Hole in top of Tii front cowl, what's this for?

[Mike Self]

10 hours ago, Schon '02 said:

‘73 VIN 2590923, but no clue if it’s original to the car having acquired the car four years ago.

My early carbureted '73--Dec 72 production, 2587090--bought from original owner--no hole.  But I recall seeing other cars with that hole and idly wondering what it was for...

 

mike

[NickVyse]

I can't imagine a BMW service bulletin suggesting a dealer take a drill to the metal work. The close up of the OP hole has clearly been drilled and not especially well. What's wrong with a short screw driver?

 

MikeD - has your hole been drilled or cut as part of the pressing? Any chance an early mechanic drilled the hole and you didn't notice?

 

All a bit weird.

[Glen Karr]

Steve,

Been following this thread on and off.  My Tii 2781681, April 22,1974 does not have the hole.

Glen

[SE DC]

I distinctly remember being told that this hole was for adjusting the points.  I think the suggestion was that it was owner-added, but I can't be sure.  Pretty sure it was Harmon Fischer who made the point.  Was certainly in the 1980s that I heard it, so the cars weren't old.

[beammmer]

Get some more popcorn.  #2587591 has a hole above the distributor.  Definitely not factory installed due to the drill chatter mark nor the skill level used in adding the hole.

 

The hole makes adjusting the points easy, there is a stubby screwdriver in the tool box, the long one makes it a snap.

 

#2589243, flooded in 2005 does not have the hole.  Also flooded a Tii without the hole.  Vin is there, maybe someone can read it.  Both '73s.

 

Don

Edited July 11, 2022 by beammmer
Picture, content added.

[Conserv]

1 hour ago, 02Les said:

While we're on the topic of holes.

What was the reason for the two holes added around October '74 to the driver & passanger side of the cowl?

Thermal reactor manifold and a bevy of emissions equipment first appeared in September 1974 (for the 1975 U.S. models)…

 

But how soon do that pair of holes disappear, Les? My ‘76 has and had none.

 

Thsnks and regards,

 

Steve

 

 

[MikeD]

1 hour ago, NickVyse said:

I can't imagine a BMW service bulletin suggesting a dealer take a drill to the metal work. The close up of the OP hole has clearly been drilled and not especially well. What's wrong with a short screw driver?

 

MikeD - has your hole been drilled or cut as part of the pressing? Any chance an early mechanic drilled the hole and you didn't notice?

 

All a bit weird.

 

NickVyse

It doesn't look drilled.  To me it looks like it was punched out but I wont swear to anything at this point.  As I said in an earlier post my hole was there when I brought the car home from the dealer.  I remember asking the service guy the day I took it back for its first service, what it was and he didn't have a clue.  What ever happened to make the hole had to be done before I took delivery either by the factory or dealership.

[Conserv]

1 hour ago, SE DC said:

… Pretty sure it was Harmon Fischer who made the point.  Was certainly in the 1980s that I heard it, so the cars weren't old…

 

Harmon Fischer = street cred

 

 

Thanks and regards,

 

Steve

 

 

[Conserv]

On 7/11/2022 at 12:53 PM, MikeD said:

 

NickVyse

It doesn't look drilled.  To me it looks like it was punched out but I wont swear to anything at this point.  As I said in an earlier post my hole was there when I brought the car home from the dealer.  I remember asking the service guy the day I took it back for its first service, what it was and he didn't have a clue.  What ever happened to make the hole had to be done before I took delivery either by the factory or dealership.

I agree that some of these appear to be punched, which would point toward a factory process. And if Mike’s dealer was drilling (or even punching) the holes on-site before delivery, I’d suspect his service manager would have had a clue.

 

Karl’s service bulletin idea, on the other hand, while hard to imagine, would explain the epic unevenness of the hole’s appearance. And my dealer did not hesitate to remove my ‘76’s “ghost exhaust exit”, below, with a tin shears and without my permission or knowledge, with a goal of installing an earlier side-exit exhaust on my 18-month-old car, simply because the earlier exhaust was in stock… ?

 

Excepting the Inka car with fuel injection — which has so many other things going on, e.g., CD ignition in the plenum — and the pair of early 1975 cars (built October 1974) — which may well have yet another explanation — the holes do appear to be located within a narrow spatial range.

 

Still confused…

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

 

[02Les]

2 hours ago, Conserv said:

But how soon do that pair of holes disappear, Les? My ‘76 has and had none.

 

Thsnks and regards,

 

Steve

 

 

 

Steve,

 

Holes started around 2361899 & still there on 2370711 but gone on 2370721. So it seems they were on the cars from Oct '74 to early Sep '75.

I guess whatever they were for, they were deemed obsolete for the '76 model.

 

edit: I was going to the pub, but got sucked in to this. The pair of holes were on USA & Euro cars incl RHD and Targas during the same Oct '74 - Sep '75 period.

Edited July 11, 2022 by 02Les

[Schon '02]

I understand that some of the tii notches were "factory" tin shear cut, so a cleanly drilled hole wouldn't necessarily be a guarantee, would it? I'm just curious if they're all in the same place, dimensionally. If so, it would rule out the randomness of individual owners doing so, maybe???

[02Les]

11 minutes ago, Schon '02 said:

I understand that some of the tii notches were "factory" tin shear cut, so a cleanly drilled hole wouldn't necessarily be a guarantee, would it? I'm just curious if they're all in the same place, dimensionally. If so, it would rule out the randomness of individual owners doing so, maybe???

 

Be careful when you say 'tii notches'. Below is a pic of my Nov '73 RHD Touring.?

 

 

[jimk]

 

2 hours ago, beammmer said:

Get some more popcorn.  #2587591 has a hole above the distributor.  Definitely not factory installed due to the drill chatter mark nor the skill level used in adding the hole.

 

The hole makes adjusting the points easy, there is a stubby screwdriver in the tool box, the long one makes it a snap.

 

#2589243, flooded in 2005 does not have the hole.  Also flooded a Tii without the hole.  Vin is there, maybe someone can read it.  Both '73s.

 

Don

The top pic doesn't look like the hole is much over the distr.  Besides, it looks like Don created the hole with a 45 cal.

Edited July 11, 2022 by jimk

[Conserv]

14 minutes ago, 02Les said:

 

Be careful when you say 'tii notches'. Below is a pic of my Nov '73 RHD Touring.?

 

 

Les, 

 

Please go to the pub! Your data is conflicting with every generalization we’d love to make! ?

 

Who else could tell us that 1975 model ‘02’s had an extra pair of firewall holes? ?

 

Thanks and best regards,

 

Steve

 

 

[Conserv]

2 hours ago, 02Les said:

 

Be careful when you say 'tii notches'. Below is a pic of my Nov '73 RHD Touring.?

We shall heretofore refer to “tii notches” as “tii and some RHD touring and probably a few other sub-models we haven’t even thought of and I’m certain we haven’t seen the last of them notches”. Is everyone on board with the new name?

 

Regards,

 

Steve