Suffering from the departure (sale) of my 2002 Big Turbo Jetta in 2012, which wasn’t really anything special to anyone other than myself. I decided I needed to replace it with something.

In 2013 I started looking around for something fun. I started off by researching late 70s 911s (side note: it seems the prices of vintage Porsches have really shot up in the past year or so), it just didn’t make sense to spend that much money on a toy, I then redirected my attention to the Alfa Romeo GTV, but even at that, too costly. The 2002 was only slightly on my radar when my buddy Ernest sent me a listing of a 2002 for sale in Toronto (Smitty's 2002 (also previously owned by Tony Havana).

Ernest was originally interested in the 2002 for himself but after weighing his situation (even though money is never an issue for him), he decided to pass. It was September 2013 when I started inquiring about 2002s with a little more sincerity and the 2002 Ernest sent me from Toronto had since undergone a price reduction, it was now listed at $9,500. Ernest and his Armenian entrepreneurial negotiating skills instructed me to go in with a number. I did that, it did not work but I did manage to lower the price to something I was ready to pay.

The next obstacle was getting it to Montreal (during the winter), there’s a whole awesome story about how we built ramps to load it on to a (granite truck) flatbed but I won’t get in to it. In the end I used uship.ca for $329, which was a freakin’ awesome price.

In January 2014, I took possession of the 1976 BMW 2002 from Toronto. It was the first time I got to see the car in “person,” the previous owner had sent me many detailed photos, but regardless of the number of photos, it can never compare to seeing it "in person."

Following the inspection there were a few (known and unknown) items I needed to address before I could start driving around town and picking up women.

I should start by mentioning, I had done some work on my own to the Jetta but don’t have much mechanical knowledge, I just like getting my hands dirty and learning new things... not to mention the info on bmw2002faq is inspiring.

Issues I addressed in 2014... work

• Both of the front bearings needed to be changed,
• The transmission (stick) was very sloppy, I traced the issue back to some worn out shift linkage supports, changed those.
• The transmission was also leaking out of the back, I changed the gear selector rod seal as well as the output shaft seal.
• The differential was leaking from the back plate and the driver side output, removed it, cleaned it, changed all seals.

Some changes...

• Replaced the standard NA turn signals for their European counterparts.
• Sold both sets of wheels and replaced with some BBS RMs. I know they're common, but I like em
• ->13” Exim Basketweaves which in retrospect I should have kept as backups
  and
• ->15” Widened Porsche 356 steelies (with 4x100 adapters) everyone and their mothers loved the look of these (including me), but the
  Aluguer de
  Carros Maiorca
  fact of the matter was, they weighed a ton, rubbed and had a lot of balancing weights to balance them.

Issues I left for future

• The (patched) hole through floor on driver side
• Fuel smell in cabin (actually, on the drive back from Oyster Fest last summer the fumes really got to me, an afternoon of drinking and oysters might have contributed)
• Engine leaking (from potentially, everywhere)
• Rusted rear shock towers
• Noisy driver door brake
• Scratchy/Distortion noise through speakers when at high RPMs (bad ground?)

Fall 2014 photo:

In the fall, before I put the , I decided to drive it over to a nearby paint shop who had previously done some work for me. I told them I would remove all the trim and bring it to them for bodywork/welding/painting, they inspected the car and provided me a quote of $4,000. Knowing them, I could have probably gotten it down to at least $3,700 but regardless following the estimate, my sensible side kicked in and I said to myself, I don’t need these headaches or an extra $4,000 bill. I listed the car for sale on MontrealRacing.com.

After enduring a few days of bashing from Ernest and Kosta, who then pledged their assistance for the disassembly, repair and rebuild of the 2002, I decided not to sell the car. I also managed to get a quote from another shop (Strasse), which made me feel a little better about life. Obviously with the car (soon to be) in pieces, it would be the perfect time for few upgrades, more on that, if/when they happen.

I should really emphasize that most of the work I'm attempting is thanks to the advice/direction of members on BMW2002faq.

Thanks guys.

Just for the record...

I (Anthony) have an "office job" (IT PM/BA), a 2.5 year old with another on the way in April, so I don't have a whole lot of time to work on the car... will do my best though.

Kosta is an industrial refrigeration technician, so he's on his feet all day.

Ernest owns a Quartz/Granite wholesale shop and is not used to manual work.