The Kumquat, my newly acquired ‘74 INKA sunroof car

[NLPed]

Start date was 11/25/2020:   I didn’t mean to do it, but it happened. An old friend called me out of the blue and wanted to know if I was interested in his 1974 Inka BMW 2002.  -Well, hell no I’m not interested in another project! Do you think I’m stupid? A BMW? Everyone knows that BMW means “Break My Wallet”! Pass!! -How much?   -Oh, I’ll be over on Saturday to get it.  So... Walter (my 1968 Chevy C10 SWB restomod project) has been kicked aside again for another stupid, expensive European car. I’ll admit that I have a proclivity for such.  Meet my new addition... aka, the Succubus. At some point I’ll realize it was NOT a good deal!   Added a pic to show Walter... Day 1:

Edited January 23, 2021 by NLPed

[NLPed]

Day 5:

 

I bought the car 5 days ago. In those five days, I’ve already spent $1800 on extraneous parts to make this thing just safe to drive. 

Center link, tie rod ends, lower ball joints, brake calipers & related brake parts, IE header, mid-pipe, motor mounts,and a $hit-ton of small parts later. But it ran and drove up on the trailer, so winner. Serious exhaust leak related to the giant crack in the stock manifold. Video to prove it ran’ish. 

 

Got it home and gave it its first bath since approximately 2004. 

_________

Edited January 23, 2021 by NLPed

[NLPed]

A few quickly found failure points... there were plenty of others after closer inspection. 

 

 

[NLPed]

Mileage seems creepy!!!

 

 

[NLPed]

Day #7: lots of small stuff happening. I got the worn out steering pieces and ball joints removed. Sandblasted the steering arms, lower control arms, and other related parts. Then I’m painting all of them while I continue to wait on parts to arrive. 

Pics of the worn out steering and pre-blast & painted lower arms. Just to prove I’m moving forward.

 

 

[NLPed]

Day 8:

Well, since I’m still waiting on parts, I decided to inspect the shocks/struts and concluded that they are worn out. So now I have new shocks, strut cartridges & drop springs (because lower is always a little better) on the way.

Edited January 23, 2021 by NLPed

[NLPed]

Day 10:

Nothing showed up but the new 175/70r13’s. So, they are mounted & balanced.

[NLPed]

Day 12:

 

No real picture value today, but...

Finally a full day of reassembly. I got the rear suspension reinstalled with new H&R springs and new shocks. Got the new front strut cartridges and H&R springs assembled. Also got the new motor mounts installed along with a bunch more parts sandblasted and painted. Still waiting on the steering parts, lower ball joints and the header.

[NLPed]

Just to prove I’m still moving forward. Still waiting on parts to show up. But the steering, lower ball joints and the IE header finally showed up tonight. So, pictures for proof...

[NLPed]

Day 27 & 28:

Got the header coated and installed. Also all the suspension, steering and as sundry pieces & parts installed. Still waiting on the poly swaybar bushings, & fan shroud hardware. But I got to at least see it on the wheels tonight.

Pre & post header coating pics and quick shot sitting on the ground:

[NLPed]

Nothing truly productive as I am still waiting on parts:


List of new or remanufactured parts;

Front strut cartridges, H&R springs, lower ball joints, center link & tie rod assemblies, idler arm bushings. 

Reman’ed 4-piston calipers, s/s brake flex-lines, pads, shoes & hardware. Waiting on one more part and then a full fluid flush/bleed. 

IE header and adapter to original exhaust, plugs, wires, cap, rotor & electronic ignition module retrofit, motor mounts, fluid change on motor, trans & diff. 

Rodded out, pressure tested & refreshed radiator, cap, a few new hoses, new shroud & fan etc. 

New 175/70r13” on the ole 13x6” Enkei’s

New transmission mount 

Steering wheel was hammered so that’s been replaced. 

But the saga must continue once more parts arrive....

[NLPed]

2002 update, I finally had a chance to get it running. I’ve replaced all the brakes, steering, suspension, cooling, tune up etc. It settled in pretty smoothly, once the oil got moving. Keep in mind that it’d been over a decade that it ran over a few minutes when loading it on the trailer.  Fuel smoke is bad, because it turns out that the existing carburetor is a cobbled together piece of $hit, but no exhaust leaks. I didn’t get to run it very long though between the newly identified  fuel pump leak that showed up & still no radiator installed. But it’s a step forward.

[NLPed]

No big update, but a few small parts finally showed up. The refurbished radiator, new fan & shroud, hoses and new fan belt are finally installed. The new fuel pump I received is wrong ?.  But I sourced an original new one.  This is about the time I finally connected with Paul Wegweiser, who is FAN,friggin,TASTIC. 

Edited January 23, 2021 by NLPed

[NLPed]

I’m still plugging along. Very frustrated with the USPS. Several of my parts seem to get close and then the next day they are a state away again. One 2-day priority package took 29 days to arrive. So aggravating. But I’m literally waiting on a fuel pump and I’m done with Succubus 1.1. Then I’ll decide my next plan...interior, paint & body or ???

 

 

 

[Mike G]

I wish I could recapture that new project enthusiasm. Congrats on all the progress, it looks a good buy from here.