'Honu' #2588935

[#73]

Aloha Steve,

Good Stuff.

A+ for the 'Built not Bought' angle resurrection. Lots o' love is what saved this from becoming Maki Die Dead in the Moana. I remember when I picked up my first one (the '73) over 12 years ago... made it to a vintage car meet after driving the car for it's first 270 miles. On asking some of the seasoned veteran 'pros' for a the next 3 steps advice - they snidely spouted "credit card, cashier's check, and cash" (then criticized my non-dealer stainless hose clamps)... although true, it was a bit disheartening at the time. :-P

Have fun,

[stevebo77]

Hehe thanks much!

Aye, someday when I'm a rich, retired, and famous designer I'll plop down all the 10s of thousands of dollars this (and, likely, future additional 02s) deserves. But for now, screw where my clamps, paint, or feats of mechanical genius came from

But as an immediate leg up, my neighbor gave me another swell present: The BMW '02 Restoration Guide, by Mike Macartney. Bonus reading material is awesome.

Aloha Steve,

Good Stuff.

A+ for the 'Built not Bought' angle resurrection. Lots o' love is what saved this from becoming Maki Die Dead in the Moana. I remember when I picked up my first one (the '73) over 12 years ago... made it to a vintage car meet after driving the car for it's first 270 miles. On asking some of the seasoned veteran 'pros' for a the next 3 steps advice - they snidely spouted "credit card, cashier's check, and cash" (then criticized my non-dealer stainless hose clamps)... although true, it was a bit disheartening at the time. :-P

Have fun,

[FutureMan]

awesome job dude.

amazing stuff.

[stevebo77]

Just checking in on the forums; it's been a while since I've been in!

The 73 is still going strong and hasn't needed my attention-with-tools in ages.

The sub-par paint job and body work will need to be addressed properly this year. Work is going good, so financially it shouldn't be a problem

Got the urge to check under the hood today and see how everything's going. Found that (this whole time I've owned it) the front exhaust manifold upper stud/bolt was loose and the lower one missing. I always noticed the little oil spot on the mani but never dug in to it; was miffed when I stuck a mirror under the mani to see that bottom stud gone altogether! For now I have a temporary bolt (and likely not up to standards for that heat) until a stud kit arrives in the mail.

Ever since switching to the hogged-out intake and 38/38 w/electric choke, which I bought from a forum member here, the car's been running excellently. No stutters, sputters, stalls or any of the crap I dealt with on the previous 32/36.

The exhaust that I built.. is crap I love mean sounding cars as much as anyone with testosterone coursing through their veins should, but it's too much. Have a new magnaflow resonator (10436) and proper muffler coming in the mail this month. I'll kill the double sided exits that I've had on the car all this time too.. even that will be a temporary setup until I finally move the exhaust all the way to the center or right of the car's tail end. Saving that for when I do the metal work back there; it's awful with tinworm.

Looking forward to a few new bits this month to keep me busy, then it will be time to commit to buying that air compressor / media blaster / paint gear.

Aloha!

[stevebo77]

Hell with it, time to get more serious.. get your serious faces on ಠ_ಠ

I'm tired of the weird camber of the left rear wheel:

I pulled the wheels off and stared with all my staring power to see what was causing that to happen; no bends in the arms, subframe looks straight, nothing majorly wrong here with the exception of how dirty it looks.

Dawned on me that the trailing arm bushings are probably more dirt than rubber any more, and I wonder if those bushings being completely perished would cause the radical top angle of that wheel. (?) Forum searches didn't help on this one.. all I can find are posts about cost exorbitant adjustable IE rear camber kits. Whatev. New bushings and a subframe scrub and paint are only going to do me favors in the long run anyway.

What happened today:

•Yanked the shocks (will replace with new ones.. and probably oe for cost right now)

•Disconnected brakelines and all the brake gear

•Disconnected subframe body mounts and forward-reaching rods.

•Decided I'll need a bigger jack.

•Discovered I'll need a 17 or 18mm box-end wrench (where the heck did those go?) to remove the shaft from the diff.

•Ordered full set of bushings for back end, subframe/body mounts, and shocks from RMEuropean.com (prices are tasty).

Pics of where we stand (knee deep in crap, dirt, and rust).

Will document more, when those parts get across the ocean to me.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5454604528351085346

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5454604577276824738

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5454604606408553458

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5454604626696209154

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5454604645778976658

Edit: Shopping list.. committed, paid, waiting for shipments

• Unrelated to this project update, but needed new cooling hoses for the 320i plastic Behr radiator that is going in soon. New hose for that odd angle lower inlet and new hoses for the rest of the system.

• Stant 13578 Thermostat - 180 Degrees Fahrenheit

• Slightly used waterneck from john1180, here in the forums

• Beck Arnley 201-1302 Temp Send Switch

• Excellent condition taillights from ebay (SUPER deal)

• 2x Axle Carrier Mount Left/Right Rear

• 4x Spring Pad Front Upper and Lower

• Rear Control Arm Bushing Set (+ diff bushings)

• Rear Sway Bar Bushings - 14mm

• Rear Sway Bar Endlinks

• 2x KYB KG5540 Gas-a- Just Monotube Shock (generic, yes. affordable, double yes)

• MagnaFlow 10436 Satin Stainless Steel 2.5" Round Muffler.. nevermind arrived today, but will be waiting for the rear end work to be done.

Yeesh! This week was expensive.

[stevebo77]

Well, that was easy; I really didn't expect to have no fights when dropping out the rear. Now to examine the situation..

Holy hell that's cruddy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455277698893557010

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455277753130248290

Starting to look better.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455277784990284498

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455277810508320530

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455277839562138594

Well enough typing.. now to get back out there and disassemble this for better cleaning and inspection.

[stevebo77]

The following afternoon...

Mannnn was that a lot of tedious work. The good news is, everything is broken down, cleaned, and resprayed.

Getting those trailing arm bushings out of their cubby holes was a bitch. After a couple of failed ideas I just started swinging with the ball peen hammer; got the bushys to move out enough to then set in a 19mm socket (an extra from an old set that I could sacrafice to this job) and continue pounding until I could set in a deep 19mm socket, and continue pounding till it all shot out. In the end it took about 10 swings per bushing (and no damage to the bushing mounts on frame).

I wish I had a better way to clean this stuff up than I did; something like a blaster would have been great. As it is, however, I went with a few 4" wirewheel bits on my drill and got comfortable in the growing pile of dirt and tar.

After I got things down to mostly metal and scale I then hit everything (except the diff) with some heavy duty Easy-Off oven cleaner to bite down into the metal for the next round of sanding. Paint prep consisted of acetone rubdowns for all pieces.

I need to run to the store to grab an alan bit for the diff oil plugs. Anyone know off-hand what size that is? I figure I don't want to do this job for a long time and might as well change out the rear-drive gear oil while I have it accessible.

Photos:

Hey, at least I was wearing eye protection right?? Should have gone with the face shield..

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455749539393690130

Fantastic plastic bucket of bolts.. need to grab a can of wd-40 and soak these while I wait for the bushing kits to arrive.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455749513895345202

The differential, officially 3 pounds lighter now sans the years worth of caked crud.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455749481894459394

The departed: Nasty decroded little bastards. One of those subframe body mounts can actually be moved in an out with just a finger.. that would explain that unexplainable rattle/bumping noise that has been plaguing me for a couple of months.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455749463421065186

Happy subframe is happy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455749438995642306

And the rest of the parts, all cleaned up and back-in-black. Fun fact: on the fender to the left of the rags is a box from UPS today, full of what I imagine are Bank of Hawaii checks for someone who I don't know.. Maybe they should buy me some parts! Nooooo just kidding. Dropping the box off at their bank on Monday

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5455749317465591986

[ifayeoh]

Awesome work Steve,

you will need a 10mm, i have the Finned cover on diff, hopefully it is the same with the stock cover.

you may want to search the archives for a layout of all the dimensions of the sub frame and measure yours to see if it is still in spec, not sure what is causing your camber tilt issue, i have the same thing except on the other side. i replaced all that same stuff and still have the slight tilt. i think cd posted that picture of the measurements but you will have to search as i do not have it on hand. my car was hit at one time and i figure it must be from that.

have fun!!

thanks to C.D. for this

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd318/cd02md/02rearsubframe.jpg

if cant see pic search for AXEL CARRIER

[stevebo77]

Thank you for the frame specs ifayeoh! Didn't see anything out of spec that I could detect with my eyes and tape measure.. ah well. But the good news is: Camber is back in line!

I reinstalled everything today after fighting TO DEATH the differential carrier bushings.. I tried for about an hour to get those new urethane suckers in to the bracket. Had to come back here and read that I missed a step regarding chiseling out the metal collars (details at http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,0/page,viewtopic/t,274776/sid,2d32a840f8c6fa567fab5afd311f9cb4/ )

After taking care of that 5 minute chisel job, the new bushies popped right in with a little convincing by thick metal, big bolt, washers, and nut.

Went through the tedium of reassembly, bled out the brakes, dropped her to her feet and went out for a test drive.

Glad to report that the mysterious bump rattle is now gone; we'll chalk that up to the new body mounts.

Didn't get done until just about dusk so I didn't go too crazy on this drive. Will do a good drive tomorrow.

Also, yesterday I built out the new exhaust; too loud, but sounds much more awesome at the same time. It will do for now, as I always tell myself. Exhaust, at this point, is just collector>18 inch long 2" diameter resonator>Magnaflow 10436 28 inch long 2.5" diameter muffler suspended with a custom rubber isolated metal loop right under the rear seat and also center suspended at the driveshaft center support. It has a very rice-rocket sound, but meaner than your average riceracer. Highway driving would be a bitch on the ears for sure. Just FYI

[stevebo77]

I guess I should include pics huh? These blogs are no fun without photos to skim to

Rear end all put back together.. SHEESH how tedious.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5457134310088051234

New brain rattling exhaust, with a note about those obvious metal wedges on the drive support

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5457134287295411826

New exhaust, exit side. Steel hoop loop welded to large washer, washer over an extra bushing I had lying around, bolt coming down from under the rear seat through the floor.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5457134275961498434[/url]

[stevebo77]

Well another good day with a tarnished lining (boooo).

The Good:

Finally got around to doing the quick change out of the stock (so far as I can tell) radiator and waterneck/temp-sender.

Both new-er pieces I put in today were purchased here from forum members. The radiator is a plastic/aluminum unit from a 320i. With a lower 320i hose bought off of amazon.com (and all the other hoses for 2002 also bought), I was surprised to see this cooling beauty slide right in with no problems. Other posts here led me to believe that this would be a slight bitch to fit- Stock mounting holes lined right up she bolted right in.

New waterneck.. i really do believe it's new, it looks amazing and actually has ridges for the hoses to bite onto! That's a nice upgrade from my corroded old one. Also got a new Stant t-stat and Behr temp sensor to complete the kit.

All new clamps, of course. Took me what felt like 20 minutes @ idle to actually get the t-stat to open up and flow through, but once it did the temp-gauge in the cluster never moved above 3/8+ on the meter. Excellent! The 20 minutes thing, however, did shake my confidence for a minute.

The Bad:

While she was idling, I noticed that the L light was flickering dimly. Busted out the multimeter to find that while the 02 was running, voltage registered at 11.9v; while off, 12.25v. Voltage was tested at the battery in trunk, the distribution block in the bay, and at the back of the alternator.. HRMMMMM.

Guess it's time for that alternator upgrade I've been doodling about for a while now, which was also what was in the way of me installing a modest++ audio system.

Time to, once again, bury my face in the forums and read up on alternator options!

Disregard that ugly angled bolt holding the right side of the rad on.. that's now replaced with a new one and spacer shaft to keep it straight and lined up.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5457594743149143186

[stevebo77]

What ever happened to that budget of mine, anyway? Bah to budgets.

I ordered an 85 amp alternator from EagleElectrics off of ebay. Not terrible at $100 shipped. If I'm really lucky I'll have it tomorrow, but likely Saturday or Monday in USPS.

Also ordered new rear windscreen seal and molding. Mine has always been reallllly bad, any rain driving and there will be a 5 inch puddle on the rear dash. Of course, this means I'm fully prepared to rebuild some rusty metal in the window channel. We'll see what I find when the time comes.

Also not sure if I'm comfortable with the re-installation of the rear window on my own, so I'll probably take it out, clean the channel and bring the window and gear to a local shop for installation.

Speaking of glass shops, I wonder if they can repair/polish out welding spatter on that rear window? FUCK! It's always been there and I'm tired of seeing it.

A diagram of things not good.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5458006617920951282

A highlighted shot of the pitmarks.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5458006599781731298

[stevebo77]

Shopping for exhaust options today to finish it out to the rear.

Was browsing exhaust tips online and came across this interesting one. Here's a quick photoshop of the Ractive T815 tip under the rear bumper. Pretty slick!

Edit: Purchased! Ordered up the rest of the exhaust system and tubing. Can't wait.

Exhaust tip at amazon.com

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5458327119538126082[/img]

[roadhog0]

I have a bolt on tip like that from an old Cadillac sitting in my garage that me and my friend keep joking were gonna put on the 02. Your mock looks much better close to the bumper though!

[stevebo77]

I have a bolt on tip like that from an old Cadillac sitting in my garage that me and my friend keep joking were gonna put on the 02. Your mock looks much better close to the bumper though!

Hehe, well I'll try to make it look as good in real life too. I cleaned up the rear lower tail this weekend to get her ready for the exhaust. Had to trim off .25 to .5 inch of the lower lip that was rotten or previously butchered by what looks like brass and lead body work. All nice and straight once again.

In other news, I received the ebay Eagle Electric 85 amp alternator today. It looks great and charges much better: 13.8~14.1v a idle with wipers and hid headlights on.

The install was pretty simple with adding a new terminal to the blue D+ wire from the 3 wire harness and attaching it and the battery cable to the alternator. Also grounded the alternator to body with the provided alternator body ground stud.

There was one catch with the bolt length for the tightening arm, mine was too short, but luckily found that I had something on hand to get it all put together.

Pully matched my old alternator pully, no issues there. Overall this was as easy as any job can be, with good rewards.

Old alternator is up in the for sale blog here: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/p,720494/#720494

And now some photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5459395038628718290

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5459395020405486594

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5459395012565643426

http://picasaweb.google.com/sthryniuk/1973BMW2002#5459394996079425010