MattL

13 hours ago, SydneyTii said:

Nice looking car!

what brand are those minilite style wheels?

Thanks, Syd.

The wheels have "Superlite" center caps, but the rim says they were made by Two Gates in the UK. 

I'm in the Philly area (Collingswood, NJ), and I have a 4-speed just removed from my car for a 5-speed swap. It's a 242 (the kind that uses a bolt-on slave cylinder) rather than a 232. It shifts well through all gears, but it has a wobble at the input shaft that (I think) suggests that an input shaft bearing replacement is probably in its future. I think that's also why it has a noticeable rattle in neutral. Let me know if you're interested. 

A few days late to post, but last week I picked up my 76 with a newly-rebuilt-and-installed (with Blunt's awesome kit) Getrag 245 in it. After two false starts of hauling faulty transmissions in and out of the underside of the car, I wasn't looking forward to crawling back under there. I said "F*#& this!", swallowed my pride, and hired a good local shop to do the work. For anyone in the Philly area, I highly recommend J&J Motors in Bryn Mawr. Jay knows his stuff, is honest, and has a longstanding collab with a local Getrag guru for internal transmission stuff. He also typically has an eclectic assortment in-shop at any given time. When I first pulled up, there was a Camry, a Lambo, an E30, a VW bus, and a Delorean in the lot, and a couple air-cooled 911s on lifts inside.

I also had Jay install my sexy new Danjer extended control arms. I'll need to do a little fender massaging to get rid of some rubbing under load, but the handling is terrific. 

I'm now finally getting around to replacing the original carpet with Esty's beautiful kit. 

Thanks for the input, guys. I’m firmly in the “don’t spend more time under the car than I have to” camp, so I ordered a pair of moog units from blunt earlier this evening. 

I just ordered a pair of Danjer's extended control arms. Is replacing the ball joints a must-do while I'm in there? I don't think they've been replaced before. 

I loved getting to see your jewel of a car up-close, Vince, and can't wait to see it put back together in its new skin. That color is fantastic.

Gosh, these are beautiful. 

Love the new look! And yes, thank you for all your work and dedication, Steve. This resource is truly special, and it's the singular reason this ham-handed doofus had the confidence to jump into the world of 2002s. 

I'd be up for it, but I'm out on the east coast. I'm sure you'll find someone closer, lickety split. 

I'm actually waiting for a Getrag 245 arrive, and it has an M20 case. I was planning on swapping it out for an M10 case, but have been thinking that maybe going the M20 route is the better play. 
 

Edit: Who am I kidding? 

PM on the way.

+1 to what doog said. Your mods and upgrades are killer. Thanks for sharing the excellent vids and the files. Really top-notch stuff. 

Just so everyone knows: @resra gave me a full refund on the transmission. I didn't have a good experience with the box, obviously, but resra proved to be a standup seller. I think we both learned that sometimes you SHOULD judge a book (or transmission) by its cover. 

@tech71 Yep, I have the 4 speed back in. It's got a super-wobbly-rattly input shaft, but it works for now. And yes, I'm definitely considering a 240. 

Thanks, Steve. That was my hope and plan. I took the two units to a 245 specialist in the hope that he could make one good unit from them. He took them both apart. He said the unit I bought had already been taken apart at some point, and had a mish-mash of parts in it. The gears had been moving around and were all chewed up. Water had gotten into Vince’s unit and sat at some point, so the internals were rusted out and not able to be used in the other unit. Anyway, the diagnosis was that because of the poor state of the basically unobtainable pieces in the “repaired” unit, rebuilding would be very expensive. So, I was told I’d be better off getting a new unit to start from. 

Thanks, all. A member closer to home may have an option for me. If it doesn’t pan out, though, I’ll be in touch. 

Longshot, I know, but I’m looking for a good 5-speed. Preferably a 245. 

For anybody following along at home: @tech71 called it! The “repaired” 5-speed unit I have is unusable and probably unsalvageable (lunched 4th/countershaft input gear, among other things), and the donor box @mvliotta kindly provided is unfortunately too far gone to be of use. (Thanks anyway, Vince - very kind of you to let me have that.) So, if anybody has a hot lead on a serviceable 245 — or even a 240 — I am all ears. 

For anybody following along at home: the 5-speed unit I have is unusable and probably unsalvageable (lunched 4th/countershaft input gear, among other things), and the donor box MVLiotta kindly provided is unfortunately too far gone to be of use. (Thanks anyway, Vince - very kind of you to let me have that.) So, if anybody has a hot lead on a serviceable 245 — or even a 240 — I am all ears. 

Hi Gary. I second the recommendation of Chris/Stone02. Great guy and an 02 savant. 

I might have a line on a local Getrag Guru, through a shop that comes highly-recommended by a local BMWCCA member doing the swap (Hi, Steve, if you're on here). If it pans out, I'll post the info here. 

If these 245s are getting as rare as hen's teeth, the people who work on them (Hen dentists?) are clearly even rarer.

The Hen Dentists - I'll have to remember that if I ever start another band. 

1 hour ago, Dudeland said:

I am going down this path with AAmco, I will let you know how it goes.  If it isn't doable, then I will go with a 240. 

 

They did a great job on my 740i.  The folks there have lots of early and mid 80's 3 series, including a 4wd 325 in the shop when I dropped it off. 

 

 

 

I'm very interested to hear how that goes, thank you. That flock of Bimmers is encouraging. The parking lot of my local AAMCO looks very different. 

36 minutes ago, Rich said:

I just had mine rebuilt by Jim at metric mechanics, it is being installed next month, 

If you don't mind me asking, was your rebuild cost in the neighborhood of $4k, like Gary's?

4 hours ago, West Palm 2002 said:

...

my rebuild plus sourced parts was $ 4000

Hi Gary. Yeah, MM seems to be the most qualified shop around, but that's too rich for my blood at the moment. That money's going to my daughter's orthodontist.

I’m resurrecting this thread rather than starting a new one. I’m looking for an NY/NJ/PA shop to rebuild my Getrag 245 OD 5-speed. (I bought one that turned out to have an unusable bell housing, and a kind FAQ’er donated a crusty donor unit.) Chris Isaacson put me in touch with a guy here in the Philly area, but he has gone quiet since COVID. (Gordon Tobias, if anybody knows him. I hope he’s okay.)

So, I’m now extending the radius of my search. I’m willing to drive a few hours to drop off/pick up. 
 

I already bought all the goodies to do the conversion: Blunt’s beautiful kit and an IE shortened driveshaft (I know, it was a risk buying without measuring, but I live on the edge.) And I figured out the awful rattle I’ve got is the input shaft on my 4-speed, wobbling around. So I’m REALLY hoping to make the 5-speed work. 

Anybody know any Getrag gurus between Poughkeepsie and the Potomac?

Oh man, do I love this site. I love it...so... much...it...it...the... flames... flames... flames. On the side of my face...breathing...breathless...heaving breaths...

But seriously, my ham-handed-dufus-ness would be downright hazardous to me, my neighborhood, and my family’s financial future, were it not for the FAQ. That’s why I have this script bookmarked:

javascript:Qr=prompt('Search Site for','');if(Qr)location.href='http://www.google.com/search?&q=site:'+encodeURIComponent(window.location.hostname)+'+'+escape(Qr)

It returns a google search of whatever URL you’re currently on. I’ve never figured out how to use ANY forum search function, so it’s a real time-saver for me.