First restoration - 1973 BMW 2002 - Chamonix

[devilspace]

Hi everyone

A couple of the Aussie FAQers would know that I've recently bought my first 02. It's a rough looking 1974 automatic with plenty of charm (rust).

Engine is running pretty smoothly and

I spent the weekend with Armourall in hand trying to bring the vinyl and rubber back to life on the car, in particular the rubber seals on the windscreen and windows. They've hardened quite a bit with age and clearly haven't been touched in the life of the car.

I took off all the tyres to inspect what I could see of the brakes and it looks as though they've been replaced quite recently, as with a few parts of the engine - new battery, radiator /radiator cap.

As you can see in the parts section, I'm currently on the look out for a left hand door and a bonnet (might have a door thanks to DB in Canberra). Both have got a lot of rust in the usual places.

I will be attaching photos soon. The first step is replacing the door and bonnet and getting the car up to rego so that I can start the main work - rust removal, priming and paint.

Wish me luck!

[oz_tom]

Good luck mate!

I swear by this stuff when trying to get rubber and vinyl back into shape! I think its stocked pretty much everywhere... ie. Autobarn

Tom

[brentspud]

good luck mate!! once again, im quite amazed at how many 02's are floating around australia, look forward to seeing some photos!

[devilspace]

So here's what's happened so far:

THE MECHANIC'S

Took the little gem to the mechanic's a couple of months ago and had it up on the hoist for a few hours. After a lengthy look, the mechanic found the following things:

Tyres - rotated them, front ones were balding inside because of the wheels towing in. Will need to get the wheels aligned. Needed to get one of the tyres patched because of a nail.

Brakes - lines and pads had been replaced recently. Lines have since been bled as the brakes were VERY spongey!

Shock absorbers - had been replaced recently.

Engine - isn't blowing any smoke, head has been off recently and head gasket is probably very new.

Chasis - is straight! Thank God given that I bought the car at auction because it had been involved in a front-ender. Some evidence that the car had hit a speed hump pretty hard at some stage.

Steering rods - both bent, will need to replace eventually, but not a priority.

Hoses - all are fine.

Exhaust - pipe was starting to come away under the car, had to have it re-welded.

Auto transmission - had new fluid put in.

Handbrake - wasn't working, was fixed.

Horn - I thought it wasn't working, but apparently it wasn't working because the metallic ring inside the mechanism had worn out where the wheel was at neutral. When the wheel is in any other position, it works just fine. I'll need to get this fixed somehow before rego.

According to the mechanic, everything is fine mecahnically, just need to work on some rust spots before I can get it registered.

Seems that the car was heavily serviced just before it was involved in the light front end accident. Not bad for a cheapo car bought at auction!

WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE THEN:

Since then, I have bought two second hand doors off David in Canberra (thanks David!) because both of my existing doors had quite a bit of rust.

The car itself has rust in many of the usual places, behind the rear wheels, behind the front guards, the seam of the bonnet.

The bonnet was an absolute disaster! SO much rust all through the front, it would never get through rego.

After months and months of looking for a decent bonnet (I didn't have room to buy a parts car) I finally came across one about a month ago thanks to David in Canberra.

David knew I was on the lookout for a bonnet and emailed me one that he had seen on eBay. Unfortunately I hadn't been checking my emails and missed the auction *DAMN*!! I took a punt and emailed the seller. Turned out the bonnet hadn't sold at auction and was still available. Even better, Neil (the seller) lived only 10 minutes from my place! PERFECT!

Thank you David and thank you Neil!

Three weeks ago, I spent about 10 hours one day ginding out all the rust from the car (none structural) with my dad, changing the doors over and putting the new bonnet on.

Last weekend, we spent another 7 hours bogging up an holes left from rust removal and putting the bumper back on after my front brackets arrived courtesy of Jaymic. com.

The bumper looks awesome, two new pieces were put in thanks to Chris from Mt Kuringgai.

We then spent the rest of the day undercoating/priming any spots of bare metal or bog.

NEXT STEPS:

We're waiting for the door liners to come back from the upholsterers where they're getting new masonite backing.

Once they're back, I'll get the car registered, then it's off to the panel beaters. Not sure who I'm going to take it to yet, so if anyone knows a good panel beater in Sydney, let me know.

Once the car is straight, my mate Chris will be respraying the whole car Chamonix (at the moment the bonnet is green, not a good look).

Then I'll be removing the rear luggage shelf to install speakers for a new stereo.

The big question now is, what should I do with the car and the vinyl upholstry?! Replace it or make do?

I'll keep you posted, photos to come.

[devilspace]

So here's what's happened so far:

THE MECHANIC'S

Took the little gem to the mechanic's a couple of months ago and had it up on the hoist for a few hours. After a lengthy look, the mechanic found the following things:

Tyres - rotated them, front ones were balding inside because of the wheels towing in. Will need to get the wheels aligned. Needed to get one of the tyres patched because of a nail.

Brakes - lines and pads had been replaced recently. Lines have since been bled as the brakes were VERY spongey!

Shock absorbers - had been replaced recently.

Engine - isn't blowing any smoke, head has been off recently and head gasket is probably very new.

Chasis - is straight! Thank God given that I bought the car at auction because it had been involved in a front-ender. Some evidence that the car had hit a speed hump pretty hard at some stage.

Steering rods - both bent, will need to replace eventually, but not a priority.

Hoses - all are fine.

Exhaust - pipe was starting to come away under the car, had to have it re-welded.

Auto transmission - had new fluid put in.

Handbrake - wasn't working, was fixed.

Horn - I thought it wasn't working, but apparently it wasn't working because the metallic ring inside the mechanism had worn out where the wheel was at neutral. When the wheel is in any other position, it works just fine. I'll need to get this fixed somehow before rego.

According to the mechanic, everything is fine mecahnically, just need to work on some rust spots before I can get it registered.

Seems that the car was heavily serviced just before it was involved in the light front end accident. Not bad for a cheapo car bought at auction!

WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE THEN:

Since then, I have bought two second hand doors off David in Canberra (thanks David!) because both of my existing doors had quite a bit of rust.

The car itself has rust in many of the usual places, behind the rear wheels, behind the front guards, the seam of the bonnet.

The bonnet was an absolute disaster! SO much rust all through the front, it would never get through rego.

After months and months of looking for a decent bonnet (I didn't have room to buy a parts car) I finally came across one about a month ago thanks to David in Canberra.

David knew I was on the lookout for a bonnet and emailed me one that he had seen on eBay. Unfortunately I hadn't been checking my emails and missed the auction *DAMN*!! I took a punt and emailed the seller. Turned out the bonnet hadn't sold at auction and was still available. Even better, Neil (the seller) lived only 10 minutes from my place! PERFECT!

Thank you David and thank you Neil!

Three weeks ago, I spent about 10 hours one day ginding out all the rust from the car (none structural) with my dad, changing the doors over and putting the new bonnet on.

Last weekend, we spent another 7 hours bogging up an holes left from rust removal and putting the bumper back on after my front brackets arrived courtesy of Jaymic. com.

The bumper looks awesome, two new pieces were put in thanks to Chris from Mt Kuringgai.

We then spent the rest of the day undercoating/priming any spots of bare metal or bog.

NEXT STEPS:

We're waiting for the door liners to come back from the upholsterers where they're getting new masonite backing.

Once they're back, I'll get the car registered, then it's off to the panel beaters. Not sure who I'm going to take it to yet, so if anyone knows a good panel beater in Sydney, let me know.

Once the car is straight, my mate Chris will be respraying the whole car Chamonix (at the moment the bonnet is green, not a good look).

Then I'll be removing the rear luggage shelf to install speakers for a new stereo.

The big question now is, what should I do with the car and the vinyl upholstry?! Replace it or make do?

I'll keep you posted, photos to come.

[devilspace]

Don't rush the bog...

I checked out my handiwork on my bodywork from a few days ago yesterday - not a great sight!

The bog that I used (Kahfill) said that it was ready to sand within 20 minutes and paint in an hour. Whilst that was true, clearly it took a few days longer for the bog to completely set and expand. My beautifully smooth surfaces are now raised...

Will have to do all the sanding and priming all over again this weekend!

[devilspace]

Don't rush the bog...

I checked out my handiwork on my bodywork from a few days ago yesterday - not a great sight!

The bog that I used (Kahfill) said that it was ready to sand within 20 minutes and paint in an hour. Whilst that was true, clearly it took a few days longer for the bog to completely set and expand. My beautifully smooth surfaces are now raised...

Will have to do all the sanding and priming all over again this weekend!

[scestes]

Will have to do all the sanding and priming all over again this weekend!

Builds character, and your forearm muscles. Keep it up!

[scestes]

Will have to do all the sanding and priming all over again this weekend!

Builds character, and your forearm muscles. Keep it up!

[devilspace]

(nt)

[devilspace]

(nt)

[devilspace]

(nt)

[devilspace]

The car has just had the go ahead from the mechanics to get registered!

Next steps:

Panel beating

Auto to manual conversion - I'm looking to bolt on a 5 speed Getrag

Spraying

Repair/replace upholstery as there as some tears in the driver's seat and severe fading across the top of the rear plus the usual sagging

I'm now toying up how original I want to keep it as currently it is 100% original.

-Obvious changes:

-Removal of the brightwork trim

-Addition of turbo flares

-Upgrade from steelies to Superlites

-Turbo airdam

-Central locking and alarm

-Stereo upgrade

-IE exhaust

-Recaros in the front

It's a work in progress, so happy to listen to suggestions!

[oz_tom]

The car has just had the go ahead from the mechanics to get registered!

Next steps:

Panel beating

Auto to manual conversion - I'm looking to bolt on a 5 speed Getrag

Spraying

Repair/replace upholstery as there as some tears in the driver's seat and severe fading across the top of the rear plus the usual sagging

I'm now toying up how original I want to keep it as currently it is 100% original.

-Obvious changes:

-Removal of the brightwork trim

-Addition of turbo flares

-Upgrade from steelies to Superlites

-Turbo airdam

-Central locking and alarm

-Stereo upgrade

-IE exhaust

-Recaros in the front

It's a work in progress, so happy to listen to suggestions!

Id keep the brightwork - I think it keeps the 02's character better. Maybe just delete the kneeline trim and keep the beltline?

Turbo flares and airdam would look great if you had the Superlites to match (15" that filled the flares right out - lots of dish).

Id just find a shop in Oz to do your exhaust - i think shipping would kill you from the US on this piece. The stock 02 exhaust manifold is a very good flowing piece too which should save you needing a header, so until you want more power, you could probably get away with just a nice rear section and put the money into the Recaros (Good luck finding the e21 Recaros! - hens teeth these days and about $800 from a BM wrecker down here, un-restored)

Im itching to get working on my old mans new project car!

Tom

[devilspace]

I think the flares and deep dish wheels are definitely going onto the car.

The car's a joint effort between myself and my dad, and it will take a lot of convincing to get him around on the turbo airdam idea, he's not a fan.

I'm hoping a friend of mine can source a wrecked 320is for the recaros, but I'm certainly not holding my breath. Until then, I'm going to stick with stock.

I'm also holding off on the upgrade to a Webber until I drop in the 5 speed. I've heard it's not worth the effort on an auto.

You might have seen one of my other threads, I'm also deciding on paint. I'm going to keep the original Chamonix as it's really grown on me. Just deciding on 2pak or acrylic. Decisions decisions decisions...