Just In Time For Summer - 1971 Bmw 1600

[danco_]

Minor Update: 

 

Picked up a set of wheels that I'll rework and run on the 1600 for a short time.

These are 14x6" et18 Enkei Apache V wheels. I have all four wheels, but only 3 center caps. 

 

 

Gave them a quick cleaning. I'll do heavy duty cleaning sometime this week with a hot-water pressure washer.

 

 

 

 

 

Dirty

 

Cleaner

 

 

The rear markings

 

 

All the wheel weights I pulled off. These weights were collected from all four wheels. I'm surprised they are still round. I will likely find a local wheel shop to take them to. Hopefully someone can make them true once again.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not a big fan of gold centers, so I'll paint them silver/grey. Something like this: 

 

 

If you didn't make the connection, these wheels are basically copies of real BBS E30 Motorsport wheels. I'm not ready to jump on a real set of E30s, and I'm not too keen on 15" wheels for these cars anyways. 

 

 

Tomorrow I should be able to finish up the front brakes and mount these to get an idea of fitment. I do plan on buying a set of Dunlop Direzza ZII wheels in 185/60r14. They should fit a little better than the 195s.

[M3M3]

making good progress Ryan!

[danco_]

 

I could tell by looking at the lip on the minilites that they wouldn't fit under the front fenders. My Campys are similar with an offset in the low teens. You want stock e30 kind of offsets to fit under the fenders. 14x6 bottlecaps fit perfect. I have had IS weaves  (14x6.5) with 205 under stock fenders with maybe a slight roll.

 

 

 

 

Definitely not with 205s, that's for sure. I'm going to have to think about what I can do about the minilites. Not sure if I can use them anymore. Part of me wants to pull the fenders to accommodate, but that is a decision I have to live with no going back. 

 

The Apache V wheels are a bit better with clearance (currently with 195s). I figure that with the 185s and a slight roll/pull, I'll be where I want to be. The front still sits entirely too high for my liking. I may go the coilover route if it irks me when the car runs/drives.

 

 

Here is a photo of how the minilites fit in the front: 

 

and here are the Apache V with 195s:

 

and here is the ride height when the photos were taken. Not sure if an inch or two of lowering will give me the camber I need to make these fit behind the fenders.

 

 

Again, it's not a major issue, but it is an issue that needs to be addressed sooner than later. 

 

 

 

 

 

I was after those Apaches V's too haha, just got cold feet.  Good to see you got the bits.

 

 

These wheels are very hard to come by! They were a good buy and don't require much to get them "right". Can't complain on the purchase price either. 

I'll likely order new Direzza ZII in 185/60r14 today. 

 

 

I also completed the BBK today. The new hub went on smooth and all studs fit as they should. I have the old hub here and can send back to you anytime. I want to hold off for a week, should the first package get here in that time. I can then send you one package with two hubs.

 

 

New (correct) grommets installed in the brake MC: 

 

 

 

 

And here is how the rear Minilites sit in the fender well: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

are you using stock strut mounts? are the spacers still in under the wheel wells? A lot of 2002s have had those flipped to the top, but they're not even necessary. They were added during federalization to get the bumper to be above a minimum height.

 

Nope, no spacers. Got rid of those.

 

Here are some photos of the car before and after. 

 

Early in ownership:

 

Stock suspension with new wheels

 

New Spax springs and struts installed but unsettled. If I didn't know any better, I'd say nothing has changed. 

 

This is blowing my mind. I double confirmed that the front springs are for the front and rear springs are for the rear. Everything looks installed correctly too.

 

One thing that seems *off* to me is how the new strut bearing fits in comparison to the old bearing. 

 

Here is the old bearing before being removed. Look at the distance from bottom of the bearing to the metal spring holder thing:

 

And here is the new bearing installed. Now take a look at how much greater the distance between the bottom of the strut bearing and the metal spring retainer thing. Unusual. 

 

 

But even so, removing the spacer (originally under the wheel well) should compensate for this extra gap. 

 

Here is a photo of what the front suspension looks like when on the ground. Sorry for the potato quality.

 

 

I'm stooped.

 

 

 

 

PLEASE CHIME IN. What have I done incorrectly that would warrant should a high ride height with "lowering suspension"?

 

 

Edited May 8, 2014 by Danc02

[M3M3]

Not sure if an inch or two of lowering will give me the camber I need to make these fit behind the fenders.

 

lowering will not change the camber in front much. 

[danco_]

Haven't gone to the warehouse in a few days, but a few parts are starting to show up here. I think the headers might actually show up tomorrow as well. Pretty excited about that.

 

 

First, a fire extinguisher for the 02: 

 

This will fit right under/in front of the driver's side seat. I hope to never use it, but with only 6 fuses and even fewer relays, I just don't trust this 43 year old car. 

 

 

 

And some new tires for the 14" Enkei wheels. These should do nicely in helping to clear the front fenders. The wheels came with good tires in 195/60, but I thought I'd take it down 10mm and see what happens. My bank account cries today. 

 

[danco_]

So I received a large box today in the mail. They did indeed contain the headers, though I was surprised that the seller sent me the originals and not the copies! 

 

 

Here are some photos. I wasn't able to get a good diameter on the primaries, but they roughly look to be 1 1/2 - 1 5/8" while the collector is 2". This sort of answers my original question. Looks like I'm limited to 2" exhaust tubing! 

 

Photos for those following along: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, I have original headers and though they don't follow the 1-4 & 2-3 pairing which is supposedly better for torque, I'm still going to use them. 

 

F yeah!

[M3M3]

From your measuring picture, looks like the header outlet is 1 7/8's. (the inner tube outside diameter.)

[danco_]

From your measuring picture, looks like the header outlet is 1 7/8's. (the inner tube outside diameter.)

Had a meeting with the guy who is going to build my exhaust, and he confirmed that the OD is 2", with the larger "slip pipe" measuring at 2 1/8".

 

But still, I had to triple check after I read your comment. 

[danco_]

Been busy with work, but managed to get the headers on. I didn't fully attach them to the head... merely a test fit. Few photos:

 

 

I took the headers apart and tinkered with the fitment. This photo is of the two parts that connect directly to the head. The last piece (not pictured) is a collector/downpipe. 

 

 

 

From up top: 

 

 

And a more-complete shot of what the engine bay looks like these days. 

 

 

These photos are very grainy and of low quality due to bad lighting. I should really invest in a good camera. 

 

Also had a meeting with my exhaust guy. He will be building me a nice 2" stainless steel system all the way back. I'll go ahead and buy a resonator and muffler for this job. Should be pretty nice and quiet when done! But not too quiet. But still pretty quiet.

[danco_]

Small progress:

 

 

I have a tentative date set with my exhaust builder for next weekend. Then I should be able to get the dizzy on, make sure the motor is in time, valves adjusted, and add all fluids. She should run after that. 

 

Remember these wheels? 

 

 

I did some work to them and they now look like this: 

 

 

and with tires: 

 

 

 

 

I think the centers are too light a shade of silver/grey. But I've already put in a good few hours into them. I'm too lazy to do it again. They will stay as they are for now.

[jgerock]

Ryan,

 

Let me know how you like those Dunlops.  I'm thinking about getting a set of the same size for my tii.  Good 14" summer tires are getting harder to find.

 

Jim

[danco_]

Ryan,

 

Let me know how you like those Dunlops.  I'm thinking about getting a set of the same size for my tii.  Good 14" summer tires are getting harder to find.

 

Jim

I will! I hope to have the car on her maiden voyage sometime next week! Down here in Southern California, it hardly rains so I don't think I'll have any review on wet-traction.  Which reminds me, I should go in for an alignment. 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I met a man about a thing.

 

Here are two photos to help you solve this mystery. This man is very good at things.

 

 

+

 

 

=

 

???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I'm going to order a set of DOT3 rear spring pads. This should help even out the front and rear stance on this car. I think the rear stance is a bit too low. 

[danco_]

Sneak peek of today's developments. 

 

My exhaust guy is located in Signal Hill (Long Beach) and is familiar with 2002s, as he's owned one or two. He is a very knowledgable fabricator and can build pretty much anything that involves metal. Very skilled guy.

 

Here is a shot of what he whipped up in a few hours. Will have more detailed photos tomorrow or Tuesday. 

 

I'm excited! 

[dasfrogger]

I'm loving this build. Great stuff!

[danco_]

Updates and Photos.

 

 

Here are a few more shots of the exhaust work. I am pleased with it this far, but I will have to make a few tweaks. 

 

 

I chose to use slip fittings instead of a v-band setup for simplicity. I'm actually still waiting on two clamps. Fully modular, fully mandrel bent system. It looks so pretty. I'll probably add a flex pipe and another mount somewhere right before the subframe. There is some play back there that I want to take care of. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is where the party starts. I was hoping that today or tomorrow was the day I start the engine. I go through the necessary steps and begin thinking about coolant and oil. 

 

Remember that weird drain plug thing that I took a photo of a while back? Well it wouldn't come out, so I had to rip it out. 

 

This thing: 

 

ended up looking like this: 

 

because of this: 

 

If you can tell, it looks like the oil pan was dropped directly on the drain plug housing and damaged it. The engine builder decided WTF let's reuse it and Mickey Mouse the hell out of the drain plug and sell it as is. I took this as a big "F You" from the seller. This really pissed me off. 

 

I consulted with a few others and agreed that the oil pan would need to be replaced. I don't really get angry, but my brain wasn't having any of it today. What would have been a nice day, bringing this build to something of a close, turned into a oil pan replacement surgery. 

 

So off the pan comes.

 

 

 

I figured out a way to remove the oil pan without raising the engine or lowering the subframe. It involves removing a few bolts from the oil pickup and sliding it sideways, allowing for oil pan removal clearance. It worked great, but I'm still mad and the PO.

 

 

Luckly I have a fresh pan stashed away for another 02 project, so it wasn't a big pain in my balls. Here it is, being prepped with RTV gasket maker. I'm not crazy about the stuff, but my mechanic says it's good. I trust my mechanic; he's become one of my good friends, even though I don't speak spanish. We use our hands to communicate like apes, but we understand each other quite well. 

 

 

 

 

And here it is, new pan, fresh drain plug, and everything is back to normal, AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FROM DAY 1. I partially blame myself for not looking into this when the engine was out, but I was led to believe that it was a perfect engine in every way. Heh. 

 

 

And a new oil filter for good measure, recommended by our very own member Merlin. The green oil is Brad Penn 20w/50 Partial Synthetic.

 

 

I'm going to treat this engine like it's brand new, and go through the proper break-in procedure. I'm getting close. 

 

I really hope this engine works out. I don't know what to believe anymore. 

 

 

 

Til next time,

Ryan.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Danc02