to share your comments or suggestions.
If you want to support the build, there are 2 ways:
1. Watch our YouTube videos all the way through and leave a comment and a thumbs up!
2. If you are looking for E10 parts, we have some parts for sale. I will make a post about them soon! This build will take over a year and will be a road-worthy car that is definitely track focused with sanctioning rules met (full cage, fire suppression, fuel cell, etc).
Also, I know these aren't officially an "E10" chassis. That is a common nickname, and we are using it
Video 1: Teardown and engine revival attempt. The engine is worth way more running... but can we get there without investing too much time and money to make it worth it?! Watch to find out.
Video 2: Front suspension fabrication and layout. We reveal the wheel and tire setup (though we don't actually say the size... they are 275 wide!). We also discover an issue with our front suspension design and pledge to correct it in episode 3. We also cut a few more sections of sheet metal out of the car and drop the E10 rear subframe out.
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Latest Entry
Cool upgrades - Electric Fan and Silicone Hoses
1 Peter 3:15but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;I had these items hanging around collecting dust for the past few years. I set aside some time to get them finally installed. Electric Fan and Silicone radiator hoses from Ireland Engineering. The fan is wired in with a relay attached to switched power from the horn relay. I wrapped the wires in Temflex tape to match the wiring harness.A few hoses needed to have 1/4" or so trimmed off of them to fit perfectly but the hose kit included nice hose clamps so everything went in very nice overall. I spent a little time flushing out the cooling system and the heater core, which is just good maintenance. I will do an additional flush of the cooling system after running it a few cycles and then it should be pretty solid.
In order to install the electric fan, other than the relay wiring, The stainless steel front panel from a dishwasher I replaced was used to make a bracket that bolts onto the radiator mounting bolts and the fan.Overall it took me longer to install everything than I thought it would but it's also been 104 degrees and I've been stealing an hour here and there to get it done. I finally took a good part of a Saturday to finish up the wiring and harness wrapping.- Read more...
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Latest Entry
Hazard flasher "always on"
As many of you all have, I recently have started restoring the interior of my '75 02.
When ordering parts I decided to purchase a new hazard flasher from rogerstii, installed it and the performance of my turn signals improved greatly...and probably gave me an extra 20 BHP!
Anyway--i just got my car back from the body shop where they welded in a replacement floor pan, and they said my flashers were going off, even when the ignition was off. And yeah, the new switch just turns them on without a key in the ignition.
I put my old, weary hazard switch back on and flashers didnt come on by itself, but neither the turn signals nor the hazard switch work. With the old one the hazard switch didnt activate, but it made the turn signals weak...kinda worked
My Question:
*Did the act of using a mig welder fry the relay, or the actual switch?
*Is it a bad flasher relay or a bad hazard switch?
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NORWAY Adventure 2023
I seem to always dream up wacky and out of the norm adventures to average person. For those of you who are also 02 obsessed you are most likely of the same nature. Before embarking on my journey I really didn't know what to expect. I had a friend who was going to ride shot gun with me, but then due to a family emergency couldn't make it. Bummer.
I have to admit I was a little timid for a brief moment and wavered whether I should go, but there is no tomorrow; less thinking more doing. Once I got myself back on track for planning my solo trip I reached out to the Norge 02 group on Facebook. All the members were supportive and gave tips where they could which I found so very helpful. (Thank you Norge 02 Group!).
My journey started on June 17th and concluded on the July 1st. I wanted an adventure and I got one.
Sunday morning before arriving in Kristiansand, Norway. HollandNorway Ferry
Packed in like sardines, preparing for unloading in Kristiansand, Norway
Southern Norway with a goal of getting to Stavanger to meet up with Johannes.
Roadside Assistance! Thanks Johannes
Johanne's clean 02.
Incredible generosity and hospitality. Not only did Johanne's help adjust my wheel bearing he and his wife invited me to stay. Truly grateful.
First hella long underwater tunnel of the trip. I would have hated to be behind me with my exhaust!
One of the many ferry required to reach my destination. Often times I'd adjust my travel plans based on speaking with other people on the ferry or at campsites.
These views are everywhere, but felt compelled to take advantage whenever I could.
The reward at the end of my day. The beer wasn't as expensive as I'd read. Granted it is expensive, but just a bit more than in the Netherlands.
Took the train in Flåm up the mountain. This is a massive water fall that the train stops at on the way up and down.
Took a side route that got me off the main highway, wasn't disappointed.
The true adventure begins. Camped most of the trip, unless is was raining cats and dogs. The costs varied, but affordable. Little cabins were also available, but you'd need to call ahead to reserve.
Was recommended to check out this very unique boutique hotel in Laerdal.
Johannes Einemo has created a motorsport focused hotel that was built in the 1800's. The classic stying and vintage feel made me feel right at home. If you are anywhere near Laerdal, I'd highly recommend going to stay there.
That there is a real spare Testarossa motor. Better than keeping it in the garage where no one can see it.
The bar on the side of the hotel reminds of something you'd find at the Nurburgring. If you notice on the ceiling above the bar there is a small door. That door is for passing beer upstairs so you don't have to come down. Awesomeness!
Twists and turns galore, but short lived...
This camper blocked the road in both directions. They did their best to "try", but I decided to take a different route. Bummer.
On Kristan's recommendation I took this little independent ferry, which was tiny in comparison to the others. Only 3 cars onboard.
Fast slow going
This was awesome to get up to altitude and due to being late in the day it was empty.
Had heard that you could go skiing up on the mountain so went to check it out. Didn't ski, but next time I will!
Glacier skiing at it's finest.
Just missing the ski rack.
Can you recognize this spot? Look at how small the cruise ship looks from up here. It's the highest drivable motor parking lot in Europe.
Not often I drive my 02 to frozen lakes.
Climbing out of Geiranger Fjord.
The Trollstigen, just before descending into the valley.
Dooood, how dope does that look??! Recommended to drive it in the evening to avoid buses.
I stayed at the first campground I could find and this was it.
Sven invited me over to check out his very clean almost complete project in Ålesund. Thanks for having me over Sven.
Makin Norwegian friends!
Ålesund, Norway
Yet another ferry crossing.
Heard about this little town that had a bunch of of WW2 bunkers. The site was closed, but this was not such a bad place for lunch.
Initially I wasn't going to try and drive this road, but I was so close I had to. It's pretty short, but definitely scenic.
This is the first dinosaur bridge on the Atlantic Road.
Starting to head back South to catch the ferry back to Emden, Germany.
These types of churches, Stave Churches, have survived since the Middle Ages. Incredible that they still stand.
Fun!
I didn't stay when I rolled through the first time and when I had chance to spend the night in their "Garage Room" I had to do it.
Taking the whole experience in at the Laerdal Hotel.
Even from the toilet you can see your car!
Bedroom views!
What a rad experience! Johannes knows how to make something unique. I can't wait to go back.
The "Garage Room" used to be a butcher and still has many of bits inside from that time. Small cues that do not forget the heritage.
This is the old port in Laerdal. You may have seen some photos of Magnus Walker here.
Doin the good work. Johannes and Erik puttin in the time to clear out the old window factory walls to make more parking space! The plan for this space is car store, restoration and body/paint. In the middle of the building they want to put in a bar that has glass on all sides so you can watch what is happening. So dope.
Laerdal Tunnel - Longest car tunnel in the world.
Oh oh, this isn't good.
This really isn't good.
Makin more Norwegian friends
I was stranded and had to hitchhike to get to my rental car. I stood out there for a long time.
My parking garage for the next month. My insurance which is great, sent up a transport to bring her back to the Netherlands.
After picking up my rental car I stopped by to see Torleif. This is only one of his BMWs and the work he does is impeccable. Thanks for having me over Torleif!
Handed over the car keys to the rental and getting ready to board the ferry back to Emden, Germany.
Decent room and only 19 hours to get back. Too bad this service recently went bankrupt. I'm seriously lucky to have gone already. I heard over 75,000 people have lost their money.
What an amazing adventure. The people, the scenery, the roads, the breakdowns... it's all part of the story and feel very lucky to have these types of experiences. I can't say enough thank yous to the all the people who helped me along the way and especially before I left. Jeffery Kok was an essential part of me being able to do this trip! Without his expertise and advise I would have been stuck.
Hope it wasn't too long and boring for you to get through. If you made it to the end here, leave me a comment.
Look forward to meeting other 02ers in future adventures across Europe!
Peace,
Evan
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‘67 1600-2 Build
Most of the car is in epoxy now and I’m just trying to get the panels as straight as possible within my skill set. I had a huge (3/4”) panel gap between the right front fender and the door. My solution was to add some length to the fender with some fiberglass. I had no issues with the drivers side.
No before photo of gap but here is the fiberglass extension.
Gap closed. The guide coat makes it look larger at the bottom.
A couple weeks ago it was too hot to work in the garage, so I moved progress indoors and replaced the seat inserts of one of my OMP Classic seats with a fabric by one of my favorite mid century designers; Alexander Girard. I think it gives it a vintage Motorsport look.
Lastly, I tackled the interior sound deadening. I used the dry ice method and it was pretty easy. I used 30lbs of dry ice and filled 3 large ziplock bags. Let it chill for about 25 minutes and banged away. Easy-Peasy.
Till next time!
Jason
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Life lately
Back in the garage
Making up rough mounts
Everything works and clears, all bolts can be pulled out. I can definitely make this better down the road, but I'm super happy for now.
The engine sits very low and should help keep the handling flat.
It's also as far back to the firewall as I can logically go, and leaves some nice distance in front of the engine for the radiator and fan setup without changing the nose at all. (Besides pulling the snorkel.) This is also an AE86 swap radiator, that works beautifully in the BMW chassis. Since the engine is so low, there's plenty of room for the ITB's with 100mm trumpets and the Pipercross filter. The junction block is from an e36.
If you need a good open barrel crimper I can HIGHLY recommend the Hero.
Shifter lines up perfectly with the JSP AE86 relocation kit and makes the shifter feel like a rifle bolt. The tunnel plate was extremely hard to weld in for me, and even after some help it's not perfect yet.
Honestly, no car has EVER fit this well on me. Every single thing I need to touch is right where I want it.
Settled with all the weight on the suspension finally.
This worried me quite a bit...
But, as luck would have it, JSP developed this absolute work of art and I just couldn't resist.
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Latest Entry
The Story
I found myself north of Indianapolis one afternoon after receiving a call that went something like, "Hey, aren't you the guy that buys old BMW's?"
On the family farm, Bruce had been storing all sorts of fun projects that one day he hoped to bring to life. Life, however, was moving faster than his slated project timelines, as it often does.
He had a gaggle of E30s that needed to be rehomed, that had been sitting out in a field for quite some time (that were the initial reason for the call). The cars had unfortunately turned the page from restoration candidates to parts cars, and I was happy to let my garage be their final stop. After discussing how E30s are my one true love, he thought I might like to see a car he had hiding in the barn.
Before opening the barn doors, he made sure I agreed to keep the car's home a secret. As we slid the doors aside, light revealed a Riviera roundie Tii, complete with a dust and guano baste. The "will never sell" words were spoken on first gaze, so I took the car in as if it were a watch in a window that I would unfortunately never obtain. The car was forgotten, but not gone.This car gave me the 'tingle' that I hadn't felt for a while, after becoming acquainted with the punishing art of buying old BMWs over the years. I thanked him for showing me the car, and asked him to consider my interest, should the time come when the car needed a new caretaker. He assured me it wouldn't, and that he would keep me in mind.
Fast forward a few years, and the time came.
I made arrangements to meet back up and put eyes on the car again, this time with more scrutiny than awe.
It became quickly apparent that I had work to do, when phrases like "it ran when parked" were being used to describe the car.
As I dismissed each conjecture, reality was slowly exposing itself.
I left him with an offer to consider, a game plan for extraction, and a handshake of pleasantry.It is at this point in the story when some of you likely became aware of the car's existence.
A normal afternoon coffee with a side of Facebook Marketplace turned into heartbreak, as I laid eyes upon MY beloved Tii posted in a slew of different 02 classifieds groups. A vague ad and some bad pictures trapped users in the comments. In the following weeks, all of my bimmer friends near and far called me to ask about a "roundie Tii hiding in a garage outside of Indy", as he offered the car to everyone in his contacts, hoping to extract a higher offer than what I felt was right. I was devastated, and figured that I had lost the car.
I tried my best to put it out of mind and pull it together as I had to reassemble my "hoopty" '89 325iS for a trip down to the Vintage.One successful Vintage trip later, complete with breaking in a new M20 stroker motor in 2.5hrs of traffic on i75 S, and I was headed back home.
While cresting a mountain pass heading out of Hot Springs, the bimmer gods showed their mercy on me as my phone lit up with a text from a familiar 317 number that read "we have a deal." I was ecstatic.A few days and a hand shake later I went back out to the farm and became the owner of a '72 Tii, complete with a parts car.
That's about where we're at. Extraction has been delayed several times. I wanted to wait until I had both of the cars at my house to make this thread, but was feeling motivated to type this up today, so that will be an entry for a different day.
-Bobbie
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The break down of what is to come
the first video of my 2002 and the direction it is going in
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Stripping the interior body
Nothing like starting with the biggest most tedious job on the entire restoration. It will certainly be a huge step forward when the body is all stripped, prepped and painted, but it is certainly quite a lot of work. I figured I'd go about this large sections at a time. First the interior, then engine bay, then trunk, then underbody and finally the exterior. With each large section I'll strip it, take care of any little bit of rust that I find, prep and prime it.
Starting with the interior, I went through and stripped as much as I could using a 4" strip disc and then did other parts with a die grinder. Overall it went fairly quick with just a couple hours last weekend and this weekend. To get to the remaining areas I'll use a media blaster. I tried a few small areas with it today using aluminum oxide and that worked pretty well. I just had a small amount to test with and will need to order more and will see how much I can get done next weekend.
This is how the interior looks now. Overall metal is in great shape.
Here is a side by side of the passenger footwell that looked pretty rusty after removing the insulation, but it cleaned up very well and nothing needs to get cut out and replaced.
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The body work continues! (Flares incoming)
It's been a few weeks since we got to work on the car with business and life taking a priority, however, good news is that we now have all the body panels we need for our 1602 build!
Was lucky enough to have a friend that went to a 02 garage sale and snagged some fiberglass Aplina style pig cheek flares for us at a great price we couldn't refuse!
And recently having gotten a hood, trunk, and 2 doors, now all that's left to do is test fit everything and finish up the body work by the end of the year so that we can spend the first part of 2024 finishing up all the drivetrain! Goal? To drive it to Monterey Car week in August of 24. Fingers crossed.
Here's a little inspiration, though we haven't finalized the paint scheme, we're thinking along the lines of an Art Car ;).
Cheers,
G
Heritage Gruppe
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Clock Swappers
BMW used two different clock designs on the Tii. The earlier model (used up until 1973) is the Kienzel clock, which is electromechanical. It uses a mechanical clock mechanism with is wound electrically. These clocks are usually pretty easy to fix when they stop working. The other type of clock (used in 1974 and up), is a purely electronic clock, with a circuit board, transistors, resistors, etc. Any one of these components can cause these clocks to fail, and I have not found a repair. My solution was to swap a VDO clock into the case of the Tii clock. It retains the original wiring harness, case and clock face, making it look totally stock from the outside, while achieving reliability.
The donor VDO clock can be obtained from an E12 5-series or E24 6-series BMW or from a 240 series Volvo. The clock face uses the same mounting holes, so you can use the original Tii face. The VDO movement has different wiring and case mounting layout, so some modifications have to be made to the original case. Also, the Tii clock is about 60mm in diameter and the VDO clock is about 52mm. This will not mater, as the clock movements are about the same size.
Let's dive into it...
1) Obtain your replacement clock. The two options that I found work are a Volvo 240 from the 80's or a BMW E12 5-series or E24 6-series from the late 70's and early 80's. Once you receive your clock, connect it to a 12v power supply or car battery and run it for at least 12 hours to make sure it is working properly. Here are a couple of pics of the two options:
2) Dismantle the VDO Clock
a) Using a small flat blade screwdriver, I gently started to pry the back lip of the bezel away from the case. I started with a very small screwdriver as getting it started was a little more difficult. After getting it started, I moved to a little larger screwdriver to minimize the marring of the bezel. You will not be re-using the Volvo bezel, so no need to be super carful here. Once I had the edge of the bezel pried away, I was be able to pull it all the way off.
b) Once the bezel was removed, I was able to remove the crystal (the clear plastic cover with the adjustment knob coming through it) and its holder.
c) On the back of the clock there are 2 small screws that need to be removed. They hold the clock movement in the case. Remove these screws.
d) The ground then needed to be unsoldered from the case. With a soldering iron, heat up the solder holding the ground pin to the case in the middle of the brass circle. This should release the movement from the clock case.
e) On the front of the clock movement, I removed the hands by gently prying up on the hands, evenly from the sides. They should come off straight up.
f) Remove the clock face by removing the two screws. If your VDO clock has it, you can remove the rear foam padding.
g) You now have the completely stripped VDO movement.
3) Dismantle the Tii Clock - This part I needed to be careful with, especially removing the black bezel that surrounds the face on the exterior.
a) I removed the bezel from the Tii clock, mostly following the same process as with the VDO clock. However, you will need to be more careful since you are re-using the bezel. Once I started prying the bezel, instead of using a twisting motion with the screwdriver, I started prying straight away from the case. This helped to minimize the damage to the bezel. Remember, the ’74 Tii has a large plastic shroud the covers the clock. This will hide most flaws to the side and rear of the bezel. I also did some touch-up when I was finished to help minimize what is seen from the front. Once I had the edge of the bezel pried away, I was be able to pull it all the way off.
b) I removed the crystal and its holder.
c) On the back of the clock there are 3 small nuts that need to be removed. They hold the clock movement in the case as well as the ground connection on the back of the case. I removed the nuts and then removed the movement from the case. I kept the ground wire spade connector, since I was going to use it later. I was then able to remove the movement from the case.
d) I then removed the hands and face, just as above with the VDO clock.
e) You now have the clock case, face, bezel and crystal from the Tii clock.
Here are the two movements, side-by-side:
4) Next, I attached the Tii cross-hair face to the VDO movement, using the screws from the Tii clock face. Then I attached the white Tii hands, making sure to install the hour hand first, then the minute hand. Install them both at 12 o’clock straight up.
5) With everything dismantled, I made a template of the mounting and wiring holes so I could modify the Tii case. I used a thin, but stiff cardboard, like from a USPS Priority Mail envelope. I had to go back and forth between the Tii case and the VDO case to make sure everything lined up and marked it on the cardboard. I then used a permanent marker to mark the hole and slot on the back of the case. Attached below is a PDF of what I used. It was close, but still required some minor modifications to make sure everything fit just right.
6) I used a combination of a small drill bit, Dremel and a file to drill the extra mounting hole and the opening for the positive wire connection. The second mounting hole lined up just right with the existing hole on the Tii case that is marked “+ -”.
7) I cleaned up the crystal, its holder and the bezel (this might require a light coat of spray paint to make it look nice again).
😎 I used some JB Weld to install the light reflector into the case, centering it over its original mounting holes.
9) I purchased a couple of #6 x ¼” x 1/8” spacers from Home Depot. Everbilt sku number 398491. These will space the movement out the proper distance from the inside of the case. I used a little super-glue to attach these to the top of the treaded screw posts on the back of the movement.
10) I then bent the ground post toward the screw post. I then got a very small ring post terminal and soldered it to the ground post so that the ring was right over the screw post. I also glue a very thin washer over the other spacer on the other screw post, in order to keep the two posts equal.
11) Next, I used a little heat shrink tubing on the bottom part of the 12v positive spade connector on the back of the movement. Leave enough room for the wiring connector. This will protect the connector from accidentally shoring on the case.
12) Insert the movement into the case and use the screws from the VDO case to attach the movement. You will need to assess how everything fits. In order for the time adjustment knob to work properly, and for the clock to look correct in the case, I had to make sure the clock was centered in the case. This required so adjustment to the mounting screw holes and grinding down of the other 2 plastic posts on the movement. Remember to install the spade connector for the ground wire under the screw.
13) Once everything fits and is lined up correctly, I installed the crystal and its holder. Make sure the time adjustment screw works smoothly, otherwise some more adjustment might be needed.
14) I then installed the bezel over the crystal and the case. I carefully used a larger screwdriver to press the lip of the bezel back over the lip of the case. Once done, I touched up the paint on the bezel.
15) I then finished up by installing the clock back in the black shroud.
Download the case template here:
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More room in the Shop
A car is a lot more compact when it is all put together. Parts take up a lot of space. This is the expensive part. I’m trying my best to limit that but sometimes you don’t have a choice. Other times, you do and still decide financial burden. I mean, reuse all the old (perfectly fine) crappy components on a freshly painted car? I can’t bring myself to do it. However, I can reel myself time to time in the name of expediency and frugality(a real word?).
I have been quite busy since the last update. The big effort being a whole new brake system front to rear, fuel plumbing, re-plating hardware, pedal box assembly, and finding parts seven(!) years after I took them off the car. I can and have been doing a few things in parallel and make some modest progress but it’s hard to complete one task completely. The problem is, most of these tasks are serial. I can’t bend the new lines without the master cylinder in. I cant put the master cylinder in until I get my powder coated parts back, can’t assembly those until I re-plate the hardware and on and on. But what I can do is work on something else! So this game of round robin continues until I save enough to get the parts I need to do the thing that lets me do the other things.
Brakes: I bought stainless lines from the Thestopshop.com. Their prices were reasonable and they shipped them quickly. I also bought stainless fuel line from them as well. The brake fittings I got from amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097VZNGNS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
I got this line bender
Amazon.com
WWW.AMAZON.COMand this flaring tool
Amazon.com
WWW.AMAZON.COMAmazon.com
WWW.AMAZON.COMThen I 3D printed some mold parts.
All in all they turned out quite well. I can make more so if you need a set, $25 shipped but it will take a few days to get them all molded.
I bought new flex brake hose from ebay that claimed to be NOS brake hose, it was cheap and looks the part.
With the brake lines bent up and all in place I turned to the fuel lines. I decided to run the line under the driver side which is where I think the return for the Tii originally went. It turned up at the pedal box and used flex hose to the filter king mounted above it. I bought a cheap fuel pump from RockAuto and mounted it in front of the fuel tank under the car. To do this I bent up a little bracket and welded on a nut that the pump “P” bracket can screw to. It came out ok.
Please ignore the cobb webs.
I had a E21 clutch master cylinder from a while back that I thought was a direct replacement for the 2002. Turns out it’s not. With a 2002 clutch master cylinder costing about $180 I figured I’ll try to make the cheap $40 E21 one work.
I turned down a cylinder out of 6061 on the lathe and had some 3/8” 6061 flanges cut from SendCutSend. This took two iterations as initially I used a 1/8" flange and planned to use a nut behind it but didn't have enough room. So I had to bump up flange thickness and thread it. I made an offset fixture for the lathe to turn down the center of the flange while leaving bosses on the ends. I think it came out pretty well.
I tapped the flanges for M8 x 1.25 Heli-Coils then welded it all up. The weldment fit up quite nicely and while technically didn’t save me much money, I do have material to make 5 more assemblies. So, let me know if you want one!
So, brakes done, clutch done, fuel done. Next big hurdle is get the engine in. With the help of a few friends we got the engine off the stand, mounted to the subframe, fit up the trans, and slid the whole assembly under the nose of the car.
We incrementally lowered the car until it was time to raise the subframe. It took about 2 hours to get the engine set.
Engine in! Now wiring. This is a big task.
First, I molded firewall grommets using the ID from this thread for the wiring harnesses. On the passenger side, I made some plugs for the air conditioning holes.
I started unwrapping all of the electrical tape and replacing it with Tessa Tape. I got a pack of it from amazon and it is much nicer to work with. I also bought new electrical contacts and a crimp tool. It took me a little while to track down these parts so here’s the list of what I found works well for replacing contacts.
These are the parts from Digi-key:
1 A100614CT-ND
42098-2CONN QC TAB 14-18AWG 0.25 CRIMP $0.17 ea. 2 A1420-ND
60620-1CONN PIN 14-20AWG CRIMP TIN $.0.25 ea. 3 A1421-ND
60619-1CONN SOCKET 14-20AWG CRIMP TIN $0.23 ea. 4 A27925CT-ND
60701-1CONN QC TAB 10-14AWG 0.25 CRIMP $0.27 .ea 5 A36375-ND
42238-2CONN QC RCPT 14-18AWG 0.25 $0.22 ea. 5 180384-2-ND
180384-2CONN QC RCPT 10-12AWG 0.25 $0.33 ea. I also got these heat shrink connectors from amazon for the connections that are not in a housing.
Qibaok 320 PCS Heat Shrink Spade Connectors
Amazon.com
WWW.AMAZON.COMTo properly crimp all of these onto the wires I got this crimper set. It works quite well especially for the price point.
HKS Ratcheting Crimping Tool Set 9 PCS
Amazon.com
WWW.AMAZON.COMI bought extra wire to splice in where needed and run new wires. I also got battery cable. I got it all from tinnemarinewire.com. Their prices were much more reasonable than the majority of other vendors I found. And they shipped very quickly.
I blasted parts at home then had a generous coworker who got them looking nice all powder coated. I also prototyped the gauge pod. I will probably do one more (or two) iteration to better marry the dash bump for the the gauge cluster.
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Wheel well coated
After doing the trunk pan decided to use KBS undercoat in the wheel wells and some seam sealer. Rolled and brushed on
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Piston bmw m10, cr 9.5 BMW E30
BMW m10 Piston Stress Test(u30)
The pressure is 75kgs-cm2, which
corresponds to the pressure at the maximum power of a standard motor. the weight of the piston is 602 grams, the material is alloy 2818-T61
the analysis showed that the maximum stress is formed at the edge where the locking ring stands, the yield strength is not exceeded for this material. The maximum displacement of the material was 0.025 mm, on the piston heat belt.
the yield strength is exceeded at a pressure on the piston of 105 kgf-cm2, while the movement of the material is 0.035 mm., in the piston's heat belt. Solid-state model format (SolidWorks) who needs a file write . Or follow the link, there may be something you are interested in))https://grabcad.com/egor.reshetnev-1
P.S. I am writing through a translator so I apologize in advance))))- Read more...
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A Series of Firsts
I don't have the illusions that I'm some kinda experienced shade tree mechanic. In fact, most everything about this project that I'm encountering on a day to day basis is some kind of first time moment. I hope this gives a little optimism to gals and guys looking to get into maintaining old cars and maybe they think they're not fit or smart enough or experienced to take on a challenge and learn something new.
I've decided for a car that needs everything phase 1 will be rebuilding the original M10 that sits underneath the rusted out bonnet. When I showed up to buy the car from the original owner he looked at me and said, "it's a solid car but she's locked up". In my newbness, I thought he was referring to the fact he was also missing the keys and the doors were locked. Yeah no, dumb dumb. The engine is frozen due to the fact it's been sitting for the past 44 years and no one's bothered rotating it let alone drain the oil, coolant, remove spark plugs, etc, etc. So here comes a series for firsts for me starting with removing an engine so I can dislodge 4 frozen pistons. These are few of those firsts along the way that I feel are worthy of note.
1. removing all 8 copper nuts that hold the exhaust manifold to the block. Took about a week with heat, JB Weld and patience. But I retrieved all of them.
2. removing 6 guibo nuts and uncoupling the drive shaft from the transmission. 3 bolts come through the front and 3 back out the rear but only as far as the transmission. not easy.
3. removing the large pin from the shifter assembly.
4. asking my 8 y/o (almost 9) to work the jack trolley from the front of the car while I wrestled the transmission from the block. A core memory for both of us.
5. pulling the engine with a chain hoist and ibeam trolley. The i beam in my garage couldnt be more conveniently located where i only needed to back the car up a few feet to center the chain over the block. up up and away. My first time ever removing an engine from anything.
6. the oil sludge that i knew was sitting on the bottom of the oil pan from when i attempted to drain it and it took a screw driver to poke a hole through 2" of sludge before it finally came running through. So gratifying to scrape that out...but the smell I will never forget.
7. the particular hollow sounding thunk a chunk of wood and mallet make when they finally create enough force to drive a piston to move in its bore for the first time in over 40 years.
thanks to this forum for the tips on managing these firsts and the ones still to come.
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Episode 1- the farce awakened
I finally did it. I've been wanting a 2002 for years. After having kids and starting a new career, life is finally settling into a more predictable routine and after some searching I managed to find a 73 locally. The owner was asking $20k on CL. I reached out and mentioned how inflated the price was, he agreed and said he wanted to keep the riff raff away and knew that it would sell for less. Here's a couple shots from the advertisement:
When I came to look at it, it was idling in the driveway. Sounded great. The body was in pretty good condition, door skins have rust, but a lot of the other problem areas looked good. The drivers side frame rail was mostly not there, and the car had no brakes. It had a set of Campagnolo wheels on it, but I'm not a fan of 4 spoke wheels (reminds me of Mazda). So eventually we struck a deal where he kept the wheels and threw in another 4 speed transmission, and I bought the car. It was a lot less than the asking price, but a bit more than I wanted to spend. I listed the reasons why I liked the car and kept telling myself that everything was going to be ok.
I grabbed a trailer and picked the car up and drove it directly to MooreSpeed. There are a couple of 2002 legends working there (Rob and Brandon) and I wanted them to help me get this car road worthy so that I could drive it and slowly tackle smaller jobs. After a few months the car was ready to pick up and my wallet was lightened even further than I had originally expected. The work that Rob and Brandon did was fantastic and they were super helpful with giving me their perspective on filling out my punch list. I drove the car home and it was rough! Lots of clunks coming out of the rear end, second gear isn't meshing and so it's really tough to get it to go in without grinding. The tires were about ready to pop and were split and wavy, but I had the biggest grin on my face all the way home!
And that's how things started. Here's a couple more pictures of the earliest state that I got it in