introduction Howdy! I'm About to Acquire a 2002

[jplips]

Good luck with the process and hope you get a good glimpse of this 02 Automatic.

 

Noticed you are based in Livermore, CA? Lucky you because there is a fantastic BMW engine rebuilder over there who did work on my M10 engine called Terry Tinney.

 

Be sure to consult him on the smoke issue when you buy the 02 and before you do any engine work. Terry did a splendid job on a 121 cylinder head a couple years ago and the car drives super smooth.

 

All the best

 

JP

[jplips]

Good luck with the process and hope you get a good glimpse of this 02 Automatic.

 

Noticed you are based in Livermore, CA? Lucky you because there is a fantastic BMW engine rebuilder over there who did work on my M10 engine called Terry Tinney.

 

Be sure to consult him on the smoke issue when you buy the 02 and before you do any engine work. Terry did a splendid job on a 121 cylinder head a couple years ago and the car drives super smooth.

 

All the best

 

JP

[svgarage]

7 minutes ago, jplips said:

Noticed you are based in Livermore, CA? Lucky you because there is a fantastic BMW engine rebuilder over there who did work on my M10 engine called Terry Tinney.

JP, thanks for the heads-up! Terry's shop is about 6 miles up the road from me. It's great to know that there's someone out here that I can turn to if I'm in trouble. I'll definitely need help with some head work. And I'll most likely need some carb tuning to get the most out of the motor.

[svgarage]

Okay, well it FINALLY happened! After another six week, I was able to view the car!! I got back from my vacation, but then the owner still wasn't ready to show the car- her garage was a mess, so she promised that she would sort out her garage during her Fourth of July week off. I saw her after her vacation week and it was no surprise that she didn't get her garage cleaned, so she pushed me off for a couple of more weeks. She had agreed to show me the car on Thursday (yesterday), but as I suspected, she was again going to try and flake on me, but I stood strong and persisted! I offered to help her to clear the mess off the car and she folded!

 

The car indeed has been parked for 30 years, but she says that it was put in non-op, so there should be no back registration. It appeared that the driver's side rear bumper took a good tap that dented the bodywork beneath the taillight, but it's not too bad. There is a dent at the back end of the sunroof and there is some light rust on some of the body surfaces, but overall, the car is in pretty good shape, as far as I can tell. (There was too much crap in front of the car, so I wasn't able to sneak up there check things out, nor was I able to pop the hood.) I believe that the car is Riviera Blue, but it is badly faded. I did pop the trunk and check out the rear shock mounts- every thing looked nice and solid- no rust anywhere. The interior was pretty good. There was only one crack on the dashboard cover. The sunroof was smooth and operational. All the glass was uncracked and in great shape. The seats were in very nice shape, but there was a split in the drivers bottom cover. The cushions were a little soft and made crunching noises- I'll probably just redo most of the interior anyway, so it doesn't bother me. The radio and the A/C is dead, and the key has broken off in the ignition. And yeah, the motor needs an overhaul. Other than that, it's pretty darned solid! But of all things, I forgot to check the mileage!!

 

Through a small amount of sleuthing, I was able to deduce by the seats that this is a 1974, which makes me very happy   The owner was very reluctant to throw out a price. She asked me what I thought I should pay. I was starting to think that she was embarrassed to tell me what the car was worth (like $5,000?), so I went into this song and dance about people who overvalue their cars ,and that this car is actually going to cost me a lot of time and small fortune to get it on the road. So I offered $1500? Then she made this sighing sound. I asked her if that was a "good" sound or a "bad" sound. She actually said that she was thinking of selling for less, but I'm not she was just saying that to mask her disappointment. I asked her if that number was okay, but she seemed absolutely fine with it, so I was good with it too.

 

Now, she just has to locate the title, then we'll set a date, when I can tow the car away- this might take another 3 months! Anyway, Yay for me! I'm happy that this whole thing is just about finalized. But I really won't be able to rest until the car is in my garage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2016 by svgarage

[Vintagedavid]

I really enjoy stories that put cars back in peoples hands that will put them back on the road.  Good luck with your new project.  You stole it!!!

[ray_]

Very nice!

 

The radio is worth a quarter of what you paid for the car.

 

... The crunchy seats are a feature of the dried-out horsehair stuffing. As was the smell!

 

The VIN is on the steering column top pad, most likely. That would be a better indication of the model year.

 

Cheers,

Edited July 30, 2016 by ray_

[Vintagedavid]

Do yourself a favor and just ask her to apply for a duplicate title.  From the looks of her garage, she may not be very organized indoors.

[svgarage]

1 hour ago, ray_ said:

... The crunchy seats are a feature of the dried-out horsehair stuffing. As was the smell!

The VIN is on the steering column top pad, most likely. That would be a better indication of the model year.

As I was bouncing up and down on the seats, I was thinking that exact same thing! LOL! I tried to spot the VIN somewhere on the door, but to no avail. I forgot to check the dash or steering column. The seller said she new where that title was- she had it out recently- she'll text me a snap of it, just to reassure me.

 

1 hour ago, Vintagedavid said:

Do yourself a favor and just ask her to apply for a duplicate title.  From the looks of her garage, she may not be very organized indoors.

But no doubt! Her garage is a total wreck! She is a self-admitted hoarder. Before we drove over to her place, she warned me to use the bathroom at work first, because the inside of her house is trashed and there was no way she was going to let me step inside!

[Conserv]

Yes, pretty darned clean!  It will be interesting to discover what precisely is broken in/on the engine!

 

The gray vinyl interiors are very rare in the U.S. -- I'm not exactly certain why that is the case, but neither Hoffman Motors nor BMW NA ordered them regularly, even when gray was the factory-recommended interior color -- but quite good looking in my opinion.  Ray's certainly correct about checking the VIN but the combination of '74-style seats and Autoflug seat belts certainly points to '74 (Repa seat belts became the norm for '75-'76).

 

The handbrake grip, splined rather than molded to fit a hand, is the earlier style.  My '76's molded-to-fit-a-hand is shown below.  I thought the molded-to-fit-a-hand style was introduced in '74, but perhaps it was '75.  The Blaupunkt Frankfurt Stereo, on the other hand, looks to be the '76 model, which was manufactured from '76 to at least '78.

 

Congrats!  Keep at it until you bring this baby home!

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited July 31, 2016 by Conserv

[svgarage]

It's confirmed. I have seen the title. It is indeed a 1974 2002. Now, I can shop with confidence

[2002Targa]

Drooling!!

I wonder if the handful of change on the dash comes with it??  Looks like a very sweet find!

[theNomad]

what a steal!

[svgarage]

I'm still drooling myself! But I won't feel settled until this car is sitting at my house! Then I can finally kill this thread. There are so many parts I want to buy, but I dare not until I know for certain that this deal won't hit reverse. So far, I have only purchased some vintage BMW keychains and a Haynes manual.

[2002Scoob]

Jeeze. Excellent car for a killer price! What a deal.

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[rstclark]

Go Big.  Convert it to a 5 speed