TobyB

This is just my experience, and I do not float in the deep end of the pool, so take it for what it is- the stock, unbent, as-it-came-from-the-factory rear 2002 subframe with no adjusters is just fine. It doesn't NEED adjustment, unless you are a- pretty deep in the weeds in suspension sweeps, and have gotten to the rear end, or b- offended by what's about the right amount of camber for the track on your boulevard donk cruiser stantsmobile, When I bought the first race car, it had no rear adjustment- and on radials, lowered to 5" at the rocker, I got pretty even tire temps once I learned how to drive it hard enough to matter. With the 'street' car on the track, I found similar. The stock subframe gives just a bit of toe- in, for stability, about a degree of camber at stock ride height (which isn't enough on modern tires, BUT) as you lower it, you can get up to 3+ degrees of negative camber, which, if you're running a radial tire of appropriate width and sidewall for a normally- aspirated M10, is pretty good. If you take much of that out for street, then there's a real danger of trailing throttle oversteer if you DO decide to really push it, and then pucker at just the wrong time... So, yeah, if you're running 10" rims 'wrapped with' 30 profile 205 tires lowered to 2", it's not going to work so well. Or for rally, if you're running a 7" ride height, same problem- you'd need more rear camber, and maybe some toe- in for tarmac- or toe- out if you can't use a rear cutting brake. But for a regular street car that might do a lapping day or 10 a year, front camber for sure, but the hassle of the rear adjusters and the expense of putting them in and then finding someone who can and will align it- meh? I'd say, only if you plan on doing it yourself and aligning it yourself and if you think you might have fun fussing with rear changes. Because they're hard to make, and hard to be precise with. And the precision required is in the 0.20 mm range*, once you really start digging into it. Which you can't get with serrations, and it can be annoying even with eccentrics. t * not sub- micron, Elmo. And only for toe. For camber, the serrated adjusters seem like a fine idea. I saw a DeLorean the other day, on the way in to work. It looked far better than the Elmobile.

hee. t Flamethrowing Hot Spark123 Accel Blaster or go home.

What Tom said. ESPESYALLY about the wideband oxygen meter. And a synchrometer. But what you have is certainly in the ballpark, if not in the infield. You may (or may not) need to make any changes, but what you have will get you started and running just fine. t

I usually budgeted 2 hours for the race car, but that was just changing the diff. Eventually, I got it down to 'about an hour' but that involved some minor modifications to improve clearance, just the right length extensions, a ratchet wrench with a bit of extra bend, and so on... t

That's the first line of the article. It has an article in the wrong place, and "The BMW" didn't launch The BMW- importer Max Hoffman did it for them. As we all know. Ahh, this is going to be fun. (continues reading, salivating) Ah, right, there we go- but the 1600-2 engine upgrade started with a backstory. And as noted, the 1600-2 was at the beginning of the run, the 1602 was later... and the 1502 even later. I'm sure we'll see those model variants later in the article, as they made and sold quite a few of them internationally. Max was certainly legendary. As in, infamous, hmm? was never sold in the US. And 20 bhp (20% of 100) might be outrageous in a... hmmm... lawnmower, in these days of 400 bhp motorcycles and snowmobiles. They made what, 10, and never sold in the US. And were some extra headlights? Almost missed this one. Based on what? The notchback is a VW Type3 variant. And I'm sure they meant the TI's dual carburettor setup. oh, happy day. Oh, wait, no, it really didn't, as the 'hoop' didn't have any torsional rigidity at all. BMW used the same gear ratios from 1968 until 1992. Even the diff stayed the same. Was photauthor thinking maybe changing synchro style? Oh, wait, that happened slightly BEFORE the tii, about Diana time. ooo, can't wait to see what photauthrophy the Turbo gets! (holds breath) awww, just a misplaced plural to make it seem like the thing's got a V4. Saaaab. Also some numbers without a footnote. Hmm, I'm still waiting to hear about the 1600-2, 2000-2, 1800-2, 1800ti, 1802, and 1502! Where are all the deets??? I mean, we had to get the Diana, why not th REST of th story? Well, that was fun. I did not see any photo credits for the article (admittedly I didn't look too hard) but for a photauthor, wouldn't that be kinda...a thing? Yes, it's hard to get it all right. But with the hinternet being what it is these days, everyone's a critic. And some of us have been doing this longer than others. Being a critic, that is. t get off my lawn. I need to hide under it.

Possible, yes, as the year on the title isn't always exactly aligned with the build date for the car. Unlikely, however, as in my recollection, the very late '82's sometimes got the 240 od. You could look at RealOEM by VIN, but BMW didn't do a very good job at all tracking which shell got which gearbox, and that continued for several decades... t

So much of this stuff is one's comfort level- I'd be far more comfortable building a new engine with factory valves because the old one ingested chunks of a factory exhaust valve because I let the thing run too lean for too long than building a new engine because a stainless steel valve from somewhere I wasn't sure of dropped its head into a piston. For some reason. If VAC is sourcing known valves, good on them. Their rockers were implicated, 20 years ago, in some less-than-stellar lash pad antics. Their response was... memorable. t like elephants...

huh? t

A hardened wave washer would normalize the friction between the bolt and the washer. t use motor oil.

Ima guess the neck in front of the intake, and that on the one RJ has, it has the later removable nipple that connects to the nipple on the intake manifold, and then to the heater core. I always ended up with the earlier version that had the nipple cast into it, and then nipple corrosion often eroded the circumference of the nipple. t the world is scary...

backwards. t hark the Herald axles swing...

dayumn, that is sexy... damn the 80s. damn them to hell. t

kinda hard to say, really. It's pretty obvious that the wires have had some loving attention since the car left Germany, so it's going to be a bit hard to diagnose over the internet. As STOCK, unhooking that wire should make the car start, but die as soon as you release the key to the run position. Under your hood, I'd find the wiring diagram that most closely matches what you should have, trace out what you DO have, and then meter to see what it's actually doing. Finding out what that relay's wired to do is probably a good idea- what it's SUPPOSED to do is bypass that ballast resistor while the car is cranking. Depending on what year wiring harness the car has. t

I have an M54B30 and an E30 shell. you can guess where this will eventually end up... t

oh, dear. That's like asking what's your favorite color. And your favorite vacation spot. Spoiler alert: 300 bhp in an E30 is really nice. 300 bhp in my Ferd Eff Free Fiddy is just... meh. Unless it has 700 ft- lbs of torque. wait- torques? what are those? t thinks they asked the wrong question, and is a sucker for just the right shade of purple.

You just said it right there. The stock BMW valves don't have problems in the engines I race (7500, avgas, 11.5:1) so I've never thought it was worth fixing a problem I never had. Plus, as I say above, the supply in parts engines is plentiful, because they just don't fail that often. Having lived through the 'Billyet allyuminimum fordged high strength' rocker era (where lots of people got to find out that low- volume metallurgy is a real gamble,) I stayed on cheap Febi rockers- and figured out that the fix THERE was careful prep, and learning how to set valve spring pressures. We are such a small market that a one- off solution just doesn't get the testing that the small block aftermarket does. t

Yeah, huh- like Tom, I sure have seen an exhaust like that, but never on a 2002. Especially on one with a carb. If it is indeed a catalytic converter, and the car doesn't have an EFI conversion with at least one oxygen sensor, it runs a fair chance of being slagged. Hell, even the one on my '84 NissanDatsun Stanza eventually melted itself, and that thing had an EFI system that was, in theory, designed for the engine and the converter. If it's just a resonator with a cover, though, it's not your problem. If you can thump the can (not the heat shield) you can tell by sound and feel if it's got catalytic material in it. or heck, just shine a light in there and see if you see a grid, since you have it unhooked. It'll be very obvious. t

BMW kinda loses me after the N52... ...and for chassis, the E46. t

trust issues, plus the stuff is sticky, generically. t

Ah. The plastic bushings that it rides in can be replaced, and that helps tremendously. t

Well, I've been accused of being a lot of things, but that's a new one! t

In your use case, the TRW will be fine, even the Thai ones. I have had good luck with the Intervalves version, too, although it's been a long time now since I bought them. The original BMW valves were quite good- I found I could reuse 80% or so from parts engines, with a clean up. Cracks from overheated exhaust valves are not uncommon. I have stayed away from stainless, so I have no experience with them. t

I find that 4 jack stands have yet to kill me, 40- some years later... t would not use more than 4, having watched dunnage walk itself out from under things.

I find myself wondering what, exactly, constitutes an "upgrade" to a bent bit of 8mm rod? t has race- tested his and found it adequate,

Critically, the center image below is from... wait for it... 1949. So, yeah... And if you tear apart a VW type 1, 2 or 3, you'll find more than a few parts that will bolt onto a BMW. Common suppliers, wot? So I suppose, I'd say, "I see where the 2002 round taillights evolved from" t