Project Rehab 1974 2002

[richk98]

This project began in January 2008 when my sons and I decided to purchase a 1974 2002. This has been our first attempt at anything mechanical and truly any project that is so long-term in nature. The idea was to rehab the car and our relationship with each other by rallying around a goal that would bring us together and teach us a little bit about ourselves and our ability to learn new things (at any age), perform easy and difficult tasks in a prescribed order and thus accomplish goals. We called this project rehab to describe what we hoped to accomplish as individuals, not what we expected from the car.

The project blogs on this site have been very inspirational from a creativity and technical standpoint and we all read them regularly and recognize the skills, talent and willingness to share among the many members on this board.

Although this project has taken a long time ( a few interruptions along the way), we're starting to turn the corner.

The car has recently had minor body work to repair dings, poorly finished bodywork by PO's, prime and paint.

Our goal for the project is to build a clean, turbo style, occasional driver, and perhaps enter it in a few local performance driving events (BMW autoX's etc).

Mods include: suspension upgraded with Ireland and KMAC parts all around, big brake upgrade from Aardvarc racing, recaros and 6 series rear seats from AArdvarc, Bilsteins, 5 speed from La Jolla Independent, MS conversion (in progress) with many 02again parts, and a few more subtle touches.

[richk98]

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[richk98]

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[richk98]

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[richk98]

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[richk98]

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[richk98]

Spending some quality time with the fender flares this morning. I received the black oxide screw kit in the post this week and its time to do the final install of the black flares. Aligning the front flares to meet the air dam at an acceptable angle is a real challenge.

[Hammer03]

VERY nice work!

Mind sharing the wheel sizes/offsets? does the 225-50 fit in the rear well? I was planning on running a 225-45 if possible. Would you also mind testing the rear wheel on the front to see if a 225 will clear at all?

Thanks!

David

[richk98]

Thanks for the comment. The front tires are BFG Gforce 205/55 on 15x7 et 15 wheels (installed with 5 mm spacer), rear are 225/50 on 15x8 et 0. Rear fits perfect with flare, as noted in my post there was some tire rubbing in the front even with the spacers when at full lock.

I spent quite a bit of time researching fitment on this site and realized my choice was at about the limit, but I wanted the flares to fill out as much as possible. I decided to go with a low cost wheel to see what was possible and ended up pleasantly surprised. The wheels are XXR 513's.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/15-inch-Staggered-XXR-513-wheels-4x100-4x114-3_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2em20Q2el1116QQhashZitem439474f5f0QQitemZ290253501936QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[richk98]

Re testing - I'm away for a few days but will give it a shot.

[oz02]

Great looking resto. It's really coming together nicely, the interior is going to look sweet.

Can you post a pic of the rear of the car, I'd like to see the brake light you've got mounted centre behind the rear window.

[richk98]

Can't get enough light in the garage for a photo tonight but will post a close up once it is mounted on the custom deck panel I've uninstalled it to put the stereo speakers etc back in prior to rear glass going in. The third brake light is from a mid eighties mustang. I think I read somewhere on the board a ways back that someone had tried this. I picked one up for a few bucks on ebay and it seems to have the proper angle to mate up nicely with the rear window.

[richk98]

A few more shots, sorry for poor quality

FYI wires from third brake light will be sent through the deck panel and attached to existing harness

[craaaazzy]

awesome project and good progress.

[richk98]

Thanks to a board member comment and photo I decided to spend the $7.95 to buy a 3 series strut bar for the 2002. It required 10 minutes of drilling to fit the mounting brackets. Looks decent and provides some incremental rigidity. Worth the gamble for a budget build.