Johanne Doe (for now) - 1975 Granatatrot Metalic with an M42

[VonTrapp]

Howdy. I'm Josh and here's my project - a 1975 BMW 2002, with an M42, and 5 speed.

I originally set out wanting a 73' and prior, with a sunroof, but opened up my sights to whatever had the best body/history to start a project with. It took about a year of constant looking (I'm surprised IT didn't block Craigslist based off of how much I frequented it...) But this one came along a few weeks ago and made it mine. Thanks to my girlfriend for helping remind me to "sh*t or get off the pot" when it came to purchasing this car. I believe her words were, "If we go look at this and you like it, are you actually going to buy it.... or are we just going to go look at another one?" :-) Positive push, and it's got me with this...

The motor & tranny:

M42, twin cam motor completely, rebuilt within the last 4000 miles, including: crank, rod,& cam carrier bearings, cylinders honed w/new rings & wrist pins, new seals & gasket kit, new valve guide seals, new water pump w/steel impeller & thermostat ,rebuilt triple core radiator (all steel), new oil pump, new fan clutch, new coil pack, new tii motor mounts, new tii single mass flywheel & clutch, and K&N air filter. 5 speed OD trans w/ new synchros (all gears) & new input/output shaft bearings & seals.

The suspension:

Bilstien HD's, Tii rear sub frame w/ boxed swing arms & 230mm drums, Tii front sub frame w/ big hubs/bearings, Ireland Racing big brake kit, stainless braided brake lines, rebuilt brake booster, and Tii master cylinder. It might have lowering springs cause the ride height seems low (looks low, agree/disagree???), but definitely dives a bit when braking.

I'll be posting updates as I chip away.

[potentialm20]

Congrats on the car. What are your goals? Is there a turbo in that m42s future...?

[VonTrapp]

Thank you! As much as I like power, I think I'll stick with a mostly stock motor (maybe a Dinan chip down the line), and get the car peppy but not potent.

As for other goals...

-Paint down the line/whenever Bart has an opening/new shop ready... probably sticking with the original color. There's one Granatatrot Metalic I've seen online that just hits the spot.

-Upgrade a the interior with E21 Recaros, Esty carpet kit with Raamat underneath, replacement door backings from Aardvarc.

-Get the suspension fresh with bushings from Blunt and some lowering springs

-Bumper conversion using Anton's brackets (anyone have any F&R bumpers, long tail rear)

-Wheels and tires

-Get the engine a little more tip-top (tach, cooling, wiring clean-up, vacuum hose clean-up)

[VonTrapp]

Oil Change.

I had been surfing around on Ebay and noticed a company called www.lubeudo.com. To be quite honest, I thought the name sounded a bit off, but found their product and mission to be neat - buy in bulk, sell at a modest price, and put the product in containers that help both the environment and consumer.

The oil I purchased is a Kendall synthetic blend and comes shipped in a box with latex gloves, an oil diverter, eco-pouches (saves a large amount of plastic that can't be recycled), and the box is lined with a durable plastic bag so it can hold the oil as a drain pan/box.

As well, I figured I'd upgrade the drain plug to a magnetic one. I've never had one for the engine, but figured - what's there to lose?There were some on Ebay, but was impressed with the strength of magnet on this one form BavAuto:

Anyone else running magnetic drain plugs? A friend has used the Dorman quick-drain style, see below picture, but I was hesitant of a spontaneous leak:

All in all, I was very satisfied with the customer service I received from LubeUdo.com - I'll be getting more eco-pouch oil from them. I will say that my box ended up with a pouch that leaked, but the owner, Charlie, (he responds to website emails) replied within hours and shipped out a replacement quart, plus a few extra quarts and diverters/gloves as "sorry for the inconvenience." Also, Charlie went and did extra tests on the pouches trying to figure out what went wrong and shared the results with me to help reassure his product.

If you're curious to hear more about the company, check out an interview on Fox News with their founder: http://youtu.be/LYNUIeoYYUw

[VonTrapp]

Steering Wheel Swap.

The stock steering wheel was well cracked, and the horn was nonexistent. I had picked up this Nardi steering wheel and Personal hub a while back, before I even had my 2002, knowing it was what I wanted to hold going down the road.

Removal and instal was pretty straight forward, yet, I didn't get the new wheel perfectly straight (after cranking the old steering wheel to help use it as resistance to loosen the steering wheel nut) so the alignment is slightly off. But I'll adjust it another day. For now, the old is gone, the new has come... and the new matches the shift knob quite nicely.

[VonTrapp]

For the next round of work, I tackled the suspension. Thanks to some purchases from Blunt, BavAuto, Ardvarc, and some FAQ'ers Le, Brian, and Beck, I had some parts to refresh.

-IE Stage 2 Springs

-Bilstein Sports

-Front Control Arms

-2 Tie Rods

-1 Center Rod

-2 Ball Joints

-Radius Rod Bushings

-IE Sway Bar End Links

-2 Strut Mount Bushings

-2 Fixed Camber Plates

The goal was to tackle it while I wasn't working over the summer (teacher with time off, but a part-time job to supplement). The rears were a piece of cake, the fronts, not so much.

Doing this "shade-tree" style, I had no vice for the front-strut nut. I tried various methods and tools (see this post here: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,57/page,viewtopic/p,951993/#951993 ), but to no avail. Thanks to the guys over at MotorSpeed West in Santa Clara, they said, "bring it over and you can use our vice-clamp."

The old strut nut came out, new Bilsteins went it, and I was ready to re-install. I also ordered the tool from Bilstein so that when it comes time to replace and warranty out the Sports (hopefully YEARS from now), I'll have the tool for the job.

Also, I had to saw off the end of the front sway-bar end link, somehow it ended up bent.

I'd rather not think about how that happened. But a mini-saw and some time and it was clipped off and new one on. Another hurdle was getting the center drag off. The M42 motor swap made accesing the passenger side bolt on the bar impossible to get a socket/bent socket/wrench onto. I tried tackling from the top (removing the steering-idler arm), but couldn't break it loose with a breaker bar. I figured I could get the guys at MotorSpeed West to tackle that part with a numatic gun. I just didn't think I'd had to have it towed there.....

Which brings me to this:

Once the new suspension was all bolted up (minus an old center drag link awaiting replacement), I dropped it off the jack-stands, charged the battery, only to find that when the car started, it wouldn't move once the clutch was engaged. I double checked that the clutch cable/nothing under the car hadn't had anything funk happen during the suspension, but nothing seemed out of whack. Looking on the FAQ, there were some suggestions of a stuck flywheel, which I tried the FAQ suggestions (See here: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,57/page,viewtopic/t,336593/highlight). No avail.

I was set to leave for a short vacation the next morning and didn't want this hanging over my head while away "relaxing," so I had the car towed to MotorSpeed West. They figured out the PO didn't use spacers on the E21 dif (part of the 5 speed swap), thus when the car went into the air for the suspension work, the axles popped out. So, they popped them back in, and said "Get some spacers."

Since then, I found an LSD (might as well make it an LSD if I'm going to put the effort on the rear) and spacers, (thanks to Ken at Vintage for both) and will be installing that sooner, rather than later.

[VonTrapp]

While I was trying to figure out the right tool for the strut nut, waiting to find an LSD and spacers, waiting to figure out a radiator leak (that'll wait for another post), I figured I'd start on a smaller project or two.

Cleaning up the instrument cluster. The cluster was dim and night, and figured there had to be atleast one or two or 7 bulbs burnt out. But, I had some spray-paint around and figured, why not kill a few brain cells. Thanks to this helpful guide, it was pretty much pain free: http://www.my2002tii.com/how_to_dash_gauges.htm

Not too painful. The cluster pulls out pretty easy, I was more concerned about breaking the clips that hold in the glass/guages when I took the glass and plastic out to give it a warmy-soapy bath before taping and spraying. Thankfully, nothing ruined by less-than-delicate hands.

I was able to replace a few bulbs, but cleaned out the O'Reilly's by my house of the bulbs they had in stock. I should have bike to get a few more, but I was hungry and there were pupusas and a girlfriend waiting for me. I'll pull the cluster out later and add some more bulbs, maybe the PIAA super bright ones?

Another, "why not start on it now" moment was taking off the rear bumper.

Couple of sockets, an extension/breaker bar, a mallet, and some tapping.

And keep tapping, and tapping, and tapping, and tapping, and tapping... and tada: