I have been working on the 2002 a few hours each week, ordering parts as I remember I need them and installing them as they come. The biggest thing is that all the replacement floors are now installed with only some more welding needing to be done for structure. The interior looks so much better now with the new floors, It actually looks presentable instead of looking awful like it used to with all the rust holes and riveted patches.

Once the final welding is done I will start to clean up all the small surface rust spots elsewhere in preparation for carpet, but there are other priorities first.

I also cut out all of the rust on the front nose but have yet to decide whether I should patch it up or put a spoiler down there and leave that as some maybe not so professional airflow to the radiator and intercooler which will hopefully be sitting inside there.

The only other rust spot that is rusting though is on the passenger side in front of the rear wheel bubbling the paint which still needs to be addressed. With fixing that rust and with the rest done it makes me wonder if I should repaint the car its original color while it is mostly apart. The paint that is on it now is purple in sunlight but is in fairly good shape with only some scratches and chips but a good clear. stripping off the paint on the car to repaint it also worries me; this car will never be concours, I fixed the riveted patches on the floors but there are also riveted patches on the inner rear wheel wells and the rear quarters look good from the outside and have held up for over 10 years but looking from the inside, the metal there is held on with bolts and It looks like a ridiculous amount of rust was repaired there being a east coast car. If I start stripping the paint I am afraid I will will find tons and tons of puddy that will need to be completely redone to look decent.

     In happier news I have made progress with modifications. I used the front half of a 320 driveshaft matted with the rear of the 2002 driveshaft and had it shortened by the recommended driveshaft shop here in Colorado. The driveshaft is now in the car with the lsd I had. I still need to sort out the attachment of the cv axles to the differential, I know ireland engineering sells the necessary parts but I don't know if I want to pay for all those parts if the money could go toward something else as I am on a budget. I measured the difference in widths of the driveshaft myself and as of now, have fabricated one spacer for the diff in the home machine shop, I can put up a picture of it tomorrow if I get around to it.

     On the engine side of the drivetrain I have made much bigger progress. I put the battery in the trunk and actually used the battery cable from I believe a e39 which is just the right length to go the the firewall. With the batter positive all hooked up, I finished the last of the engine wiring with the installation of the last fuses and the attaching of all the positive wires to the positive terminal. I still need to source and attach a alternator ( I somehow lost the one I had ) and attach the starter but in the coming days I will be doing the first tests of the electrical system, making sure the megasquirt turns on and that nothing catches on fire. 

      Aside from the electrical system I have been installing all of the oil and coolant lines and pondering where and how to route the intercooler and turbo piping. I ordered all stainless steel braided lines for the oil and coolant and now I smile at the beauty that the engine is becoming with all the shiny new parts.

To hide all of the wires along the engine, I turned all of the old CIS injections in hooks that channel the wires along the engine.

Also as part of my saving money I made the idle control valve instead of buying it because if I have the tooling and the time, why not.

I also installed a 320i radiator and set it back a little to fit an electric fan and maybe the intercooler in front of it.

Some old pictures I forgot to include. The 2002 crankshaft pulley had a chip in the air pump pulley, so I just put it on the lathe and turned it off to make it balanced

I also forgot to include that I attached a trigger wheel to the pulley and made a holder for a hal sensor

( all of this was before the engine was in the car )

   A lot of progress has been made but I don't know whether the end is close of far away. The engine in close to being done, but there is still so much left to do and more things that could be done to make the car look nicer.  

    Likely the next big thing that will be done is getting the exhaust made, filling her up with fluids and trying to see if I have any tuning skills whatsoever to get it to idle.

    It will likely not look pristine for some time, the priority is getting the car running and in a position where it can be driven. It is the beginning of the end to the modifications on the car, I very much look forward to being able to drive a 2002 for a first time. I have also not put anywhere that I am 19 now so I think Im doing pretty good, but I'm prepared for the worst as the engine is getting close to being started.