New acquisition! 1965 1800 sedan

[steve k.]

And add the car to the Registry.  https://www.bmw2002faq.com/registry/

 

I have the earliest one there for some reason

[Cooper]

yesterday I got the car running on starting fluid! I only ran it for a few seconds but it sounded good! 
 

after that I put the cleaned and coated gas tank back in with new fuel lines. I put a rebuilt single solex on, now I just need a new fuel filter and to see if the fuel pump is in working order. 
 

I also had the radiator rebuilt but I still need new hoses. Starter and generator are rebuilt, still waiting on a voltage regulator to come in.
I have all new clutch hydraulics and wanted to install those today, but I got scared off by a large rat that jumped out from inside the nose while I was messing with the voltage regulator. Didn’t really feel like getting under the car after that, but I put some traps out tonight. 
 

still have a decent list to get through but it’s all looking pretty good. 
there are a couple rust holes in the floor but nothing critical, and it looks like the rodent damage is restricted to the engine bay. There were almost no traces in the interior and it doesn’t smell of it at all, which was a huge relief. 
 

the VIN is 960356 and I’m still waiting to here back from the archive group. Once I know the production date I’ll add the car to the registry.  

[H E L P]

12 hours ago, Cooper said:

yesterday I got the car running on starting fluid! I only ran it for a few seconds but it sounded good! 
 

after that I put the cleaned and coated gas tank back in with new fuel lines. I put a rebuilt single solex on, now I just need a new fuel filter and to see if the fuel pump is in working order. 
 

I also had the radiator rebuilt but I still need new hoses. Starter and generator are rebuilt, still waiting on a voltage regulator to come in.
I have all new clutch hydraulics and wanted to install those today, but I got scared off by a large rat that jumped out from inside the nose while I was messing with the voltage regulator. Didn’t really feel like getting under the car after that, but I put some traps out tonight. 
 

still have a decent list to get through but it’s all looking pretty good. 
there are a couple rust holes in the floor but nothing critical, and it looks like the rodent damage is restricted to the engine bay. There were almost no traces in the interior and it doesn’t smell of it at all, which was a huge relief. 
 

the VIN is 960356 and I’m still waiting to here back from the archive group. Once I know the production date I’ll add the car to the registry.  

 

 

@Cooper, if the fuel pump turns out toast let me know. I have all sorts of early to late fuel pumps in excellent used shape I can send you at no cost. Very nice looking NK otherwise. I love the single headlight models with vertical rear tail lamps the best. My dream would be to find one like yours in good shape and put a BMW e36 328i engine transmission in it (no, not the M3 drivetrain may not be safe for this vintage). 

[Cooper]

Three weeks (and 30 years) and this 1800 runs and drives again! 
 

still gonna spend a lot of time on it before car week, but I drove it a solid few hundred feet this evening. Very satisfying. The only reason I didn’t drive it more is because I seem to have misplaced the radiator cap, and of course it isn’t standard 2002. 
 

The engine sounds really smooth, better than my 2002 really. 
smokes a bit out of the tailpipe, maybe I’ll look into soaking the cylinders a little bit more? Try to lubricate the rings? 
it was funny hearing the clutch and flywheel contact on the rusty surfaces. Surely that’ll be addressed in the future but right now the goal is just to make it to legends of the autobahn. 
Haven't done anything but visually inspect the brakes and surprisingly they actually work decently well. Still gonna do my due diligence and replace the proper components, but it’s nice that they aren’t seized and even function! 
 

I also heard back from the archive group and this 1800 is a January 1964 car! How about that @steve k.

 

Im super stoked on this project and having a great time getting it back on the road! 

[Cooper]

@H E L P i have the fuel pump that was taken off of this car and I think it can be rebuilt, but if you have a similar style early unit, I would absolutely be interested. 
 

the push rod was stuck at first but we got it free and the 2002 style pump is still in working order, but I would like to have an original style pump in the car for sure. The car is so complete that bringing a few things back to original would really make it special I think. 
 

My dad just got a Bavaria and was thinking about an m52 swap. 
i also thought about a swapped NK, but this just isn’t the car for that. 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Cooper

[NickVyse]

That's brilliant. The exahust wil be full of crud and will smoke away for many miles before you even know whether the engine's burning a bit more oil than you'd want. You might find you've the earliest surving 1800 in the states.

[H E L P]

@Cooper can you post a picture of the fuel pump so I make sure I have the exact one for you?

 

 

[Pastelblue'02]

congrats @Cooper!! That was a really quick turn-around for getting it running and driving! Let me know if you end up needing any brake parts or want to swap to series 2 larger brakes. I've got calipers and rotors sitting around, as I did a 7 series big brake kit. Hoping for many fun miles ahead for you!

[TWC4]

@Cooper So good to see this 1800 has life again.  I've got some great memories in that car (this one) both riding in it and learning how to wrench on cars in the local High School Auto shop class. 

Enjoy it.  That car has good mojo.

[Cooper]

@TWC4 I’d love to hear some of these stories! I sent you a DM! 
 

thanks!
 

 

[Cooper]

well it’s a bit late but the conclusion to the first chapter of my time with this 1800 is that it did in fact make it in and out of car week! 
 

I ended up trailering the car to Laguna Seca because at the time and still I only have first and third gear. And after really thinking about it I saw so many things that could potentially fail. 
but the morning after arriving at the track, I set off early for legends of the autobahn. The NK made the 14ish mile drive almost perfectly! 
The wiper relay is full of rat poop so those didn’t work when the coastal influence rolled in, but I didn’t let that stop me. I also persisted when the carb jet seemingly got clogged and the car refused to idle at anything less than 2000 or so rpm. 
and then I made it to the show. That was the single longest trip I had done at the time, and it was a success! 
 

The show was great, I didn’t win preservation class, clearly it was rigged, but a couple rad journalists put the car in their articles of the show. 
 

Then the following couple days I proceeded to put about 64 miles on the car, driving it around Monterey, seaside and pacific grove. The car did amazing! 
A couple teething issues but never failed to proceed! 
 

Since car week I’ve only driven it once because it was honestly kind of nice to finally do something els with my time after that six week thrash. But I just started the car this evening and it started right up and sounded great! Progress will absolutely proceed in time because this car is just too cool and I want to really put some miles on it after addressing a few things, but I also have other cars and life events that require my time, so I’ll get to it when I can. 

[NickVyse]

Brilliant. That night shot is fantastic.

[HBChris]

I hope you were joking, a car with moss actively growing on the windows will never win, it is a cleanliness contest after all with extra considerations given for originality which your NK certainly has.  That is why Steve’s 1800 did so well.

[steve k.]

Hehe, he was joking, but that car was interesting to see in that condition. 

 

Steve 

[zinz]

I love it !!!

 

I think I enjoy these kinda cars more than anything. We always encourage EVERYONE to attend MidAmerica02Fest in whatever 2002, or NK you can get there. 
 

So glad to see you making it happen!  Damn the torpedoes! Full steam ahead!

 

Ed Z