Long time, no post.

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://photos.yahoo.com/skolones@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=204f&.dnm=1997.jpg&.src=ph

It's been a while since I've posted. I have some 2002-related info to relate, but it's a bit peripheral.

For those of you who have been here awhile, I used to live in Santa Rosa, CA. In fact, my 'safety-green' squarelight 2002 project is still a rolling chassis, and still lives in a storage unit in Santa Rosa.

Since I last posted, my life has changed. I live in St Louis, Missouri, and I'm now divorced. In fact, I have to credit my 2002 project obsession with accelerating the demise of my marriage. This was probably a good thing.

I'm posting this because I wanted to share about my New Vehicle Purchase. It's going to help me get my 2002 and all of my shop crap moved out from California to St Louis. After that, it's going to become a rolling workshop. It's a 1975 F600 Ford box truck, with a GVWR of 19,200 lbs. The box on the back measures 16'x8'x7' high, inside measurements, so I'll actually be able to put my whole 2002 right inside of it.

I paid a whopping $2400 for it. It's got a V8 of about 6 liters displacement (I'm not exactly sure what size it is), and a granny 4-speed. I've had it up to about 50mph on the highway, the PO said it might be able to do 60mph. Should be a slow trip to CA. The motor has about 200 miles on it. New tires (weathered, but good tread), new clutch, new radiator, new brakes, etc. I just got the Missouri plates today.

I'm going to post a follow-up to this message so that I can share more pictures.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://photos.yahoo.com/skolones@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=4214&.dnm=24d2.jpg&.src=ph

I can't wait to get my 02 out here. I have a small 1-car garage, it's a good building made of brick. I'm going to put my 02 in it, and a lot of the extra stuff, including shop tools and spare parts, will wind up in my basement (yes, we have those in the midwest) or in my truck. I live on a small city lot, so the truck has to stay in the street when it's at my house. I've rented space in a locked yard for $20 per month. On the weekends I'll just roll the truck home and set up shop.

Someday my 2002 will be a track car, and this truck could be my support vehicle.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://photos.yahoo.com/skolones@sbcglobal.net

I don't know what the deal is with Yahoo. Try going to this link: http://photos.yahoo.com/skolones@sbcglobal.net

There's an album for the truck and two for the 2002.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

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[Guest Anonymous]

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[Guest Anonymous]

This stuff is non-explosive, non-toxic, non-hazardous bio-friendly industrial paint that withstands a 1000-hour salt spray. It's water-based and $45 per gallon. Downside is it's rubbery, not really hard, so it doesn't polish well. I was planning to use it mostly for all the underside and hidden areas, then have the exterior painted 'proper', but I'm considering sticking with this stuff for the whole car. I'm after a track car, not a show car, and this paint is easy to repair, especially because you'll never get a great finish out of it anyways. Good for a 25' job.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

The color is almost identical to the green of LED-based traffic signals. It looks almost blue under some conditions.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

the track=)

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/store/2002books.html

Good to see yer back! I was just wondering about yah the other day..

-Rob

[Guest Anonymous]

im curious as to how stable that rotisserie is???

im fighting on my back with mine.

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

I made the front fork out of 2.5" box section, welded strong. the front rotisserie is just a plain engine stand, the back one was made of 4x4 pine post and plywood. I used the bumper mount holes (big bumpers are good for something, and in the back I put a piece of pipe inside a box section, then drove it into the center bumper hole. This allowed the car to 'settle' a bit to one side or the other when you rotated it, which meant that the CG was lower than the line of rotation. Without the 'settling', the CG would have been higher than the line of rotation, which means that at any angle other than straight up, the front fork stand was providing all the torque. As it was, it was nicely stable at small angles, perfectly stable when 'up', and when I put it on its side, I braced the roof with a piece of 2x4. One person could easily rotate the chassis this way. It was easy to mount it on the stand, too--just a hoist on one end, or a floor jack.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

It's taking a bit of effort to adjust to this midwestern thing, but I love the music out here. Miss that California climate, though.

There's a track near my house that does weekend club stuff. It's a roundy round track, Gateway International, but they have a road race infield setup. A buddy at work does the E30 318i thing with the local BMWCCA. He just bought a Boxster, too.

Mike