MYTHBUSTERS: the 02 edition...

[ingraham]

(nt)

[Harv]

Ha! True

John

[Brandon]

the thing about bilsteins' lengths in sport vs. HDs (only the back sports are shorter, by a mere 10mm) made me think of other "myths" that abound about these cars, or mechanical stuff in general. Can you think of any that need to be BUSTED!?

Think I heard once that all '74-'76 2002 Automatics came from the factory with the optional alloy wheels fitted by mistake...some error on the build sheets or something. Interestingly, I have seen a number of square tail automatics with the factory alloys so maybe there is some truth to this.

Oh...how about the red leather interior on those last bunch of 76's they built...weren't they all silver too with electric sunroofs....

And another...'76s rust the worst in the floor pans because BMW used thinner sheet metal....I doubt that one is true...I've seen my share of extremely bad floor pan rust on enough '68-'75's to argue that one.

[Jim_75Sahara]

I have a theory based on observation: Golf '02's are the most rust-prone. Does paint color/paint formulation make one color more rust-prone on an '02?? My other theory is that Sahara is the poor stepchild color for the 2002.

[TobyB]

the ball on the flywheel is useful for timing...

(heh heh)

t

[cj]

(nt)

Oh boy!

Cris

[robspeed]

that's random... do you really delay your coil? does it work/matter? I see the point and find that interesting....

yah, i think it helps. just to get some pressure in the bearings before they are hit with a combustion load. startup accounts for 90% of main bearing wear normally...

It would be interesting to build a timed relay circuit... one of the electronics knowledgable posters could probably come up with something without too much trouble. (Although perhaps the risk of reliability troubles might kill the appeal of this idea.)

haha... quote, quote, quote...

I'm going to look at that as an option to build into MegaSquirt. Why not right? If it really does work....

I'd hesitate to do it on a timed relay on a stock 02. Better to just pull the coil wire and crank it, get out, plug it back in and fire her up that way

another way is to have an oil pressure safety switch, so that the car CANNOT fire unless there is 10psi (or whatever it is... ideally youd want full cold 80psi before turning, but i donno if thats even possible off the starter) at the back of the dizzzzzz.... simple switch in console or on left side of wheel (mine is on console) eliminates need to pop hood, remove coil wire, turn over car (maybe passenger could turn ign switch foryah ;-p), put coil wire back, then get back in and actually start the thing! whew!! ;-)

[jgerry2002]

'76s had floorpans that were not sealed well. Any late year '76 has had typical floor pan rot on the drivers side. I do NOT believe it was thinner sheet metal.

It would not make sense to change the entire manufacturing process of a car.

The same crap (rumors) even goes into later cars with supposed hand built engines on the M cars (complete bull).

[Armond]

(nt)

[Armond]

(nt)

[robspeed]

It would not make sense to change the entire manufacturing process of a car.

The same crap (rumors) even goes into later cars with supposed hand built engines on the M cars (complete bull).

that last one is actually true! each ///M engine is indeed hand built by a single person!

[robspeed]

i thought that valves would only loosen with wear (as cam and lifters wear), but they can also *tighten* due to wear on the valve seats! (thanks john a. )

[Brandon]

'76s had floorpans that were not sealed well. Any late year '76 has had typical floor pan rot on the drivers side. I do NOT believe it was thinner sheet metal.

Guess we'll consider that another myth as I've heard from a number of people over the years that '76s had thinner sheet metal in the floor.

[TMK-001]

Guys who post a lot know a lot.

I try to be as helpful as possible :-) and I never stop learning myself.

Todd

[Vroomer]

"It's a california car. That means there's no rust."

*rollseyes*