tires and wheels Hey guys, just bought my first (and favorite) BMW!

[CubbyChowder]

Hello everyone! My name is Mikey, I'm 21 years old, I just bought a 1973 '02 and I couldn't be happier! I fell in love with these cars about a year ago, and have wanted one since. I've been researching them here and there and decided I wanted to buy one and make it a fun, reliable, unique daily driver with a lot of character. I have a lot of plans for this car and can't wait to learn a lot while working on it! I will be honest, a lot of you might not like my plans for it as it involves air suspension, custom made metal fenders, wide wheels, VW interior, and all sorts of other non-purist sin. With that said, I am excited to become part of the community and it seems there are a lot of kind, helpful people on here.

Now a little bit about the car:

In typical young and dumb fashion, I pretty much bought the car sight unseen. After weeks of searching with no luck, I pretty much jumped on the opportunity after seeing it on craigslist. The seller was a good dude and he could tell I was excited about it. I made a 5 hour drive up early yesterday, checked it out for a bit and bought it! It runs good, interior is poo, exterior is pretty rough, rust is minimal, but thats exactly what I wanted. I will be doing a lot of work on this car and plan to completely transform it. It seems to have previously been in some sort of accident as the left quarter panel was obviously replaced with a Colorado orange one and the driver door was replaced with an Agave green one (right color names?). It seems there is a lot of bondo on the car, and I mean a lot, which is the biggest let down to me. I almost got a bit discouraged today when I realized there was a lot more than I initially realized, but I decided I'm not going to let that bother me and I'm going to follow through with my plans anyways. Like I said, it's a learning project, and I'll have to deal with unforeseen obstacles regardless.

I have an awesome spot to work on the car up at my dad's house, he lives on a somewhat abandoned vineyard/winery (he doesn't own it, but is the only one living on the property). Tons of space and tools for me to work, and I just bought a new Lincoln 180HD mig welder, which I will be putting to great use to get this car rust free, on a custom air suspension setup, and for the custom fenders. I want to do as much work myself as humanly possible, and I'm eager to learn. Is anyone even still reading? Here are some pictures I took today as well as a few pics of the small amount of dismantling I did today. Enjoy!

Then I did a little bit of work, took some interior stuff out and removed some trim. Didn't really accomplish too much today, just spent most of the day coming up with a gameplan:

And here's one my girlfriend took of me about an hour after buying it

[Gordon]

Congratulations to the insane asylum, since you bought a welder, you've already been drinking the 02 kool-aid. You'll fit right in here. Some observations about your 02. It's Sahara, some people dislike it, you'll find a lot of 02's that have repainted a new color were originally Sahara. I like Sahara, in fact I repainted my 74 Sahara tii, Sahara.

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y208/bimmerfan02/Gordon/tii/

Take care of your safety issues first, brakes, etc.. Any rust issues in structural areas? For an original CA car, how did it get so rusty? Parked by the beach???

Keep your CA blue license plates, they are original to the car and a badge of honor.

Start a project blog on your restoration efforts in the blog section of the FAQ forum to keep us updated on your restoration progress.

Don't be afraid to ask questions but do some research first. Do a search on the forum and you may find the answer to your question from someone who's been there, done that already.

Come to the Bay Area 02 Swap & Show to be held in May to see dozens of 02's and to ask questions.

G-Man

[Jim_75Sahara]

Hi Mikey:

Sahara rocks! Sorry to hear about all the bondo, but perhaps you have plans to fix that problem. Anyhow, you will enjoy the hell out of this car and you will learn a ton. Yes, there are a whole lot of friendly, knowledgeable people on the FAQ. Ask lots of Q's, but use the search function as well. A lot of typical Q's have been answered quite well and they're filed & waiting.

Anyhow, have fun, make new friends, drive a legend - not an appliance. Cheers and good luck!

[CubbyChowder]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I will definitely be changing the color. I will probably pull the engine and tranny before I paint the car so I can paint everything. Plus, I forgot to mention that I will be converting to 5-speed as well. The synchro's in the original tranny are on their way out.

As far as questions go, I am very familiar with the search function so you will not be hearing questions like "how do I pop the hood on my '02?".

[SteveJ]

Ahh..the ignorance of youth. Looking upon a well worn 40 year old car as a jewel...wait...we ALL do that.

Welcome to the madness!

My tip: Do not be quick to 'modify' or 'upgrade' something just because the original 40 year old part is worn out. Always consider the original part as an option. ie: the rubber suspension bushings are shot, I'll replace them with Delrin race bushings.

Before you shell out the bucks for a modification, try to get a ride in someones car with that mod so you can check it first-hand. Every modification changes the character of the car.

Get it safe first- brakes, steering, reliability.

Above all, don't cut or drill holes until you have considered everything. It's always harder and more costly to go back to original.

Oh, and keep the blue plates. Give 'em a good coat of wax.

[FunElan]

Sweet car dude! Where you located??

BTW the overriders on your front bumper look to be the rare early ones. Worth lots of $$$!

[CubbyChowder]

Ahh..the ignorance of youth. Looking upon a well worn 40 year old car as a jewel...wait...we ALL do that.

Welcome to the madness!

My tip: Do not be quick to 'modify' or 'upgrade' something just because the original 40 year old part is worn out. Always consider the original part as an option. ie: the rubber suspension bushings are shot, I'll replace them with Delrin race bushings.

Before you shell out the bucks for a modification, try to get a ride in someones car with that mod so you can check it first-hand. Every modification changes the character of the car.

Get it safe first- brakes, steering, reliability.

Above all, don't cut or drill holes until you have considered everything. It's always harder and more costly to go back to original.

Oh, and keep the blue plates. Give 'em a good coat of wax.

Thanks! Safety wise, the car is great. Brakes are solid, steering has a bit of play but I'm not sure if that's just because it's an old car or if that's how they all are. I'm definitely keeping the blue plates! I'm not trying to make this thing a performance beast, just a comfortable and fun daily driver, so I will probably stay away from most performance upgrades

[CubbyChowder]

Sweet car dude! Where you located??

BTW the overriders on your front bumper look to be the rare early ones. Worth lots of $$$!

Thanks, I'm in San Luis Obispo but I will be working on the car at my dad's house which is 25 miles north in Templeton.

Good to know about the bumpers in case I ever decide to sell it! Unfortunately, I think one is kinda banged up. The whole front bumper is pretty crooked. I will probably be selling some stuff off pretty soon, such as all the trim. The trim is pretty beat up but it's all there, is that worth some money at all?

[Gordon]

Mikey,

I'm in SLO county (Nipomo), frequently in SLO, we'll have to meet up some time and I'll show you my 02.

G-Man

[malagalaga]

Cool car - it's nearly my car's twin. What's your VIN? I wonder if ours are close. Mine is 2588760

Keep the Sahara! It's a color that really grows on you, especially with the saddle/tobacco brown interior.

Here's mine. And before anyone points it out, I have since readjusted the hood so it sits more evenly.

[scanner]

Love it - the car and the vineyard look like they belong together, both a bit weathered but beautiful! Nice photography as well.

[ElDiablo]

Sahara rocks, werd. Welcome to the FAQ. Like others have said, there is a TON of info here. I'm not great at using the Search function, but still helps quite a bit. Ah, the welder, I just welded in a bracket for my new drivers seat last weekend. You should see Gordon's car. I had mine for sale until HE came over in his to check mine out. I'm in Santa Maria and run up and down the Central Coast more than I like to admit.

See you around dude!

Andy

[jgerock]

Congratulations and welcome to the madness.

Even though your car is "scruffy", I love it in your pictures. Great wide angle lens shots. Since you are in SLO, make sure to contact Rob Torres at 2002 Haus for all your needs.

Have you named it yet?

[bianchini]

2nd picture, next to that green saab under the roof. what is it??!!! old ford?!

[slash02]

Mikey, Welcome! Reminds me of when I bought my 76 '02. Well sorta. I drove it the year before.

Anyway. Welcome to the madness. I love the colour of your interior. I have the same door panels, but black everywhere else.