Dirt

VW Corrado's in the US are notorious for having horrible headlights. One thing that helps them is having a good wiring harness with relays to maximize the power going to the headlights.

I've also read that going to a more powerful alternator helps the headlights too.

Good luck!

Pete

Lysholms etc make a CRAPLOAD of whine if placed before the throttle body,

"Excuse me sir, is there a rabid badger on PCP under your hood or is that a lysholm supercharger???"

I actually like the sound, but it would make me even more insane if it was my daily driver. For a car designed for fun romps, track days, autocross and scaring small children, they are lots of fun.

Pete

This would be a great addition to the FAQ! Thanks!

Awesome work!!!

Your car looks great. It is cool to see another 2002/Corrado enthusiast around the FAQ.

Thanks for posting up your project. I'm slowly learning my way around my 02.

Pete

Even one more thing... If your paint is old, no amount of heat or care will keep it from cracking. You might not see the cracks immediatley, but you will see them down the road.

Sorry.

Pete

Yes. I was looking on Bavauto last night and I think they were selling the Bosch 002 for $400 new.

I've got the Eastwood fender rolling tool. I've used it on at least a dozen cars so far. It works very well and it allows you to be a bit more gentle with your car than the baseball bat method.

You'll want to make sure that the metal is in decent shape. You'll want a heat gun to warm up the metal and paint so they don't crack. Doing this process on a warm day is helpful. Many front fenders are not fully supported at the front of the car, so it helps to have a friend there who can lean against the fender a little in order to press back against the roller.

The only hang up with the eastwood fender roller is if you car is lowered a lot, the tool may be too long to meet up with the lip of your fender. I had that problem with the back of my Corrado. I just unhooked the rear struts and lowered the rear axle beam, rolled the fenders, then raised it back up again. I had similar problems working on a Toyota AE86. They were solved the same way.

Hope that is of some help.

Pete

Awesome info folks. Thank you so much!

I've been shopping for a welder too and thought I'd ask a quick question. I'm sorry if this is too far off topic for this thread. I think it is close enough to be relevant.

One big concern for a lot of folks is the power source for the welder. When you look at the specs for the smaller Miller MIG welders, they list the power input requirements as "Requires 1-Phase Power". What does that mean?

I'm assuming that I can run a small MIG welder from a capable gas generator as long as the specs of the generator match up with the power requirements of the MIG welder.

Thanks

Pete.

One of the things that I really like about the 02FAQ is that people are generally a lot more respectful and tollerant. I've been a part of a lot of communities that aren't that way at all.

I've developed a thick skin when talking on net forums and I tend to ignore almost everything that is said by people who are aggressive and confrontational. It is a shame because I'm sure that these people have a lot to contribute.

I guess I say this to remind myself that everything that I say and do on-line reflects on my own credibility. If 5% of my posts are trash talking and arguments that would better be resolved off-line, then the other 95% of my questions or comments are going to be looked at with skepticism if not ignored entirely.

This board is something unique and impressive in so many ways. It would be great to keep it that way.

Pete

Just for my own clarification, you're talking about the hose that runs from the valve cover breather to the bottom of the air filter? (I've got a K&N on my 32/36 and there's a plastic elbow that comes out the bottom of the chrome filter housing).

I don't know of a way to filter it and send it back into the elbow. Many companies make decent catch can setups. Summit Racing has some basic ones for a good price. Some are vented with a filter. Canton Racing (google will find them) has some fancier ones that are priced accordingly, but very good quality. I used the canton on my old Corrado's breather and it looks and works well.

HOpe that is of some assistance.

Pete

Welcome to the tribe. I'm new around here too and also have a '75. Mine isn't anywhere near as good of shape as yours. The only way it would make it 250 miles is on the back of a flatbed.

I look forward to reading about your work.

Pete

New fuel lines under the hood. New fuel filter . New vacuum hoses. New ground cable. Took the carb off and scrubbed off 1/2" of accumulated crap. I managed to get it spaking clean. The water choke was a little clogged, so I cleaned that out too. Should flow a little better. We rolled it down the driveway in 4th gear a few times to move the internals and get stuff primed a little.

I'm many steps closer to starting it up.

The awesome part of this project so far has been the outreach from the FAQ welcoming committee. Casey helped me out with a manual and Terry stopped by today while we were wrenching. He brought me a t-shirt and hung out for a while to give me some pointers on the car.

Thanks guys!

PEte

I found that under about 1/2" of accumulated grime and crap that the carb on the car is a Weber 32/36 with water choke.

It isn't matched to the intake manifold very well though. I'm guessing that milling out the manifold to match the circles on the carb might increase flow a little.

I'll searcha and go out for recommendations on how to adjust it. It is now absolutely clean as a whistle inside and out. I even made my own paper gasket because I didn't have access to one today. Thanks Terry for offering your spare.

Pete

I've been working on cars year round with nothing more than a carport. I just have to make sure that I plan my projects well so I'm working on the right stuff at the right time. Things definitely slow down in the winter. Luckily this year it has been warm most of the time.

I look forward to following your progress.

Pete

PedroGringo at yahoo dot com

I spent my first day working on the car dealing with rust. I know there are many more like this to come.

Thanks!

Pete

Hey folks. I've been reading all these amazing project blogs and I've learned a lot from them. I've been looking for a 2002 for a long time, but I've never had the money when something tempting came along.

A guy who knew a friend of a friend solved that problem for me. Through a rather insane chain of communication, I found out about a guy who was giving away this 1975 BMW 2002. The dude lives 3 miles from my house. I met the guy, he gave me the keys and title and I had it towed to my house.

My goal is to make an autocross/track day car out of it. I don't have a trailer at this point, so it needs to stay street legal.

There is definitely a lot of rust, but most of it is not structural, yet. The rear shock towers have been repaired. I will most likely repair them again. There's body rust under the side windows, in the middle of the doors and below the side molding on one side. At first glance, however, it is actually in remarkably good shape for a car this old that was given to me by a complete stranger.

The first big problem was the sunroof. The previous owner had tried to seal it up with duct tape, but that didn't work out so well. I will eventually weld the roof shut. I don't have time for that right now though. I spent part of the day cleaning off the duct tape, neutralizing the rust, and sealing up the sunroof. It isn't a glamorous project. It isn't cosmetically perfect. When finished, it will not leak and it definitely looks better than duct tape.

Rust dealt with for the time being.

Almost done. Tomorrow I'll put one coat of black sealant over the seal that I made so it doesn't stand out so much. It is a good temporary fix.

Here's a more complete write-up of what I did. As an added bonus, you'll see some photos of my cat that likes to ride around on my shoulders.

I tend to overdocument stuff. I'm also a little sarcastic some times. Reader beware.

Thanks to all of you who post in here for sharing your knowledge and advice. I've learned a lot and I know there's a lot more for me to learn.

Pete

Well it isn't going to be a daily driver. I'm going to keep this car street legal, but I'm building it for track days and autocross. As long as I can quiet it down enough to keep from getting pulled over ALL the time, It'll be fine with me.

At some point I'll get something to replace it. Like I said, I need to do a lot of research first.

Pete

Wanna sell that "rusted old hunk of metal"?

thomasjwinston at yahoo dot com

hahaha. I like rusted old hungs of metal.

Not yet. If I do, you're first on the list. I have no idea what it is and quite frankly I haven't learned enough about my 02 yet to make that kind of decision.

If I do, I'll let you know.

Pete

Thanks for the info. I had to look up what NVH was. I'm guessing you're not talking about the California company National Vehicle Holdings.

NVH is a generic term/acronym that covers the branch of engineering relating to vehicle refinement in terms of noise (acoustic) and vibration experienced by the occupants when the vehicle is in service. The term is used mainly in connection with road vehicles, but exactly the same techniques are used in air and rail transport to improve refinement.

NVH is less important to me than performance. I imagine a Tii manifold will probably do better than this rusted old hung of metal. I'll definitely add a new manifold to the "to buy" list.

Pete

Great project! I came in tonight to start my own project blog for my '75 02 and yours was the first post up here. You're much further along than I am. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Pete

Oy oy.

Did a previous owner of my car put an aftermarket header on it? It appears to be a 4-1 header.

I'm sure there will be more suprises to come.

Pete

More awesome ideas. Thanks!

Great project. Thanks for posting this. What are you doing to balance the crank, pistons and rods? I'll be doing this early next year, so I'll definitely keep reading.

Pete

KC - no email address on the forum

Email me and I'll forward it to him. He's got a different account for work and for home.

Pete