joysterm

I particularly appreciate the sellers view this piece needs "some" work....a bit of an understatement me thinks!

Looks like a well sorted Tii judging from opening offers, http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-bmw-2002tii-10/?utm_source=dailymail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-08-17

Looks like a well sorted Tii judging from opening offers, http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-bmw-2002tii-10/?utm_source=dailymail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-08-17

Today these two were reunited after 39 years apart......beautiful!

First some background... From the day I committed to this project and up until just a few months ago, close to some 4 years now, I struggled with a clear plan or direction when it came to the interior and what I wanted it to be. I remember receiving a message from a member of the FAQ shortly after introducing my car the the site saying “what ever you do to it, do not paint it...leave it as a survivor. Your car is more valuable without any fancy upgrades.” At the time I was somewhat confused by the suggestion, after all it had been some 30+ years since I had experienced the joy of driving it. I just wanted to have that feeling again. With that said knew I wanted more than something a stock O2 was going to offer me. Fortunately, I was now in a better position that would allow me to sink a few dollars in it to make it go a lil faster and handle just a bit better. All the rest was not at the forefront of my thinking. So once I decided what I wanted performance wise I knew it was no longer going to be a survivor. To be honest, the car was more important as a source of enjoyment rather as a potential investment. So with all that in mind, I struggled with what I wanted to do with the interior. I was however committed to keeping the car as close to its roots as possible and more importantly, what works for me. So, I started searching for ideas and collecting examples of what I consider to be something I would like to have sitting in my car. That part of the process took me about a year. After all I had I had a bit of time before I was even close to starting the work. My predicament now was how far do I push the envelope in terms of trying to stay true to my pledge. What do I keep and what to I change to suit my tastes. This decision was somewhat easier to make once I started to see progress in the other areas of my build. Seeing what others had done with their builds also was a huge help. It provided me with both comfort and inspiration with what I wanted to do. Finally, I now had a plan that I could follow but I was to quickly learn it would not be without a lot of trail and error. A lot of the former and more of the latter. But first some prep work was required was going to be required before I could start. This work was all completed before the car went to the restoration shop. I have covered this step in an earlier post but thought it worthwhile to provide some continuity. Some befores of the first job....taking out.the sound proofing. Fortunately no worries of rust to deal with. After a few pounds of dry ice and a quick bead blast..... ....it was ready for a quick blast of epoxy. Next plugged the holes .....It would soon be ready for the next step.....mocking up the rear seats and console. First some DYNA-MAT But first the complete install of Dyna-Mat. It did take a few nights to complete with the help of a heat gun and roller to help in dealing with all the the contour and ridges of the floor pan and bulk heads. A little more than 100 sq. ft were used to cover everything, including the roof and door skins. This was a logical place to start for me seeing as this was the first experience with the product. Once the sound deadening was complete I was ready to deal with more of the stuff you could actually appreciate and SEE. As mentioned earlier I struggled with what I was going to do with the seats. I was torn with using the stock seats. They were in near perfect condition but after researching some different ideas I slowly started to think of a complete redesign when it came to the interior. After seeing a lot of projects with Recaros, I thought about taking the upgrade a lil farther with changing the rears as well. It certainly has its drawbacks with this upgrade but I was prepared to make it work. So after sending a few more weeks looking at different interiors I decided that I would try to source a set of E24 rear seats to match up with a period set of Recaros. Fortunately I found a pair rears first from another FAQ member who was relatively close to me. The fronts would take a lil longer to land. Once I had them in my possession I was anxious to get them in so after doing some more research I was set. I made a few strategic cuts and some fine tuning with a trusty cut off tool the seats were in and positioned within a couple of hours. I thought they looked great. For those contemplating a similar install beware there is a consideracble amount of retro fitting. I was faced with a sizeable gap between the top of the rear bulkhead and the back of the seat. In addition there was another area between the respective rear cards and the edge of the seats that I would have to be address to help achieve that custom look. I will endeavour to illustrate that in the next post. But for now they fit pretty snug. I just had to figure out how I was going to secure and finish them off. To secure the base I decided to use the stock lower brackets on the E24 seat. They lined up perfectly with the top of the cars rear seat bulkhead. I just had to drill an appropriate size hole for a machine bolt and clip nut. Securing the top portion of the seat was a little more of a challenge. Here I had to fabricate a L shape bracket and riveted to the rear of the seat. A similar bracket was then fixed to the rear bulkhead to accept a 10m bolt. The downside to all this ....it would have to be accessed from the trunk to remove these brackets. I should also point out I decided to use the centre console design and try to incorporate a 3rd brake light to take advantage of the higher profile of the top portion of the console. This would be cut into a redesigned self tray. It would also help filling that gap created by the new seats. I will try to detail those issues in the next post. Thanks for taking the time to have a look. Regards

euwh....way too much information

First I would try to find a real pro that has extensive experience in metal/restoration work. It is a skill that is increasingly hard to find in this day of replace rather than repair. I would cut and replace only as a last result. As mentioned earlier there is always a risk in destroting the metal around that area especially if there is structural supports for the rear window/ C pillar involved. That said, if he knows what he is doing, it should not be an issue. I think there are more than just a few hours to repair the damage but if it were me I would go that route rather than get involved in a cut-weld and repair scenario. By the time you factor in the time involved for the hunt for the part, shipping and associated costs you may not be any farther ahead. I would cut and replace only as a last result....hth

whata beauty...too bad there aren't more pics

Have one if you can't find any thing closer Mike

Personally, I do not think there is a quick fix here. For me the frame rails are a priority. They will need to be replaced. Not an impossible DIY for a shade tree mechanic but an expensive one for who is not. It is a very big job as everything will have to come off the front end. You can probably bank on finding more corrosion that is currently hiding underneath something else. The others problems are pretty straight forward to repair given your pics, but extent of repairs will be likely be greater. ($$$$) That said and given you are planning on selling the car, it maybe easier to let the car go as is rather than potentially opening up a can of worms. You may get lucky finding a buyer that is willing to take on the repairs. otherwise I feel you are looking at a rather expensive repair to get it sold.... IMHO. Good luck with it, what ever you decide.

Kudos for the taking the time to provide a solution to the problem.....very helpful indeed.

Hmmm, I wonder if he would be interested in another one, can't give mine away

Nicely done, a great looking car and welcome.

Curious ....Single stage?

Hope this helps....Mike

Curious to see how this clean lil' beauty matches up to recent sales. Pretty cool. http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1968-bmw-1600-5/?utm_source=dailymail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-08-10

still lookin'

always a great day when your baby finally gets some color!

Looks like you have hit a HR in your first AB.....congrats