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It’s been quite a while since I last really dug into the BMW 2402tii.  My wife ended up going back to school so most of my dreams of getting the car road worthy this year are out the window.  I most likely will not be able to afford the big pieces for quite some time.  That was a bit like knocking the wind out of my sails.
 
I have decided to plug on anyway.  I will try to get a solid foundation.  I should still be able to get the steering and plumbing worked out.  As well as clean, sort, and seal the underside of the car.  I might even go back and redo some of my previous work.  With a project like this one as my first I know that my skill has improved, from non-existent to not too terrible.
Enough babbling, on to the updates!
1.       I found a steering column!  I found a link through a mustang forum that a GM electric power steering column could be retro fit.  The assist is built into the column so it can be turned up, down, or off.  It is controlled by a potentiometer kit that you can get from Ebay for ~$50. http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/mod-custom-forum/670865-anyone-want-100-electric-power-steering-here-you-go.html
2.       I have shifted the driving position rearward to help with leg room and weight bias.  I never had an intention to put the back seat back in

3.       I have built mounts to use NA Miata seats.  The current ones I have are from pull-apart and being that this is Michigan, they are extremely rusty.  Still for $23 they are good enough for mock up.

4.       The AR5 transmission that matches my Ecotec is HUGE.  I’ve had to considerably enlarge the tunnel.  I’ve been putting off this sheet metal job for the better part of a year.  I finally tackled the driver side and closed it all in.
5.       I primed and seam sealed the whole side.  This is most likely the floor section I would be most likely to redo.

6.       Finally I covered it all with bed liner and threw everything back together. 

Of course the next thing I did was sit in the car make engine noises and pretend to shift.  I do need to get the car on the ground and see just how bad ingress/egress is.

Pittsburgh PA. Stashed behind a barn for 14 years. Now a daily 8/12 months) driver.

the 3rd year of this adventure with Maggie

While I was waiting for the driveshaft, I decided to replace the transmission fluid as I have no history of its maintenance. So I popped the drain plug off....

 
I took the fill plug off to see at least it was full. It was a bit low.  Drain plug was doing its job though.

 
Cleaned...

 And new fluids. Its nice to know that little things like this have been taken care of.

 
Mike Pugh has been a great resource of info! He had some lenses around that would help my 2002 not look so faded.

 
I was not fond on the polka-doted headliner so I gave it a good scrub. Before...

after... its better at least.

 
And the Wheels? Well, even though they had what looked to be 10 year old tires, I put them on because im no fan of the bcaps. They held air and they were good enough to get around the block. No rubbing yet but close enough to need a little roll.

 

 

With some research on these wheels, BWA has a few wheels that works on these lil BMWs. What im not a fan of is the center knob of the center wheel. Some of me wants to grind down that knob flush with the rest of the wheel. Then I would like to paint them with gold centers like this...

...with maybe polished lips. Replacement tires are in the mail so I may just keep them as they are until im done getting it road worthy.
I don't get too much big chunks of time to spend on this project but a little cleaning goes a long way. Little by little it gets cleaned up.
Going from this...

to this with a toothbrush and soap.

 
Biggest jobs ahead is control are bushings and wondering if I truly need a new heater blower fan...ew.

Paint and body work has begun.  I'll post photos as I get them.  They'll be taking the paint down to the metal so should be some good pics along the way.  Thanks for following.
October 11th - Mostly down to bare metal, still some areas to remove.  Typical rust spots located.  Next update in a couple of weeks.  Plan is for a December completion of paint.

I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked, but some of the bigger questions are starting to get answered.  When I first started the swap I knew there would be a few big hurdles, Rust, fitting the engine and trans, connecting the steering, and completing the driveline.  I will this next weekend cut out and replace the last rust in the door.  
As usual for this car about 1/4" of bondo had to be removed.  Thankfully after that was removed not a ton of rust was found.  I will just replace the area around the corners to make the patches smaller. 
 
 
Now on to steering....There are two sets of OEM hardware that I have worried about connecting to.  First is the Steering rack from a BMW 320i (1980).  I finally found a 17mm-51 spine u-joint that fits Perfectly!
As you can see I will have to add a kink in the joint to clear the starter.  it does clear so that's a win. 
Next week the rest of my steering components will come in.  I hope to get that as well as the passenger side tunnel complete over my Christmas holiday.  The misses is already informed that my 2018 new years resolution is to drive this car.  It might have no glass or weatherstripping but I will drive it next year.

Fall 2016 - Fall 2017

Not the 49 Mile Drive rally for 2017.  Starts at Ocean Beach across from Beach Chalet.  Meet at 9-9:30 AM and cars off by 10:00 AM.  Meet again at restaurant (follow rally instructions...) for lunch.  Encourage a navigator, but not required.  Families welcome!  See BayArea 02 regional forum for more details.
 
Larry

Over the last few weeks Ive been driving Meintii everyday! As of today Ive put about 450 miles on her. Im trying to drive as much as possible to prepare for a cannonball run style rally/race Im participating in GA in 2 WEEKS! Im driving there, 1000 Miles each way, PLUS the race which is about 400 miles, PLUS driving around after the race at the beach! Should be an epic trip, however I am feeling the pressure to get the car ready in time. 
 
Attached pictures show - My 3d-printed center console face, covered in brushed metallic vinyl. I shortened my handbrake by 4"s to allow for my custom center console made by @esty to fit without clearance issues. I should be installing that soon! More interior work continues with sounds insulation installed on both doors, along with the door panels installed as well. Hopefully carpet will go in this weekend along with the passenger seat! 
 
Pictured - Comparison shot of old tii rear bar and the IE bar I installed last night. Biiiiig difference! I already had the BIG IE bar up front, car feels waaaay better with both on now
 
Im still having cooling system woahs, the cap on my plastic coolant reservoir continues to leak when the car is hot - Ive replaced the cap and the RES with new bmw parts, they still leak. Im over it, bought a JOES racing reservoir and a couple different PSI caps, that should solve my issue, plus it will look real racey
 
This week/end plans are to install carpet, passenger seat, finish wire looming under dash, mount console face in console if its arrived. Change coolant reservoir, verify issue is gone. Possibly change rear subframe/trailer arm bushings to urethane. Hammer out dent in fuel tank to regain proper pick up and fuel range for road trip/race. Finish wrapping turbo spoiler, trim fender flares and mount it! 
 
Stay tuned folks! Im trying to get back in the habbit of taking more pictures

When I bought the car, I had no idea that a shifter can feel so loose. Really, up down every which way with no gear selected. I bought the shifter rebuild kit from Blunttech and installed. I was a bit leery when Steve said this small kit will make it feel like new...but he was right...ish.

 
Still play but Im coming out of a re built E30 trans with short shifter and my daily has new 6 speed. I now can feel each gear tough. Not too bad of a job. I did not have to remove the driveshaft. When it came to the brace, blunttech sells the bushing that Condor supplies. Taking out the rest of the original bushing sleeve needed a saw to cut it out. Installation needed some persuasion to get back in the hole but that worked.
 
 
 

 
Cheers!
 
 

Retro Festival Fortune 2017

Lots of activity in the car build but not a lot on here so thought that I had better try to be more diligent in posting something 
 
Just got home from the upholsterer and have a little of the sweet and sour taste in my mouth. Originally my intention was to take the Scheel seats in get recovered and then find an e24 rear seat to match up later, but after seeing what has been done with a stock rear seat I figured what could it hurt to see how it turns out. 
 
So today I dropped off the door and rear panels and he mentioned that he was finished my seats, and asked if I wanted to take them home. We went into the shop and the first thing I saw were the Scheels, but the centre section just didn't look right for some reason and felt a little let down, but then i got a look at the rear seats and LOVED THEM!! Couldn't believe how different they looked, almost to the point where I considered bringing him my stock fronts to do them the same way. 
 
After driving the hour and a half to get home I immediately took the rear seats, the only ones  that could fit in the All Road, and placed them in the barren cab to see how they looked, and the sweet taste made me smile. 
 
My door cards weren't good enough to recover so going to have to order a new set and take them back, when I go pick up the front seats. Just need to match a carpet from Esty and a headliner and maybe my wife and kids will sit in it again....
 
 
 
 

Mocking up. Looks like I'll need a spacer in the front. Just tapping the strut. Rear is money. Time to get flares!  
 
Then - I need to continue the mechanical. I need to take the motor drop path. This car will take forever, but I dig that. I know it will be a stunner when it's done. 

I love the look of a vintage roof rack on a 2002.  I searched for months trying to find one but had no luck.  I was able to reach one company that makes them but they only had a limited supply and would not sell me one.  So I decided to make my own, kind of.  I purchased a VW bug rack off ebay and decided to modify it.  It was quite a bit of work because It was too tall as well as too narrow.  So I started by chopping the legs, all 6.  I got it to as low as I wanted it and welded some new metal feet to the bottom of the legs that fit in the rain gutters.  Then I had to figure out how to widen the rack, that was the hard part.  I cut the three cross bars in half and added about 2 inches give or take to the middle of the bars and welded them back together.  For the base of the rack, I left that in tact and instead, welded a 1.75" metal piece to the rack sides where the base connects via a screw.  I'm super happy with how it came out.  It's not going to be carrying any couches anytime soon but it's strong enough to carry some camping gear or whatever.  
 
The first pic was taken while I was still working on it.  The last two pics are the finished rack. 

I have very little car time as I am a stay-at-home Dad for our 14mo old son 3-4 days/wk 13hrs/day when my wife works (Cardiac nurse) and I run two small businesses of my own (auto repair and home renovations/handyman). That being said I have even less money than time to commit to these projects. The '69 has been chosen as the donor to revive the '68 and hopefully the '73 (down the road). My current goal is to make the '68 true to the body measurements in the blue book and mobile by Summer 2018. Keeping in mind that some of the sheet metal required to save the '73 is intermingled with parts that I need to repair the '68 I will be removing parts at the spot welds wherever possible. 
 
As previously posted I had peeled off the quarter panel from the '68 to get a better look at the scope of work. I recently removed a section of the outer rocker, the C-pillar braces and the outer wheelhouse. Over the weekend I drug some tools out to the tent where the '69 is hidden. I removed the seat back / parcel tray panel and the inner sheet at the bottom of the side glass opening first. Removing the quarter panel was quite easily thanks to the tin worm's effort in the wheel arch and trailing end of the rocker panel. Then I took out the rib that fits between the quarter panel and the outer wheelhouse and I also removed the entire C-pillar. With those out of the way I set to work on removing the inner and outer wheelhousings together. I haven't decided how I intend to use them in the repair of the '68 as they are both rotted messes but at least I will have that structure on-hand in the garage when the time comes.




 
The next parts to be removed from the '69 will be the tail panel, the left quarter, wheelhouse, and trunk floor. I probably outta take the roof off as well. Then off comes the rear subframe/suspension as that will be going under the '68.

Since my last entry in this build blog a considerable amount of Life has happened. One, I purchased the house across the street from the one I was renting here in Texas,Second, the day after we closed on the house my better 3/4 and I had our second child(a healthy baby girl), and third a major hail storm .Although this has not stopped the progress on Doug's car, to start had to partially reassemble the car to move it  After which I proceeded to buy a used rusted out  e30 318i for parts and stripped it in my driveway. I gave the shell away to a friend who made into a Max Max style vehicle (more on this and pics soon). In March of this after the family and I were getting settled and dealing with the Hail damage on the house and cars, I had a few friends over to help get the car the rest of the way stripped and get it in the driveway to pressure wash it inside and out ( no pics sorry). Last month I took to removing all the sound deadening inside to see the extent of the rust that occurred due to water/spilled brake fluid intrusion from the cowl area. The good news is the rust is only on the surface and should be easy to clean up. During the Thanksgiving holiday while on Craigslist, I found a deal to good to pass up, so now Doug's car has a older (71) box flared brother. The actual need for the vehicle was like another hole in my head but with 2 sets of Panasport rims, Brembo brakes,M42 swap, roll cage,fuel cell, and a NASA log book who could say no.(Again I have the most understanding wife ever.) I plan on finishing the rest of the tar and adhesive removal tomorrow, and should have the all the rust reformed and POR 15-ed by Mid December. I intend to make this Blog more regular and hope to include some time lapse video links to YouTube to keep all updated. If anyone has questions, comments, advice or wants to help please let me know.

1968 Road & Track Road Test of the BMW 2002

The 24 Heures du Mans

 
     For many car builders the 24 Hours of LeMans endurance race is the ultimate test of performance, reliability, driver skill and pit stop strategy.  Organized by the Automobile Club de L'ouest, it has been held at the Circuit de la Sarthe in LeMans, France since 1923.   BMW first entered the race in 1937 with a single 328 roadster with a 2 liter straight six.  Embarrassingly, it only completed 8 laps.   Lessons learned, the proud Bavarians returned in 1939, the last running of the race before the outbreak of WWII.  This time they brought a team of three 328s, two roadsters and one aerodynamic 'touring coupe'.  They swept the 2 liter class, taking first, second and third.

On Saturday the Bay Area 2002 hosted the 2015 Not the 49 Mile Scenic Drive. We had an excellent showing of eclectic people and cars. Everything from beautiful originals to a resto-mod square tail with motorcycle carbs.
 
Larry Ayers organized the drive through the city and for the past few years I have had the privilege of designing the route.
 
The point of the drive is to experience a part of San Francisco you normally wouldn't see, while hanging out with other 2002 owners from all over the Bay Area.
 
If you'd like to do the rally yourself, feel free to download the directions and photokey below:
 
Photo Key:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B61LEGUxfxjXUXFvZ0o0NEFPbFE/view?usp=sharing
 
Directions:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B61LEGUxfxjXU2NCQTgtM0NOUGs/view?usp=sharing
 
Lots of photos below, beginning with the pre-rally park ferme and ending with pictures I took along the route.
 
Enjoy!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This post has been promoted to an article

After finally coming home from an impromptu 3 month underway, I actually have a chance to upload photos that have been on my phone. While grateful for my wife snagging some progress shots, I had all of the early progress stuck on my phone with me while out at sea. Enjoy.
 

I'm compiling photos for the 2018 BMW 2002 calendar and need your help! If you have a cool photo, whether it's a detail shot or wide shot, send it my way! Ideally the photo will be hi-res and taken with a DSLR (or the equivalent). All variations are welcome - 1600s, Tourings, etc...
 
 
Please email submissions to riley@thepaddock.xyz or simply PM me. If your photo is chosen, I'll send you a free 2018 calendar and give you photo credit.
 
 
In case you haven't seen it, here's last year's calendar:
http://thepaddock.xyz/store/2017-bmw-2002-calendar
 

 

Repadding the stock '02 seats is a time-consuming but worthwile procedure. While most people will simply upgrade to some nice Recaros when their original seats have had it, many prefer the original look or simply can't yet afford to go with some replacement Recaros. For these people, restuffing the original seats is a great option...

We will be back at Back Yard Coffee Co. at 965 Brewster Ave. in Redwood City, CA in June<br style="color: rgb(75, 79, 86); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="color: rgb(75, 79, 86); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">We will gather at Caltrain Parking lot just across the street from the coffee shop. For those interested, Redwood City Farmers Market will be just across the railroad tracks.<br style="color: rgb(75, 79, 86); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="color: rgb(75, 79, 86); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I will be there from 8am to 11am with some Donuts. Coffee will be available at Back Yard Coffee.