engine and drivetrain Intro to me and my '02

[02for2]

Since I'm a newby here, I've been encouraged to introduce myself and my car and tell you all a little about how I came to own it. I live in the Twin Cites and have been an enthusiast my whole adult life. In those 30+ yrs., I have owned Lotus, Porsches, E-Types, Big Healeys, Z-cars, MGB, Formula Vee and Formula Fords. I do all my own wrenching - the only way I could ever afford this passion. I am semi-retired, but my much younger wife heads up a large company travelling about 50% of the time allowing me lots of free time to fiddle in the garage.

Anyway, a chance meeting about 11 yrs. ago, has yielded the newest addition to our family, a 1976 BMW 2002.

11 yrs. ago, I was visiting my sister in Columbus, OH, who is a physician. At the time, she was collaborating with an elderly surgeon visiting from LA on a paper they jointly published. We all went out to dinner and eventually the conversation drifted to my passion and love for cars.

The doctor from LA said he understood, that he had an old Jaguar MkII Saloon which he cherished. I asked him if he had any other cars and he said not really, that most of his life he'd had very nice daily drivers such as Mercedes, Jags, Caddys, Lincolns,etc. but that the Jag was his only collector car. He did say that he had an old BMW which he'd bought as an anniversary present for his wife back in 1976 - a 2002. He said that his wife drove the car for about 3 yrs. until one day, she suddenly developed an aneurysm and unfortunately passed away on her way to the hospital in the ambulance. He said he was so dispondent that he just couldn't part with the car, so he put it in the corner of his garage, covered with a blanket.

I said that I understood, but if he were ever to think of selling it to please call me before ever putting it up for sale, that I would show the car the reverence it deserved, that I'd always wanted a 2002. He took my card and said he would call me, but doubted he'd ever sell it, and besides, he figured it wasn't worth any more than $1800 anyway. The rest of the evening passed in general conversation, but when he left, we shook hands and he assured me that if ever he sold the car he would indeed call me.

Fast-forward 11 yrs. - I had all but forgotten the dinner, but 3 months ago I got a call from the doctor's daughter in Colorado who called to tell me that her father had passed away in April and that his estate had just been probated. She told me that in his will, he had stipulated that she contact me and offer me the car for the agreed upon price of $1800. Imagine my thrill! She said they were getting ready to sell his house and wanted the car removed as soon as possible. I immediately said yes and in a leap of faith, sent her a cashiers check, sight unseen and arranged to have the car transported to my home. It arrived about a month later - 6 wks. ago to be exact.

I pushed it, along with the transport driver, into my garage and was amazed. The car is absolutely clean, not a speck of rust anywhere! The color is Saharra w/ tan interior. It is an automatique w/ AC. A one-owner California car with 53,000 original miles - backed up by the registrations and service records. In one sense, this is a 3 yr. old 2002!

I drained the oil, swapped the plugs and battery. Siphoned all the gas from the tank and added 3 gal. fresh. When I turned the key, the car started within 20 sec. and settled to a fairly smooth idle in under a minute. All the gauges and lights work, the interior, though dusty is immaculate. The body is in good shape with only a couple odd door dings and the glass and chrome is excellent. The paint is good but I'll do a thorough buffing and polishing. The car has all the service records, owners manual, even the window sales sticker! The spare has never seen the road, and the jack and tool roll don't seem to have ever been opened or used. Even the ashtray and cigarette lighter are unused.

Now it is a 34 yr. old car which hasn't seen regular service for 31 yrs., so I been busy doing a very thorough sorting and updating before driving it on a regular basis. In fact, I have already ordered about $3500 in parts - all hoses, vac lines, belts, shocks, springs, all suspension bushings, brake pads/shoes, wheel bearings, waterpump, all new engine gaskets incl. headgasket, carb rebuild kit for the weber downdraft, Master Cylinder rebuild kit, fuses, all new bulbs, a new set of tires. I will swap the points for a Crane XR700 optical trigger system, I have ordered a complete stainless exhaust. I'm going with a suspension upgrade kit from Kormann Racing incl. Bilsteins, 1.5" lowering springs, larger front/rear sway bars, poly bushings. I am also doing a 5-speed conversion, also from Kormann which is bolt-in kit incl. a rebuilt 320i tranny (w/ 24mo./24k mi. warranty), clutch, flywheel, pedal box w/ master, shifter and linkage incl. boot, mounting brackets and custom made balanced drive shaft. For right now, I am keeping the rear drums but upgrading to Tii master and wheel cylinders, in the future, I may opt to add rear disc brakes, again 320i parts. I am on the hunt for a 320i Sport leather steering wheel as well as a set of 320i sport recaros, again in leather. The car has just been ziebarted to protect it from future rust.

A BMW 2002 has long been on my short list of cars to own, and to have this surgeon whom I only met just the once remember me and want me to have the car is just incredible! I don't know if St. Peter is reading this, but if he is, all I can I say is: " let the guy in and treat him well!"

[ray_]

Wow!

Welcome to the club. You came to the right place!

Cheers,

Ray

[jgerock]

Welcome to the madness!

[InkaSteve]

Welcome to the insanity.....What a great story. My first 02 was a 1976, and I still have it. It has been neglected since I got my 74 touring. You should enjoy the car and the fanatics who own them. A great group of people. I believe there are quite a few in your general neighborhood, that frequent this board. They will probably chime in soon. Many of us have officially enter the "OFC" (old farts club), and will welcome you warmly.

Any questions?? Ask away. Most here have opinions and are not afraid to share them.

[Harv]

Good for you!

Karma has treated you well.

John

[2002haus]

A great start indeed. Welcome from the west coast.

It is refreshing to read about a good story, long in the

making. There are still some jewels that are hidden and

continue to surface. Hope you enjoy it as long as some

of us have (starting 27 years here).

Clear prop - let 'er rip!

[JLA]

What a great story. Congrats. My first 02 was a '76, but no where near the condition of yours. Welcome to the madness indeed.

[FunElan]

Awesome story, nice car too! Have fun with it.

[Miked2002]

Very nice story, beautiful car and welcome.

All the best.

Mike

[roadhog0]

Welcome to the club man! Your one of the few of us who have cars under 70k. Mine currently has a whopping 62k. Check your fuel lines, they are nasty little devils!

[slash02]

Welcome to the group. that is an awesome story.

You're in good company, here is my 02.

[VintageAutobahn]

I loved every thing about your story until this paragraph. Do whatever mods you want to your car (god knows I am to mine) but let me just remind you that you own one of the few low milage original time capsules left out there.

I am generally not one to tell people how to mod their cars or handle their property so I will leave it at that. Please forgive if I have offended.

Now it is a 34 yr. old car which hasn't seen regular service for 31 yrs., so I been busy doing a very thorough sorting and updating before driving it on a regular basis. In fact, I have already ordered about $3500 in parts - all hoses, vac lines, belts, shocks, springs, all suspension bushings, brake pads/shoes, wheel bearings, waterpump, all new engine gaskets incl. headgasket, carb rebuild kit for the weber downdraft, Master Cylinder rebuild kit, fuses, all new bulbs, a new set of tires. I will swap the points for a Crane XR700 optical trigger system, I have ordered a complete stainless exhaust. I'm going with a suspension upgrade kit from Kormann Racing incl. Bilsteins, 1.5" lowering springs, larger front/rear sway bars, poly bushings. I am also doing a 5-speed conversion, also from Kormann which is bolt-in kit incl. a rebuilt 320i tranny (w/ 24mo./24k mi. warranty), clutch, flywheel, pedal box w/ master, shifter and linkage incl. boot, mounting brackets and custom made balanced drive shaft. For right now, I am keeping the rear drums but upgrading to Tii master and wheel cylinders, in the future, I may opt to add rear disc brakes, again 320i parts. I am on the hunt for a 320i Sport leather steering wheel as well as a set of 320i sport recaros, again in leather. The car has just been ziebarted to protect it from future rust.

[02for2]

I loved every thing about your story until this paragraph. Do whatever mods you want to your car (god knows I am to mine) but let me just remind you that you own one of the few low milage original time capsules left out there.

I am generally not one to tell people how to mod their cars or handle their property so I will leave it at that. Please forgive if I have offended.

No offense taken and I fully appreciate your POV.

I am not doing any mod which is not totally reversible. I will be keeping all original parts and cleaning them and protecting them by waxing them and shrink wrapping them, each cataloged and put away in boxes.

And, while this car will be my daily driver, I am semi-retired and office from home, so no daily commute. I have averaged about 2k mi./yr. on my dd for the past 5 yrs., so I won't be spinning the odo like a clock either. I am also a fan and collector of italian motorcycles (MSF instructor) and primarily ride these in the temperate months.

Those mods I do perform will be mainly upgrades to improve reliability, starting, stopping, ride, etc. I am not interested in a bunch of 'Go Fast' parts for this car.

I have a 99 point '65 Healey 3000, and my '85 Lotus Turbo Esprit scored 99.9 points at the Natl. Lotus Convention (LOG) in 2002 and took 1st place in the Concours - in fact, this car has been shown 9 times, and each time it finished in 1st place (and I have tracked this car). I also own a '99 Porsche Boxster w/ 27k on the Odo which is also Bone Stock.

In fact it's rare where I think an aftermarket part or mod betters the manufacturer's work or intention.

That said, I'd love to acquire another '02 someday and mod the heck out of it for track/autoX work.

But I truly believe one of the reasons the Dr. wanted me to have this car was that he felt I would keep the car as original as possible. I say as much as possible because, for instance, the horse hair pads in the front seats have suffered with age, to replace them would cost $800/seat and that's just not realistic. Sport Recaros are a BMW seat too, and I will be keeping the originals should I ever want to restore it to showroom condition.

Cheers!

[FunElan]

Have you been to any recent LOG's? I'm a lotus guy as well, my dad has a '69 Elan.

[02for2]

Have you been to any recent LOG's? I'm a lotus guy as well, my dad has a '69 Elan.

Sadly no I haven't. The timing of the events has not been right for me for the past several years. I have attended several though, especially fun was LOG 18 in Atlanta - Lotus 50th anniversary - 1998.

I love the Elan - owned a '69 as well and a '73 Europa. In fact, just a couple weeks ago I helped the owner of an excellent '67 Elan swap motor mounts with the engine 'insitu' - that job will expand your vocabulary believe me.

Here's a pic of my Esprit

Cheers!