Saying hi, newbie here

[Kibs]

Hey everyone. Been lurking and devouring the tech articles (seriously so happy those are there, I’ve fixed so much in the last few months lol) so I figure it’s finally time to say hi. I’m up in the Seattle area, but until the bimmer is up to snuff you can see me in 1 of the quarter million Subaru outbacks up here.

 

picked up my 2nd 2002, a 74 blue 4 speed, a few months back. I believe it was originally a gorgeous Malaga, but hey I’m probably owner number 17 by now. It needs some love, and has some rust holes in the rear floor boards, under the rear seat, the rear seats themselves (found out how bad when I pulled them for an Esty rear seat delete and they uh… came out in several more pieces than usual) rockers and rear inner wheel wells.

 

But besides that it’s sound! I’ve also had (have) a nice golf yellow that’s in pieces back in Missouri.

 

The blue one is lowered on bilsteins and has a Weber 32/36 carb. Aside from that it looks like it’s pretty original and complete. I’ve done a full tune up and fluid change, but that’s it so far. It’ll soon be getting new corbeau seats, and will be getting some serious body tlc after that.

 

I’ll still probably mostly lurk but if anyone in the Seattle area can recommend a good welder or body shop let me know! Hopefully I’ll see some of yall around when I’m up and running. Bonus pic of my cat Killdozer because the internet loves cats.

 

-kibs

Edited April 6 by Kibs
Typo.

[Mike Self]

18 hours ago, Kibs said:

It needs some love, and has some rust holes in the rear floor boards, under the rear seat, the rear seats themselves

First of all, welcome officially to the 02 fraternity/sorority.  You already know about all the good info and friendly folks here, so that's good.

 

As for the underseat rust you mentioned:  I'm guessing that's from a leaking rear window gasket, or possibly from the rear quarter windows.  (or maybe mouse nests, but you'd smell that immediately). 

 

Regardless, carefully examine the welds in the floor towards the outer edges of those floorboards, where the rear subframe supports are welded to the floor pan.  If they are really rusty (or are becoming detached) you may be in danger of having the subframe part company from the body, probably at an inopportune time.

 

Cheers

mike

[m42002]

Looks like a decent ride. 

Mike has the best advice. If you farm that out, you could save money buy cleaning that whole area of the sound deadening. Welders hourly rates are crazy.

Love the cat btw. Is it totally black?

[Kibs]

Thanks for the friendly welcome and advice. Yep, it’s getting farmed out to one of the local shops once I get the sheet metal and some quotes. I fancy myself a halfway decent mechanic- I’ve built and rebuilt everything from rotaries to turbo 4s to domestic big blocks- but I am anything but a welder. I’m good with a scraper and dry ice, though, so maybe next time we get some sun here I can start prepping for that.

 

As for Killdozer, we adopted him thinking he was black but he is actually a very very toasted orange cat. When the sunlight hits him juuuust right, you can see his stripes and sometimes a glimpse of the singular brain cell bouncing around his head like the DVD screen saver.

[TobyB]

Hi!

 

The DVD screen saver makes sense- sometimes, they get excited and start chasing it,

which explains the 'instantly insane feline' behavior that will suddenly lead to the cat

bouncing off all 4 walls and ending up in the kitchen sink...

 

Gotta say, finding good shops for rust work like that hasn't been easy for a long time, but 

covid seems to have made things 4.87 times worse.

The few shops that do work like this are booked out for years... often, your best bet is to 

tow 3-5 hours to get out of the area, and then you'll find something reasonable.

 

Which is why I do my own stuff.  

 

That said, who would you trust to machine a 351 Windsor these days? 

All the 'usual' shops 

seem to have closed up.

 

t

[Teelinger]

Welcome @Kibs! I see you've already joined the PNW region group, we're a fairly active bunch of misfits so I hope to see you around. Our first show of the season is BMW and Burgers on May 11. I've created an event posting for it. 

 

As for local body shops, Toby is correct in that it's getting harder to find folks that have the skills at anything near an affordable price. That being said, you might try the following shops:

American Auto Painting & Body

(425) 271-4913

Fenders & Fins Inc

(425) 806-8206

 

I've had both do work on my car but I'm not sure how deep they go into the type of rust repair you've got on yours. 

 

If cost and timing isn't a concern, try:

Eurotech Bodywerkes

(425) 823-4282

 

Also, for mechanical projects you don't want to take on reach out to Patrick at: 

Midnight Motorsport

(206) 535-6067

 

Last, no one is ever going to see that area so maybe this is a good opportunity to build up some welding skills. Buying a cheap welder and getting after it is going to be way cheaper than the shops I just listed. 

 

Cheers, James

 

[Mike Self]

5 hours ago, Teelinger said:

Last, no one is ever going to see that area so maybe this is a good opportunity to build up some welding skills.

Check your local vocational high schools and colleges to see if they offer evening classes in welding and auto body.  I took both--welding first so I wouldn't hurt myself, then several years of auto body.  I learned more in one semester than I had taught myself in 15 years of body working.  I even learned how to lead seams--on vertical surfaces!

 

mike

[GasProcessor]

On 4/5/2024 at 6:39 PM, Kibs said:

Hey everyone. Been lurking and devouring the tech articles (seriously so happy those are there, I’ve fixed so much in the last few months lol) so I figure it’s finally time to say hi. I’m up in the Seattle area, but until the bimmer is up to snuff you can see me in 1 of the quarter million Subaru outbacks up here.

 

picked up my 2nd 2002, a 74 blue 4 speed, a few months back. I believe it was originally a gorgeous Malaga, but hey I’m probably owner number 17 by now. It needs some love, and has some rust holes in the rear floor boards, under the rear seat, the rear seats themselves (found out how bad when I pulled them for an Esty rear seat delete and they uh… came out in several more pieces than usual) rockers and rear inner wheel wells.

 

But besides that it’s sound! I’ve also had (have) a nice golf yellow that’s in pieces back in Missouri.

 

The blue one is lowered on bilsteins and has a Weber 32/36 carb. Aside from that it looks like it’s pretty original and complete. I’ve done a full tune up and fluid change, but that’s it so far. It’ll soon be getting new corbeau seats, and will be getting some serious body tlc after that.

 

I’ll still probably mostly lurk but if anyone in the Seattle area can recommend a good welder or body shop let me know! Hopefully I’ll see some of yall around when I’m up and running. Bonus pic of my cat Killdozer because the internet loves cats.

 

-kibs

Congrats! I’m a young man myself, dealing with a 101k mile ‘89 325iX auto at age 28 (owned for a year and since age 27 - brought with 78k miles on the clock). I am debating between a 2002, E21, and a Mercedes Benz W110 as my next classic daily driver

 

You will have to dump some good money into this vehicle if you expect someone to do the welding for you. Otherwise, I would liquidate it and wait for a clean, unmolested example to show up on an auction website or on this forum.

 

Good luck with your 02 ventures friend!

Edited April 8 by GasProcessor

[TobyB]

Quote

local vocational high schools and colleges

oh, snork.  My lathe came from one of those... Issaquah, I think,

since they shut them all down in the early 2000s around here.

 

My parents had us in NYS when I was in school, and I just didn't appreciate the educational systems of the NE back then.

We thought they were pretty poo- but then, I moved out here, and boy howdy, we had it good.  

Out here in the wild-wild-wikki-wikki-wild-wild-west, it's pretty hit or miss.  Mostly miss.  

 

Don't buy a cheap welder- buy a used one off C-List or facebutt marketplace.  Decent older 110v

Migs show up pretty regularly for half of a new one, and usually come with a tank and regulator.

And then yeah, buy an angle grinder, some gin, and I bet you could get one or more of us to come over

and watch you set yourself on fire!

 

heh

 

t

 

[BeMyWay]

Welcome "kibs" to the BMW 02 Oracle.

 

What does the rust look like in the trunk of the car?

 

Edited April 8 by BeMyWay

[Son of Marty]

As Toby said buy a used name brand welder that you can get parts for if needed. When shopping on c-list or fb have cash in hand and gas in the car because they go fast, there are also places like tool king that sell name brand welders that have been used in schools for a year and then sold.

Edited April 8 by Son of Marty