Clever Project Blog Titles Rule (74 2002 staying stock)

[autoaloha]

Hey guys, up front: sorry if this is a bit wordy, I just enjoy writing my thoughts and I'm so sprung on my 2 right now its not even funny! Furthermore, I always appreciate any comments; praise, criticism, corrections, etc. Thanks and enjoy!

SO, I guess the first order of business is a mission statement or a goal of some sort. With that in mind I can only speculate as to how far this project will go; I'm a USN veteran, (Machinist's Mate Nuclear Submariner and Diver qualified) but now just a college student, so disposable income is minimal and don't follow this if you want to see an Alpina Fendered 20B disco-potato SCCA monster, but that would be sick! Be this what it may I have a rough idea of how I want to attack this car.

my goal:

I hope to extract every ounce of fun and pleasure that this little car has to give, while keeping in mind that no matter what I do- it will never be perfect and most likely I will never achieve 'satisfaction'.

Keeping these fundamentals in mind I can honestly say that I am ready to finally take the plunge into a vintage love affair.

about me: my first car was a 84 Pininfarina 124 Spider Azzura Edition(after Fiat pulled from US market the famed coach maker imported Spiders in Pininfarina make- FYI) I got this car in HS Soph. year and did a 1/2 resto- everything but paint and converted it to manual. sorry, no digital pics.

then I saved up for my dream car: a 1992 300ZX Twin Turbo, which I bought after Junior year and immediately began dumping time and money into at an incredible rate. (joining the navy did nothing to alleviate this situation, and I feel like I could own a small house if I had been smart)

So... I have some experience, but nearly all my Spider wrenching was done alongside my old man and his "I've forgotten more than you'll ever know" approach to anything requiring a modicum of knowledge. Add that to the fact that he is a career Army pilot and it's fair to say that I was doing it the wrong way 99.9% of the time, but he happily kicked my butt into respectability.

I live in the heart of Waikiki, actually on Aloha drive- and I've only got a spot in my building parking garage, so I will be doing most of this work at a local skate spot where these fist pics are taken. It empty and hidden, the kids like the ride- so it's a good environment to enjoy the day wrenching. For big stuff I think I'll be heading to the base hobby shops at Pearl, Hickam AFB, K-bay MCBH, or maybe Schofield Army Barracks depending on availability and services. That said, this will be my daily driver, but I've got a nice road bike and a motorcycle to push too( the Z is in storage in Cali- too low and precious to risk shipping).

So now here we are. I have always loved the 2002, and I have wanted one for a while, along with a string of other, shall we say eclectic choices. I can't really put my finger on it, I like all sorts of weird cars- a short list of some of my favorite cars which I actually have a chance to own someday.

in no particular order:

late 80's AE86 Truenos- so cool and 'back to the future' styling cues are getting better by the day.

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the Five and Dime Triple S! c'mon everyone has to love these!

proper Starions are sick too! (oh by the way, the Japanese engineers wished it to be 'stallion' -as a mustang competitor- but pronounced it 'starrion', lost in translation i guess. and so they continued the space theme with the eclipse)

those are japanese i know, but don't sleep on them- I could point out the usual porsches, bimmers and alfas.... i like them too- but I feel like these are just as cool...

ok. so finally we arrive at my 2002 automatic. I saw it on Craigslist. the guys was asking $4500 in the ad, and it's only had 1K put on the ODO since it was sold to the second owner in 1999. 76K miles total(how would you know higher if there's only 5 digits?). Mostly all original(new battery, wiper fluid resevoir, plug wires, steering hose), but it's even a Sears brand tire on the left front! It's got an Audiovox radio(correct stock I believe?) cold 134 Frigiking A/C & everything is pretty fresh, but there are obviously some problems. I ended up giving him $4000 after two days of negotiations, he said he already had an offer for $3800 and he could not possibly take less than four since he had just paid so much to fix the brakes. here's some pics:

so obviously the engine bay needs attention. I have a bunch of degreaseing to do. Detailing, removing, spraying, refreshing... this is the easy stuff, I can take apart and clean all day, it's the rust I find that scares me.

fortunately I have found very little rust for a Hawaii car 35+ years old. I plan on keeping the car as stock as possible ( which is to say, it WILL be stock).

I know this 1974 Automatic isn't the most desirable iteration, but it's where I'm cutting my teeth- so I'm just gonna appreciate the Auto every time I see the HI traffic grind to a halt.

so here's my list of items so far:(nothing is broken or threatening to break, so this is not really a HARD order, just a primer for my real plans)

1. I will address my girlfriends complaint first: the seats need to be redone. I want to do this on my own, I'm gonna do it right though- I want to find some real seat foam and cut it exactly to stock specs( input on source is much appreciated). I'll figure out how to do the sun visors same time, but I don't wanna cut them open...

2. I have to refurb the seatbelt mechanism ASAP, it simply doesn't pull the belt back in- annoying but trivial in reality.

3. Engine bay: this is huge, I just want to get a start on it before I pull it for paint. This is far down the road.

4. Pull the ugly PO's rubber door guard , this should be easy, but since it's riveted I am gonna have to look at the holes until I get tot he sanding phase.

5. Detail Detail Detail so it's clean as clean can be until I can start the pre paint process.

6. Rust prevention, whatever can be done.

7. Fix the dash clock, it may be just a ground- I haven't taken it apart.

8. go surfing, i know this isn't 2002 related, but it's important all the same.

okay, thanks for looking guys.

aloha

oh and by the way, it's was fun trying to explain why my VIN was only seven digits to the insurance agent this morning. 'well yes i know VINs are 14 digits long but mine is not.' later... 'no, no, it's not a 2002 BMW, it's a BMW 2002.' 'yeah, it's old- they called it the new class.' haha

[dma]

Congrats on your recent purchase. I purchased nearly your exact car just three months ago and should have my 80% restoration complete in the next two to three weeks or so. Will post pictures when complete.

I think you paid a fair price for the car. Not a great deal, but not a rip off--respectable. I paid $4600 for a car in slightly better shape, but absolutely no rust--garage car all its life. Well, not entirely true. My body shop guy had to remove some rust from the nose. Someone had dropped a shop rag down there years ago allowing moisture to collect and rust :-)

Are you planning do a big restoration? If not, I would start with safety and comfort issues. A comfortable daily driver that is dependable. In consulting we say "plan the work, work the plan." Put your list together and work it.

I purchased new OEM horse hair seat pads for my front seats, backs and seat, but they are expensive--jeeze, I can't be sure but I think $150 each, I can look up part numbers and exact cost if you would like? If I wasn't in such a hurry to complete I would have looked for an alternative that was less expensive.

I used to think that I loved the earlier "roundies" but then one day saw the square taillights with euro bumpers and sprung a woody. So I'm putting earlier bumpers on my car in place of the so called "big bumpers" of later cars. I'm also converting to euro blinkers and removing the side markers.

Anyway, let me know if you are trying to hunt any parts down. I have a low tolerance for getting ripped off so tend to spend hours looking for the best deal--even though it ends up taking me more time, therefore money :-)

You will find this list very helpful!

[Colin]

FYI:

I would be EXTREMELY careful taking apart the seatbelt mechanism ESPECIALLY if you never have before. In reality, its probably going to explode (literally) when you take it apart and you can really hurt yourself. I tried once and avoided injury, but my girlfriend told me a story about her ex and said that he tried and seriously got cut up.

There is a dude on here that sells refurbished ones I think for like $200 and that is a really smart price for some like-new belts.

[bimmer7602]

hey autoaloha, i read in your other thread that you were goping to fix you clock, i think i have an extra clock and tach so if you like you can have whichever you think will be of more use to you. When i get home today I'll check and get back to you.

Sean

[bluedevils]

quote: "2. I have to refurb the seatbelt mechanism ASAP, it simply doesn't pull the belt back in- annoying but trivial in reality"

You have the Autoflugs, and with all likelihood, the springs are shot, rusted and broken in pieces. Good luck in fixing them.