Finally a running car! Honda F20/F22 Swapped 1973 BMW

[Wallyinc]

This is my car's story.

 

It was acquired by my father in the mid 80's in Laredo, TX as a nonrunning but complete car.  My dad had no plans to fix it immediately, he had other projects to work on, so he gave it to a good friend of his. 

 

This is my first memory of the car. Being 6 or 7 , going to a bbq with family members and seeing the car in pieces. Sitting beside (not underneath) a vacant carport. My dad was livid by the shape and condition of the car and said he was going to pick it up the next day, take the car back. I went with him the next day with a trailer to pick up the carcass of the BMW. No engine, no tranny, and a rotting interior from the windows being left open. 

 

Fast forward a few years to 1993 and my grandfather is going to fix up the car for my sis to take to college at UT Austin. He is going to put in a 4cylinder from a small Mitsubishi truck and has the engine freshened up, ready for install. He had already had the interior done and engine bay painted. He passed away soon after and was never able to finish the project. 

 

For the next 15years the car sat underneath my grandmothers carport and she fed her 15+ cats everyday on a piece of sheetmetal placed over where the hood should be. I like my older 3sis' went to school in Austin and would occasionally see an 02 out and about. 

 

But I grew up working on domestic cars, more specifically GM vehicles. I had a '67 GTO at the time that I used to get me to and from college 5hrs away. The build was a bit hot for the street but I loved it. 350 w/ a solid roller cam, richmond 5 speed, and a ford 9". Then one day my life changed, my coworker gave me a ride in his B16 swapped eg hatchback... and since then I have owned 3 Honda Civic's, all kept mostly stock.

 

Around 2010/2011 I got the idea to give the 'ol 2002 a whirl, and I purchased a donor/parts car from ebay for 700$ (beige car pictured). The shipping was more than the actual car! My plan was to pull out the running engine and place it in dad/grandpa/sis' car. When the beige 02 came in, i took it for a quick ride up and down the street as soon as it was unloaded off the trailer. WHOA! even with a fred flinstone sized hole in the floorboard, it was such a fun ride. 

 

At the time I had just opened a business (bicycle shop) and it was really taking off. I had zero time to work on the car. So once again both 2002's stayed parked. I really wanted the 2002 to run though, to finish what my grandfather was unable to. In 2015 I saw a f22c1 on ebay for cheap. I bid, I won. The pallet came in and at this point I was committed. 

 

My goal was simple, I wanted a daily driver. The things that were of the utmost importance to me were engine/drivetrain, suspension, and an a/c. Spend money on these things and source the rest either new/ used or fabricate myself.

 

After looking at the wiring on the stock 02 for about 30 seconds, I decided to rip it all out, gut it. I wasn't interested in an oem build, I wanted to car to look good to my tasting, a mixture of 70's and 80's with a bit of ratrod to it as well. My dad was given power seats from a volvo s80, way too comfortable to pass up those had to go in too.

 

And I gave myself ONE YEAR to finish the project and boy was I on my way to accomplish my goal... when I met my wife. My priorities changed quickly and six months later we were engaged, six months after that married, 9months later a baby, and 12 months later two more.

 

Even though I always had the project in the back of my mind, my family kids are priority. At this point I had sold my business and was actually using my degree now as a HS Teacher. I loved the change of pace, the time with family, sick days and even weekends on occasion to work on the old bmw.  This whole build since I have gotten married has been funded with selling bicycle/motorcycle/car parts on ebay too!

 

Here is the first batch of photos (in no specific order). You can see many things were done/fabricated on-the-cheap with second hand materials given to me by family members or friends . The project has also forced me to learn to do so much. TIG & MIG welding, interior, wiring.... painting. 

 

I'll make a few more posts after this one with more pics too. Hopefully someone planning a Honda swap will see these and get a bit of encouragement.  Enjoy, because I still am to this very day. I know the car isn't perfect, but considering everything it's/we've been though, it's absolutely perfect for me... and my family!

 

 

Day one, let get this thing going... 

 

time to start cleaning out the interior. 

 

A fine day. The car was moving again! Found some wheels from a kia at the junkyard for 80$

 

My donor car that would come in extremely handy! Bottle cap wheels, sport steering wheel. 

 

Also took the front lip, windshield and wipers from it!

 

a 2007 Honda S2000 Ap2 Dive by wire engine. 

 

out with the old and in with the new

 

Rims before powder coating. I later realized the steel wheel was too small to clear the front brakes. 

 

suspension back from powdercoating too. 

 

wheels with fresh powdercoating!

 

front radiator support chopped off

 

My dad helped me find the biggest radiator possible, it just needed a bit of modification/ welding. 

 

patched floorboards to make room for the volvo s80 seats

 

driver seat had a memory function from the factory and had to be rewired. Wires are from an old stove/oven. they always have the best colors!

 

fitting the e30 pumpkin with the help of catuned.

 

parts back from powder. 

 

bigger is better!

 

the undersides

 

painted and ready to go again.

 

my homemade header!

 

modified tank that now fits the stock s2000 pump

 

the transmission crossmember also serves as a brace. 

 

in she goes. little did i know i would have to pull it out again a few years later to convert to drive by cable.

 

not a whole lot of rust, only under the front lip. 

 

reassembled diff after powder coating. 

 

not looking too bad again, almost zero rust. 

 

dad helped me out with the fab of the tranny crossmember

 

radiator now welded and modified with a neck and upper and lower radiator hose. 

 

a buddy donated a piece of sheetmetal to the cause of my center console. 

 

i seriously have over 200hrs of my life in this console. i wanted it to be the centerpiece of my interior. 

 

driveshaft is ready to go. the driveshaft guy came up with the design using a yoke from a chevy if i remember correctly

 

the mig was broken and i did not own a tig yet. so i stick welded the pieces together

 

new front rad support has tons more room! and stiffens up the chassis too

 

tank tig welded shut and oem pump goes in. help from a fabricator buddy who taught me how to tig weld in the process

 

chevy parts on a honda engine /bmw car

 

 

console coming together nicely.

 

floorboard is patched and will fit bigger seats now. 

 

now the tank will have space for the s2000 pickup

 

console coming together nicely

 

tank primered

 

top piece is to house the radio, clock (love the idea of a clock in the car) and ac vents

 

at this point i was planning on running the factory dash.

 

primered and ready for paint. 

 

finding a location to put the battery in the rear

 

undercarriage is looking great!

 

 

trying to figure out how to make an ac compressor. stock s2000 one didn't fit. relocating it to the passenger side. 

 

"new" steering wheel, no windshield 

 

the homemade ac bracket 

 

in she goes!

 

the start of what would be my first header!

 

using a universal summit kit that cost 100 dollars i start cutting tubes making sure that the ac compressor has 

tons of space. the factory header would not work for this reason. 

 

grindage on the oilpan

 

tons of room for the ac

 

Whataburger was the official food of my rebuild!

 

A big moment for me, my car finally had an engine!

 

scrap metal repurposed!

 

ready to drill

 

not bad for my first header!

 

crossmember powdercoated and ready to rock and roll

 

i wanted to header to be functional AND look cool, this worked out great!

 

had to relocate the oil filter to make room for the ac bracket

 

seats will be perfect as soon as i remove the headrest

 

 

driveshaft fits perfect

 

the cardboard mockup of my console. 

 

looking great already

 

it looks more ready than it is. 

 

not moving under it's own power, but it's moving!

 

 

the center console is removable like a doghouse in an old van so i can access the driveshaft and transmission

bolts should it ever need to come off. 

 

mock up of the radiator and header is complete

 

keeping true to my hotrod roots with a hurst shifter plate/boot

 

a watch from ebay serves as the clock for the car

 

asleep

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Wallyinc

[Tommy]

Wow, what a story,  covering nearly four decades in one post!

Edited November 25, 2022 by Tommy

[Rodolfo Lasparri]

Awesome story and phenomenal work, love it!

[Wallyinc]

thanks @Rodolfo Alcocer and @Tommy!!! working on trying to figure out how to upload a few more photos. 

 

Edited November 25, 2022 by Wallyinc

[Wallyinc]

 

went with my own led setup after i saw the prices of aftermarket.

 

horns are off of a chevy pickup.

 

 

nice 3/8 inch plate to mount the subwoofer

 

using off to polish and bring life back to the turn signals. 

 

 

oil filter from a 350 chevy.

 

 

took the idea for wood on the dash from a bmw i3!

 

 

saying good morning to may car at my dad's garage

 

 

making a bracket to house the dual fan relay set up and thermostat switch. 

 

 

... and hiding it behind the drivers side headlight

 

 dual fans are off a wrx. 

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by Wallyinc

[Wallyinc]

I've always love the look of split bumpers on the 70 camaro, decided to incorporate them into my ride too! KC slim hilites to boot

 

 

time to wire the front end of the car. 

 

dynomat painted black and the wiring begins. 

 

 

about to receive a coat of clear. 

 

 

figureing out where to put the tabs on the doghouse

 

i thought white and purple would look good... didn't look bad but wasn't to my liking

 

 

easy access to the fuse box on the passenger side. i hate crawling under the steering wheel!

 

main fuses from the battery

 

the finished console. that i would later have to resurface and paint

 

was going for that industrial look. 

 

more wiring.

Edited November 26, 2022 by Wallyinc

[Wallyinc]

 backseat now has a storage lid. 

 

 

 

stainless hinges from the hope depot

 

 

cutting out the card for the rear seat

 

mockup of the trunk

 

i always loved the look of the speaker in the 1960s impala in the center of the  backseat

 

amp ready to go with a leather belt from walmart

 

got the belt on sale too!

 

made sure to weld and mount the speakers solid on the doors

 

fitting the tweeter on the door was a challenge

 

repurposed steel plate to soon house my mids

 

the exhaust pipe from my 67 gto was used to make the exhaust for the bmw

 

asleep...

 

 

was going to use the door like this for a while... but never happened. 

 

 

my full exhaust, all 2.5 inch pipe with a flowmaster cat

 

 

one of the exhaust pipes from my 1967 GTO and an old motorcycle exhaust would soon be converted to my new exhaust.

Edited November 26, 2022 by Wallyinc

[Wallyinc]

 

my led conversion

 

 

led's from ebay worked like a charm and are cheap too!

 

OFF! and some vht helped revive my tail lights in a big way!

 

a mockup of my interior

 

a special spot for my rosary on my dash

 

passenger view

 

 

used an old pvc pipe to make the housing for the s2k gauges... which i didn't end up using.

 

 

a lot of cut and paste

 

 

didn't want to do the traditional speaker grill and mesh... so i came up with this idea. 

 

 

i had orginally planed to put the 6x9's on the rear deck, but it would disrupt the "surfboard" look of the wood so i came up with this idea, my sis' old 94 firebird had the speakers mounted in the same location.

 

had to use this to cut out the holes for the rear speaker.

 

 

making speaker brackets for the 6x9's in the back seat. 

 

i welded the nut to the back of the repurposed steel plates (that would eventually get welded on the door) at this point I own a tig welder

 

oh the wiring.... making my own plate and figuring things out. 

 

 

catuned monster rearend looking mean.

 

the front door cards were made from formica/ kitchen countertop

 

stripping the paint 

 

washed

 

primered

 

 

purple

 

Speedway wiring kit monted

 

more wires

 

 

my console and gas pedal mounted

 

i had originally planned to use the stock s2k computer, it would hav ebeen mounted here.... which in retrospect would have made things too crowded. 

 

S!

 

my s2ki setup. 

 

 

another view of my led conversion

 

my back seat pre upholstery 

 

 

anothe view of the 6x9 backseat mounts

 

what i had orginally planned, but i added one more brace to the bottom.

 

about to go into the car

 

the storage door works great!

 

my hard work paid off... little did i know this piece was gonna rust due to improper prep before paint. 

 

rearview with dual stainless exhaust tips

 

the console is removable and gives me access to the front of the driveshaft, o2 sensor and transmission oil fill/drain plug

 

saying goodbye for another day. 

Edited November 26, 2022 by Wallyinc

[Wallyinc]

 

I ditched the idea of using the factory harness and dbw system and went over to the drive by cable system using the AEM series 2 unit instead.

 

the mount of my front plate was crucial as it could make or break the look of my camaro split bumpers. 

 

 

mounted clean underneath

 

tig welded license plate bracket

 

doesnt' look fancy, but it took a full morning of planning. 

 

the rear support, trying to save a bit of weight

 

 

ditched and ebayed the stock s2k gauges and went with an aem setup

 

has that industrial look and matches my console well too!

 

my first time tig welding aluminum. 

 

fabbing up a mount for the stereo crossovers that will sit underneath the reat seat/ storage door

 

here it is ready to get the crossovers mounted. 

 

 

 

hiding in the new storage area. 

 

the main piece to my drive by cable conversion, the intake manifold

 

 

one of my students at school took on the challenge in his auto tech class to get everything painted! came out nice!

 

in order to do the drive by cable conversion the crank position sensor plate needed to be replaced... which meant i had to take out the engine. 

 

3days of work over thanksgiving of 2021 to replace this plate!

 

in she goes again.

 

easy does it.... i don't need this valvecover anymore as it is one of the items that needs to be changed for the conversion

 

so much better than purple

 

my intake made from pvc and sewage pipe

 

amazon pressure gauge about to get installed.

 

new injectors... that ended up not working!

 

drilling and tapping the fuel rail for the amazon pressure gauge

 

installing the rear weatherstrip locking thing.... not fun. 

 

 

i didn't prep the console correctly before clearcoating it and it rusted.... again, being the center of my interior i had to redo it. 

 

yep.... that rust looks terrible

 

my new interior fabric. 

 

upholstering the front door card too

 

the AEM ECM and 22 channel can bus are visible when the passenger floormat is off. The lapbelts are from an airplane. 

 

the final result... almost, i painted the door hande and window crank black 

 

working on each hole, carefully

 

not bad for my first time upholstering!

 

the backseat area finished..... for now.

 

used different grit flap discs to get down to a mirrorlike finish!

 

before installing the hood, first time on the road... moving under it's own power!!!

 

1/2" plexiglass protects the electronics on passenger floorboard while giving me easy access at the same time. i plan on using the 22 channel can bus system for A LOT of things in the future. 

 

still quite of bit of room on the passenger side with the floor raised and vintage ac unit in there.

 

my car's first drive to autozone ❤️

 

 

fuel rail tapped and ready to go 

 

another view of the engine bay.

 

hommage to my favorite record store ever. 

 

working on the large watch/ clock on the center console

 

good thing it just needed a battery replacement 

 

an espresso break mid wiring 

 

the AEM unit has been great to work with. there's a bit of a learning curve to it, but works awesome once you figure it out.

 

cleaned with alcohol, then acetone, THEN clearcoated this time around. ready to go again. 

 

 

another pressure gauge for oil pressure t'ed into aem temp and pressure sensors. 

 

painted the etsy carpet kit black. 

 

 

another look at my standalone and wiring in general. 

 

 

digging this flogreen and wrinkle red combo for now. 

 

another view

 

 

painted the fuel rail black, header too, to really make the valve cover pop. 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by Wallyinc

[Wallyinc]

That’s about all I got for today! I’ll add captions for the photos tomorrow 😎thanks for looking 

[Wallyinc]

I’ll never forget the moment I released the clutch and the car started moving under its own power 🙏 I was so grateful. This was taken after my very first drive. 

Working an adjusting the fan thermostat and other small things now. 

 

My whole whole goal was to get the car working and driving to use it in our family Christmas photo. I finished the car a week ahead of schedule 😃

 

The cherry on top, the hood!

Making cookies with my wife and daughters. The BMW 2002, it really is a family thing!

[AceAndrew]

Dude….. this is AWESOME!  So much work and creativity!  Love your vision and cudos for the metric crap ton of patience it took to take it on as a family affair.

 

The end result is looking great.  Really like the front end look.

[Mike Self]

Wow--what a great fabrication job, not to mention saving yet another 2002!

 

We all expect to see your creation in the flesh (sheet metal) at Mid America 02Fest this coming spring.  There's usually a big contingent coming up from Texas to Eureka Springs, so join up with them and give your car a good shakedown cruise....so we can all enjoy the fruits of your considerable labors.

 

mike

 

 

[sd2003]

Amazing build and creativity.  Great story !!!

[TobyB]

That's awesome- exactly what you should do with a clapped- out 2002 shell!

 

It's been in the family, it has history, you work on it with your family, and you paint it silver.

 

Couldn't have a happier ending.

 

t