Dachshund

These photos are from a roadtrip taken last week through CA-NV-AZ-UT-CO-KS-MO-IL. 1973 2002tii ground-up build by Le Tran, 2002GarageWerks. More photos at https://www.instagram.com/z00ztii/

I assume the lug bolts are getting snapped during installation, and not while you are driving down the street! If so, here is a tip that might help. SnowDriftin3, even if this does not apply to you, this might help someone else: Lubing the threads of the lug bolts (or studs on a non-BMW) can lead to them snapping; instead, clean off any lubricant with brake cleaner before torquing them down. Threads should be clean and dry. I have seen a professional tire and wheel shop lather oil all over the threads when installing a wheel, but those technicians were apparently motivated by a desire to get the wheels installed as quickly as possible and get the next car in the garage. Assuming you are not in a hurry to spin them on as quickly as humanly possible, you want the threads clean and dry. A friend (this really was a friend, not me!) once told a story about studs snapping off over and over as he was trying to torque his lug nuts down, which grew very frustrating (and expensive). He eventually realized it was because he had been diligently oiling his threads in an ill-conceived attempt to clean off grime. Whenever he tried to tighten to the appropriate torque, the well-lubricated lug nut would just keep spinning and spinning until the steel stud would snap.

Sorry for the delay, but I have now gone to UPS to weigh it and get an idea of shipping costs. They said it costs about $60 to ship everything, or $55 without the ski-racks. (They do not add much to the weight, and they would not add anything to the size of the box.) I am happy to lower my price to $190, so I am asking $250 including shipping for everything, or $245 including shipping without the ski-racks. Please email me at ndgzbw@yahoo.com if you are interested, so we can work out details like payment and shipping address. I also learned that 60 inches is an important threshold to UPS, in terms of the length of the box. These shipping charges are for a 59 inch long box. If the box were 60 inches long, it would bump everything up into a higher cost level. Of course I went there with a 60 inch long box, but once the UPS clerk told me this, I promised to go home and make the box at least an inch shorter. SteveJ is correct, the only tool you really need to take this Yakima rack apart and put it back together is a 9/16 inch wrench. That, and a little patience to figure everything out! Once you realize that you have to remove the plastic end-cap from one end of each bar to slide stuff on and off the bar, you have basically figured it out.

No problem...

Yes, I think you just plop the bike on top, so that both of its tires are in that channel, and then the curvy metal arm of the rack folds upwards to help stabilize the bike. I would like to ask for $200 plus shipping, but let me check on the shipping first to make sure that is not a fortune. Last night, when I mounted it back on my roof to take those photos, I was thinking, hmm, this is a little heavy! If you don't mind waiting a couple days, I will be able to go get it weighed for shipping costs this weekend. By the way, for big items like this, does anyone have a cheap shipping recommendation: UPS, FedEx, US Postal Service? I could probably take it apart a little to fit it into a smaller box, but it will still weigh whatever it weighs. I know some people ship packages in the luggage compartment of a Greyhound bus, but something tells me there is a decent chance of your package getting liberated before it reaches its destination.

Roof rack photos! I have never used it, but as described above, the guy who sold me the car was a big cycling enthusiast and had this on the roof for the past couple years. Did not leave any marks when I took it off. It does not interfere with the sunroof or the antenna: All four locks use the same key: Private message to my friend J: J, these photos remind me that you still have your orange ladder in my garage, so if you need it, feel free to come pick it up!

No problem, I will take some photos late tonight when I get home...

The guy I bought my 2002 from was a big cycling enthusiast, so my car came with a very nice bike rack on the roof, but I never use it, so I took it off. I would be happy to sell it, since it is just sitting in my garage. It is a Yakima, it locks on all four corners with a key (and I have the key), and it fits the 2002 great: left no scratches with I took it off even though the guy had it on the roof for the past couple years. He told me he paid a ton of money for it new, like $750 or something insane, so I don't know what it should be worth used, $200? It has four locking towers with rubbery feet that mount in the 2002 rain gutters, the two main crossbars, a wind deflector fairing that goes across the front, and two racks to mount stuff in: one for a bicycle, and one flatter (skis? surfboard?). I believe the Yakima system is modular, so you could easily add a second bicycle thing, or a luggage thing. Let me know if you are interested and I will scrape together some photos, and also figure out the shipping.

I applaud your enthusiasm! I do not have much free time, but I will keep my eyes open for any Chicago events that get posted here, and if I am not at work, or doing something with the kids, or getting projects done around the house, or fixing up my 2002, or taking my wife out to dinner, or passed out on my couch, then I will absolutely try to make it! In the meantime, honk if you see a slightly beat-up yellow tii in Chicago, that's me.

Thanks everyone, this is useful feedback. I sense that much of the wisdom you have shared has been painfully derived from personal experience. My revised plan is: 1. Go ahead and perform the homemade rustproofing procedure I described above, just for extra protection; AND 2. Do not drive on salted roads.

I am seeking rust-proofing advice! Yes, I have heard that the weather is quite nice in Santa Barbara. But I have no plans to move, and the city of Chicago uses plenty of salt on the roads. A previous owner took apart and repainted my 2002 about ten years ago, and any rust was repaired at that time. Well, maybe it has a little rust somewhere, but at least it is ten-year-old rust, not 38-year-old rust. The reason I acquired a 38-year-old car is because I thought it would be fun to drive it! And not just for eight months of the year, but during the winter, too. Mine is not supposed to be a show car (as you would know if you saw the interior). There must be other people out there in the same situation, right? New York, Vermont, Ohio -- do you drive your cars in the winter? Anyway, here is my plan: i. Put on my finest work clothes, and maybe some goggles, because I have a feeling this might be a messy job. ii. Crawl underneath armed with a scotch-brite soaked in some sort of solvent, and scrub the grime off any surface I can reach. iii. Hose off the underside, maybe even splash on a little soapy water to clean off the solvent, and give everything a good rinse. iv. Crawl back underneath and slap a coat of POR-15 on every surface I can reach. v. (optional) If I want to get really fancy, maybe even a coat of POR-15's Rubberized Under Coating from a spray can. I would appreciate any advice/comments/criticisms/ridicule related to this project. In particular: Anyone done this before? Are there certain areas I should be sure to hit, like crevices that are notorious for rust? Any recommendations for a solvent/cleaner? Any recommendations for what protectant to apply, since POR-15 appears to cost $150 per gallon? Do people actually hose off the underside when they get home from driving on salted roads? Thanks in advance. My apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere, just point me to a link. And those of you in California, if this seems like a strange concern, please feel free to just go about your business, and be careful not to let your surfboard scratch the roof of your 2002, that would really be a bummer!

I just acquired my car four days ago, so I still have some troubleshooting to do. But my sunroof plans are: i. Try to clean out the drain tubes. I am trying to decide between using speedometer cable or weed-eater string. Or is it easier to just rip out the old tubes and install new ones? Clear vinyl tubing is cheap, and my headliner was conveniently pre-removed when I bought the car. Is this a terrible idea? Would I require access to areas that are not really accessible? ii. Install a new sunroof seal. A previous owner repainted the car a few years ago, and I think they just never bothered replacing the grey fuzzy seal because it (almost) sealed fine without it. I have found a wealth of info regarding sunroof repairs on this forum, so I think I know how to tackle that.

Thanks everyone, this is great feedback. Napes, that is exactly what I feared when looking at the one-piece molded carpet. I can easily imagine wrestling with that all day and then still having it look bad. 1971Ginger and mlytle, those are great photos of your work. You have inspired me to include sound-deadening material in my project. (Although that stuff is not cheap!) And it is really helpful to see photos of work in progress. eurotrash, I will keep your panels in mind, though audio upgrades are pretty far down on my list! esty, you have gained a customer. Unfortunately I will have to solve my minor sunroof-leak issues before I proceed to upgrade the interior, and that will probably take me a few weeks/months/eons. But when the time comes, I will be getting in touch with you. landon, thanks!

Never mind about my sunroof questions! I just figured out how to search this forum, and it turns out there is a wealth of info on sunroof repair. Carry on.

Hello, and sorry to hijack your thread, but I think it makes sense to keep this discussion all in one place. First of all, do you have a link for that page from Bo Black? I tried to look and could not find it, but I would be interested to see any info related to sunroofs. Secondly, my sunroof is experiencing some leak issues -- not major, but a drop here and there is more than I would like. But it seems to work very well mechanically, and I do not want to take it apart and rebuild it for no reason! So one idea is to try cleaning out the drain tubes just to make sure they are ok. Another idea is to install some seals. I saw these three sunroof seals for sale from World Upholstery. I just called them for pricing info, and they said the front velveteen seal is $66, the rear velveteen seal is $66, and the rear rubber seal is $50. That would be $182 for everything, which sounds like a lot of money, but worth it if it stops the leak. My 1973 2002tii does not have any seals -- is that because they were removed and never replaced? I just acquired the car recently, and it was repainted by a previous owner several years ago, so I am not sure what the typical set-up looks like. Any advice on the recommended sunroof seal set-up would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Found another option! D. World Upholstery sells carpet sets with multi-piece for $300, multi-piece imported carpet for $450 (probably getting out of my budget here), and one-piece for $550.

Hello everybody! This is my first time posting, but I just acquired a 1973 2002tii, so you might see me asking a lot of questions around here. I don't want to bore you with all the details about my car, so I'll get right to the point. My carpet is gnarly. My goal is to have a fun car to drive on the weekends, not a show car, so I am not looking for the most perfect carpet in the universe. I have no real experience working on car interiors or upholstery, but I am hands-on with everything else car-related, so I am hoping that the carpet replacement will be a DIY project. Question #1: Which carpet? I found three options (but feel free to recommend a fourth if you have one): A. It looks like Esty has put a lot of thought into these carpet sets that sell for $245. Anyone have feedback on these? Esty, please feel free to weigh in -- even though you obviously have a conflict of interest in recommending a carpet, I would value your advice, because you have clearly put energy into this. B. Here is a one-piece molded carpet on ebay that is also designed specifically for the 2002. Advantage: cheaper! Sells for $150. Disadvantage: harder to install? I would have to cut holes in it and wrestle with it to get it in. And the floor coverage might be great, but would it cover up the sides as well? Anyone have experience with these? C. I have a vague feeling this would be cost-prohibitive, but the third option would be to take it to a shop that specializes in car interiors and pay them to do it. Does anyone have a sense of what that might cost? Question #2: Is there anything I should consider doing before the new carpet is installed? I was planning on cleaning/scraping the floors and maybe giving them a quick spray of engine paint if called for. Is this also the time to run some speaker wire if I want to upgrade the audio system? Should I wait until I get replacement seats, or is that not really an issue? (The car came with non-stock seats, but they are big and make it impossible to get to the back seat because they do not fold down, so I would like to replace them some day.) Anything else I should be thinking of? Question #3: Do people glue the carpet in place, or just lay it down and let the law of gravity keep it from moving around? If adhesive is used, what type or brand is recommended? Thanks in advance for whatever advice you can provide.