Mike Self

What year is your car? Headlight fusing was changed several times, so the inop low beam might b something as simple as a bad fuse... mike

It was an ignition key buzzer that would sound when one opened the driver's door witih the key in the ignition. US spec cars so equipped have an extra wire emerging from the ignition switch and two terminals on the driver's side door switch that turns on the overhead light. That second terminal is for the buzzer. It was still connected when I bought my '73 in 1978--don't know how the PO stood it for five years. It was the first thing on the car that went in the neighbor's pool. It drove me nuts when I was working on the car and wanted to hear the radio--so I naturally opened the door--to that damn buzzer. The little tab on the buzzer was actually threaded onto one of the machine screws that held either the upper or lower steering column covers--I pulled it off 40+ years ago so my memory's hazy 😉. But it was fastened down. Do you really think the Germans would leave it loose to bang around inside the steering column housing? mike

When you pull your M/C, run your fingernail down inside the cylinder bore. If you can feel pits with your fingernail, try honing the cylinder. If that doesn't work., you might check with White Post Restorations (White Post VA). They will bore and sleeve the cylinder with brass or stainless steel to standard size, the fit with all new innards. That may be less expensive than a new ATE M/C. mike

That bottom finish panel was part of the Federally mandated cushions to protect driver's soft parts from hard parts on the car. They were cleverly designed so it made inserting the ignition key into its lock difficult, especially if the key was in a key case. And if it was on a ring, the other keys wore a hole in the padded finish panel, so most folks removed 'em either for convenience or due to unsightly wear. The two screw holes on the lower panel at the end furthest from the steering wheel is where the molded cardboard underdash finisher is attached. And on very early cars (with no lower padded panel) a small switch panel was fastened there to hold switches for the emergency flasher and heated backlight, if the car was so equipped. And BTW, the upper and lower steering column covers were diecast metal on cars with manual chokes; the factory transitioned to plastic when the choke cable no longer put a strain on the lower cover--this when the 2 barrel Solex carbureter was fitted in late 1972 production. mike

I'm older than the rocks that made the dirt...always wanted a set of 205/60 Stahlflex Phoenixs, but they were considerably more expensive than XAS's so never sprung for 'em. I did like my 185/70 Yokohama Y351's though. Hated to see 'em discontinued. And I wish MAAXIS made a 185/70x13. I have 14s on my 318is and love 'em. mike

If the dash light is on all the time, here's a possibility. Some (but not all) flasher relays have two separate sets of relay points inside the housing--a larger set that causes the exterior lamps to flash, and a smaller set for the interior one. If that's the case with your relay, I'd guess the relay points on the smaller set are stuck closed. You can unclip the flasher relay from its home near the hood release and carefully remove the cover to check those points. If they're stuck closed, try to pry 'em open, run a piece of fine sandpaper between the contacts, then reconnect the relay (without its cover) and try your turn signals. If both sets of points open and close--and interior and exterior lights flash--you've solved the problem... mike

Probably shoes stuck to drums. Release the handbrake (and vow to never again use the parking brake for any period of time much over a week--less if it's rainy/humid) and whang on the drum with a BFH. That should start jarring things loose. It's a good sign that you could move the car by revving the engine in first gear so it's not hopeless. We were able to free up a car that had been parked outside for 10+ years; knowing the drums were probably toast we used a 2.5 lb sledge and actually hoped to shatter the drums, but they let go of the shoes before they shattered. Take out your frustrations on those innocent drums and have at it. 😁 mike

Didja leave it parked with the parking brake engaged? That's almost guaranteed to "weld" the brake shoes to the drums even when parked indoors for more than a few months. Even if the e-brake was off, properly adjusted shoes are very close to the drums, and rust can bridge the gap pretty quickly, providing the symptoms you describe... mike

If this is the bolt that's at the 6 o'clock position when facing the water pump, I suspect the coolant is coming from the weep hole that's directly above it in the pump housing. Lay down under the front of the car and look upwards at the water pump. In the pump body you'll see a small (2-3mm) hole in the casting; if it's wet with coolant or there's a white streak drooling down from it, the shaft seal in your pump is leaking, and it's not gonna be long for this world. mike

A little clarification, please. Are you referring to the "turn signal light" on the dashboard, one of the exterior lamps or ??? And...what do you mean here? The more information we have, the better we can diagnose remotely 😁. mike

Credit GM's original 1960 Corvair for the wraparound beltline molding--first car to do so and widely imitated both here and especially in Europe and Japan.

If your wiper arms don't stay in the "off the windshield" position by themselves, I would suspect either the tensioning spring on the underside of the arm is weak (or broken) or the catch on either the arm or the base is worn to the point it won't catch when the arm is moved off the windshield. No huge problem, just a little annoying. mike

What were these folks flogging that you wanted?

But back to the subject. I was an early convert to 02-dom--when I saw my first 1600 back in November 1967 (at Ralph Schomp Imports in Denver). Even more so after the 02 came out and I read David E Davis' paean to the car. But I never thought of an 02 as handsome (Silver Cloud RR), dashing (Pagoda roof 230/50/80 Mercedes Benz) or impossibly sexy (XKE). It was what was underneath: a sedan that handled (actually out-handled) a sports car (or at least most of 'em). I wrote a column comparing a 1600ti and a Porsche 356C (last July's Roundel if you're a CCA member) and was astonished as to the similarity in performance and handling--with the ti coming out ahead on almost everything--and wearing a sedan body. The original Q-Ship. Q-ships were used by the British during WW II--an apparently unarmed freighter that was actually heavily armed with hidden guns, sailing alone to lure unsuspecting U-boat into surfacing to attack with their deck gun, thus saving torpedoes for use against escorted convoys. The Q ship would stop when the submarine surfaced, crew members would be seen panicking and lowering lifeboats, while the gun servers waited 'till the sub's deck crew was manning their 88, then they'd drop the covers and start blasting away at the U boat. Sunk a bunch of'em that way. So--a 2002 is an attractive, well proportioned, no nonsense (obviously German) sedan but with large caliber guns hidden under that innocent sedan body. And I have to say that the early, unadorned cars--no knee molding, round tail lights etc, just as Georg Bertram penned it in 1965, are the most attractive...but that's me. mike

Beer(and they look empty) and a scoped rifle...what could go wrong?

Unless, of course it's had a hard front end hit that tweaked the body shell...not a bad ideal to measure front to rear hub centers on both sides to make sure the wheelbase is the same on both sides...😉 mike

One more thing: the inside rearview mirror is larger than the 02's and snaps right into place. Clears the sunvisors too... mike

FYI the changeover on US 2002s from long neck to short neck diffs was at 1664761. For US 1600's it's 1567846. Other changes were made at this VIN so it becomes the changeover point from "first series" '69s to "second series" My 4 Feb production "second series" car (1664801) has all the later features (3 speed heater, different trunk torsion bar setup, short neck diff etc) so apparently they only made 40 second series cars between the end of December and 4 Feb. Probably re-jiggering the production line to incorporate the changes. Another fairly major change was from six to eight bolt flywheels/crankshafts, and coil spring to diaphragm spring clutch pressure plates--with a corresponding different throwout bearing and a non-adjustable slave cylinder pushrod at 1665200. If you have one of these early 02s, and are gonna need a pressure plate and throwout bearing, start looking now...they're hard to find in the 228mm diameter used on 02s. mike

I wanted to be able to turn my driving lights on and off independently of any other lights on the car, to have them go on and off with the high beams, and also be able to have 'em off all the time. The method below doesn't use the dedicated terminal near the battery. What I did many years ago when I wired 'em: Got a single pole, double throw toggle switch (off when centered, on when switched left or right), and ran the wire leading to the driving light relay to the center terminal. Then I ran a wire to an ignition-switched hot lead to one side terminal (ignition-switched so I wouldn't forget and leave the lights on with the car off), and the other side lead to the high beam terminal on the dimmer switch. Been working well for me for many years... mike DRIVING LIGHT WIRING.pptx

To see those triangular cutouts, you need to lean further down in the trunk to take the picture. They're in the far upper, outer corners just below the underside of the package shelf. Your picture doesn't show the triangles. mike PS--per Steve's explanation about the earliest US spec 1968 1600s having an all chrome instrument housing, chrome trimmed dash etc is that the Federal regs that did away with all that reflective chrome in the driver's line of vision took effect on 1 January 1968. While most manufacturers incorporated those requirements in all their 1968 model year cars (beginning in Sept 1967), BMW didn't do so until 1 January 1968, creating two versions of their 1968 cars: early and late, or 1st and 2nd series. Then they did the same thing with their '69 model year cars: those produced between Sept '68 and 31 Dec 68, and those produced from January '69 on.

Per Mark's post above--especially check the short length of rubber fuel line that connects the pickup line in the gas tank to the translucent fuel line atop the gas tank. If that (or the other pieces of rubber fuel line in the engine compartment) has a woven cloth covering, replace with new fuel line, as that cloth covered line is probably original. It cracks with age, and the cloth covering obscures the cracks. A mechanical fuel pump would much rather suck air than fuel, so any place where air can get in the fuel line (like a porous rubber line, loose hose etc) will keep even a good pump from working. Finally, check the cover on your pump. Depending on pump type, it may have a removable cover with a filter screen underneath. The screen may be clogged or the cover gasket may be dried out, causing an air leak. mike

I suspect Stephen has the answer--the canceling "finger" or "thimble) is only press-fitted to the underside of the steering wheel hub. If it moves or gets mispositioned it won't engage the little finger on the lever assembly. It might also have to do with the inner end of the lever--it has a little roller that rides on a curved surface formed by part of the diecast lever assembly housing. If the surface is worn or has a divot in it, the little roller can hang up. This can also cause the lever not to stay in position when selecting a left or right turn. If that's the case, I can help as I did a column after finding that wear on my turn signal assembly. mike

Perhaps you've parked just a little too close to a British car, and your 02 has caught the dreaded Brit oil leak syndrome... Suggest parking close to Japanese cars in the future. mike

That was Isadora Duncan; she was a famous dancer of the teens and 20s. She died while a passenger in a French Amilcar CGSS; her long scarf became entangled in the spokes of the right rear wire wheel, wrapping tightly around her neck and jerking her out of the car, killing her both by strangulation and impact with the pavement. In the 1968 movie about her, she was riding in a right hand drive Type 35 Bugatti, and was only strangled--not bodily jerked out of the car--by the left rear wheel. This all happened in 1927, long before (almost) anyone was thinking about automotive safety...

I've had good experiences with the Shock Warehouse. Prices are good, they offer specials often and IIRC shipping is free if you order more that a couple hundred bucks worth (easy with a set of Bilsteins for an 02). Last time I checked they had 'em in stock for an 02...but unless you're gonna track the car, go with the HDs vs the Sports. mike