Fletcher

What I have (above) and a vague idea I hope for (below) without a repaint, how best to get there? Will oxidation like this come off with wet sanding and/or buffing or will that take the paint off entirely? thanks!

My “Mint Grun” machine has made the journey out from under tarps in a field to Sonoma Raceway to begin its mechanical restoration! photos!!

Wow. That looks amazing! 👍

Got the Hobart out of the box at last and started work on Franken-cart to keep it on. It’s going so well, I may just buy a cart. I’ve never MIG welded before with steel wire & argon/co2. I had an electric welder previously from Harbor Freight and weld with flux wire. That POS always popped a 20amp fuse after a few minutes of continuous use. I also have gas welded a bit before, but this MIGging is new to me. I started off practicing on an old cookie sheet. I must have had the voltage up too high because all I did was burn holes through it. So, I just started on the cart instead. First things first: cut & bend. I think I need to get a metal chop saw. Cutting angle iron on the floor with handheld grinder/cutter is an imprecise and error-prone PITA. Why did I take the gloves off here is a mystery to me, but I was promptly rewarded for my safety error (pic). The resulting cuts weren’t 45s and when I bent for the first corner, the gaps was too wide to weld. So put the cut chunk on top and welded that. The results were FUH-ugly, but it’s SQUARE! (Pic). Now, I have essential tremor and my welds are never perfect, but this is bad even for me. There was lots of popping as I welded. Not sure I have everything set just right: 0.23 steel wire & tip gas at 20CFM* Voltage at 30 wire speed on 1 (any suggestions here?) No further updates from RR on my 02. Bill had some delay with his tow vehicle. Hope to get pics from him as soon as it’s back in the shop and being prepped for reinstall of engine/trans/etc. Thats all the news there is for now. * - I think. 20CFM is what it snaps down to when I pull the trigger anyway

Latest update on the car from Bill: ”Brought the engine and drivetrain components from storage to the shop today. Will begin prepping them tomorrow. Once they're ready we'll fetch Mint Grun, probably this weekend. Tuesday start basic cleaning and prep of the body, later in the week, or early next, begin installation, likely running a few days later. If you haven't joined BMW CCA yet, dive in, along membership in the SIG(special interest group) for '02s. Sounds like you've already joined 2002FAQ. Freude am fahren under construction!” That was a week ago. Should get some progress pics soon to post. Meanwhile back in WA, I continue to stockpile stuff to tackle the rust as soon as it arrives. Installed some shop cabinets this weekend to store stuff in. Here too, in the background, some angle iron and a battered cookie sheet that (combined) will be used to create Frankencart by way of reminding myself how to weld. Also pictured herein is an embarrassing example of the last thing I welded (albeit with gas not mig) 😳😂

What color is my 1976 02? The seller called it Mint Green. Which when I search for BMW color codes seems to be “94”. Yet when I search for available colors by make/model/year, Mint Green isn’t an option and the color that looks close is called Florida Green “66”. Which is correct? Thanks!

This is an old post, but I’m curious about this too. Here in WA, law seems to state I must have one unless ”Bumpers are optional equipment on vehicles defined as street rod vehicles, custom vehicles and kit vehicles.” What - I wonder - determines whether or not my 02 is a “street rod” 🤣 https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=204-10-022

Likewise and it is the original color for mine and my goal

Thanks! Any ones in particular that you recommend?

Excellent advice. I assumed it wasn't non-toxic, but I didn't think of suiting up beyond the respirator. Thanks!

As I progress on surface rust repairs, should I prime as I go with primer from an aerosol can? or leave it bare metal and then sand the whole car and prime with compressor and sprayer? i have a couple job site construction compressors for driving nailguns. Will these work for painting with sprayer? Any recommendations on sprayers, paints and (seem hard to find atm. Thanks, covid) respirators? thanks

Slight ~ Major 🤣 So the original plan was for me to drive to California to get the car essentially in kit form: Engine/Trans/driveshaft all to be installed by me (and i would have been winging that wholesale never having done any of it before). The new plan is for the car to be delivered to me mechanically complete and road worthy, but aesthetically challenged and in need of much love and sweat equity to be returned to a restored state. ETA is mid August to early September. So, in the meantime, I'm getting my side of the garage ready to receive my (mint) green machine and the tools to do the work. The Hobart Handler 140 is on the way thanks to the excellent suggestions & guidance from @MitchaPaLoOza88. Also, I grabbed a Dewalt angle grinder w/ flapdisks for cleaning up surface rust. Finally, I have started working my way down the list of other tools provided in likewise excellent suggestions on the tools and bodywork questions I submitted to the 2002 forum (some of which I won't immediately need given the slight change to the plan): Metric sockets & wrenches Super thin/ground down wrenches for driveshaft work 1) 2002 "blue binder" factory repair manual: It's available as a .pdf here on the FAQ. 2) Bearing Race Kit: From HF or similar. It makes installing bearing races a breeze. 3) Hydraulic Press 4) Plastic trim/fastener removal tools 5) Flare Nut Wrenches (for brake lines) 6) Pop-Rivet Gun and rivets 7) 02 Restoration Guide (by Mike Macartney) 8 Feeler gauge MAP torch for persuading recalcitrant bolts & nuts to loosen Ball-joint separator 1/2” breaker bar Lots of 3/8s extensions Ratcheting wrenches “Ball end” Metric allen wrenches 36mm 3/4” drive socket & humongous cheater bar Allen sockets (8mm for diff end and stub axle end driveshaft bolts) Snap ring pliers for the clutch slave cylinder Multimeter Brass faced 3# hammer and brass drift Tune Box by Pat Allen Lang metric thread taps & retreading taps

additional thought on this: In addition to working on the body panels, I'm going to need to do some repair to the base of the drivers side front pillar and that's sides rocker panel. Sight unseen as I don't have photos at the moment to share, any thoughts on how to go about those repairs? On the pillar, can I just: use a die grinder to clear the base of rust, cut a chunk of steel to stick in the resulting hole and weld it in/grind it smooth? I watched one vid of a rocker panel replacement on a truck, where the guy matched the new one as an overlay, marked out the old one, used a cutting tool cut out where he marked and a drill to take off the tops of the rivets(?), bent & pried it out and then fit and welded the new on in. Is that generally how that's done? Thanks!