Our Picks

Catching Up
 
It's been a while since I've updated, as I tend to maintain my StanceWorks build thread a little more diligently. But I wanted to bring my '02 FAQ blog up to speed as well. Since I last posted, I've made some more changes to the car. A couple months back, I took the Roundie to a local show at FourTillFour. The day before, we gave it a very light buff. The results were pretty impressive, given how shot the paint is. 
 

You can see the before and after here.

The first couple of years I've owned the car I just drove it. Didn't really touch anything. Then I came across a e21 Recaro driver side seat on craigslist for $40. It was trashed but for $40! The guy I bought it from turned out to be a super nice dude who's become a friend. Watch out for Austens Superchaged M3 swapped e30.

Since the right rockers are now whole again and the quarter panel is still off I decided the next order of business was the floor pans. They are all almost a total loss.
LR:

RF:

 
LF: The plywood does a good job of covering the bulk of the hole.

 
Removing the rear seat support was a quick task as only the welds on the top of the tunnel and the sides of the rockers were holding it on. Started by removing the outer seat rail. I then used a body saw to trim out the rotten RR pan from just behind the subframe push bar to the flat portion below the front seat. The flange attaches to the rocker is still clean metal so I left that. I cut just below the seat belt mount and the seat rail on the tunnel. I removed the donor pan and test fit/trimmed it until it fit well enough to weld it in with all of the ribs reliefs matched up. I left the leading edge and about 5” back from the front loose so that I can match it up with the rest of the panel still to be removed the the ‘69 floor. The welding isn't finished in this pic, but that pan isn't going anywhere for sure.
 

 
In my opinion the worst part of the floor is the LF. The frame rail essentially doesn’t exist anymore, the pan is only held on by some rust scale under the seat. The A-pillar is pretty bad, the outer rocker is just a few flakes of iron oxide and the inner has some major damage. 
 
Tons of work still to come, but it's getting stronger every day.
 

Overhauling my heaterbox.  Repairing cracked plastic....wow it’s fragile.  Don’t ask me how I know.  Also if you doing this and reusing your fan blades on a new motor. A Quick way to determine which way the fan blows is to attach it to your drill before punching out the center shaft to affix to new motor. Also not that I read a post somewherethat if you reverse the wiring the fan may blow in a different direction...so there’s that way as well to be cautious of.  
 
Did i I mention this 50 year old plastic is fragile..  F&#& !!

Vern is back at VSR to have stone chips touched up and a few other things attended to. Poor guy really took it on the chin and nose over the past 6,700+ miles since April 17, 2018. Spoke to Mario yesterday and went over the work plan. Nose is being repainted, other paint flaws will be touched up and wet sanded. Doing all this because I am having the paint treated with Opti-Coat Pro, a two stage ceramic coating. https://www.opticoat.com/page/opti-coat-pro  
 
At the BMW CCA O'Fest Concours, where Vern placed 2nd in Classic Super Clean. A judge, after the awards, helpfully pointed out what specific areas needed attention. I am still waiting for the judging notes/sheet from Paul Cain, the BMW CCA Concours Chair.

I welded the repaired right outer wheel housing back on the '73 a week or so ago. I was using weld through primer and had a horrible experience with the stuff. When coating both parts and trying to plug weld the welds popped and splattered as if I was welding a pile of rust in a puddle of oil. I tried letting it dry more thoroughly, and finally settled on using a flat faced drill bit to scrape away the primer within the weld hole. The welds were tolerable, but not what I wanted to see. Going forward I won't be using any more of that, I'll treat the seams after the fact with a "creeping" sealer of some sort. Anyway, after getting the outer wheelhouse and the C pillar bracing back on the '73 I rehung and tacked on the quarter panel. It's only tacked at the B and C pillars for now as I still have an outer rocker panel to replace and a trunk floor to repair.

Drove the 750 miles in12 hours averaging 62.5 mph including traffic and fuel/bathroom breaks. Have the coveted garage space at the inlaw's house. Wore my Piloti driving shoes for the first time, first time driving a long distance my right knee didn't ache. Usually get out of the car limping because my knee hurts so much. Gotta be the shoes.

The front end is getting some attention now. It’s been (as you would expect) a discovery project of rust. The good news - it’s not overly bad. I just bought left and right inner A pillar panels from restoration design, where I have purchased all my parts, and they are on the way. After those are on we can begin layering all the new panels together. 

When I restore cars, I like to have both the puzzle car and a puzzle box car.  Sometimes that is pretty diificult. Sometimes it works out great!  I am still bogged down with another project and have not been able to bring my stripped down Polaris '75 back from the warehouse yet, but I came across an amazing deal on a puzzle box 2002!  It is a Chamonix '74 and it is an older restoration that still looks spectacular.  I picked it up today in New York and hauled it back home.   The car is pristine inside and out!  It has a very, very small list of immediate needs (5-speed shift linkage needs to be tightened up and the rebuilt engine with 38/38 weber and 292 cam idles a little low when cold) that I should be able to bang out in no time.  Look for me and this car at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix!   


 

 
 

So with the dash out it made sense to also pull and contemplate a heater box overhaul as well.
 
So I pulled it from the car today. Fairly easy qty 2 11mm on the bulkhead and two clamps to detach the hoses. 
 
Set it down and cleared away the discintegrated 50 year old foam. 
 
As others have warned...there is still antifreeze in the unit! 
 
I layed down some linoleum on the passenger side floor and tilted it out to that side.... sure enough. 
 
If your doing this job as well have rags/ paper towels handy.
 
Variety of pics below.

I’ve been working on both the ‘68 and the ‘73 simultaneously. I’ve cut apart/straightened/welded/glass bead blasted enough pieces to make two whole right outer wheel housings. The housing intended for the ‘73 doesn’t have a lip as that car is slated to get the “Turbo” treatment. 
 

 

 
I cut the original ‘68 quarter in half to make it more manageable. I stripped an 1/8”-3/16” of bondo from the rear half. I really just need the lower 4” or so so it’s not a big deal that the panel was so wrinkled. I’ll likely save it and “metal finish” the rest of it at a later date. It is vintage metal after all.
 

 
So my original plan was to use the ‘73 QP on the ‘68 and the ‘69 QP on the ‘73... I started looking at what needs to be repaired on the ‘73 panel, the need to swap the filler neck flange, and the side maker holes to close up and came to the conclusion that it might be easier to repair the ‘69 panel and mount it on the ‘68. I already have the forward lower quarter repair panel. All I need to finish the ‘69 panel is the arch and the rear lower patch. The panel is straight and clean otherwise. Most of what would be removed from the ‘73 panel for repair will be cut off when the flares go on. Not to mention it then becomes a simple task of matching all of the appt welds back up to reattach that panel. Easy peazy. 
 

 

 
With some light pushes between the subframe bolt pockets, the inner wheel housings, and the outer seat belt mounts I now have subframe bolts that are parallel and 1180mm apart. I also have a right side rocker panel that looks good against a straight edge on both the top and bottom flanges. I will check that it is parallel with the left side of the car soon. 
 
I tied a rope around the B-pillars and cinched it up until the C pillar connector plate made contact with the wheel house. I’ll be darned if the contour of the B pillar doesnt finally match with that if the A and C pillars. Things are looking good. Sighting across the currently incomplete wheel house and across the lower B pillar shows the same picture between the 68 and the 73. While I still intend to build a frame for the car and measure/pull as needed, I’m starting to think that the back 2/3rds of this car may not need anything more than careful attention to panel alignment during welding to keep it square.
 

 

 
I’m about ready to start welding panels back on the ‘73 so I can move it back to the garage for some more metal work.

Front floors are close to being in, and the rear passenger suspension area of the floor is set in place. More has to be done on the rear and the trunk. As well as the front inner fenders. It’s a long process - longer when you have a budget smaller than your dreams. Hahaha
 
 

Refinished the ash tray and cleaned up the fuse box pics are before and after. 
 
Bought new Trico 33-150 wiper blades, pedal pads, screw caps along with other odds & ends from Blunt, Roger'sTii & amazon.

It was nice this weekend to tackle some smaller jobs that result in a bigger change in the garage art.  The first little task was installing the rear glass.  It wasn't that bad, but then again I still haven't done the lock strip.  The rope trick really does work.  Word of caution you will need more than 15 feet to have a good handle to start.  Also all the comments about get it centered first...yeah listen to them, really eases the process. 
Had to support my friends car club.  After all it started after I drug this thing home with him telling me to walk 3 years ago...
I then cleaned up, sand and masked to flat black the nose.  I also cleaned up the headlight buckets.  I must confess the car is the same color as masking tape...so I may have missed a little corner...

All in I'm pretty happy with the grill-less nose.  I would love some good condition round grills.  The problem is they are so much $.  I like this look and think it adds a little to the "outlaw" look of this '02.  Stay tuned for our next installment, more glass install, followed by removing the engine...again.  Hopefully over the 4th I will get the steering set screws drilled and locktited, clutch installed, and the engine in for the LAST TIME, before vroom vroom.
 

Woke up at 5:30 am. Spent 9.5 hours today working on Vern. Cleaned & waxed the rear subframe, half shafts, boots and brake backing plates which still need some attention. Dismantled, cleaned, detailed and reassembled the sunroof rails and Golde wind deflector. Returned the ashtray from an iPod/iPhone dock back to an ash tray, that took at least 3 hours.

I read as many threads as possible on three piece dashboard removal and attacked the job today.  
 
I found the threads with pics to be most helpful. I think it was pho23 that had a some great pics and I gave his DIY thread titled "Removing a 3 piece dash." dated  oct 28 2007 thread 5 Stars.
 
i followed the steps he described in the thread and found no issues with the instructions at all.  
 
 
Here are the things I broke in the process.
 
1. Air vent hose to plastic dash vents. 
2. Tabs on the plastic dash vents.
 
3. A couple clips pulled off the dash and stayed in the car. 
 
My advice is to go slow to a avoid the mistakes I made.
 
here are the pics
 
 

Pulling the garage door down, felt like 300 degrees today here in Northern Cal, sun beating in the garage...snapped this one.  These little m10 motors really are pretty amazing whether it be a stock o2, tii, turbo....or this - the ultimate iteration of that motor....(well maybe the ultimate would be the same/similar motor with a turbo (Schnitzer 1.4 turbo)....

Placed all the under hood stickers, finally. Original and new there are some differences as some stickers are NLA like the 'BMW air pressure' which was near the left turn signal. So had to compromise with what is currently available.
 
Does anyone have a picture of where the Ate blue/white sticker goes in the brake booster?
 
 

Not the biggest of updates.  It seems the last 20% is the longest.  I have been trying to tie up loose end.  I have run fuel supply and return lines.  I upgraded to 3/8" to support future boost....

I have also finally finished the rear subframe rebuild.  All new brakes, lines, bushings and a fresh coat of paint. 

I was also able to track down a match set of miata seat for a little bit of nothing.  Now  I have the drivers seat on a track.  the passenger side is fixed. 


And the highlight of the day, getting the car wheeled out into the sun. 

I am much happier with the stance of the car than I thought I would be.

So, I've tried a number of things and still could not reproduce the turn signal lens to any degree of satisfaction and had been chewing on this project.   I recently acquired a 3D printer off the local CL.  This new to me tool allows for certain possibilities.  I had the lens and the frame scanned.  Then, I attempted to print some samples.  Mind you, I still do not know what I am doing with the 3D printer.  
 
As scanned, the plastic lens does not fit into the frame.  Once freed from the frame (I had to cut up the frame to do so), the plastic lens curled up.  Also, the flanges at the edged of the plastic lens were molded around the metal frame;   These flanges will have to be straightened out.
 
The next step is to get professional help in manipulating the scanned files...

My 2002 ´Veronica¨at Cali Colombia

VSR has officially finished Vern. Mario, Chris Langsten and I had punch list items, those have all be taken care of including the rear driver side wheel bearings, yet still need to put the engine bay stickers on.
 
Now the detailing begins for O'Fest in Pittsburgh in 3 weeks. Spent 2 hours cleaning the sunroof hardware and Golde wind deflector. Then yesterday 3 hours detailing the trunk, rear bumper and cleaning all the rubber on the car. It's amazing how much bodyshop dust there is, that stuff gets everywhere. Still have a lot of work to do to get him as clean as possible for  the O'Fest Concours.
 
 

All BMW 2002 Racers are invited to the 35th Annual Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix where the Allegheny Chapter of BMW CCA celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the “2002”. As part of the celebration the Allegheny Chapter will host an all “2002” run group both race weekends at the PVGP.
The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, in its 35th year, is a ten-day motorsport festival with the purpose to raise awareness and funds for the Autism Society of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny Valley School. Every year the PVGP selects a Marque and this year is ours again. The Allegheny Chapter of the BMW CCA has been a ground breaker in fund raising for these worthwhile charities and have donated over $250,000. This year our goal is to donate over a $100,000 and we hope you will help.

I said first, because the first two were two 'full resto' projects. I sold them and bought myself this one. It's the first 02 I'm going to accually drive, instead of dreaming of driving it while looking at a stripped 02 chassis with parts all around it.
 
So last weekend I went looking for this 1602. It's a Belgian version, assembled by Moorkens, so sadly no history or options list can be tracked via the VIN, since Moorkens used it's own VIN system and they lost the archives over the years... (Moorkens imported BMW Semi Knock Down kits back then and assembled them in Belgium, to avoid high import taxes at the time). The car has been sitting in a barn for a couple of years (don't know how much exactly), so it'll need some love. The engine runs, but the clutch pedal stays on the floor panel, so that'll be one of the first things to fix (along with new fluids etc), before I'll be able to drive it.
 
The car is oficially named '1602 S' on paper. I believe it's a Belgian-only thing, invented by Moorkens or something. I don't think the S has extras. Maybe the Alpina style wheels? Although I don't know if it came from the assembly line with these wheels. A lot could've happened in 47 years... The seller told me he parked the car in the barn, but wasn't really interested in it (which is why he sells it now), as he's more into pre-war oldtimers, he told me those 02's and other cars from that era were too new for him. But he respected my love for these cars, as it's a bit the same he has with the pre-war cars (since I'm a lot younger than him). The seller told me the car was all original and non-restored, but I quickly saw some overspray on a window seal. So it must have been resprayed at least once, or resprayed locally. Another weird thing is this car is a roundie but it has a facelift front, which only makes things more suspicious. I know back in the days people rebuilt their pre-facelift cars to the newer model, once it was out. But the question is if in this case it's because it had an accident, or was just for the newer look? I hope it's option two. For now I'll have to live with it but if I plan to keep the car, the front will be fixed to original again (and preferably the lower side trim will go off as well), since I prefer the original pre-facelift kidneys and grille anyway, but that'll be something to worry about later. I'm glad they kept the round tails at least (no hate for clean square light 02's tho). First I'd like to be able to drive this car and then enjoy it how it is a bit. I'll probably pick it up next weekend, in the meantime, here are some pics!
 
How it was sitting in the barn:

 

 

 


These were the pictures from the seller's ad:

 

 

 

 

 

FWIW: Just got an update from CCA that the Sunday 15 July 2002 Parade Lap event is "live".   You have to modify your existing CCA registration and be signed up for the CCA Corral.  Driver cost is $25 and additional pax are $5. (money goes to PVGP charities)