2002ti wannabe project begins

[jgerock]

Good Posts Jim.  Are you going to get the seats restuffed and recovered?   I really really liked the steering box rebuild.  I guess my biggest question about that would be - what needed re-building the most?  Seals?  Did you find any problems in there?  or just grime from  the years?

Ken -

 

I just worked on the driver's seat Sunday.  The spare (used) horsehair pads I bought are not shaped the same as my seats so I may have to improvise by cutting and gluing portions of padding where required.  I'm wrapping the spring (base) with either burlap or other solid  material so the springs do not cut into the padding (again). I may add a thin layer of foam to build up the horsehair.

 

I did not find anything wrong with the (74) steering box other than nasty goop inside. It turned smoothly so I decided to clean the parts and renew the seals.

 

Jim

[jgerock]

Long time since I've updated this...

 

Received more parts from another FAQ'r selling off some items to fund another project.

 

Interesting that the "new" ti housing uses the wire clips (as sold now by BMW)

Here is the solid clamp type clip on my other ti air cleaner

Now I have (2) ti air cleaner assemblies

[ray_]

Long time since I've updated this...

 

Received more parts from another FAQ'r selling off some items to fund another project.

 

Interesting that the "new" ti housing uses the wire clips (as sold now by BMW)

Here is the solid clamp type clip on my other ti air cleaner

Now I have (2) ti air cleaner assemblies

When will you start on the 2nd project car?

 

;-)

[jgerock]

Ray - 

 

I've got to stop buying more parts and doing PDX's to save up for the bodywork  .   

 

jim

[jgerock]

While moving things around in the garage, I noticed the ugly glue remnants of the hood insulation.  Since there has been lots of discussion on how large or small the (3) pieces are, the ones from my 69 are:

 

Driver's (left) side: 4"wide x 28"long

Center section: 18.5"wide x 13" long

Passenger (right) side: 8" wide x 28.5"long

 

The side pieces covered the areas between the strengthening ribs and the creases.

 

 

I also forgot my oil service sticker was actually in place. Looks like has experienced some "shrinkage" over time.

 

 

[jgerock]

While at Walmart today, I picked up a square yard of burlap for the seat bases, then put the seats back together. I added a thin piece of polyester between the burlap and the original driver's side gummihar pad and used a different pad for the passenger side since they both were pretty beat up.  The seat bases are now from a 70 or 71 which have thicker springs.  It looks like I need to upgrade/change the driver's side seatback pad and do more cleaning.  I have scrubbed the heck out of these covers both on and off the frames.

The rubber side pieces for the headrest refuse to come clean.

 

Hinges polished up nicely.

In progress.

 

This is what the driver's seat looked like when I got the car.

[M3M3]

whoo hooo!  progress! seats look a ton better than they did!

[jgerock]

Spent more time yesterday messing with the driver's seat.  Sure is hot and humid here...

 

Using a tip I read about in the latest Hemmings' Sports and Exotic about refurbishing old vinyl seats, I tested the method:

Container of warm water and Brillo (SOS) pad and some rags to scrub the vinyl clean.  The SOS pad made a mess and got in the edge seams but took some of the old rubbed in dirt off.  I then used a handy dish scrubber to scrub the rest of the seat covers.

 

Then took the seat back apart to do more cleaning and add some padding.  You must unhook the seat release mechanism on both sides before completely removing the hinges.

I removed the outer hinge first and the center rod came off the inner hinge section.

Here is the inner hinge.  To remove it from the frame you must unhook the upholstery to gain access to the (2) mounting bolts, then unhook the tilt cable.

After removing the seat back piece, you can then remove the seat cover.

Here is the seat pad  - nothing appeared wrong so I added a piece of jute padding between it and the springs and a thin piece of polyester padding between the pad and cover.

I cleaned up the hinges, sprayed some lubricant on the springs and release mechanisms and put everything back together.

 

Hmm - doesn't really look like I did anything for lots of sweat equity!

 

Both seats need the (2) chrome headrest caps and the "distance" rubber pieces near the seat bottom.  Hope they are still available.

 

[jgerock]

Painted the (2) steering box couplers then put them back on the steering box with a new flex coupling (guibo) but need to get some new self locking nuts.  Dragged the 4-speed tranny out and started taking the seals out.  Got the shifter seal out after breaking one of my bent tip picking tools. Spent another 10 minutes getting the sealing lock ring out of the output shaft yoke, then realized I didn't have the special home-made angle iron tool to lock the output shaft (at MLytle's house), so I dug out my crappy original metal piece. Worked fine with breaker bar and jack handle.

 

Removed the output shaft seal and the cover, but somehow I forgot to order the seal so will be ordering more stuff from BLUNT later. Thank goodness the cover bolts are all the same length on the 4-speed  .

[jgerock]

While waiting on a parts order, I decided to do more cleaning of the transmission today.  Good timing - it started raining as soon as I was putting the hose away.

 

I recall one FAQ'r saying it did not matter if the inside of the bellhousing was cleaned before installing a tranny.  Not me - with some elbow grease, Purple Power, brushes, SOS pads and a Scotch brite pad and low pressure water, your transmission can look really clean.  I temporarily installed the output shaft seal cover and coupling so water would not enter via the bearing.

 

For comparison purposes - first are two pics when I removed it from the car [then later powerwashed it when I cleaned the underside of the car]

[jgerock]

Installed a new input shaft seal and gasket, output shaft seal and gasket and spray painted the bolt-on input cover and output coupling parts for the tranny today.  For some strange reason, I did not order the correct shift selector shaft seal - the one I ordered is way too small.  

 

Output shaft seal installed in cover (recessed about 2mm per the Blue book instructions)

Size for my tranny was 40 x 55 x 8 to match the one I removed (RealOEM shows two different seals)

 

Input shaft seal cover with new seal and gasket installed. 

The tubular portion that the release bearing slides on has been lightly painted - I may remove the paint later.  The Blue Book states there is a felt wick # 21511200214  inside the release bearing pivot ball pin (the chrome-looking piece) - I was not aware of this and of course looks like it is NLA.

 

New o-ring installed for the speedometer drive bushing. My bushing fits pretty well so I did not replace it.

You must turn the bushing so that the retainer bolt can be tightened - this is what retains the speedometer drive gear.

[Kidasters]

Hey Jim.  Good updates.  Wow - another Ti airbox?  Really?  you know the car only needs 1.....

 

Be very careful with the small bolt that secures the transmission drive.  It strips out really easy.  Ask me how I know.

 

Keep plugging away, bit by bit.

 

Ken

[saaron]

Hey Jim -

 

Cool shot of the mechanism that allows the seat to recline, tilt forward.  I've never seen that part laid bare like that.   

 

You're a detail guy, so I'm wondering if you've ever noticed that, when you look at the stock seats in an 02 from behind, the seats will sometimes "face" inward, slightly, towards the centerline of the car.  I think it is something that happens over time - some fatiguing of some parts somewhere in the seats.  I've noticed it in my driver's seat, which is totally stock and original, and have seen it in other shots of cars at car shows, or for sale, etc.

 

Did your dive into the stock seat mechanism teach you anything that would explain this phenomenon?

 

Scott

[M3M3]

yes, the frame bends over time to the inside. 

Edited October 14, 2013 by mlytle

[jgerock]

Scott - the seats from the 69 (especially the driver's side) were pretty rough.  The "stop" piece welded to the left seat frame bottom was broken, allowing the seatback to tilt to the outside of the car.  I'm guessing it depends on how the occupants "sat" in the seats over many years and how they performed their entry/exit from the vehicle  .